The Nation Newspaper

Tag: Mandela

  • Mandela …citizen of the world

    Mandela …citizen of the world

    In his lifetime, he was clear to almost all that he was not just a citizen of South Africa. He was a citizen of the world, adored by many and hated by a few. From Africa to Asia, America and Europe, he was a major factor. Doors were opened to him almost everywhere he went.

    Mandela received a Nobel Peace Prize for his fight against the racist system, and was also a recipient of the Medal of Freedom by former president George W. Bush.

    In recognition of his world class status, the United Nations designated July 18, his birthday, as Nelson Mandela International Day in 2009.

    On his last birthday, President Barack Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama marked the birthday and the fourth Nelson Mandela International Day, saying: “On behalf of the people of the United States, we would like to extend our heartfelt congratulations to Nelson Mandela on the occasion of his 94th birthday and the fourth annual Nelson Mandela International Day. Mandela’s extraordinary life and steadfast commitment to the principles of democracy and reconciliation continues to be a beacon for people of all backgrounds who strive for dignity, justice, and freedom.

    “Nelson Mandela’s personal story is one of unbreakable will, unwavering integrity, and abiding humility. On a personal note, our family has been inspired by Madiba’s example, and has deeply appreciated the time we have spent with him, and his wisdom, grace and generosity of spirit. By any measure, Nelson Mandela has changed the arc of history, transforming his country, continent, and the world.”

    Former president Bill Clinton and his daughter Chelsea spent last July 18 with Mandela in the southeastern village where he grew up. Mandela’s presidential term overlapped with Clinton’s, who called him a “wonderful friend.”

    Clinton also said of Mandela: “He didn’t call me a single time, not once, when he didn’t ask about Hillary and Chelsea. If it wasn’t too late, he’d ask me to go get Chelsea, bring her to the phone, ask about her homework.”

  • Mandela in Words

    Mandela in Words

    “Courage is not the absence of fear — it s inspiring others to move beyond it.”

    “You can never have an impact on society if you have not changed yourself… Great peacemakers are all people of integrity, of honesty, but humility.”

    “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.”

    “As I walked out the door toward the gate that would lead to my freedom, I knew if I
    didn’t leave my bitterness and hatred behind, I’d still be in prison.”

    “I have walked that long road to freedom. I have tried not to falter; I have made missteps along the way. But I have discovered the secret that after climbing a great hill, one only finds that there are many more hills to climb. I have taken a moment here to rest, to steal a view of the glorious
    vista that surrounds me, to look back on the distance I have come. But I can only rest for a moment, for with freedom come responsibilities, and I dare not linger, for my long walk is not ended.”

    “No one is born hating another person because of the color of his skin, or his background, or
    his religion. People must learn to hate, and if they can learn to hate, they can be taught to
    love, for love comes more naturally to the human heart than its opposite.”

    “I am fundamentally an optimist. Whether that comes from nature or nurture, I cannot say. Part of being optimistic is keeping one’s head pointed toward the sun, one’s feet moving forward. There were many dark moments when my faith in humanity was sorely tested, but I would not and could not give myself up to despair. That way lays defeat and death.”

    “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.”

    “When a man is denied the right to live – the life he believes in, he has no choice but to become
    an outlaw.”

    “You will achieve more in this world through acts of mercy than you will through acts of
    retribution.”

    “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.”

    “Let there be justice for all. Let there be peace for all. Let there be work, bread, water and salt
    for all. Let each know that for each the body, the mind and the soul have been freed to
    fulfill themselves.”

     

     

     

  • Obasanjo mourns Mandela

    Obasanjo mourns Mandela

    Former president Olusegun Obasanjo has described the late Nelson Mandela as somebody who raised the beacon of human struggle to lofty heights of nobility.

    Obasanjo, who addressed journalists in his home in Abeokuta on Friday, said Mandela’s life was an example of what people should all aspire for.

    “In all situations, he lived nobly and died in nobility. Let us bear in mind that we all have the opportunity to act nobly in whatever position we find ourselves,” he added.

    He described Mandela’s death as a monumental loss to all human races and called on all to emulate the life and times of the great leader.

    “His demise is a loss to his family who will miss a caring patriarch; the people of South Africa who will miss a guide, Africa who will miss a role model and the world who will miss a leader.

