by Kayode Komolafe

The farewell witnessed a diversity, which could only be found a Mandela funeral. It was an ideological and political rainbow coalition of world leaders converging on a rainbow nation, the building of which Mandela admirably devoted his life.  Some of the things that have happened are only possible in a Mandela funeral. For instance, as he returned to his seat after a rousing speech, Obama paid another ringing tribute to Mandela, albeit in a non-verbal manner: he shook hands with President Raul Castrol of Cuba.

In his legendary humility in greatness, Nelson Mandela declined to write an epitaph for himself.  A probing interviewer once asked him how he would like to be remembered. In response, Mandela said it would be arrogant of him to say how he should be remembered. According to him it should be left for the world to determine how to remember him putting into consideration his “mistakes” and “achievements.”  Yes, even Madiba himself admitted some missteps! Amid these torrents of tributes, it is noteworthy that the man never claimed sainthood.  Mandela also never claimed to have the power of clairvoyance. However, watching events since his obituary was announced a week ago, it would appear that Mandela indeed was clairvoyant. His prediction has come to pass with some prescience. He played the role history assigned to him to the best of his ability and left the judgment to the same history.
Now, the writing of history has begun in earnest; the   world has been constructing the epitaph of Mandela the Great. According to Wole Soyinka, with Mandela’s death,  “the soul of Africa has departed and there is nothing miraculous left in the world”. At the historic memorial yesterday in South Africa, President Barack Obama of the United States described him as a  “giant of history”. Former British Prime Minister Tony Blair said earlier that Mandela’s life not only showed that  “racism is immoral, but also stupid”. India declared five days of mourning. So, the greatness of the historical figure has been universally acknowledged.
The cause of justice and democracy which Mandela and his comrades fought is now indisputably vindicated.  For those who may not have the memory, it would seem as if Mandela was always a hero in every quarter.  Some less charitable observers have described some of the tributes as “fawning”.

In fact, someone has reportedly remarked that if everyone now agrees that Mandela and his comrades were on the right of history why then was the struggle for liberation so excruciating? Why was the world not so generous with help to the liberation movements in the 1960s and 1970s as it is now liberal with praises of Mandela? The gathering of past and present world leaders yesterday in South Africa to honour Mandela and the tributes pouring out of world capitals was a great thing to happen. But for full historical disclosures, it should be remembered that even 25 years ago the African National Congress (ANC), the organisation that produced Mandela and other icons of the struggle against apartheid, was still branded “terrorist” by the predecessors of some of the leaders who kindly gathered to pay tributes to Mandela.  The struggle against apartheid was one of the greatest issues of democracy in the 20th Century.

Yet, the great powers and enforcers of “democratic values” were never prominent among the ardent supporters of the liberation movement. The arguments issuing from Washington were those of “constructive engagement” with the racists while from London the logic was advanced about how “sanctions could be counter-productive” against the apartheid regime. Never mind that the same powers found sanctions productive in other countries under unfriendly regimes.  These should be part of the issues to ponder in this teachable moment of the Mandela memoriam.

It is part of Mandela’s greatness and courage of conviction that on his release from prison in 1990 that he openly acknowledged the solidarity of countries such as Cuba and Libya to the displeasure of western powers. These countries supported the liberation struggle in a significant way.  Cuba, in particular, has contributed in human and material terms to the cause of freedom and justice in Southern Africa in a manner that is quite disproportionate to its tiny size.  To his eternal credit, Mandela visited Cuba among other nations after his release from prison. In reflecting on Mandela’s immense stature it is important to have a full picture of history.

It is, perhaps, no surprise that that the memory of a man who had “a life like no other”, as Obama aptly put it yesterday, would receive a farewell like no other. The memory of Mandela deserves this unprecedented farewell.
In a way, the world has begun to write Mandela’s epitaph with this unprecedented farewell. It was as if everyone listened when he said he preferred that the world should decide what epitaph to write after him.

