Abuja, Nigeria — Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo and former US President Bill Clinton Thursday paid tribute the Reverend Leon Sullivan, the African-American civil rights leader who died Wednesday in the US, aged 78.

Before delivering his speech at the opening ceremony of the African AIDS Summit in Abuja, Obasanjo asked the participants to rise and observe one-minute silence in memory of Sullivan, a defender of Africa's cause.

Clinton also mentioned Sullivan in his speech to the Summit, saying he would like to honour the memory of an American who inspired him to love Africa.

Sullivan established the African/African-American Summit as part of his efforts to create a stronger bond between the two continents, and his efforts were credited with helping to end apartheid in South Africa.

He was due to organise the latest edition of the Summit in the Nigerian capital Abuja, this week, which was postponed before his death.