USA Africa Dialogue Series - One year after a Madiba called Nelson Mandela

One year after a Madiba called Nelson Mandela

KAYODE KETEFE

We have just witnessed a year anniversary of the death of Africa's most outstanding political icons, Nelson Rolihlahha Mandela, who died on December 5, 2013, after a protracted and continual sickness actuated by debilities of old age. The charismatic, anti-apartheid revolutionist, lawyer and moralist was arguably the greatest black man of all time.
Born in Mvezo, a small village in the district of Umtata on July 18, 1918 in the Xhosa clan, Mandela early years marked the era when the evils of apartheid were at their sadistic worst.
Subjugation, repression, not to mention exploitation of the black majority population, defined the relationship of the supremacist white minority.
Convinced in the ideology that all men were born equal and endowed by their creator with certain inalienable rights, Mandela, early in life, set himself a goal – the liberation of his black people.
It was the struggle for actualisation of this lofty dream that truncated the "normal" course of his life. As a young man, Mandela was ruled by the unquenchable hunger for social reforms and rugged temerity of the likes of the late Chief Gani Fawehinmi (SAN), who employed law as an instrument for promoting public interests.
As an old man, Mandela was suffused by the vision, knowledge, insight and political sagacity of the late Chief Obafemi Awolowo. What a rare African he was indeed!
The dynamism of his leadership of the Umkonto we Sizwe, the armed wing of the African National Congress (ANC) that mainly engaged in guerilla offensive, got him into trouble with the white supremacists. He was arrested on contrived allegation of sabotage and other charges. An unfair hearing was held after which he was sentenced to life imprisonment.
For a whopping 27 years that Mandela served in prison, majority of which he spent on Robben Island, his spirit was unbroken. He was irrevocably committed to the vision of the liberation of his people, and not even the enervating four walls of the prison cell could blur such vision.
After his release from prison on 11 February 1990, Mandela plunged into politics and the entire black South Africans rallied behind him as he eventually led the ANC to a predictable landslide electoral victory that culminated in the country first ever multiracial democracy.
That was in 1994. Rather than engage in any vindictive retaliations of his personal sufferings or the collective oppression and inhumanity suffered by his people, he magnanimously engaged in campaign for forgiveness and reconciliation.
This gracious forbearance and humanity endeared him to people all over the globe. Before he eventually departed this planet, Mandela was the recipient of more than 250 awards worldwide including, the Nobel Prize for Peace, which he won in 1993.
His birthday has been recognised as "Mandela Day" by no less an organisation than the United Nations, which has "canonized" the day as a commemorative global day for volunteers for good causes, thus, his nativity has been entrenched permanently into human history to serve as inspiration for others to engage in laudable selfless service to humanity. Mandela's life should be a lesson to political leaders in Africa. He was not a sit-tight politician; despite his popularity, he voluntarily relinquished power in 1999, having only ruled for five years.
If any man had a somewhat justifiable excuse for self-perpetuation in office, who else than a man that was incarcerated for 27 years of the best part of his life for the cause of the people? But selfish agenda had no place in his ideology; his vision transcended mundane considerations that inspire most of African leaders.
He was not a thief; he had nothing in common with the rapacious kleptocrats prowling the political corridors of Africa. Madiba, as he was affectionately called, had no bank accounts in Switzerland, no magnificent residences in London, Washington and Toronto, no skyscrapers, built with stolen money, in major capitals of the world as majority of African politicians are wont to do.
May Africa keep producing people like Nelson Mandela, more people like Chief Obafemi Awolowo, Dr Nnamdi Azikiwe, Kwame Nkumah, Dr Julius Nyerere, Patrice Lumumba, Leopold Senghor, Thomas Sankara etc, all African prophets, who came with visions for liberating the dark continent and promoting its development. May the mother continent stop having the likes of Idi Amin Dada, Jean Bedel Bokassa, Houphet Boigny, Robert Mugabe, Samuel Doe, Sani Abacha, Mobutu Sese Seko, Hosni Mubarak and, Muamar Ghaddafi.
They are all examples of bad leaders. Today, Madiba is no more with us in flesh, but his life remains an everlasting paragon of excellence for Africans, nay humanity. Let the current African leaders take time to reflect on how their governance would measure if held up to Mandela's standards.
As we approach another general election, this is also the appropriate time for Nigerian politicians to reflect on what good governance is all about. Responsible governance goes beyond wearing empty agbada and babaringa all about with no tangible achievements. It goes beyond self-aggrandisement. It is about procuring and sustaining welfare of the people which is the primary purpose of governance.

Ketefe may be followed on twitter @Ketesco






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