I woke up on Friday
morning and immediately switched on the radio on one of my phones to RADIO
CONTINENTAL 102.3 fm. It was a few minutes past six in the morning and they
were delivering the early morning news. The volume of the radio wasn’t too high
so it won’t disturb others who were still sleeping, but as faint as the audio
from the radio was, I could make out what the newscaster was reading- ‘’…he left prison after 27 years to become
their first black president. He worked tirelessly to forge reconciliation in
the divided country…’’ at this point my dad told me to switch off the phone
or rather, the radio for our morning devotion. As I switched the radio off and
we were getting ready for the morning devotion, I didn’t need anybody to tell
me whose profile was being read. It was very clear who it was the newscaster
was describing. Just then it dawned on me that such exercise by the newscaster
is usually done when a prominent person, a public figure dies. But the being for
whom the world’s mass media had stood still wasn’t just a prominent person or a
mere public figure; characteristics he very well transcended, he was a god. I kept my thought to myself during
the devotion and when it ended, I immediately invited my younger brothers to
listen to the radio broadcast and their conclusion was as good as mine, a god had died.
Nelson
Rolihlahla Mandela was a colossus. That
was why he was able to stomach with immense courage, all the assaults and
attacks thrown at him by the apartheid regime; a giant whose achievements and
accomplishments are outstanding, a titan who was powerful beyond measure,
stretching his influence across boundaries and borders. In comparison with
others of his kind and time, Mandela was a leviathan. Mandela was big and
powerful.
It is not usual for a god to die because a god is supposed
to rise above the natural, defy the ordinary and in fact direct the course of
the ordinary. But a god died.
When gods die, they shake the world. For example, the bible
records that the world practically stood still when Jesus died, He is
considered by many Christians as God the
Son, a concept I don’t believe in anyway. Michael Jackson was another god
whose death sent shock waves around the world and whose aftershock is still
being felt. One thing common with all these individuals and others like them
was that they had a purpose for living, a purpose for which they were ready to
die. After his release from prison, Mandela said “I have cherished the ideal of a
democratic and free society in which all persons live together in harmony and
with equal opportunites...if needs be, it is an ideal for which I am prepared
to die”.
A lot has been said about his
virtues, values and essence. But I would like to point your attention to an
aspect many people get wrong. As much as I believe that Mandela’s life stand as
an example for politicians to emulate, even to those in his country, it is not
only politicians who should model themselves after him (in fact most of them
are not willing to do so, they are just pretending), anybody who thinks of
impacting his generation should. Nelson Mandela successfully led himself before
he led others, lessons about his life should be personalized by all (leaders
and led). A lot of Nigerians, especially the youth will very easily compare
Mandela to our leaders and talk about how these leaders should go to prison and
die for their people; yet this army of young people would rather go to prison and
die for the latest songs by P Square, Wizkid, D-banj and so on; songs that
debase our values, deplete our cultural reservoir and extol sexual promiscuity
in the name of useless entertainment.
Let us wake up and stop criticizing
our leaders while we do nothing to and with ourselves; let us start working on
ourselves today because tomorrow belongs to us; let us start feeding our heads
and not our waists so that our actions will produce superior results that will
resonate round the world. Mandela fed his head in prison, his law degree is an
evidence of it and his works beyond prison showed it.
Mandela was not a man
of superior values; he only lived out values that brought extra-ordinary
solutions, values like freedom, equality, forgiveness, sanctity of the human spirit
and love for mankind. These are values the leaders and the led should imbibe in
Nigeria for us to make any meaningful progress.
A god has died, but he
lives on because gods don’t really die, they transcend to greater realms of
existence.
Adieu Madiba…
Be inspired!
Remain motivated!
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