    “When we teach our children lessons for tomorrow, let us remember lessons Mandela gave the world in forgiveness and forbearance,’’ the News Agency of Nigeria quoted Obasanjo as saying to journalists.

    Obasanjo, while eulogising Mandela, recalled the times when he was voted to become South-Africa’s post-apartheid president.

    He said,“During the first non-racial democratic elections in 1994, I was on election observation assignment in South Africa and was there for his campaign and when he cast his vote.

    “He was devoid of bitterness or anger against anybody except the hated apartheid system.

    “He went on to win the election and more importantly led South Africa to the extent that the country was able to cast aside its apartheid legacy and take its place in comity of nations.

    “Certain that his task was completed, Mandela modestly refused to seek re-election after his first term in office as president elapsed.

    “I still recall his pragmatic words when he said to me ‘Olu, show me a place in the world where a man of 80 years is running the affairs of his country.”

     

  • ACF, others mourn Mandela

    The northern socio-political organisation, Arewa Consultative Forum (ACF) and Kaduna based civil rights activist, Mallam Shehu Sani has described South Africa’s first black President, Nelson Mandela, as embodiment of peace, reconciliation and forgiveness.

    Also, the National Union of Textile, Garment and Tailoring Workers of Nigeria described the death of Mandela as the departure of a freedom fighter and global icon of forgiveness.

    In separate statements made available to The Nation in Kaduna, they said that Africa and indeed the world will miss the leadership quality of the anti-apartheid icon who spent 27 years in prison, fighting to free South African blacks from slavery.

    The ACF in a statement signed by its National Publicity Secretary, Anthony Sani ,said, “the departure of a freedom fighter, global icon for forgiveness and unprecedented transition from tyranny to non-racial democracy is capable of ushering a global despair, disillusionment and agony.

    “Arewa Consultative Forum mourns this fact that at last the message has come that former President Nelson Mandela passed on yesterday. Dr. Mandela was an embodiment of peaceful relative pluralism nurtured by reconciliation, forgiveness, tolerance, justice, liberty, common decency, equality and accommodation as well as dignity of man.

    “President Mandela showed that we can make the most of our God-given diversity by working hard to overcome what divide the people in favour of core value of humanity that unite us.

    “And that is why even though he is now at peace associated with death, we cannot be totally wrong to say he is still at pain with what he has left behind in some parts of the world where some people still take it out of themselves in order to address perceived grievances, as if Dr Mandela did not sacrificed his freedom and comfort for the freedom of others and for the sacred inviolability of the individual.

    The President of Civil Rights Congress, Sani said the news of Mandela’s death was a painful one, adding that Africa, the black race and all freedom loving people of the world have lost a revolutionary icon.

     

  • Jonathan declares three-day mourning for Mandela

    Jonathan declares three-day mourning for Mandela

    … AU Commission too

    President Goodluck Jonathan has declared three days of national mourning for former South African President, Dr. Nelson Mandela, who died on Thursday.

    Flags are to be flown at half-mast across Nigeria during the period and President Jonathan urged all Nigerians to unite in solidarity with the people of South Africa as they mourn the “great liberator, freedom fighter and hero of the black race.”

    A statement issued by his media aide, Dr. Reuben Abati, said the President also called for special prayers in mosques and churches in Nigeria during the period of mourning which begins on Friday, for the peaceful repose of Dr. Mandela’s soul.

    A special inter-denominational memorial service for the anti-apartheid icon will be held at the State House Chapel on Sunday.

    Also, the African Union Commission on Friday declared three-day mourning with special funeral service in honour the Madiba.

    The News Agency of Nigeria reports that the special service will take place on Sunday in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.

    The AUC’s Deputy Chairperson, Mr. Eratus Nwencha, made the announcement, when he addressed a press conference on Mandela’s demise on Friday in Addis Ababa.

    The AUC deputy chairperson said the commission would hold the service in collaboration with the Ethiopian government and the South African Embassy in Ethiopia in honour of the Nobel Peace Prize winner.

     

  • Nelson Mandela is dead

    Nelson Mandela is dead

    South Africa’s first black president and anti-apartheid icon, Nelson Mandela, is dead.

    South African President, Jacob Zuma, announced Mandiba’s death on Thursday evening.

