A Simple Tribute to President Madiba Nelson Mandela and a Wake-up
Call for African Leaders
It is particularly gratifying to read the numerous and powerful encomiums
"poured" on the contributions to Africa and the world of the late Madiba Nelson
Mandela on this forum and elsewhere. I have been so scared to write a simple
tribute to this great Giant of Africa in part or because I simply don't have the
prestige and attributes of kings, princes, presidents, prime ministers,
intellectuals with their majestic materials, imposing robes and embroidered
mouths, to say a thing or two befitting this wonderful African leader. Since so
many of you in your beautiful poems and proses have touched on those qualities
that have made Mandela exceptional in African politics, I thought I should share
with you one small but significant quality about this man fondly
called—Madiba—that touched me profoundly given my extraordinary modest background.
A couple of years ago, I was privileged to have visited South Africa. My
destination, of course, was Johannesburg one of the important seats of power. I
also visited Pretoria a stone's throw away from Johannesburg and sat in front of
the resplendent Parliament musing—yes just musing about the first day President
Mandela presided over the activities of Parliament after many years of
incarceration.
However, it was not the beautiful Johannesburg or Pretoria that I fancied the
most; it was, in truth, my visit to Soweto one of the centers were the
anti-apartheid revolution simmered—some of the uprisings which I recorded for my
African Politics class. What affected my humble-self deeply was Winnie and
Madiba's modest home in Soweto—a simple, humble home that reminded me of that
of President Arias of Costa Rica (that we visited many years ago following a
conference in San Jose). Even his home in Johannesburg that I saw from afar
after his presidency does not compare in opulence with those of many African
ex-presidents—thus suggesting that he, like President Nyerere of Tanzania, did
not do "damage" to the national till or coffers as is the case with some leaders
in West Africa, for example.
There are many African leaders who will be attending the funeral of this late
and greatest contemporary leader in African history on December 15, 2013. I urge
these leaders to take this opportunity, in their reflection/s on the life of
this special man, to take an oath or establish a unique covenant with their
citizens to serve their polities unselfishly, believing as did Madiba, that they
are called upon as servants and not masters to help all of their compatriots in
our multi-ethnic societies. In this way, we might be able to erect monuments to
celebrate your genuine service to your country, Africa and humanity. This is a
major lesson that we hope you will come away with following the celebration so
that his death will not have been in vain for your country and the rest of
Africa. And, we believe that you can do it!
May the soul of our great father—PRESIDENT MADIBA NELSON MANDELA—rest in perfect
peace with those of our other departed and esteemed ancestors!
Ike Udogu
--
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Call for African Leaders
It is particularly gratifying to read the numerous and powerful encomiums
"poured" on the contributions to Africa and the world of the late Madiba Nelson
Mandela on this forum and elsewhere. I have been so scared to write a simple
tribute to this great Giant of Africa in part or because I simply don't have the
prestige and attributes of kings, princes, presidents, prime ministers,
intellectuals with their majestic materials, imposing robes and embroidered
mouths, to say a thing or two befitting this wonderful African leader. Since so
many of you in your beautiful poems and proses have touched on those qualities
that have made Mandela exceptional in African politics, I thought I should share
with you one small but significant quality about this man fondly
called—Madiba—that touched me profoundly given my extraordinary modest background.
A couple of years ago, I was privileged to have visited South Africa. My
destination, of course, was Johannesburg one of the important seats of power. I
also visited Pretoria a stone's throw away from Johannesburg and sat in front of
the resplendent Parliament musing—yes just musing about the first day President
Mandela presided over the activities of Parliament after many years of
incarceration.
However, it was not the beautiful Johannesburg or Pretoria that I fancied the
most; it was, in truth, my visit to Soweto one of the centers were the
anti-apartheid revolution simmered—some of the uprisings which I recorded for my
African Politics class. What affected my humble-self deeply was Winnie and
Madiba's modest home in Soweto—a simple, humble home that reminded me of that
of President Arias of Costa Rica (that we visited many years ago following a
conference in San Jose). Even his home in Johannesburg that I saw from afar
after his presidency does not compare in opulence with those of many African
ex-presidents—thus suggesting that he, like President Nyerere of Tanzania, did
not do "damage" to the national till or coffers as is the case with some leaders
in West Africa, for example.
There are many African leaders who will be attending the funeral of this late
and greatest contemporary leader in African history on December 15, 2013. I urge
these leaders to take this opportunity, in their reflection/s on the life of
this special man, to take an oath or establish a unique covenant with their
citizens to serve their polities unselfishly, believing as did Madiba, that they
are called upon as servants and not masters to help all of their compatriots in
our multi-ethnic societies. In this way, we might be able to erect monuments to
celebrate your genuine service to your country, Africa and humanity. This is a
major lesson that we hope you will come away with following the celebration so
that his death will not have been in vain for your country and the rest of
Africa. And, we believe that you can do it!
May the soul of our great father—PRESIDENT MADIBA NELSON MANDELA—rest in perfect
peace with those of our other departed and esteemed ancestors!
Ike Udogu
--
You received this message because you are subscribed to the "USA-Africa Dialogue Series" moderated by Toyin Falola, University of Texas at Austin.
For current archives, visit http://groups.google.com/group/USAAfricaDialogue
For previous archives, visit http://www.utexas.edu/conferences/africa/ads/index.html
To post to this group, send an email to USAAfricaDialogue@googlegroups.com
To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to USAAfricaDialogue-
unsubscribe@googlegroups.com
---
You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "USA Africa Dialogue Series" group.
To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to usaafricadialogue+unsubscribe@googlegroups.com.
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