MANDELA
HITS LANDMARK IN GRAND STYLE
‘Life
is fragile. It doesn’t matter who you are, hOW good you are
at what you do, how many beautiful buildings you put up, or how many people
know your name. No one on earth can be totally secure, because nothing can
completely protect you from life’s tragedies and the relentless passage of
time’’- Donald John Trump
EXCLUSIVE
TRIBUTE BY ‘’ PEOPLE’S WORDSMITH’, MIKE CERUTTI OSAGIE
I have always been fascinated by the global
brand, called NELSON ROLIHLAHLA MANDELA. It is a faith I have kept since 2004
that I first stepped my feet in South Africa
It is on record, year in year out; I have always
wordsmith a profile on Madiba, all the works are in plane black and white till
date
But in scribbling my 2013 craft on the icon, I
was lost on how to start. How do you star a piece on man who has differed death
on many occasion? Whose obituary has been written many times while still alive
But in what could be described as one of the
greatest comeback of all times
remains the news that the world was told last night-on eve of
the historic 95 birthday, when the globally loved man, Mandela made a
“dramatic progress," in his health
that was hitherto labeled by many arm chair watchers as vegetative, he picked
up and hospital authority posit tat he
may be going home "anytime soon," which was also confirmed by his daughter
Zindzi on the eve of his 95th birthday.
Her words "I visited him yesterday and he was watching television with headphones," said Zindzi Mandela in an interview with Britain's Sky TV. "He gave us a huge smile and raised his hand ... He responds with his eyes and his hands."
Mandela is gaining "energy and strength," said his daughter. "I should think he will be going home anytime soon."
The latest description by Zindzi - who is one of Mandela's daughters by his second wife, Winnie Madikizela-Mandela - is a significant improvement from court documents filed by the family earlier this month which said he was on life support and near death.
Mandela has been in a Pretoria hospital since June 8 and officials AND the world has never stopped praying for him. This has indeed shown that he is not run of mills man. Hence today when noteworthy legends, prodigious writers and ever green icons roll out quotes- many of them which has today outlived them- there may be heavy connotation in a couple of some of those quotes after all
Using the birthday king, Chief (Dr) Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela
27
years jail term as a typical case study, we cannot but help to concur with the
gigantic quote by world famous “Mahatma Gandhi ,in his book: The weak can
never forgive. Forgiveness is the attribute of the strong.”
Perhaps what is till date counting good for MANDELA is his rare heart of gold, a heart to forgive, especially the white apartheid lords that jailed him 27 years in various South African prisons. He came out after over two decades and said it loud and clear: ‘’I forgive all who kept me in prison all these years’’
So today, as the world marks the historic
landmark 95 years birthday of MADIBA, the great icon from South Africa, Sir Williams
Shakespeare quote on greatness easily come to mind and I quote: “Be not afraid
of greatness. Some are born great, some achieve greatness, and others have
greatness thrust upon them (Twelfth Night)
Mandela could no doubt be described as most
important citizen on earth today. Many idolize his image; many love him to the
point of death. His 27 years spent in various South Africa prison has ion n o
small way made him enjoy global sympathy, and today, many years after the
dreadful apartheid has been totally crushed, Mandela’s image still looms larger
than large
Francis Bacon had once argued that life after
solitude can turn you to beast or god. Where Mandela stand in Bacon’s
description is self explanatory, perhaps a vivid description of MANDELA and his
prison life in various dungeons will do us a lot of good
Born on July 18, 1918, in Mveso, Transkei, South
Africa. Becoming actively involved in the anti-apartheid movement in his 20s,
Mandela joined the African National Congress in 1942. For 20 years, he directed
a campaign of peaceful, non-violent defiance against the South African government
and its racist policies. In 1963 he was brought to trial and sentenced to life
imprisonment for political offenses, including sabotage.
MANDELA LIFE IN VARIOUSE JAIL
Mandela has always fought against injustice and
has always being a stumbling block to the racist South Africa then apartheid
government
On 5 August 1962 Mandela was arrested
after putting heavy pressure on the hands of the white apartheid masters for
several years months, and was imprisoned .A large number of groups have been
accused of tipping off the police about Mandela’s whereabouts including the
South African Communist Party, Mandela’s host in Durban GR Naidoo, and the CIA,
but Mandela himself considers none of these connections to be credible and
instead attributes his arrest to his own carelessness in concealing his
movements.
