TRIBUTE TO MANDELA

“Christ laid the way; he furnished the spirit and motivation, Gandhi furnished the methods and philosophies, Martin Luther (Jr) dream't the dream and furnished the vision, Nelson Mandela Fulfilled the Promise” You may call this an eulogy, you may call this a tribute but actually I would call it an art of painstakingly putting to words the beauty of the deeds of a particular man. This is because to eulogize a man who denied praises for himself would be like beating the air. "I am not a saint", he usually said, "Unless you think of a saint as a sinner who keeps on trying" Nelson Rolihlahla Madiba Mandela: That was his full name. I never truly understood hatred whilst growing up but one thing was sure - "An eye for an eye". Hearing about Mandela's feat after prison, left me dumbfounded. Imprisoned for 26 years, 26 years whilst his people suffered at the hands of the oppressors, 26 years of incarceration only to be released to forgive his oppressors. Mandela was not a statue made of marble; he was a man of flesh and blood — a son and a husband, a father and a friend. And that’s why we can learn from him, for nothing he achieved was inevitable. A man who earned his place in history through peaceful struggle, persistence and faith. He tells us what is possible not just in the pages of history books, but in our own lives as well. He accepted the consequences of his actions, knowing that standing up to powerful interests and injustice carries a price. “I have fought against white domination and I have fought against black domination. I’ve cherished the ideal of a democratic and free society in which all persons live together in harmony and [with] equal opportunities. It is an ideal which I hope to live for and to achieve. But if needs be, it is an ideal for which I am prepared to die.” Mandela taught us the power of action, but he also taught us the power of ideas; the importance of reason and arguments; the need to study not only those who you agree with, but also those who you don’t agree with. He understood that ideas cannot be contained by prison walls, or extinguished by a sniper’s bullet. He turned his trial into an indictment of apartheid because of his eloquence and his passion, but also because of his training as an advocate. He used decades in prison to sharpen his arguments, but also to spread his thirst for knowledge to others in the movement. And he learned the language and the customs of his oppressor so that one day he might better convey to them how their own freedom depends upon his. Mandela understood the ties that bind the human spirit. There is a word in South Africa — Ubuntu — a word that captures Mandela’s greatest gift: his recognition that we are all bound together in ways that are invisible to the eye; that there is a oneness to humanity; that we achieve ourselves by sharing ourselves with others, and caring for those around us. We can never know how much of this sense was innate in him, or how much was shaped in a dark and solitary cell. But we remember the gestures, large and small — introducing his jailers as honored guests at his inauguration; turning his family’s heartbreak into a call to confront HIV/AIDS — that revealed the depth of his empathy and his understanding. It took a man like Madiba to free not just the prisoner, but the jailer as well, to show that you must trust others so that they may trust you; to teach that reconciliation is not a matter of ignoring a cruel past, but a means of confronting it with inclusion and generosity and truth. He changed laws, but he also changed hearts. For the people of South Africa, for those he inspired around the globe, Madiba’s passing is rightly a time of mourning, and a time to celebrate a heroic life. But I believe it should also prompt in each of us a time for self-reflection. With honesty, regardless of our station or our circumstance, we must ask: How well have I applied his lessons in my own life? For a nation like Nigeria, we need a Mandela. To paraphrase Hollands words: God gives us leaders! A time like this demands strong minds, great hearts, True faith and ready hands; Leaders whom the lust of office does not kill; Leaders whom the spoils of life cannot buy; Leaders who posses opinion and a will; Leaders who have honor, leaders who will not lie; Leaders who can stand before a demagogue and damn his treacherous flatteries without winking! Tall leaders, sun crowned, who live above the fog in public duty and private thinking. May God bless the memory of Nelson Mandela