FCT children mark Day of the African Child

There was silence in court. He was sentenced to isolation in a small cell; hard labour, his daily bread. They made him break rocks, thinking they were breaking his spirit. Little did they know they were preparing him to break barriers; barriers of inequality, oppression, and discrimination. “And then when the prison doors were open, […]

There was silence in court. He was sentenced to isolation in a small cell; hard labour, his daily bread. They made him break rocks, thinking they were breaking his spirit. Little did they know they were preparing him to break barriers; barriers of inequality, oppression, and discrimination.

“And then when the prison doors were open, he opened his heart and forgave them. Now, that’s my first black president. For the greatest sacrifice of all is to sacrifice the self. And you did it. Just like a true boxer, you fought your way out of the road to the centre stage of the world. But I wonder, had it not been for your sacrifices where would I be? Thank you Tata, my hero, my inspiration. And you made me proudly South African.”
These were the lyrics of the poem, ‘Tribute to Mandela’, recited by South Africa’s then 11 year old winner of 2012 SA’s Got Talent, BotlhaleBoikanyo. This performance was inspiration to the no less than 36 students and pupils from 18 schools around the Federal Capital Territory who participated in the ‘MANDELA ATRIBUTE: Art/Writing workshop for students of FCT schools’in commemoration of the Day of the African Child.
The gathering was a platform organised by the National Gallery of Art, (NGA) Art in collaboration with the South African High commission,for the children to employ art and creativity to extol Nelson Mandela’s attributes as they understood it
In his welcome address, NGA Director General, AbdulahiMukusaidthe forum was not only designed to honour the memory of the legend, it is also devised to reassess and recreate what we already know through the eyes and minds of children.
Mandela, apart from fighting hard and demonstrating the need to institutionalise sustained peace across the globe, also took special interest in in the affairs of children.  The realities of these the children got to watch in a documentary on the late icon.
Representing the South African Higher Commissioner, Ernest Kgopa, Political Counsellor of the Mission noted that the Day, known as Youth Day in South Africa is a national day in the country to recognise the contributions and sacrifices of the youth who fought against racism and to highlight the importance and relevance of young people, following the June 16 1976 Soweto uprising. He said Mandela had a lot of admiration for the youth. “He believed the youth could move mountains. He admired young people who are concerned with the affairs of their community and nation.”
Kgopa encouraged the children to imbibe the ideals of Mandela which he mentioned as equality, education, love, forgiveness, reconciliation, self-respect, non-violence, determination and ‘ Ubuntu’ which literarily means, humanity.
The workshop which also assisted the children in rediscovering their individual talents while not losing focus of harnessing the same talents for positive use.
Mrs. Felicia IrimaNgaji-Usibe, Secretary, Board of Trustees who represented Mr.LanreIpin mosho, Chairman, Foundation for Moral and Ethical Development (FOMED) stated that in Nigeria there is more emphasis on Children’s Day than on the Day of the African Child.
Nine year-old Elnathan Adahogoh summed everything up as perseverance. “Freedom is the one word I heard repeatedly in the video. I also learnt that age or height is no barrier to making impact. The girl inspired me. Her video was beautiful and has given me motivation. I’ll be doing graphics which is an easier medium for me to express my theme, ‘Freedom’.
Ngozi John-Uyah, project coordinator, explained that the programme titled Mandela ArtTribute 2014. “We are doing two things with it. It’s a workshop to introduce the children to Dr. Mandela’s ideals with the hope that they will imbibe them and become better leaders tomorrow. We are also working on the creativity. They will be working on the visual art or writing component.
“The idea was generated by Prince Osita Ike to immortalise Nelson Mandela. It’s not just about Mandela, but he is the first that we want to use,” she said.
Adding: “It was a conscious choice to mark this on the Day of the African Child and works from here will be exhibited on July 18 which is Mandela Day. Plans are underway to see if they winner can go on an all-expense paid trip to South Africa.”