Three days later, the charges of
leading workers to strike in 1961 and leaving the country illegally were read
to him during a court appearance. On 25 October 1962, Mandela was sentenced,
based on severely allegations leveled against him, he was however giving benefit
of defending himself
In
his statement from the dock at the opening of the defense case in the trial on
20 April 1964 at Pretoria
Supreme Court, Mandela, did all his best to defend his innocence, using the violence threat as an example, the Legend laid out the reasoning in the ANC's choice to use violence as a tactic.
Supreme Court, Mandela, did all his best to defend his innocence, using the violence threat as an example, the Legend laid out the reasoning in the ANC's choice to use violence as a tactic.
His
statement described how the ANC had used peaceful means to resist apartheid for
years until the Sharpeville Massacre. That event coupled
with the referendum establishing the Republic of South Africa and the
declaration of a state of emergency along with the
banning of the ANC made it clear to Mandela and his compatriots that their only
choice was to resist through acts of sabotage and that doing otherwise would
have been tantamount to unconditional surrender.
Mandela
went on to explain how they developed the Manifesto of Umkhonto we Sizwe on 16 December 1961
intent on exposing the failure of the National Party's policies after the
economy would be threatened by foreigners' unwillingness to risk investing in
the country.
He
closed his statement with these words: "During my lifetime I have dedicated
myself to the struggle of the African people. I have fought against white
domination, and I have fought against black domination. I have 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: VISITORS TO SEVERAL SOUTH AFRICA JAIL
What a cross, the man carried to emancipate his
people? What a trip to various jails? Let’s
count
reputation grew and he became widely known as the most significant black leader
in South Africa. On the island, he and other
. Mandela was first imprisoned on Robben Island
where he remained for the next eighteen of his twenty-seven years in prison.
While in jail, Prison conditions were very basic. Prisoners were segregated by
race, with black prisoners receiving the fewest rations.
Political prisoners were kept separate
from ordinary criminals and received fewer privileges. Mandela describes how, as
a D-group prisoner (the lowest classification) he was allowed one visitor and
one letter every six months. Letters, when they came, were often delayed for
long periods and made unreadable by the prison censors.
Whilst in prison Mandela undertook
study with the University of London by correspondence through its External Programme
and received the degree of Bachelor of Law, as
the degree s.-That was no doubt one of the
smartest move of his life, as the experience went on to shape his future career
in politics
In his 1981 memoir Inside BOSS,
secret agent Gordon Winter describes his involvement in a plot to rescue
Mandela from prison in 1969: this plot was infiltrated by winter on behalf of
South African intelligence, who wanted Mandela to escape so they could shoot
him during recapture.
*In March 1982 Mandela was transferred
from Robben Island to Pollsmoor Prison,
along with other senior ANC leaders Walter Sisulu, Andrew Mlangeni, Ahmed Kathrada
and Raymond Mhlaba.It was speculated
that this was to remove the influence of these senior leaders on the new
generation of young black activists imprisoned on Robben Island, the so-called
"Mandela University" .However, National Party minister Kobie Coetsee
says that the move was to enable discreet contact between them and the South
African government
In February 1985 President P.W. Botha
offered Mandela his freedom on condition that he 'unconditionally rejected
violence as a political weapon'. Coetzee and other ministers had advised Botha
against this, saying that Mandela would never commit his organization to giving
up the armed struggle in exchange for personal freedom. Mandela indeed spurned
the offer, releasing a statement via his daughter Zindzi saying "What
freedom am I being offered while the organization of the people remains banned?
Only free men can negotiate. A prisoner cannot enter contract
FINAL BUS STOP FOR MANDELA:
In 1988 Mandela was moved to Victor Verster
Prison
and would remain there until his release. Various restrictions were lifted and
people such as Harry Schwarz were able to visit
him.Schwarz, a lifelong friend of Mandela, had known him since university when
they were in the same law class. He was also a defense barrister at the Rivonia
Trial and would become Mandela's ambassador to Washington during his
presidency.
Throughout
Mandela's imprisonment, local and international pressure mounted on the South
African government to release him, under the resounding slogan Free Nelson
Mandela! In 1989, South Africa reached a crossroads when Botha suffered a
stroke and was replaced as president by Frederik Willem de Klerk.De Klerk announced
Mandela's release in February 1990.
