Jimmy Carter: Adieu to the Champion of Downtrodden – Nigeria, Nay Africa

Jimmy Carter: Adieu to the Champion of Downtrodden – Nigeria, Nay Africa

By Prof. M. K. Othman

The marvelous writing expedition I cherished most was the authorship of my book, Sasakawa Africa Association: Three Decades of Fight Against Hunger and Poverty in Nigeria. His Excellency President Olusegun Obasanjo forwarded the book, which was unveiled by Engr Kabir Abba, Kano state governor, on 7 October 2024 at Coronation Hall, Kano state government House. The book may be loved for its tone, style, coherence, and logical flow of narrations. It is captivating and inspiring to read as written by its reviewer, Professor Ammani Aliyu, an erudite professor of agricultural economics at Ahmadu Bello University Zaria, literary guru, and social media activist. Still, for me, the book contents are less important than the information behind the contents.

While writing the book, I discovered the roles of three hunger-eradication warriors with the untouchable spirit to fight for humanity with their strength at their prime ages. They were a three-person flawless team that combined an indefatigable philanthropist, Mr. Ryoichi Sasakawa of Japan, a famous scientist, Dr. Norman Borlaug of the USA, and an accomplished diplomat, Mr. Jimmy Carter, the 39th President of the USA. These great men were driven by pure altruism. It was a handshake across two continents, tens of thousands of kilometers apart, between two prominent Americans and a visionary Japanese. Their mission aimed to alleviate the suffering of Africans, aspiring to extrapolate and replicate the much-discussed green revolution in Asia, a formidable achievement championed by Dr. Norman Borlaug. When I dug deeper, I was amazed to find the genuine concern of the hunger-eradication warriors on bringing a permanent solution to suffering in Africa due to hunger and poverty. They pursued their agenda at the expense of their comfort and prominence and even at the risk of their health and lives. The men were great, with enormous influence and network, and above all, they had an unflinching determination to conquer hunger in Africa. These men came to Nigeria in 1992 and signed an MoU for Sasakawa Global 2000, which later became SAA, with the Federal Government of Nigeria on behalf of Nigerian farmers. The MoU was to provide technical and financial support to smallholder farmers, who constitute over 90% of the farming population in Nigeria.

With the exception of people like Chief Olusegun Obasanjo, Dr. Nelson Mandela, and a few others, none of today’s leaders could venture into such a venture. Mr. Sasakawa and Dr. Borlaug left Mother Earth a few years ago; Mr. Carter was snatched by cold hands of death yesterday, 29th December 2024, at 100 years. They died with the unfulfilled ambition of hunger eradication, not because they did not fight hard but because the African leaders, particularly Nigeria, believed in rhetoric, not action, and deception, not sincerity of purpose, and aggrandizement, not service to humanity.

Nevertheless, their efforts are not in vain, as their actions continue to reverberate and impactfully relieve people from poverty and hunger. Sasakawa Africa Association (SAA), one of their products, still impacts Nigerians and relieves them from the shackles of hunger. It means their legacy outlives them.
The 39th President of the United States of America, Mr. Jimmy Carter, turned 100 on October 1st, 2024, and died on December 29th, 2024. He was a reputable champion of lower-income earners, minorities, and colored Americans. We, fervent admirers of Carter, are grieving for the loss of this global icon, a Nobel Peace Prize Laurel, an ardent lover of Africa, and a dependable friend of farmers in Nigeria, nay Africa. In Nigeria, Jimmy Carter will forever be remembered for his glorious role in ushering the Sasakawa Africa Association (SAA) into the country 32 years ago. I wrote his tribute in this column when he turned 99 titled ‘Carter@99: Hearty Cheers to the Champion of Downtrodden – Nigeria, Nay Africa’.

As written in that article, Jimmy Carter, with his co-travelers facilitated by His Excellency, former President Olusegun Obasanjo, made historic visits to obscure villages and rural communities in Nigeria. Some villages visited were Daudawa, a colonial farm settlement center in Katsina state, Saminaka community in Kaduna state, Kadawa village in Kano state, and several other African towns and communities. During the visits of their excellencies, the distinguished personalities were to see firsthand the impacts of their laudable interventions and identify areas of improvement. From then, Carter came to Nigeria a few more times. In the last 32 years, Nigeria has become Africa’s largest beneficiary and most impactful country of SAA interventions. Thanks to the partnership of Carter, Sasakawa, and Borlaug and the facilitation of Chief Olusegun Obasanjo, the fan Africanist.

Unfortunately, Daudawa village, one of the areas visited, is today a hotbed of banditry and kidnapping, which deny farmers access to their farmlands, which President Carter and others invested their time, energy, financial resources, and goodwill. The bandit activities should be a daring challenge to the Nigerian government, the USA, and Japan to immediately solve to glorify the spirits of the three departed gentlemen.

Before the first SG 2000/SAA mission in 1992, in which President Carter and his co-travelers visited Nigeria, Carter was the first American President ever to make an official state visit to black African countries in 1978. On March 31st, 1978, The Nigerian Head of State, Lt Gen Olusegun Obasanjo, received President Carter at Murtala Muhammed International Airport, who arrived in Nigeria from Brazil on a three-day official visit.
President Jimmy Carter’s contributions to Nigeria’s development are extensive, from economics, diplomacy, and agriculture to health. 1988, Nigeria invited The Carter Center for a nationwide Guinea worm eradication program. Subsequently, the Center established six health program centers. Although Nigeria achieved significant successes against Guinea worm and trachoma, the country became the Carter Center’s most extensively neglected tropical disease (NTD) partner country in Africa. Nigeria was the highest at-risk population for river blindness (onchocerciasis) in the world, the second highest for lymphatic filariasis (behind India), the highest for schistosomiasis, and the fourth highest for soil-transmitted helminths.

The Center operated in nine states: Abia, Anambra, Delta, Ebonyi, Edo, Enugu, Imo, Nasarawa, and Plateau, and targeted four diseases there. The Center worked with the Federal Ministry of Health and state and local governments. It supported tens of millions of mass drug administration (MDA) treatments yearly, along with health education and disease impact assessments. Space and time cannot allow me to discuss several other areas where President Jimmy Carter proved to be a tireless supporter, trusted friend, defendable loyalist, and unbreakable believer in Nigeria, nay Africa.
As Dr. Wumi Akintide, an Ace columnist, wrote, the world has lost a priceless gem of a great leader in President Jimmy Carter’s death. Adieu to the Champion of Downtrodden—Nigeria, Nay Africa.

May his soul rest in peace, amen. I hope that retired Nigerian leaders can be inspired by the selfless service of the three hunger-eradication warriors who tirelessly worked to relieve the suffering of Africans, particularly Nigerians whose livelihoods continue to deteriorate.

Jimmy Carter: Adieu to the Champion of Downtrodden – Nigeria, Nay Africa