Down payment with precious 27 years of a Life - Mandela... lessons for my African generation!
Never before in history has the world paused in a moment packed with a flurry of a medley of emotions to focus all attention to the thresholds of a prison gate. Though many a young person may have scant memories of that time,as a little boy of 11 then, I have the relevance of the events of that momentous moment etched on my mind, just as surely and indelibly as they are on the pages of history. Coming from a continent where it wouldn't be so wrong to say it is largely ruled by a cabal of bandits who are driving the continent with an engine of greed to the edge of a fatally steep precipice; 11th February which this year commemorates 20 years of Nelson Mandela's release from prison, fans flames of a healthy pride in me for a sterling statesman like Mandela. Mandela belongs to a crop and league of statesmen who only come to a generation every once in a while. He is among the few which Robert F Kennedy talked about when he said "Few will have the greatness to bend history itself, but each of us can work to change a small portion of events, and in the total of all those acts will be written the history of this generation. It is from numberless diverse acts of courage and belief that human history is shaped." As he walked through the doors of his cell, he brought away with him a freedom which to a large extent liberated both the oppressed and oppressor in the despicable apartheid South Africa. A political genius, a charming negotiator, an endurant hard worker who despised and mocked the low road of unforgiveness and rose to the majestic heights of forgiving and finding partners in his jailers. I salute Mandela and all his compatriots in the struggle, dead and alive... Even as I salute him, I cannot help but wonder how he could not bring his charm, ability to forgive and genius to bear in salving his ailing marriage to Winnie Mandela who in no small way stood by him and made significant contribution to the struggle... Could a marriage be more difficult to fix than an apartheid south africa? that is a question for another time and day. As I salute the legacy of Mandela I think of lessons my generation and I can draw from his journey.
While Mandela made the down payment with probably the most precious 27 years of his life, there must have been some who shamelessly watched from the sidelines of passivity as the apartheid drama unfolded to the finale which saw the beginning of their emancipation, yet savored the prize of the price payed with precious lives... as many toiled for change at home, there must have also been some who gave the struggle an invaluably important voice from exile... So as young people whether at home or abroad I hear a call today for us to become a little more selfLESS and give a little of our brains and time by thinking constructive, bold, actionable ideas directed towards the self healing of africa, a request I believe any and every young person can meet...
Mandela could well have easily traded his jail time for a life of ease abroad...If you read the Anatomy of a miracle: The end of apartheid and the birth of the new South Africa by Patti Waldmeir you will see that Mandela had a plethora of choices and if you read South African History well you will also notice many many many blacks ran away from the country. In fact Mandela had more choices than we have today as a people of Africa yet he walked the hard road. See the except from Wikipedia to slightly buttress my point... "In February 1985 President P.W. Botha offered Mandela conditional release in return for renouncing armed struggle.[54] Coetzee and other ministers had advised Botha against this, saying that Mandela would never commit his organisation to giving up the armed struggle in exchange for personal freedom.[55] Mandela indeed spurned the offer, releasing a statement via his daughter Zindzi saying "What freedom am I being offered while the organisation of the people remains banned? Only free men can negotiate. A prisoner cannot enter into contracts."[53]" - Wikipedia
It would of course be naively akin to wanting to live forever to expect to find a path which leads to the mountain top which was obstacle free. When a people are bent on developing, if they don't find the path they will make one, and both involve an indefatigable hard work... When Mandela dreamed many years ago it would have been easy to say he was living and dreaming in sky-scapers of the future which he could not afford... it was not a passive inactive dreaming even against the barrage of pessimism from within and without which probably came his way... it was an active waiting which never lost hope and which was never idle even from a jail cell. We will only become noble and develop by the things we do... one thing however which the way forward cannot tolerate is any excuse for not giving or for not participating... inaction is always the easier road and great men and women never walk that path...Africans have walked down that path long enough and we have the results to show - needless to name them here but we can begin to say, not any more... inactivity will always seek to stand in the way of action, we can not let it, not any more... As a bright future beckons our generation to put our act together and step up, steering away from the mistakes of our forbears, history is watching and will judge us... No action is small, none is dumb, all is important... we can belong together and whether we realize now or not, we can rise together... the ball is in our court, the choice is ours...
