Special to USAfrica magazine (Houston) and USAfricaonline.com, the first Africa-owned, US-based newspaper published on the Internet.
By Chido Nwangwu. Follow on X (Twitter) @Chido247
At President Jimmy Carter’s Nobel Prize Lecture in Oslo on December 10, 2002, he said that:
The bond of our common humanity is stronger than the divisiveness of our fears and prejudices. God gives us the capacity for choice. We can choose to alleviate suffering. We can choose to work together for peace. We can make these changes – and we must.”
He expressed the importance of peaceful coexistence, respect for human rights, and the value of collaborative relations through the instrumental work of the United Nations and other development organizations.
This truly great man lived and showed that serious leadership and honest commitment to the community, the nation, and the world do not begin and stop when you are elected or appointed to office. After all, he has proven himself to be the greatest former President of the United States.
His life and legacy will be incomplete without his wife, Roselyn Carter.
He was born on October 1, 1924, and died on December 29, 2024.
He was elected and served as President from January 20, 1977 – January 20, 1981, as a Democrat.
Although he was a champion for people and peace, he was not a pacifist.
His first chosen career was in the armed forces of the United States of America— as a submarine officer. He recalled: “My shipmates and I realized that we had to be ready to fight if combat was forced upon us, and we were prepared to give our lives to defend our nation and its principles. At the same time, we always prayed fervently that our readiness would ensure that there would be no war.”
The latter was articulated and summarized differently by the late President Ronald Reagan, who defined it as “peace through strength.”
What the humanitarian Carter said about the situation in the world 23 years ago remains largely true: “… instead of entering a millennium of peace, the world is now, in many ways, a more dangerous place. The greater ease of travel and communication has not been matched by equal understanding and mutual respect. There is a plethora of civil wars, unrestrained by rules of the Geneva Convention, within which an overwhelming portion of the casualties are unarmed civilians who have no ability to defend themselves.”
Carter, who turned 100 years two months before his death, was quoted by the AP to have said: “Our country ignored Africa.” He was involved in post-colonial politics in Zimbabwe. He was opposed to apartheid in South Africa. He visited Nigeria on April 1, 1978.
Carter’s foundation has been a leader in healthcare fights against smallpox in Africa.
The legacy and examples of this leader are worthy.
Thanks, President
Carter, the man who waged peace, not war!
•Dr. Chido Nwangwu, author of the forthcoming book, MLK, Mandela & Achebe: Power, Leadership and Identity., is the Founder of the first African-owned, U.S-based newspaper on the internet, USAfricaonline.com, and established USAfrica in 1992 in Houston. He has appeared as an analyst on CNN, ALJazeera, SKYnews, and served as an adviser on Africa business to Houston’s former Mayor Lee Brown. Follow on X (Twitter) @Chido247