- An American hero of the Nigerian struggle for freedom and democracy
Defining moments in the life of a country bring out the best and the worst in the citizens’ character. Thus, some are numbered among heroes, and others among the villains. One such moment in the life of Nigeria was the 1993-1998 epoch when General Sani Abacha ruled like an emperor. Whoever spoke against his vice grip on the political scene was either clamped in jail or forced into exile. It was also a time to know the true friends of the country.
One friend of Nigeria who shone like a star, one who went beyond his brief as a foreign diplomat, was Mr. Walter Carrington who was American Ambassador to Nigeria at the time. He supported the progressive cause, and refused to hide behind the hypocrisy that marks diplomacy. Walter Carrington is, today, 90 years old. In the nine decades, he has been consistent as a humanist; a fighter for equality, justice, equity and genuine democracy. These values defined his role in the most troubled period in the life of Nigeria. Many of the active participants in the affairs of the time refer to him till date as a ‘NADECO diplomat’. He put his life on the line at a time that the regime in control of the levers of power and security never hesitated to bare its fangs and hack down perceived enemies.
It was a period when nationalists and patriots, dedicated to the liberation of their country like Professor Wole Soyinka, Gen. Alani Akinrinade (rtd), Chief Anthony Enahoro, Mr. Ralph Obioha, Dr. Kayode Fayemi, Mallam Lawal Dambazzau, Commodore, Chief Michael Anyiam, Commodore Ebitu Ukiwe, Commodore Dan Suleiman and Professor Bolaji Akinyemi, among others, mounted pressure on the international community to smoke General Abacha and his cohorts out of power.
Getting out of Nigeria and mobilising international support were made easier by Walter Carrington who readily lent his voice and weight to the struggle. At home, the internal wing of the National Democratic Coalition (NADECO) refused to succumb to the fascism unleashed on the land by the junta. NADECO was formed by a broad coalition of Nigerian democrats on May 15, 1994, to mount pressure on Gen. Abacha to step down for Bashorun M.K.O. Abiola, the acclaimed winner of the June 12, 1993 presidential election.
Mr. Carrington deserves all the accolades he is receiving today. Apart from the courage he demonstrated since he graduated from Harvard University in 1952, he has been dedicated to the pursuit of knowledge and its use for progress and development of the human society.
In the United States of America, he teamed up with the struggle of the Coloured people. His doggedness saw him elected as a Director of the National Association of Coloured People even as a student, the first student to be so elected. At age 27, he was made a commissioner in Massachusetts, again, the youngest at the time.
In 2014, alongside his Nigeria-born wife, Arese, he was winner of the City of Lifetime Human Rights Award, a sort of crown on the lifelong struggle for human rights, with Arese, his partner.
In the academia, he has distinguished himself. He has been a Fellow at Harvard for decades, a Visiting Professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and started the Department of International Affairs at Howard University.
His books include a collection of the rich speeches and writings over the decades, aptly titled, A duty to speak: Refusing to be silent in a time of tyranny, published in 2010. The title speaks for itself. Another titled Africa in the minds and deeds of Black American Leaders was co-authored with Edwin Dorn.
In recalling the diplomatic sojourn of this great humanist, the name, Bill Clinton cannot be forgotten. He not only posted Carrington to Nigeria, he gave him the backing needed at a turbulent period when General Abacha would have appreciated a withdrawal from the scene. He kept the man as Ambassador in Nigeria for four years, an indication of implicit confidence in him, and identification with the cause.
At 90, we see Walter Carrington after whom the street that houses about one dozen diplomatic missions in Lagos is named, as an ambassador exemplar. He is fittingly named “Omowale”, the Yoruba for a returnee. Walter Carrington is one great man, though a foreigner, who deserves a Nigerian national honour. Naming another monument after him, or a chair in one of the federal universities would just be a fitting tribute.
The Nation