LIKE JESUS
CHRIST.LIKE MANDELA
Perhaps
why the world love and adore MANDELA could b retraced to his selfless
and forgiving heart, after release from jail, he never harbored grudges against
the white people that nearly wasted his
life in various South Africa jail
Mandela
was released from Victor Vorster
Prison
in Paarl on 11 February 1990,
in a historical event was broadcast live all over the world. On the day of his
release, Mandela made a speech to the nation. He said he has forgiving all his
jailors and immediately declared before the world that
his commitment to peace and reconciliation with the country's white
minority, but made it clear that the ANC's armed struggle was not yet over
because the factors which necessitated the armed struggle still exist today.
We
have no option but to continue. We hope that a climate conducive to a negotiated
settlement would be created soon, so that there may no longer be the need for
the armed struggle." Adding that his main focus was to bring peace to the
black majority and give them the right to vote in both national and local
elections
MANDELA
AS MAN OF HONOUR (ONE SINGLE TERM AS
A
MARK OF HONOUR)
*His
honor is still intact; he is unlike majority of Africa’s seat tight in office
president.
Mandela became the oldest elected President of South Africa when he took office
at the age of 75 in 1994. He decided not to stand for a second term and retired
in 1999, to be succeeded by Thabo Mbeki.
Before
then, South Africa's first multi-racial elections in which full
enfranchisement was granted were held on 27 April 1994. The ANC won 62% of the
votes in the election, and Mandela, as leader of the ANC, was inaugurated on 10
May 1994 as the country's first black President, with the National Party's de Klerk as
his first deputy and Thabo Mbeki as the second in the
Government of National Unity.[87]
As President from May 1994 until June 1999,
Mandela presided over the transition from minority rule and apartheid, winning
international respect for his advocacy of national and international
reconciliation. Mandela encouraged black South Africans to get behind the
previously hated Springboks (the South African national rugby
team) as South Africa hosted the Cup.
After the Springboks won an epic final over
New Zealand, Mandela presented the trophy to Captain Francois Pienaar, an Afrikaner,
wearing a Springbok shirt with Pienaar's own number 6 on the back. This was
widely seen as a major step in the reconciliation of white and black South
Africans.-this is no doubt, yet another MANDELA advantage-showing
unconditional love devoid of race/ culture
SOME
VIRTUES OF MANDELA TO LEARN FROM
The Rich man roan who is barren of virtues, in
reality such wealthy mortals are but poor and as surely as the waters in the
river is drifting to the ocean, so surely is he in the midst of all his riches,
drifting towards oblivion and misfortune, and though staked rich, he will not
enjoy any legacy that will make his name be talked about many years after he
must have crossed to the land of greater beyond
But simple and contended man like Mandela, who
put his life to fight for the masses to the detriment of his well being, is
very rich in virtue, and in the midst of the many pains he has taken for his
people, has surly travelled past unprecedented legacy and abounding joy and
bliss awaits him, even long after his death
Today, we must all learn from the master,
Mandela, if we must eternally remain in worlds subconscious, like the way
MANDELA has done it for decades on now, we must models our life /thoughts to be
like MANDELA, and become virtues, it is therefore very wrong and unwise of
today’s leader and even future leaders
to aim directly at greatness as objective of life, to reach out greedily for
it, to that is not MANDELAISM. It’s akin to the ultimate defeat of one, but
rather like MANDELA, makes unselfish service to mankind, forgiveness, humility,
love, patient, the object of your life, while putting your faith towards the
supreme and unalterable good
Service
to mankind, the poor masses and the abandoned children has always been MANDELA
forth, and it is not strange that after his retirement as President, Mandela
went on to become an advocate for a variety of social and human rights organizations,
expressing massive support for the international Make Poverty History movement of which
the ONE Campaign is a part.
The Nelson Mandela Invitational charity golf
tournament, hosted by Gary Player, has raised over
twenty million rand for children's
charities since its inception in 2000. This annual special event has
become South Africa's most successful charitable sports gathering and benefits
both the Nelson Mandela Children's Fund and Gary Player Foundation equally for
various children's causes around the world.
