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How Jimmy Carter Saved Me From Abacha’s Gulag – Obasanjo

Published

9 months ago

January 12, 2025

Former President Olusegun Obasanjo on Sunday paid glowing tributes to the late former American President, Jimmy Carter, whom he described as a “titan and man of peace.”

Obasanjo, who paid the tribute at a memorial service held in honour of late President Carter, held at the Chapel of Christ the Glorious King, Olusegun Obasanjo Presidential Library, Abeokuta, Ogun State, recalled how Carter stuck out his neck to save his life by seeking his release from prison under the late Head of State, General Sanni Abacha.

Carter, the 39th president of the United States and the recipient of the 2002 Nobel Peace Prize for his post-presidential work, died at 100, on December 29, 2024, at his home in Plains, Georgia.

He said, “President Carter was one of my foreign friends who stuck their necks out to save my life and to seek my release from prison. On President Carter’s visit to Nigeria, he got Abacha to agree to take me from detention to house arrest on my farm. But that did not last for too long.

“In the evenings of our lives, I became a victim of a militarialist man – Sani Abacha – who wanted to rule Nigeria perpetually till end of his life. President Carter was one of my foreign friends who stuck their necks out to save my life and to seek my release from prison”.

“On President Carter’s visit to Nigeria, he got Abacha to agree to take me from detention to house arrest on my farm. But that did not last for too long. Many other friends and leaders intervened but President Carter was the only non-African leader, according to my information, that paid a visit to Abacha solely to plead for my release”.

“I would remain ever grateful to all who worked for my release from Abacha’s gulag. Abacha ensured that I would not be released. Within a week of his death though, I was released by his successor, General Abdulsalami Abubakar, who also facilitated my going round Africa and the rest of the world to thank all those who worked for my release”.

“In the US, I called on President Jimmy Carter who told me all the efforts he made with other leaders and Abacha remaining unyielding for my release. But the most surprising thing Carter said to me was, “Please see Ted Turner and thank him for his generosity. He came to me and asked me to get his friend, Obasanjo, released from prison. ‘I will take care of him and his family here or wherever he chooses to live’”.

“I was touched and moved to tears. I immediately went to Ted who expressed to me the same sentiment that President Carter expressed. He proved his generosity and I kept going back to President Carter anytime I could spare to express my gratitude to him”.

“For me, I would miss a great and true friend but I know we shall meet again in Paradise”.

“One great lesson I learned from President Carter was that in his leadership, he carried along an army of co-workers that shared the ideal and the burden of the work with him. He led by example and in humility and that made success to attend his way”.

Speaking on the attributes of the late President Carter, Obasanjo described him as “a simple, humble, honest man of God-, he would prefer nothing better than a simple but significant service in his memory. He was a humble man of simplicity”.

But why should I decide to have a service in memory of an American President who lived and died almost 5000 miles away? It is because he was a great world leader, he was a righteous man whose righteousness spread over the whole world; he was a lover of humanity, a man of God; and he was a great and true friend of mine”.

“In terms of early life background, I shared similarity with President Jimmy Carter. He was born into a farming family in Plains, Georgia, and I was born into a farming family in rural village of Ibogun-Olaogun in Ogun State”.

“He grew up under a father and mother who were disciplinarians, who instilled in him essence of discipline, morality, hard work, integrity, kindness and humility, compassion for the poor and strong belief in God.

“My parents inculcated similar attributes in me as I was growing up in a rural area that had no pipe water, no electricity just as it was in Plains, Georgia, while Jimmy Carter was growing there.

“He beat me though in one respect, there was road to his settlement, there was no road to my village. We walked to every place or, at best, we were carried on bicycle”.

“President Carter had military background which I had and, in fact, we met when I was a military Head of State. But if not that we were both in politics, our paths may not have crossed”.

Related Topics:#Obasanjo Carter Jimmy Carter

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US Lifts Restrictions On Visa Validity For Ghanaians, Leaves Nigeria’s Unchanged

Published

8 hours ago

September 27, 2025

Editor

The United States has restored the maximum validity periods for all categories of nonimmigrant visas for Ghanaian nationals following Ghana’s agreement to accept West African deportees, but similar restrictions for Nigerians remain in place.

The B1/B2 visitor visa is now valid for up to five years, with multiple entries allowed, while the F1 student visa’s maximum validity has been restored to four years, with multiple entries permitted.

“The U.S. Embassy is pleased to announce that the maximum validity periods for all categories of nonimmigrant visas for Ghanaians have been restored to their previous lengths. The maximum validity allowed for the B1/B2 visitor visa is again five years, multiple entry. The maximum validity for the F1 student visa is again four years, multiple entry,” the U.S. Embassy announced in a tweet on Saturday.”

Ghana’s Foreign Minister, Samuel Ablakwa, also announced in a tweet that the new policy now allows citizens to apply for five-year multiple-entry visas.

