“I have fought against black domination and I have fought
against white domination. I have cherished the ideal of a democratic and free
society in which all persons live together in harmony and with equal
opportunities. It is an ideal which I hope to live for and to achieve, but if
needs be it is an ideal for which I am prepared to die.” – Nelson Mandela
The sound of my phone's ringtone woke me up, i had
forgotten to put it on silent mode before going to bed. I stretched my hands to
pick it while i took a quick glance at the tiny table clock lying on the head
of the bed, it was 2am….who could be calling me at such an ungodly hour?
“Hello Joe its me Ben” the baritone voice of the caller
proclaimed.
Oh Ben….Ben was a colleague at the office, a man who had his
eyes and ears fixed perpetually on the news and news worthy events, nothing of
major interest escaped his scrutiny.
“Hi Ben, what is it?
“Nelson Mandela is dead” he said in a low tone.
“Are you sure about this Ben, don’t you think it’s a hoax like the
previous ones we had?
“No its confirmed, currently running on all the major news
channels”.
“Thanks for the lead Ben”. It was time to get to work.
As a professional news editor with Klobal media group, when news
breaks you have to break in and deliver the contents. However I was currently
on my two months annual leave and therefore wasn’t compelled to rush to out to
work. Notwithstanding this, i decided to
pop in at the office later in the day to see how the boys were handling this major
breaking news item, also I had to write an article for publication in my weekly
Saturday column in “Klobe flakes, the newspaper arm of of klobe media.
The news of Mandela death news was a wasn’t much of a surprise
to me, as i sat on the bed trying to digest the news, i felt a sense of loss, finally
the legend has passed on. The familiar feeling that one gets when one has
custody of a breaking news item got to me, this news must be shared with
someone! i glanced at Rose my fiancée who was sleeping soundly on the bed, she
is a heavy sleeper and it would be a difficult task to rouse her from her deep
sleep. I pulled up the blankets that had slipped away from her body to cover
her, switched off the light and left the room.
The sitting room is a compact room for a bachelor like me, things
are bit cluttered and chaotic as the room also serves as my study. There is a
big settee, two small seats, a medium sized glass centre table and on the stand
sits my 32 inches Samsung lcd tv, my laptop is plugged in to the socket at the
corner of the room. I plugged in my dstv decoder and settled down to monitor
the news channels. Cnn, Aljazeera, Bbc, Fox news were already running documentaries
on the life and times of President Nelson Mandela. This was for real, Madiba
was gone! “At 95 he lived almost a century, a good age to exit the stage after
an eventful life”, I thought in my mind.
“South Africa, the second largest economy in Africa, Rich in
gold, the land of soulful music, the land of the Soweto gospel mass choir, the
land of Nelson Mandela…..Mandela is a legend, who else gets incarcerated for 27
yrs because of his political beliefs, and when he gets out he forgives his
oppressors and reconciles with them? It could only take a great man to do this……I
remember reading his autobiography, “Long walk to freedom”…..i typed away on my
laptop for my weekly column. I will ”title this piece “The legacy of Madiba.”
“No this isn’t the way to go about it, it won’t capture the
attention of the readers…I deleted the the write up. I will have to call on
Prof Eze to get more insight on Mandela, this article must be a master piece!
“Hello Dan, how is going, big news day huh?
“Joe we are having a crazy day already in the office, the radio,
tv and print boys are screaming down our necks for updates, you want a piece of
the action? cut off your leave boy and head down here.
I smiled and glanced at the clock its about 4am, I can imagine the
atmosphere at the office on a day like this.
“I’ll drop in this morning Dan, don’t mess things up before i
arrive” I said jestingly.
“Boy you know I am always two steps ahead of you…see you then”.
Dan was my colleague, one of the five editors of the klobal
media group.
I must have slept off . I found myself awoken by a tap on my
shoulder by Rose, the day had broken and I could see the early rays of sunlight
streaking into room. She was still on her pyjamas, a slim young lady with a
pretty face and dimpled cheeks.
