Black History Month-Nelson Mandela, Honourable dignified man of Integrity & Virtues

 Nelson Mandela is another legend I will like to recognise in celebration of black history month.  His type is rare, don’t believe we have his type in Nigeria, (correct me if am wrong or show me an example, sorry!) Maybe he is yet to be born or he is still growing.  A man who is ready to die or sacrifice his family for the love of his country and that of his fellow citizen is exceptional, distinctive and exclusive to a nation like Africa.  Mandela sacrificed his family and marriage for the fight for equality & racism. He had to marry three times; his first and second marriages end up in divorce due to several strains of his constant absences and continuous devotion to revolutionary agitation. 

Thembi, his first son was killed in a car crash in 1969 at the age of 23, while Mandela was imprisoned on Robben Island, and Mandela was not allowed to attend the funeral.

Mandela is a South African anti-apartheid activist, revolutionary and politician who served as President of South Africa from 1994 to 1999, the first black to be elected in a fully representative, multiracial election.

Mandela started a group his administration focused on dismantling apartheid's legacy, and cutting racism, poverty and inequality. Politically a democratic socialist, he served as president of the African National Congress (ANC) political party from 1990 to 1999.

First TV interview in 1966 

He joined the ANC, becoming a founding member of its Youth League. When the National Party government implemented apartheid in 1948, he rose to prominence in the ANC's 1952 Defiance Campaign, being elected president of the Transvaal ANC branch and overseeing the 1955 Congress of the People. Working as a lawyer, he was repeatedly arrested for seditious activities and with the ANC leadership stood on the Treason Trial from 1956 to 1961. Although initially committed to non-violent protest, in association with the South African Communist Party he co-founded the militant Umkhonto we Sizwe (MK) in 1961, leading an alleged campaign against the government. In 1962 he was arrested and convicted of alleged sabotage and conspiracy to overthrow the government, being sentenced to life imprisonment.

Mandela served in Robben Island and then Pollsmoor Prison, while a local & international campaign lobbied for his release, which was granted after 27 years in 1990. Becoming ANC president, Mandela wrote his autobiography, and led negotiations with President F.W. de Klerk to abolish apartheid and establish multi-racial elections in 1994, in which he led the ANC to a landslide victory. 

 Mandela and family
As president, he created a new constitution and initiated the Truth and Reconciliation Commission to investigate past human rights abuses, while introducing policies aimed at land reform, combating poverty and expanding healthcare. Internationally, he acted as mediator between Libya and the United Kingdom in the Pan Am Flight 103 bombing trial, and oversaw a military intervention in Lesotho. Refusing to run for a second term and succeeded by his deputy Thabo Mbeki, Mandela became an elder statesman focusing on charitable work in combating poverty and HIV/AIDS.

Nelson and Oprah

Wife, Oprah and Nelson

Mandela has received international acclaim for his anti-colonial and anti-apartheid stance, having received over 250 awards, including the 1993 Nobel Peace Prize, the U.S. Presidential Medal of Freedom and the Soviet Order of Lenin. He is held in deep respect within and outside Africa as the "Father of the Nation", where he is often known under his Xhosa clan name of Madiba.