Ex-US Ambassador to Nigeria, Walter Carrington, dies at 90

INFLUENTIAL former United States ambassador to Nigeria, Walter Carrington, has died at the age of 90. His wife,  rese,  made the disclosure in a statement on Wednesday. The statement read: “It is with a heavy and broken heart but  with gratitude to God for his life of selfless humanity that I announce the passing of my beloved husband Walter  Carrington,former US Ambassador to Nigeria and Senegal.

“He passed away peacefully, surrounded by loved ones at the age of 90 years old on Tuesday, August 11, 2020. Further  announcements will be made shortly. “Walter was a loving husband, father, grandfather, cousin, uncle, friend and in -law.  “Ralph Waldo Emerson said…’It is not the length of life but the depth of life.’ Walter was fortunate, his life had both  length and depth.”

Born 1930, the American diplomat was trained at the prestigious Harvard University and appointed ambassador to  Nigeria in 1993 by President Bill Clinton, where he served for four years. He had earlier been appointed as ambassador  to Senegal between 1981 and 1982 by President Jimmy Carter. A Democrat by political affiliation, he had and sustained  deep ties to Nigeria,culminating in him marrying a Nigerian lady, Arese.

His Nigerian born wife, Arese, is a medical doctor and a public health specialist. The two of them were joint recipients of  the 2014 City of Newton Lifetime Human Rights Achievement Award. Both governments of Nigeria and Senegal  conferred on him national honours while the diplomatic enclave in Lagos, on which the American  and a dozen other onsulates are located, was renamed Walter Carrington Crescent.

The highlight of his official duties in Nigeria was standing shoulder to shoulder with pro-democracy activists during the  oppressive Sani Abacha era, defending and supporting human rights and genuine democracy. Carrington was a member of the Council on Foreign Relations, the Council of American Ambassadors, Association of Black American Ambassadors and Alpha Phi Alpha fraternity.

His career intersected with diplomacy, academia, government, politics, law, civil and human rights,and civil society  organisations. A book on his speeches promoting human rights and democracy, “A Duty to Speak,” was published in  Nigeria in 2010. It was announced recently that he was writing his memoir and a book on Nigeria under military rule.

The United States consulate established a youth fellowship in his honour (Carrington Youth Fellowship Initiative –  CYFI) His academic teaching and administrative experience included Visiting Professorships at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (M.I.T.), Simmons College, Washington College and Marquette University, where he taught  courses on US Foreign Policy, Islam in Africa and African Politics.

At Howard University, he created and developed the Department of International Affairs which oversaw the university’s international endeavours. Upon the establishment of the Peace Corps in 1961, Carrington was appointed as  one of its first overseas country directors and his 10-year service included directing programmes in Sierra Leone, Tunisia and Senegal.

Before becoming one of President Bill Clinton’s early diplomatic appointments, Ambassador Carrington was a senior  advisor on Africa to the Clinton transitional team. In 1994, Ambassador Carrington was selected by the Boston Globe  Sunday Magazine as one of the 100 most distinguished living graduates of Massachusetts’.

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