“I’ve seen the news and I knew you sneaked out of the bed to
monitor it, she said smiling….i saw it on my bbm, my contacts are all using his
pictures as their dp and its all over facebook and other social media sites”.
“Sweetie, what’s the time” I asked her with a yawn while rubbing
my eyes.
“its 8:10am dear, I hope you are not stressed up she said with a
look of concern in her eyes as she rubbed my knee.
“I am okay sweetie”…I’ve got to prepare for the office right away”.
“I am okay sweetie”…I’ve got to prepare for the office right away”.
“office?.but you are on leave!”
“Yes but this is a breaking news situation and you know how it
is in the media world….”.
“You are not going there today Dear, you promised to take me
shopping today and don’t forget we are supposed to visit my parents later
today” she said in a defiant tone.
“I am not ready for any argument this morning” i thought wearily
to myself, women and their drama! An African legend is gone and all she can
think about is her shopping!
“For Christ sake, Joe you are on leave, tell them you’ll come
tomorrow. You have broken your promises twice
this week and i won’t let you go back on your words this time around!
“okay, okay, anything for you sweetheart, I said raising my
hands in a defeatist gesture. I will have to find a way to sneak to the office
this morning.
She flashes me a smile and wiggles her hips as she goes off to make
tea.
I turn my eyes away from her and concentrated on the gripping
documentary of Nelson Mandela’s imprisonment in Robben island.
The day went on faster than I expected. I managed to squeeze out
a little time to put a showing at the office. The boys were glad to have me
back albeit temporarily. As expected the whole place was a beehive of activities.
I attached myself to the research team in the computer room and joined them in
the task of digging out information about the great man and relaying it to our crack
team of analysts who were on our live radio and television studios discussing
the reality of Mandela’s death and analyzing what the future portends for South
Africa and the world at large. After two hours, I excused myself and left amidst
protestations from my co-workers, Rose was waiting for me and all hell will be
let loose if i failed to meet up with our schedule.
Did I mention she was a shopaholic? Rose loved shopping. We went
to Prismark shopping mall and I watched her as she filled up our shopping cart
with various items, I could afford them all right but I knew I will have to
counsel her on the need to cut down on her shopping excesses, we had planned our
marriage for the month of March next year and we needed the extra naira.
“Joe you look slightly nervous” Rose said to me as we drove
along on Cheta road on our way to Rumuokoro to visit her parents.
“Im okay..its just that i am a little bit worried about your
mom….i get the feeling that she has not fully accepted me as her inlaw yet”.
“Don’t say things like this”, she is still in the process of assessing
you, if she didn’t like you from the onset we wouldn’t have gone this far in our
relationship!” Rose replied in a raised voice.
“well, I guess you are right, I should calm down and play the
charming Son in-law, and maybe charm her like I charmed you”.
She playfully jabbed me in the arm.
Luckily for us the traffic on the East-west road was relaxed so
we arrived at the residence of Rose’s
parents in good time. An impressive looking modern house with arch shaped design
and fenced round with black iron gates. Her dad Dr Paul Etuk was a Political
science lecturer in the University of Port Harcourt, her mom Nneoma Etuk an environmental
biologist, worked in the civil service.
We find Dr Paul is in his living room watching the Mandela
documentary on Cnn on his Lg 42’ hd tv. He is a man in his early 50’s, a good
body built with robust cheeks, he had a receding hair line and i could see a
sprinkling of grey hairs on his oblong shaped head. He was on casual wear: a
tee shirt on top of a black trouser.
“Hi press man! you are supposed to be in the trenches with your
boys today!
“He is on leave daddy”, Rose replied.
“A very apt time to be on leave!” he said with a sarcastic
smile.
I liked Dr Paul, he had an amiable and jovial personality.
Someoneone you could confide in. I have never seen a more political conscious
man. He calls me “Press man” because of the nature of my job.
“Joe, I have been hooked up on the coverage of Mandela’s death
on Cnn all day, grab a seat and join me, he said heartily.
