Elitism and Lessons from Nelson Mandela

Many of us woke up in the morning of 6^th December, to the heartbreaking news of the departure of perhaps the greatest statesman to have ever lived in Africa and maybe the entire world. We all knew that Nelson Mandela’s time to part with us was coming sooner or later, but nevertheless, nothing seems to have prepared us for this profound loss. Mr. Mandela’s renowned and illustrious political struggle for equality, justice and human rights endeared him to the hearts of almost everyone who lived in his time and beyond. He championed reconciliation and forgiveness after enduring great suffering for a large part of his life at the hands of the apartheid regime. And to me, that will forever remain his beacon of excellence as someone who was larger than life itself. He is the hero for all freedom loving people and he will forever be remembered for giving the world human dignity.

I belong to the school of thought that believes people like Mandela should not be mourned but celebrated. My culture taught me that when a person has grown old and attained a certain age group, when they finally rest, we shouldn’t mourn their death but celebrate their achievements for the time we shared our lives with them. And indeed Mandela said he wanted to be remembered as a man who had lived his life and served his purpose on earth. He taught the continent to forgive and the world to be moral.

As tributes poured in from all corners of the globe to the great leadership icon, one could observe everyone trying to associate themselves with the man. Even those who caught a glimpse of him at an airport or a major rally at a state visit are struggling to compile a few paragraphs to describe the experience in his tribute. This kind of endearment to almost everyone is unprecedented. Unfortunately, we do not seem to have benefitted from his legacy. And like a local commentator said, either Mandela had very bad students or he was a bad teacher. Personally, I’m compelled to believe the former to be true. Albeit, I think it’s not too late.

The lessons he taught, emphasized and lived by seem to have remained stories for researchers and authors. Justice, reconciliation, political accommodation, sacrifice for what is good, rule of law, equality, et al. are ideals that we still struggle to find in today’s leaders in Africa and beyond. One may argue that Mandela found himself compelled to live up to the image that had been built around him while he was languishing in jail for almost three decades. My opinion however is that the choices he made and the ideals he upheld are what delivered him to that revered place in every one’s mind.

The elites in Uganda and indeed the world have run to Twitter and Facebook,  in this social media driven age, to write their favourite quotes of Mandela and to produce a semblance of inspiration they might have drawn from the leader. The truth however is that these same elites are not living these lessons but rather directly or indirectly perpetrating the new “apartheid” of poverty, inequality and injustice.  We the elites have failed to walk the talk. We rather have acquired talent but failed on ethics. We have skills that lack values and knowledge devoid of conscience. We applaud the disregard of the law as long as it serves our inherent strategic interests of advancing our position in society and getting us closer to the pot of gold. We knowingly abet government’s aggression of political dissent to appear favourable to the powers that be. In such times of political crisis when constitutionalism is on trial and laws are being skewed to reflect the wishes of the regimes or else risk being ignored, opportunism is on offer and the elites have on more than several occasions fallen short of the ‘Mandela principles’.

We cannot build a modern, democratic and transformed society if we the elite remain selfish, uncompromising and continuously fail to form a constructive debate and activism to deliver us there. We must rise up to the occasion where the powers at the centre have failed to hold. It seems like the best of us lack the conviction while the worst are full of passion and intensity.

We must stop protecting and excusing the corrupt because they ‘are part of us’ in terms of ethnicity, religion or political affiliation and yet we call on the rest to be sacrificed. These double standards will not help us build a world we can be proud of. We must not seek self-gratification but work as instruments of good and social transformation that we have been empowered to be. A life of service is the true mark of achievement. Mandela’s life doesn’t require a further example. The great scriptures are very clear in reference to elites that, “to those whom much is given, much will be required.”

Let us not just be proud of Mandela’s immense achievement but rather get inspired to dig out that small Mandela in each of us and bring him onto the stage to honour his legacy.

Fare thee well Madiba.