Today is Nelson Mandela International Day. Had he been alive, he would be celebrating his 100th birthday. The iconic son of Africa inspired many beyond its borders; he was adopted as a symbol of tolerance worldwide. Even though he was jailed by the apartheid regime where he spent over a third of his lifetime, he was not vindictive. He had every reason to be mad at his white oppressors but was smart enough not to be driven by blind sentiments and take the road to vengeance. Instead he built a Rainbow Nation, a nation of all hues and colours. As UN Secretary General Antonia Guterres said in his tribute to mark the day; even though Mandela spent many years in jail “… he never became a prisoner of his past”. Today it is difficult to find a leader who promotes reconciliation even in the aftermath of very traumatizing events such as the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi. It is not that Mandela served as inspiration for post Genocide Rwanda, it is a remote possibility, but a good leader is quick to realise that vengeance begets more vengeance- It becomes a vicious cycle. Mandela tried to use his approach to bring back peace in the war-torn Zaire and Burundi many years ago, but the target audience had other things on their minds. The consequences are what we are witnessing today. Tolerance has been thrown out of the window, and to paraphrase W.B Yeats in “The Second Coming” things are falling apart as the centre cannot hold, it is mere anarchy out there. Mandela’s philosophy should be a MUST lesson for any would-be-leader; humility, forgiveness and sacrifice should be their calling cards, otherwise they are courting disaster.
