CAN NIGERIAN LEADERS EMULATES THIS GREAT MAN? Nelson Mandela has no Jet, no fat foreign back account, no oil refinery, no Jaguar Phantom, yet this man has a day named after him, the Mandela Day, he received the highest Award of the Grand Commander of the Federal Republic, a national honor reserved only for sitting Nigerian Presidents. He was given a Nobel Prize, the next version of the English Dictionary will have a new word added to it – Mandela: Selfless Service. Brenda Fassie sang a song for him and in one of the composition, she pointed at Mandela and sang thus :” I will Die for my President”. He was given one of the the highest US Award of Honour, the President’s Medal of Freedom. Russia gave him the Lenin Award. Yet this man served only one term as President and he handed over power. The students of the University of London as a mark of honour elected him as a president of their students’ union even when he was in Prison. This gesture is a far departure from the useless award mill engaged in by our NANS and hungry students union bodies who give awards to oil thieves and drug barons for money. One great event in the life of this man which brought mist into my eyes was when over eighty, he visited a soccer stadium in South Africa to watch a Game, the entire Stadium stood up for him. It happened at a soccer stadium in SOWETO, South Africa, 84,000 people stood up to salute the man who spent 27 years in prison fighting for them. The crowd made up a song on the spot and sang it as a call and response: One side of the stadium would sing high, “NEL- SON MANDELA!” and the other side would answer low, “NEL-SON MANDELA!” Another great event happened at Wembley Stadium shortly after his release in 1990, more than 170,000 people stood up to salute the man. What more honor could a man want? I know of no other Nigerian Leader who can command these respects from people. What is the use of 500 Jeeps, 5 Gulf Street Jets, 22 Oil Refineries when you will die without taken one of them along. Why not build a legacy worth emulating. We need a change in values, We need to learn to celebrate our true heroes. We need to celebrate men like Ken Saro Wiwa and the Ogoni 7 who were killed by Abacha and Shell Corporations for standing up for rights of the down trodden, We need to celebrate men like Gani Fawehinmi who stood up for the oppressed and not these hypocritical activists we have around. Celebrate the many others who stood and fought for justice. Nigeria, KNOW YOUR TRUE LEADERS!!! Culled from; adegoke.info
Posted on: Tue, 01 Oct 2013 09:49:21 +0000
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