Avalanche of tributes for late S. African leader

Senate President David Mark described Mandela as one of the greatest Africans who ever lived, adding that “it is my wish and hope that African people would emulate and sustain his legacies of forthrightness, commitment, honesty and uncommon selfless service to humanity.” According to Mark, the life and times of Mandela is a lesson to […]

Senate President David Mark described Mandela as one of the greatest Africans who ever lived, adding that “it is my wish and hope that African people would emulate and sustain his legacies of forthrightness, commitment, honesty and uncommon selfless service to humanity.”
According to Mark, the life and times of Mandela is a lesson to all the living to wit; that doing good and living for others is worth the trouble.
Former President Olusegun Obasanjo, who addressed journalists in his home in Abeokuta yesterday, said Mandela’s life was an example of what people should all aspire for.
“In all situations, he lived nobly and died in nobility. Let us bear in mind that we all have the opportunity to act nobly in whatever positions we find ourselves,” he added.
 “During the first non-racial democratic elections in 1994, I was on election observation assignment in South Africa and was there for his campaign and when he cast his vote.
“He was devoid of bitterness or anger against anybody except the hated apartheid system.
“He went on to win the election and more importantly led South Africa to the extent that the country was able to cast aside its apartheid legacy and take its place in comity of nations.
Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar, in a condolence message released by his media office in Abuja, said Mandela was a statesman extraordinaire and remarkable politician in a class of his own.
Atiku recalled hosting Mandela at the ground breaking ceremony of the Shehu Yar’adua Centre on March 4, 2000 in Abuja.
He said   Mandela’s tribute to Yar’adua at that epoch event underscored his commitment to democracy and human liberty.
The former Vice President also recounted Mandela’s other shining virtues. “Even Mandela’s worst enemies cannot deny that fact that his level of magnanimity was remarkable; that his tolerance was exemplary. Above all, the late Mandela pursued a policy of reconciliation and forgiveness at a point some people were expecting him to exact vengeance on his oppressors.”
Deputy Senate President Ike Ekweremadu, in a tribute to the late Noble Laureate, noted that his type would be difficult to come by.
“I join the rest of the world to pay tribute to a man who taught selflessness, sacrifice, forgiveness, and true love in our time in practical and profound ways.
“Mandela demonstrated that a leader could transform a nation from a land of hate to one of love and equal opportunity in the shortest possible time.  A single term was more than enough for him to heal the wounds of apartheid, break the thick walls of animosity, and bring about racial harmony, solid multiracial democracy, and dramatic socioeconomic transformations in South Africa. And he will be greatly missed”
Also paying tribute to the former South African leader, Pope Francis recalled Nelson Mandela’s struggle to forge a just South Africa, praising the anti-apartheid hero’s commitment to non-violence, reconciliation and truth.
“I pray that the late president’s example will inspire generations of South Africans to put justice and the common good at the forefront of their political aspirations,” Francis said in a telegram to South African President Jacob Zuma.
A former minister in the first Republic Maitama Sule has described the late Nelson Mandela as a selfless, decent and worthy leader whom all African leaders must emulate.
Addressing State House correspondents yesterday after meeting with Vice President Namadi Sambo, Sule said he was particularly thrilled by Mandela’s forgiveness of the white apartheid masters.
“Mandela had suffered during his life but had lived a good life. He lived fighting for his people, struggling against apartheid; he spent 27 years in Prison as a result of his struggle.  And when he was finally released from prison, he seems to have forgotten all the suffering he had gone through and started reconciling his people with the whites that had been discriminating against them.
“The African leaders today should learn and emulate his integrity, his patriotism, his love for his people, his determination, his honesty, and of course the desire to give others a chance”.
Weekly Trust reports that there were also tributes by Nigerian governors, lawmakers, and several other individuals.