Mandela on Nigeria

‘Why Mandela Was Angry
With Nigeria’ “........IT is better to help a friend pay his fine,
than tell a lie to help him cover a crime.”  -
Nigerian proverb. ........  It was literally a life-long ambition, and I
used every opportunity to meet the old man
in person. I was finally in a position to press
buttons and call old friends to render favors,
and in early 2007 I succeeded. I was told I
could see Mandela for only 30 minutes at his home, but I needed to get there one hour
earlier.   Colleagues I had leaned on were skeptical
that I would see him despite the
appointment, particularly since I will not say
it was official. An old South African friend
and course mate from South Africa, who
helped, suggested I asked questions or matters I wanted to discuss with him and
send them in advance. I did not think that
was the type of meeting I wanted, so I did
not.   Mandela was surprised when he was told I
worked at the Nigerian Ministry of Foreign
Affairs, but had spent six months trying to
see him to pay my personal respects. Why
did you not go through your colleagues
here? I told him the visit was not official. I just wanted to meet him. He relaxed and
apologised that it had taken that long for me
to see him. Others left us, except a lady,
who sat discreetly away from us. I thought
she was a medical person. How are my Nigerian brothers and sisters?
He asked me. He will not let me take the
initiative. ‘You know I am not very happy
with Nigeria. I have made that very clear on
many occasions’. Now I was curious. I knew
of course that he led our suspension from the Commonwealth after the hanging of the
late Ken Saro-Wiwa and his Ogoni
compatriots. It was also no secret that
South African governments including one he
headed had considerably cooled off towards
Nigeria, and by the time I was meeting him, Nigeria was a dirty word in most cities in
South Africa. I mentioned that Nigerian
people had very strong and positive
dispositions towards South Africa and the
Southern African region, and many were
puzzled that people who marched all the way with South Africans can be despised by
the governments and people of South
Africa. Yes, he responded. Nigeria stood by
us more than any nation, but you let
yourselves down and Africa and the black
race very badly. I knew I was going to get a lecture, so I sat
back. He spoke with passion and anger at a
nation, which has one-quarter of the black
race, and had everything, needed to be
great, but is known principally for its
dictators and its criminals.   Your country, he said, used to be
respected. After your suspension from the
Commonwealth, many western countries
approached me to help in isolating Nigeria
so that it will be easier to bring down your
military dictators. I consulted many African leaders, and all were unanimous in their
advice. They told me to stay clear of
Nigeria, that you will fix your problems. You
have done it before. ‘But’, he shook his
head, ‘you have not. Not this time’. The
world will not respect Africa until Nigeria earns that respect. The black people of the
world need Nigeria to be great as a source
of pride and confidence. Nigerians love
freedom and hate oppression.Why do you
do it to yourselves? He remembered Tafawa
Balewa, the first leader who gave his party, ANC, financial contribution. I saw an opening here. I suggested that all
Africans are bitter at their leaders. With due
respect, I said, his presidency had not
changed lives of black South Africans
much, and his successors are not likely to
do so. Yes, he agreed,’ but we raised hopes that others can do so. ‘He was back to
Nigeria. ‘Your leaders have no respect for
their people. They believe that their personal
interests are the interests of the people.
They take people’s resources and turn it into
personal wealth. There is a level of poverty in Nigeria that should be unacceptable. I
cannot understand why Nigerians are not
more angry than they are’, he continued. Since it was obvious that he was intent on
pouring his heart out, I decided to let him
speak. ‘What do young Nigerians think
about your leaders and their country and
Africa? Do you teach them history? Do you
have lessons on how your past leaders stood by us and gave us large amounts of
money? You know I hear from Angolans and
Mozambicans and Zimbabweans how your
people opened their hearts and their homes
to them. I was in prison then, but we know
how your leaders punished western companies who supported Apartheid’. I
reminded him that we had elected
governments since 1999, and he knew
some of our leaders in person. Yes, he did.
‘But what about the corruption and the
crimes?’ he asked?  ‘Your elections are like wars’. Now we hear that you cannot be
president in Nigeria unless you are Muslim
or Christian. Some people tell me your
country may break up. Please don’t let it
happen’. He sat back. I obviously got a lot more than
I bargained for. Then he mellowed down,
and apologized. He had not even asked me
what I wanted to see him for, and he was
tearing at my country. It was fine, I assured
him. I merely wanted to meet him and pay my respects. He then asked me a lot of
personal questions, and in particular what I
was doing personally to improve the
capacity of the Nigerian people to build the
nation to be a source of pride and comfort
for Nigerians, Africa and the black race. But he was in a lecturing mood. ‘Let me tell you what I think you need to do’
he said. ‘You should encourage leaders to
emerge who will not confuse public office
with sources of making personal wealth.
Corrupt people do not make good leaders.
Then you have to spend a lot of your resources for education. Educate children of
the poor, so that they can get out of
poverty. Poverty does not breed confidence.
Only confident people can bring changes.
Poor, uneducated people can also bring
change, but it will be hijacked by the educated and the wealthy’. ‘Like South Africa today, sir’, I quipped. He
paused. ‘It will be difficult for the world to
understand that it will take generations to
eliminate the structural roots and effects of
Apartheid.’ ‘But’, I drove the point home,
‘You created the impression that the political compromises and concessions you made
would lead to a dramatic change in the
fortunes of black people’. ‘Dramatic?’ he
asked. ‘In many ways we achieved dramatic
results’.’ Like in sports’, I pressed further.
‘Sports is important to South Africans. It gave them confidence to believe things are
possible. And it united them”. ‘But sir, it
created a false sense of progress, and
people here think it is all a gimmick by white
people to create a diversion’.’ It is not a
diversion, he countered. It is real. South Africans will have to come to terms with the
reality that their country is a multi-racial,
multi-cultural nation with rich and poor. Any
efforts to reduce the gulf between the races
and classes is useful, he insisted. Then he was back to Nigeria. People had
said to him that South Africa could become
an alternative beacon of hope and
inspiration for the black race and Africa. He
told them it was always going to be Nigeria.
Nigeria, Egypt and South Africa can provide a tripod for real change but young Africans
need to capture that vision. ‘So’, he said to
me, ‘If this audience has been useful, I am
glad. But it will be more useful to me if you
go back to Nigeria and work to give young
Nigerians good education. Teach them the value of hard work and sacrifice, and
discourage them from crimes which are
destroying your image as a good people.’ I have re-lived that rare opportunity many
times since that visit. The 30-minute
audience lasted for one hour, and I was
escorted out by a man I saw close up as
human as anyone. I had rarely come across
such candor about my country, but it was clearly the product of genuine concern that
one of Africa’s greatest assets was being
frittered away. As he shook my hand to say goodbye, he
apologized again over his comments, but
assured me that he would love to see
Nigeria grow and develop into a world
economic power under a democratic
system. If there is any comfort to draw from Mandela’s disappointment, it will be that he
may not have observed our free-fall as a
nation in the last five years • Dr. Baba-Ahmed is a retired federal
permanent secretary of Ministry of Foreign
Affairs • Culled from People’s Daily