Last
year, as my birthday drew nearer, I entered a habitually reflective mood. I was
full of gratitude to God for liveliness despite several threats to my existence
over the years. Few months earlier, on 15th of April 2011, I had escaped death
in an auto crash that broke the spine of a fellow passenger and consumed 8
other human lives. I was indeed grateful to still be around to contribute
positively to humanity. The venue of the gory incident was actually a
well-known death trap for travellers and did not receive the attention of
government as it ought to. This is probably because most persons in authority
had not lost their friends and relatives to that accidental terrain or those
who had died in time past were not important to them. After all, the lack of
value for human lives is still a common disease in African society.
Really,
Africa as a continent will improve if Africans observe a paradigm shift –a
slight change in our value orientation. Though we have an abundance of
corporate resources, our values are distorted and hopes are very low. A people
with high hopes will not consume everything today as if there will be no
tomorrow and their leaders will not access influential positions to suck the
people dry. Sometimes, I wonder how many potential African leaders have been
destroyed by ghastly accidents that could have been prevented. In my country
Nigeria, terrorist attacks now rival with severe road accidents and occasional
plane crashes to prematurely claim the lives of prospective generational
leaders. I cringe at the mere thought! If only we could see people as our greatest
resource (a key concept in human resource management), we would love, feed and
protect them.
One
day, as I thought about aging, I asked myself, “Am I really increasing in
value? Will I truly be missed by my generation when I eventually take my exit?”
While thinking, I read some books and newspapers too. Then I came across a news
piece that said that plans to immortalise a living man were ongoing. According
to the newspaper, his face would be printed on paper currencies in his nation.
This was going to happen for him because he almost paid the ultimate sacrifice
in a persistent struggle –the saga of awakening the conscience of the
propagators of apartheid and fighting racism in his country, South Africa. That
got me thinking again. The man is still alive and many generations of South
Africans and other nationalities will get to stare at and hold his image. This
is something many living folks would hardly have as a dream. But what made him
worth this much? The answers I got will be shared shortly. I hope it gets some
of us thinking and replants in the hearts of those looking up to us in our
diverse spheres of contact.
Nelson
Mandela is highly revered as a living legend by people of different colours. He
is a global icon and member of the esteemed Council of Elders (a body which,
Richard Branson says, consists of persons who have contributed most
meaningfully to peace and posterity in various fields and nations and now sit
over global issues to intervene according to the powers of their influence).
Becoming a member of such body requires a very rare virtue. You could call it
selflessness, crusading or bearing a heart for people but every heart has its
language of expression. I believe Mandela made a decision to have no ambition
other than to see his people treated with respect and fairness; to have them
smiling in the midst of true freedom. He must have dreamt –both day and night–
about the equality of his brothers and sisters in South Africa. He must have
been like the historical Jewish figure, Moses, momentarily crossing the Rubicon
in a solitary place and deciding that nothing would stop him. To understand the
gravity of this, consider the possible reaction of an average couple if their
child chooses to give up a seemingly bright future in pursuit of one that is
replete with fight and incarceration on behalf of others. Perhaps, no caring
parent would approve it.
When
men have proven throughout history to be the most ungrateful of all intelligent
creatures, how would a bright young man tell his friends that his greatest
dream is not the accumulation of riches or possession of affluence but the
realisation of his people’s freedom, respect and acceptance? Mandela must have
mourned himself and given birth to a new life internally. He must have
internalised a life that is fearless to torture, suffering and condescension. I
have learnt from the life of Nelson Mandela and made up my mind to live to
impact, bless and make people happy and fulfilled, whether they are aware of my
contribution or not.
Africa
is inherently great but there is a need to value human lives. Mandela reached
the height of his dreams without needing great funds. He did it by suffering
for himself and others. If suffering is a raw material for making posterity,
then only few of us in Africa can lay hold on the inability to access it.
Suffering is everywhere in Africa. Many are poor and suffering without
assistance. If we bear in the suffering of others to bring enduring liberty and
enjoyment, then we have nothing to lose. Once a man has sworn to die, if
necessary, for his dream, all of creation will come to assist him. I have
written these, not because I have achieved some sort of heroic exploits but,
because my heart witnesses that they are right and true. If we do not have
funds, let us give ourselves. We would do well to learn from the Mandela model;
a man who used himself, not money, to set his people and descendants free. Just
writing this piece puts my heart in the mood. Sharing it with others will help
in the gradual regeneration of human value in Africa...Thank you friends.
Bamidele Fasanmi is the CEO of
Fasdel Strategic Solutions. He affects individuals and organisations through
hands-off mentoring, change initiation, paradigm shift, reward systems as well
as corporate and personal transformation. He may be contacted via greatfasdel@yahoo.com or BB PIN: 31696F98