Ablakwa also stated that the reversal of the restriction comes with other enhanced consular privileges, adding that the development was the result of months of diplomatic engagement.

“The U.S. visa restriction imposed on Ghana has been reversed. Ghanaians can now be eligible for five-year multiple-entry visas and other enhanced consular privileges,” Ablakwa stated.

“This good news was directly communicated to me by U.S. Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs, Allison Hooker, at a bilateral meeting earlier today, in the margins of the UN General Assembly. I am really pleased that months of high-level diplomatic negotiations have led to a successful outcome.”

These changes reverse earlier restrictions imposed under the Trump administration, which had limited most visas to single-entry and a three-month validity period.

The restrictions affected several African countries, including Ghana and Nigeria, and were based on concerns over visa reciprocity and the acceptance of deported migrants.

In July, the U.S. Consulate in Nigeria announced updates to its reciprocal nonimmigrant visa policy, stating: “The United States Department of State has announced updates to its reciprocal non-immigrant visa policy, impacting several countries, including Nigeria. Effective immediately, most non-immigrant and non-diplomatic visas issued to citizens of Nigeria will be single-entry visas with a three-month validity period.

“Those U.S. non-immigrant visas issued prior to July 8, 2025, will retain their status and validity. We wish to underscore that, as is standard globally, visa reciprocity is a continuous process and is subject to review and change at any time, such as increasing or decreasing permitted entries and duration of validity. You can view the latest information on visa reciprocity schedules for all countries at travel.state.gov.”

Reports indicate that the U.S. pressured some African nations to accept deported migrants, including Venezuelan detainees from U.S. prisons.

Nigerian Foreign Minister Yusuf Tuggar rejected these pressures, stating that Nigeria would not serve as a “dumping ground” for deportees.

“It would be difficult for countries like Nigeria to accept Venezuelan prisoners into Nigeria,” Tuggar said during a televised interview.

“We have enough problems of our own; we cannot accept Venezuelan deportees to Nigeria. We already have 230 million people.”

Meanwhile, Ghanaian President John Mahama confirmed that Ghana had begun accepting deported West African nationals after U.S. requests.

“We were approached by the U.S. to accept third-party nationals who were being removed from the U.S., and we agreed with them that West African nationals were acceptable,” Mahama said.

“All our fellow West African nationals don’t need visas to come to our country.”

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UK Nursery Worker Jailed For Abusing 21 Babies

Published

1 day ago

September 26, 2025

Editor

A judge on Friday jailed a nursery worker for eight years for a string of “gratuitous” and “sadistic” attacks on babies.

In one incident, Londoner Roksana Lecka, 22, kicked a little boy in the face several times.

Lecka, who blamed cannabis for her crimes, admitted seven counts of cruelty to a person under the age of 16 and was convicted after a trial of another 14 counts.

Sentencing her for attacks on 21 babies, Judge Sarah Plaschkes said she had committed “multiple acts of gratuitous violence” at two London nurseries where she worked.

“You pinched, slapped, punched, smacked and kicked them. You pulled their ears, hair and their toes. You toppled children headfirst into cots,” she said.

“Often the child would be quietly and happily minding its own business before you deliberately inflicted pain… Your criminal conduct can properly be characterised as sadistic,” she added.

Lecka’s cruelty was revealed in June 2024 after she was seen pinching a number of children.
Police were called in and found multiple incidents recorded on the nursery CCTV.

Victim impact statements submitted to London’s Kingston Crown Court from parents of Lecka’s victims told how they were left heartbroken and guilt-stricken by the attacks.

“These children were so innocent and vulnerable,” one mother told the court.

“They couldn’t speak, they couldn’t defend themselves and they couldn’t tell us as parents that something had happened to them,” she added.

“They were totally helpless and Roksana preyed upon them.”

The hearing was told that she had apologised to the parents in a letter to the court in which she said cannabis had turned her into a different person.

She had been addicted to the drug around the time of the offences, but had not told the nursery.
She was found not guilty of three further counts of child cruelty.

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Italy Fines Six Oil Firms $1bn Fine For Restricting Competition

Published

1 day ago

September 26, 2025

Editor

Italy’s antitrust regulator said Friday it has slapped Italian energy giant Eni and five other companies with fines totalling more than 936 million euros ($1.1 billion) for “restricting competition” in the sale of fuel.

The authority said in a statement that Eni, Esso, Ip, Q8, Saras and Tamoil “coordinated to set the value of the bio component factored into fuel prices”, which tripled between 2019 and 2023.

A probe following a whistleblower’s complaint revealed that “the companies implemented parallel price increases — largely coinciding — which were driven by direct or indirect information exchanges among them”, the authority said.

“The cartel began on 1 January 2020 and continued until 30 June 2023,” it added.

AFP