Mandela
is a vocal supporter of SOS Children's Villages, the world's largest
organization dedicated to raising orphaned and abandoned children-and through
his initiative, vision and direction millions in dollars has been channeled to
SOS villages the world over , not to mention several other less privileged homes via his MANDELA organizations, established to bring
peace to the world namely but not limited to : the Nelson Mandela Foundation, the Nelson Mandela Children's Fund, and the Mandela Rhodes Foundation.
Since his retirement, one of Mandela's primary
commitments has been to the fight against AIDS. He has made many remarks /quote
on AIDS, h e is one of world’s biggest AIDS fighter and in 2003, he had historically lent his support
to the 46664 AIDS fundraising
campaign, named after his prison number. His zeal to eradicate AIDS
from the universe may not b unconnected to the sudden death of His son, Makgatho Mandela, who died of AIDS on
6 January 2005. Mandela's AIDS activism is chronicled in Stephanie Nolen's book, 28: Stories of AIDS in Africa-a MUST READ
So
As the world celebrate another MANDELA DAY, let us Endeavour to learn from the
many MANDELA virtues, so as to make the world a better place.
Like
Jesus Christ, we must learn to keep tab with the virtues of forgiveness and meekness.
This is what has no doubt made the great South Africa apartheid hero globally
loved and emotional attached too
ENTER THE BEST OF
MANDELA’S QUOTE IN GOLD
I learned that courage was not the absence of fear, but the
triumph over it. The brave man is not he who does not feel afraid, but he who
conquers that fear.
-Nelson Mandela
-Nelson Mandela
It is better to lead from behind and to put others in front,
especially when you celebrate victory when nice things occur. You take the
front line when there is danger. Then people will appreciate your leadership.
-Nelson Mandela
-Nelson Mandela
For to be free is not merely to cast off one's chains, but to
live in a way that respects and enhances the freedom of others.
-Nelson Mandela
-Nelson Mandela
If you talk to a man in a language he understands, that goes
to his head. If you talk to him in his language, that goes to his heart.
-Nelson Mandela
-Nelson Mandela
There is no passion to be
found playing small - in settling for a life that is less than the one you are
capable of living.
-Nelson Mandela
-Nelson Mandela
If you want to make peace
with your enemy, you have to work with your enemy. Then he becomes your
partner.
Nelson Mandela
Nelson Mandela
After climbing a great hill,
one only finds that there are many more hills to climb.
-Nelson Mandela
-Nelson Mandela
There is no easy walk to
freedom anywhere, and many of us will have to pass through the valley of the
shadow of death again and again before we reach the mountaintop of our desires.
-Nelson Mandela
-Nelson Mandela
There can be no keener
revelation of a society's soul than the way in which it treats its children.
Nelson Mandela
Nelson Mandela
We must use time wisely and
forever realize that the time is always ripe to do right.
-Nelson Mandela
-Nelson Mandela
Never, never and never again
shall it be that this beautiful land will again experience the oppression of
one by another.
-Nelson Mandela
-Nelson Mandela
I detest racialism, because I
regard it as a barbaric thing, whether it comes from a black man or a white
man.
-Nelson Mandela
-Nelson Mandela
If the United States of
America or Britain is having elections, they don't ask for observers from
Africa or from Asia. But when we have elections, they want observers.
-Nelson Mandela
-Nelson Mandela
A good leader can engage in a
debate frankly and thoroughly, knowing that at the end he and the other side
must be closer, and thus emerge stronger. You don't have that idea when you are
arrogant, superficial, and uninformed.
-Nelson Mandela
-Nelson Mandela
Does anybody really think
that they didn't get what they had because they didn't have the talent or the
strength or the endurance or the commitment?
-Nelson Mandela
-Nelson Mandela
There is nothing like
returning to a place that remains unchanged to find the ways in which you
yourself have altered.
-Nelson Mandela
-Nelson Mandela
-
If there are dreams about a
beautiful South Africa, there are also roads that lead to their goal. Two of
these roads could be named Goodness and Forgiveness.
-Nelson Mandela
-Nelson Mandela
*Chief
Cerutti Osagie: Best selling prolific writer is a long time affectionate
follower of the MADIBA. Year in –year
out he has always wordsmith a befitting profile of MANDELA day on July 18. ‘’The
world is no doubt a stage; Mandela has played his lead lead role’’ he sums
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