The farewell witnessed a diversity, which could only be found a Mandela funeral. It was an ideological and political rainbow coalition of world leaders converging on a rainbow nation, the building of which Mandela admirably devoted his life.  Some of the things that have happened are only possible in a Mandela funeral. For instance, as he returned to his seat after a rousing speech, Obama paid another ringing tribute to Mandela, albeit in a non-verbal manner: he shook hands with President Raul Castrol of Cuba. This act is bound to bear some resonance beyond the venue of the memorial service for Mandela.

A common line in the in flood of tributes paid to Mandela has been how the world should learn from Mandela’s generosity of the spirit; not a few have spoken about his extraordinary spirit of forgiveness and reconciliation. The role of Mandela and others in the leadership of ANC in bringing about the end of apartheid has been recommended severally as a model of conflict resolution. Those who fought a system described by the United Nations as “crime against humanity” agreed to negotiate with their oppressors for a peaceful and just resolution. This fact of history is in sharp contrast with the foreign policy fixation of America, the super power, against the tiny but resilient island of Cuba under its revolutionary leadership. For more than 50 years, the United States has imposed a socio-economic blockade against Cuba. America is punishing Cuba for its socialist revolution, which necessitated the nationalisation of American companies in the island. This cruel foreign policy imposed in the days of cold war has persisted for this long in defiance of world opinion.

The United Nations’ General Assembly has overwhelmingly voted against this atavistic style of diplomacy with immense humanitarian consequences. On many occasions only Israel has voted along with the United States to sustain the blockade. If Mandela and the liberation movement were fixated, the conflict in South Africa would remain unresolved. It would be a positive outcome of the universal farewell to Mandela if the handshake in South Africa could be the beginning of easing of the blockade and normalisation of diplomatic relations between the United States and Cuba. If that happens, some moral lessons must have been learnt from the politics of Mandela.
The farewell to Mandela is a proof that he was global icon; yet Africa has every justification for claiming the giant as its own. After all, on a sad note, Africa has had its own share of the political monsters the world has produced especially in the last one century. Now, Africa can also proudly claim Mandela as its own political creature and leadership model. It is not every day that world leaders say they are inspired by the life of an African.  For a long time to come, political theorists will continue to define this global model of leadership of African origins. Elements used in defining the Mandela model include reconciliation, forgiveness, unwavering committed to justice and freedom.

There is nothing contradictory in all these elements when combined. Mandela’s political life was a demonstration of the dialectics of strategy and tactics. While he never abandoned his strategic goal of freedom and justice, he was politically wise to make timely, tactical compromises.

In a way, he was acting the scriptural script in the Book of Ecclesiastes that there is time for everything: time to be the leader of the armed wing of the ANC and time begin secret negotiations with the apartheid regime; time fire shots and time talk and trust; time to be rigid and time to be flexible etc. He knew the time to use his immense moral stature to bring the rainbow nation together as president of democratic South Africa and the time to retire and allow younger and more energetic comrades to take over the leadership of ANC and the country as whole. He was hugely imbued with a profound sense of history. On the point of historical purpose he never wavered.
There is so much speculation about whether Africa can produce another Mandela.  In Nigeria, for instance, we wonder if there could ever be a Nigerian Mandela. This seems an abstract way of appreciating Mandela’s moral and political stature. The question could be reformulated in a more positive way starting from the coded message of this great farewell to Mandela. The tributes in honour of Mandela’s memory have shown that in the long run the cause of justice and freedom would triumph to global acclaim.

The world has now acknowledged the   one time “terrorist of the ANC” as a “giant of history” and a source of inspiration to all. Not every leader could be a Mandela. It is perhaps enough to be inspired by Mandela’s model as every leader forges his political personality.  The profound lesson of this superb farewell to Mandela is that every leader should define his own historical purpose and remain committed to it. In the world today, freedom and justice should be part of the purpose as Mandela’s life showed.

 

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Op-ed pieces and contributions are the opinions of the writers only and do not represent the opinions of Y!/YNaija.