A Mandela tomorrow

Swing low, sweet chariot, coming forth to carry home... whenever I chant to this song, the picture formed in my head over and over again are a battered lot, in a quandary not of their own doing, but an aftermath of greed, selfishness, lack of foresight, parochial thinking and every word that describes a rudderless society ran with bad decisions from wrong leaders.
some authors say slaves were taken forcefully, others say they were bought, I say it was their destiny.

Every-time I remember this saying, ''if a man has in him the soul of a slave will he not eventually become one, just as water finds its level - RMIB, I say to myself this is the perfect explanation of what happened in Africa.

We were taken for lack of vision, we were oppressed for lack of foresight, we were used to fulfil another mans mission, we were returned to satisfy humanitarian norms, we are back to where it all began, but this time with a mindset of subjugation for the citizens by selfish leaders/ some veterans of the colonial era.

Machines replaced slaves in the western world but slaves remained slaves in the underdeveloped world. Our lack of innovation coupled with corruption has stifled our growth, our lack of love for one another, our penchant for autocratic methods and desire for beautiful rocks has deprived us of the utopia that men the likes of Late. Rev Martin Luther king Jr and Nelson Mandela fought for. The oppressed have become the oppressor.

As we mark the centenary of a icon, it is only right we cast our minds back to the ideals he lived, fought and died for, it is only right we take this opportunity and look in retrospect where we might have derailed. Do some deep introspection and find the key to emancipate ourselves from slavery in all its forms.

"I have fought against white domination and I have fought against black 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 (1964).

"Today, all of us do, by our presence here, and by our celebrations in other parts of our country and the world confer glory and hope to new born liberty. Out of the experience of an extraordinary human disaster that lasted too long, must be born a society of which all human will be proud.'' - Nelson Mandela.

"This reward will not be measured in money. nor can it be reckoned in the collective price of the rare metals and precious stones that rest in the bowels of the African soil, we tread in the footsteps of our ancestors, it will and must be measured by the happiness and welfare of the children, at once the most vulnerable citizens in any society and the greatest of our treasures."- Nelson Mandela (Oslo, Norway).

These are my personal favourite quotes from one of the few African legends we have. I urge African leaders to not only celebrate this legend in food, drink and music, neither should he be celebrated with posthumous awards, nor with accolades forgotten in the pages of our dailies, but should give life to his legacies and set Africa on the part to true greatness by exploring/exploiting our innovative minds.

That no African child will be born with an inferiority complex, that never again will the fundamental rights of the an African be denied him or her irrespective or tribe, culture or social standing, that our society will be rife in love for one another, that whatever is good for one is good for all and our leaders will lead leaving behind good deeds for posterity.

Let us create a Mandela tomorrow.