It cannot be easy... It takes time and I am painfully aware of our impatience as a young people. We cannot be in the process of building an airplane and flying it at the same time, so it will be important to go back to the drawing boards. We cannot expect results before the work is done... We cannot expect a harvest before the planting season has come... The failures of yesterday cannot stop us from succeeding today unless we choose to... If there is any hope for Africa, we must stubbornly press on and we must, together with like passion driven minds, from within or without Africa either find the path forward, create one or die trying, God being our helper... We will like to see results in our lifetime but lack of results in our lifetime and potential for change only in another must not stop us from acting today in anyway we can... I am convinced in the power of ideas, I have seen their magic, their charm enthralls and the right, bold, actionable, root cause removal oriented ideas to real problems will always attract their funding in the long run... I believe, I am a believer in the things unseen, that is where tomorrow's reality is... those who wait to have enough to give never really give... Today let us begin to drive the last nail on the coffin of selfishness and burn it so that like a phoenix selflessness might rise from the ashes in stead.
© 2010 afeseh ngwa hilary.
This was a great article, well written, and with a powerful message. We definitely need to start actively working towards developing Africa. We cannot be called "developing countries" forever, that will be contradictory.
ReplyDeleteBut then, what is it with creative writers, novelists, and similar individuals and big words ;).
hehe my broda... thanks for ur kind words... I am trusting that you are actively working towards developing Africa for real... your last comment is funny hahahah... I don't know about big words or small words... I just know about words and use them to the best of my ability when I think they suit a situation best... maybe I should ask any creative writers and novelists I know...
ReplyDeleteI love the passion in your writing.. I have a critical comment to make, however.. :)
ReplyDeleteIt has to do with the marriage comment you made..I am offended by it! Crisis is a powerful way to know who will be your strength but it also takes a toll on perceived happiness. It can be hard to remember the 'good times' when recent times have been filled with tragedy and trauma. You are in no position to judge Mandela's ability to hold together his marriage! It takes two, my friend. And sometimes even that is not enough. Sometimes people drift away, and it has nothing to do with morality. I beseech you to not judge anyone, whether as influential as Mandela or as ordinary as some of us, based on their marital status..
hey Nivedita- thank you... I agree with you… I appreciate the candor in your critique beyond telling of words... honesty is a hallmark of true friendship even when it is tough… I am sorry that my comment inadvertently offended you… If I remember well you have felt slighted in the past by a fb status I had on marriage... I do not know what sharpens your sensitivity to this topic but I should not get into that... I grew up in a home in which my wonderful parents like in all marriages do not have a perfect union... I have experienced and seen a lot of madness in homes, so I take marriage very seriously... I know how challenging it can be to keep it going… I always emphasize that without help from God I am a terrible wretch myself, and do right only when I tap from HIM... I believe beyond a shadow of doubt that no man can or should judge another except God...
ReplyDeleteI also find it very frustrating that it is so difficult to strive for perfection without coming forth as perfect(no man is perfect) and very difficult many times to point out a weakness even if it were just for the purpose of learning or helping the weak person grow without coming forth as a Judge... My probing mind was only wondering in my comment about Mandela's marriage... mostly in other to learn... I have the utmost respect and admiration for mighty Mandela but Nelson Mandela was and is a man, not God and his failings humanize him...everything that he is, is part of the history he wrote... if we can learn from his strengths, we can learn from his weaknesses... that is all I am trying to do... hope this explanation helps salve the sting of my unintended offense to you… I hope that in the future when I take a stance for or against something, or even just wonder why aloud, even when it appears controversial, you will understand that I am neither judging nor am I perfect… I am only an imperfect man trying to be a better man and help in whatever way I deem necessary to build a better world… in the worst case scenario we can always agree to disagree my friend…I respect u :-) … you help me grow… thank u…
a speech that will be made from a podium someday, yes? :)
ReplyDeleteand your reply to nive, you be diplomat massa :)
great post man!
lol KB - where did the pidgin english come from...? who have you been talking to...? :-)... thanks man... :)
ReplyDelete