Mandela and the failed vision of a united africa - 6
In this last part of the series on Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela, we end by joining Africa and the world to treasure him as one of the greatest pan-Africanists for his countless sacrifices for South Africa, Africa and the world. A life well-lived merits an honoured departure to the eschatological life.
At the centenary of Mandela in Soweto in 2018, former US President Obama said: “…Madiba was very much a Pan-African leader who was shaped by other struggles on the continent... As we look at Madiba’s life, in many ways he is the man of his times, born just before the real first decolonization struggle began on this continent in 1922…”
Also, Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma the former chairperson of the African Union Commission, speaking at the same memorial in Soweto said: “…celebrating the life of a gallant fighter, an ANC leader; leader of the South African people as a whole, leader of the African people and the rest of the world. …Madiba, who represents the best Pan-African values of freedom, solidarity, service to the people, equality, sacrifice and defense of the human dignity…”
We end the series by inner groaning for the loss of a great Son of Africa. The cry and woes are enshrined in a poem titled ‘A Forgiving Father of a Rainbow Nation’. We pay tribute to this fallen hero by the following lyrics:
1. CRY Mother Africa you lost a luminary star, a hero and a winner, your beloved son,
NELSON the son, who you lost was an earthly saint and brighter than a galactic sun,
The son was a forgiving Father, reconciler who mended and healed a racial separation,
Mandela of Madiba is no more, the African Continent will always cry with lots of pain.
2. CRY Mother Africa you lost a precious son, a spawn that was the remaining, lone icon,
NELSON is no more, he is gone and the United States of Africa seems to be out of gain,
The candle light was blown by the wind of the dark sheol; the abode place of dusky sin,
Mandela of Madiba is no more, the African Continent will always cry with lots of pain.
3. CRY Mother Africa you lost a Father, a forgiving Father and a loving Ubuntu guardian,
NELSON the son, made black and white young ones lie together in brotherly kind unison,
Yes, because of Nelson, the hole of a white viper, became a black children’s PlayStation,
Mandela of Madiba is no more, the African Continent will always cry with lots of pain.
4. CRY Mother Africa the lions’ day is hastily over and shall not descend back to us again,
NELSON the son who made the Apartheid white wolf live with a black African bison,
No more is Mandela who made a black buffalo calf play with a bigoted cub of a white lion,
Mandela of Madiba is no more, the African Continent will always cry with lots of pain.
5. CRY Mother Africa gone is the son who reunited oppressors and oppressed in affection,
NELSON persuaded aggressive sons to turn their machetes into plowshares of unification,
Like King David of Old, Mandela fashioned and nurtured a magnanimous Rainbow Nation,
Mandela of Madiba is no more, the African Continent will always cry with a lots of pain.
6. CRY Mother Africa your son has closed his reign on earth and crossed up into the Heaven,
NELSON Mandela the son you loved and cherished; you will never see him forever again,
Mother Africa, treasure the son, proudly walk the path of reconciliation and transformation,
Mandela of Madiba is no more, the African continent will always cry with a lots of pain.
Down the memory lane, we will always celebrate a life of this extraordinary Forgiving Father and a Great son of Africa. Mandela joined the galaxy of founders of the Pan-African Movement in Africa like Julius Nyerere, Ben Bella, Kwame Nkrumah, Gamal Nasser, Leopold Senghor, Sekou Toure, Patrice Lumumba, Jomo Kenyatta, Haile Selassie and many others.
