God Bless Mandela!

God Bless Mandela!

(Paulos M. Natnael)

We all have heard and seen the news about one of the greatest people of our time: Nelson Mandela.  He is critically ill.  At the age of 94, it is expected that he would have some health problems, in this case, lung infection.  But, his fans around the whole world, including this writer, are praying for him to get better and live longer.  It is very emotional indeed to see the great man in such a situation.  Mandela is a symbol of resistance to the Apartheid regime but also a man of great foresight and wisdom who has the dignity and nobility to recognize the importance of exemplary leadership.  He understood, as George Washington, the first US president did a couple of centuries ago, that leading by example is vitally important to building trust and continuity.  President Washington realized that in order for the nascent nation of the United States to grow and blossom into full-fledged democracy, by continuing to build on the success of the independence and revolutionary  movement, he must step aside for others to take the leadership mantle.  Mandela did the same. He stepped aside after only one four-year term so that the new South African democracy might continue to succeed and grow.  He preached reconciliation with the white minority, the very people who treated him cruelly, incarcerating him for twenty-seven years for speaking against the racist Apartheid regime.  Mandela’s wisdom, good judgment, poise, and enlightenment may have saved his country from the fates of many other countries in Africa.

We, Eritreans, can only wish Isaias Afwerki had a fraction of the wisdom and the good judgment of Nelson Mandela. What Eritreans would have accomplished in the past twenty years if we had such a leader! Just think about it. Thousands of Eritreans around the world, in 1991, were ready to go back home to help rebuild their country and help their people.  Many went back to their adopted countries disappointed because the leadership under DIA was not enlightened enough to see the enthusiasm and the drive of tens of thousands of Diaspora Eritreans benefiting the country.  Instead, their resentment and arrogance came through.  Resentment that they had been fighting for years while those in the Diaspora were not.  But most damaging was PIA’s and his EPLF’s arrogance that they, and only they, were smart enough to run the country.  This lack of humility and foresight has irreversibly damaged Eritrea.

So, as we celebrate Mandela's life, we cannot help but compare our situation to that of South Africa and wishing we had someone with Mandela’s nobility and foresightedness. South Africans are fortunate to have such a great man among themselves.  But we as Africans are also proud of Mandela.

God bless and long live to Mandela!


{jcomments off}