It was going to be a long and lively evening, Rose had
disappeared inside to meet her mum.
“Africa has lost a rare gem, one of her astute and populist
politicians” he began.
“and a great statesman” I chipped in.
“Very true, a global icon for that matter, look at the reactions
from across the world.”.
Reactions of world leaders to Mandela’s death was on the screen.
“Joe I am glad you are here to keep him company, he has been doing
nothing else but talking and analyzing this matter all day”…..that was the soft
voice of Mrs Nneoma Etuk, Rose’s mother. She walked into the expansive room. A
pretty woman with a royal carriage.
“Good evening mummy’ I said flashing her a charming smile.
“You are welcome son’.
Rose winked at me as she placed a tray of chilled Magarita juice
besides me.
“Everybody is talking about Nelson Mandela today, at the office,
at the restaurant, even when i got to the market mama Nkechi informed me that Nelson
Mandela is dead, the whole country is awash with the news, Mrs Nneoma said as
she settled down on the sofa.
“He is a global icon, a world renowned leader hence the global
outpouring of emotions” I said.
“What did Nelson Mandela really do that made him so famous”? Rose
asked.
I turned to Dr Paul, “Sir maybe you should break it down for her
and for us too…and I can even use some insight from you for my weekly article.
None of them likes politics Joe, its only Dennis who takes after
me in political consciousness, he said with a shrug….“Okay let me give a
summary”.
“Nelson Mandela fought apartheid, overcame it, became the first
black president of multi racial republic of South Africa, left office after one
term and became a statesman.
“What is apartheid dad?”
“I was coming to that Rose”.
“Apartheid is an afikaans word that means ‘apartnesss racial
discrimination and segregation’. You see the white settlers came to south
Africa, found gold in there, settled down and refused to leave. These whites
minorities called themselves “Afrikaans”, they ruled from 1948 – 1994. They
discriminated against black people in education, medical care, beaches and
other public services. They provided black people with services inferior to
those of white people.
Black people were relocated and placed in a separate part of the
country, separated from the whites. A black man cannot be found in the white
part of the country without a pass. Blacks were not allowed to run businesses or professional
practices in areas designated as "white South Africa" unless they had
a permit.
Public beaches were racially segregated. Public
swimming pools, some pedestrian bridges, drive-in cinema parking spaces,
graveyards, parks, and public toilets were segregated. Cinemas and theatres in
white areas were not allowed to admit blacks. There were practically no cinemas
in black areas. Most restaurants and hotels in white areas were not allowed to
admit blacks except as staff. “There were “reserved for whites only” signs
everywhere. Blacks could never acquire land in white areas. Police vans
patrolled white areas to round up blacks without passes.
“Wow! You mean all these happened in South
Africa, what did the international community do about it?” Mrs Nneoma asked.
“Well…at first, nothing much, racism wasn’t
viewed as a bad thing in those days especially when it was directed against
blacks, until when the situation degenerated.”
“Dad what is a pass”?
“ A pass is a permit, an official piece of paper
that gives you permission to do a particular thing” the most common was Travel
pass, where for instant if you wanted to travel from Calabar to Lagos you needed
to obtain a pass by paying for it.
“That’s incredible” Rose exclaimed.
“that is how the system worked my daughter,
checking the movements of the blacks helped the apartheid government to always
know what the blacks were up to. A man’s life was controlled by pieces of paper
called “passes”.
Rose you should read “Mine boy” and “Tell
freedom’ by Peter Abrahams, those are two novels that deals with life under the
apartheid regime and written by a black South African.
He continued “so you can see Nelson Mandela a
young black lawyer rose through the ranks and became the leader of the black
party called African national congress(ANC) which fought the white regime. He
was born into a royal family. A lot of vile and sinister things that I cannot
bring myself to describe so as not to spoil your evening happened. There were massacres
of protesters, Soweto uprising, sharpville shootings, assassinations of Anc
leaders etc. The movement was proscribed and went underground. The Anc received
support and funding from most African countries including Nigeria”. The
apartheid regime was backed by some western countries”.
