A TRIBUTE TO NELSON MANDELA BY LAWRENCE IRUO

Nelson Mandela: A Tribute

Born in 1918, Nelson Mandela joined the African National Congress in 1943, as a law student.
He and other ANC leaders campaigned against apartheid (white-only rule).

He was sentenced to life imprisonment in 1964, but was released in 1990 after 27 years in jail on Robin Island as South Africa began to move away from strict racial segregation.

He was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1993 and was elected South Africa’s first black president in 1994. He stepped down after five years in office in 1999.

After leaving office, he became South Africa’s highest-profile ambassador, campaigning against HIV/Aids and helping to secure his country’s right to host the 2010 football World Cup.
He was also involved in peace negotiations in the Democratic Republic of Congo, Burundi and other countries in Africa and elsewhere.

Mandela was not brutal like Buhari instead he made personal sacrifices with human feelings, he was not vindictive like Obasanjo but rather forgave his enemies and oppressors. Mandela never looted their treasury like IBB and Abacha did, he was always satisfied with what he earned. He was a dogged fighter and not a 'go slow' president and was never seen to be clueless. He preached and practiced love and true forgiveness. Mandela could have stayed longer in power but chose the part of honour by relinquishing it when the ovation was loudest. He lived above human reproach as the father of peace and reconciliation. No human would ever be like Mandela. He lives on. So which of d Nigerian leader can he be compared with at both d continental and global pedestal?.. Adiue Madiba!!!