    In a statement on the country’s national TV, Mr. Zuma said Mr. Mandela had “departed” and was at peace.

    “Our nation has lost its greatest son,” Mr. Zuma said.

    Mr. Mandela, 95, led South Africa’s transition from white-minority rule in the 1990s, after 27 years in prison.

    BBC reports that he had been receiving intense home-based medical care for a lung infection after three months in hospital.

    The Nobel Peace Prize laureate was one of the world’s most revered statesmen after preaching reconciliation despite being imprisoned for 27 years.

    He had rarely been seen in public since officially retiring in 2004.

    “What made Nelson Mandela great was precisely what made him human. We saw in him what we seek in ourselves,” Mr. Zuma said.

    “Fellow South Africans, Nelson Mandela brought us together and it is together that we will bid him farewell.”

    United Kingom Prime Minister, David Cameron, paid tribute to Mr. Mandela, saying “a great light has gone out in the world.”

     

     

  • Mandela leaves hospital

    Mandela leaves hospital

    Nelson Mandela has left hospital and has gone to his Johannesburg home, where he is continuing to receive intensive care, the South African presidency says on its website.

    The announcement came a day after officials denied reports that the 95-year-old had already been discharged.

    The statement says Mr. Mandela condition remains critical and at time unstable.

    BBC reports that South Africa’s first democratically elected president has been in hospital since June with a lung infection.

    “His doctors are convinced that he will receive the same level of intensive care at his Houghton home that he received in Pretoria [hospital],” the presidency statement says.

    It says his home in the upmarket suburb of Houghton has been “reconfigured to allow him to receive intensive care there” and he will be treated by the same health care personnel who have been looking after him since June 8.

    If necessary, he will be readmitted to hospital, the statement says.

     

     

  • Mandela still in hospital – South African govt

    Mandela still in hospital – South African govt

    Reports that former South African President Nelson Mandela has been discharged from hospital are incorrect, South Africa’s presidency says.

    The BBC and other news outlets reported earlier that Mr. Mandela had returned to his Johannesburg home.

    The presidency said in a statement that Mr. Mandela was critical but stable but at times his condition became unstable prompting medical intervention.

    The 95-year-old was admitted with a recurring lung infection on June 8.

    The country’s first black president, Mr. Mandela is revered by many as the father of the nation.

    His prolonged hospital stay has caused concern both in South Africa and abroad.

    The infection is said to date back to a period of nearly three decades he spent in prison for anti-apartheid activity.

     

  • Mandela’s health improving – S’African government

    Mandela’s health improving – S’African government

    Former South African President Nelson Mandela is showing “sustained improvement” in hospital although he remains in a critical condition, the government said on Monday.

    Reuters quoting the government statement reports that President Jacob Zuma had visited the 95-year-old Mandela in the Pretoria hospital where he has been for the last seven weeks receiving treatment for a recurring lung infection.

     

  • Mandela Challenge: Bafana Bafana shape up for Eagles

    Mandela Challenge: Bafana Bafana shape up for Eagles

     Beat lesotho 2-1 to win COSOFA  cup

    Super  Eagles opponents in the Mandela Challenged billed for August 14, Bafana Bafana, continued their shape up for the tie with an impressive result against Lesotho on Saturday in the COSOFA cup at the Ndola Stadium.

    Although the side merely ended up as third place finishers claiming, Bronze in the regional championship, coming from behind after Crocodiles shot into the lead as early as the 21st minute thanks to penalty a converted by Tlali Maile, an indication that the Gordon Igesund led side have not lost their fight back spirit.

    The Bafana goalkeeper prevented Maile Tlali from scoring his second penalty when he pushed out the 70th minute spot kick to prevent the game from going into extra-time, as goals from Mandla Masango and Hlompho did the business for South Africa.

    South Africa narrowly missed out on a spot in the final when they lost 5-3 to hosts Zambia in the semi-final on Wednesday evening, while Lesotho were defeated 2-1 by the defending champions Zimbabwe.

    The opening 15 minutes of the fixture brought about a good amount of ball possession from Bafana Bafana as they pegged back the Crocodiles, who surprisingly approached the game with caution.

    Super Eagles coach Stephen Keshi on Thursday,realesed a 19-man list for the challenge with the duo of Obinna Nsofor and Emmanuel Emenike leading the pack.