I nodded my head, he was right on point.
“So the Anc leader Nelson Mandela went to
Ethiopia for military training with the support of Emperor Selassie of
Ethiopia, when he came back in 1962 he was arrested and tried for treason in a
trial popularly referred to as the “Rivonia trial”. He was sentenced to life
imprisonment in Robben island”.
“with hard labour” i chipped in.
“yes Joe, life imprisonment with hard labour”.
“Bose how would you like to spend your whole life
locked up in solitary confinement in a very tiny cell room, exposed to extreme
cold temperature, completely cut off from the outside world, breaking hard
rocks everyday and with no hope of ever getting out for the rest of your life?
“God forbid she screamed!”.
He turned to me, Joe tell me what will you do to
people who jailed you unjustly if you somehow got out and became president?
“Honestly I will smoke them out, hang them all by
the balls, give them a slow painful death, I will destroy whatever is left of
their miserable lineage!! I asserted.
“Madiba didn’t do that, when he was released he
forgave his oppressors, reconciled with them and appealed to everyone to forget
the past and move forward to build a new South Africa. He stepped down after
his first term, declining to run for a second term in spite of pressures from
all quarters. No body would have opposed him if he wanted a second term, he
could have even gone for life presidency!! He meet with world leaders and
celebrities for noble causes, established the Nelson Mandela Foundation,
founded in 1999 to focus on combating HIV/AIDS, rural development and school
construction” he also established the Mandela Rhodes foundation giving post
graduate scholarship to students.
He had a heart of gold, a humble man who retired
to his modest house in his village, he was one of the greatest Africans ever!! Dr
Paul climaxed with a clenched fist.
“I never knew all these facts” Rose said, i heard
something about him being a communist and a terrorist.
“That’s a blatant lie!” don’t mind all those
racist boers who put up all that propaganda material to hoodwink naïve minds,
Mandela was simply a freedom fighter.
We all sat in silence and watched the documentary
on television, showcasing Mandela’s love for children.
“Now that I know the summary of the Mandela
history, my level of respect for him has tripled, right now I am just wondering
if we will ever have any leader like Mandela in Nigeria”, Mrs Nneoma said.
Her husband shook his head “not in my generation,
the ones we have here have not finished looting and stashing away all the
funds, the next generation is watching and learning from them. People like Mandela
come once in a lifetime, what we should do is to learn from him and try to
emulate and showcase the spirit of forgiveness and reconciliation in our
dealings with each other”.
“Dinner is ready” Juliet the househelp announced.
“You all can go ahead, i will join you guys later”,
Dr Paul said his eyes fixed on the screen where Archbishop Desmond Tutu was
being interviewed.
I touched a knob and the car radio came alive, a popular
Lucky dube track with solemn lyrics was playing on Raypower fm;
“Freedom fighter standing on a mountain
In a foreign country
Trying to send a message
To his people, back in the ghetto
He had a home one time
Love of a girl
But he left that behind
Sun went down on the mountain, birds flew back to their hiding places
Leaving him standing there like a telephone pole
In the still of the night you and I dream
Dreaming of Romeo and Juliet
All he dreams about is the freedom of the nation
When every man will be equal in the eyes of the law
As he closes his eyes for the last time
He said again
I'm still here in the house of exile
For the love of the nation”.
In a foreign country
Trying to send a message
To his people, back in the ghetto
He had a home one time
Love of a girl
But he left that behind
Sun went down on the mountain, birds flew back to their hiding places
Leaving him standing there like a telephone pole
In the still of the night you and I dream
Dreaming of Romeo and Juliet
All he dreams about is the freedom of the nation
When every man will be equal in the eyes of the law
As he closes his eyes for the last time
He said again
I'm still here in the house of exile
For the love of the nation”.
“When a man has done what he considers to be his
duty to his people and country, he can rest in peace. I believe I have made
that effort and that is why I will sleep for eternity” - Nelson Mandela.
THE END
No comments:
Post a Comment