"Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela:" "Summarizing Mandela's legacy."
By: Biniam Yibaleh
He has changed the world, Africa and of course South Africa. A man who had the power to choose his way and the humanity, reconciliation and democracy chose. Not only that he was ready, for in which he believes himself to suffer. But as him then the power agreed, he did not abuse and then had still the size to give up them at a certain time again voluntarily. In it many other African nations can take from themselves a model.Therefore, it is a universal symbol for the work for the human dignity and we must be reminded of it. I find, in the today's world really.
Nelson Mandela has gone spread around us to apprenticeships we also without his presence of wide peace as well as can do power or justice without violence.
Nelson Mandela in Ethiopia / Addis Ababa /:
"Ethiopia has always held a special place in my own imagination, and the prospect of visiting Ethiopia attracted me more strongly than a trip to France, England, and America combined,” Mandela later wrote in his 1994 autobiography “Long Walk to Freedom.” “I felt I would be visiting my own genesis, unearthing the roots of what made me an African."
 |
Ethiopia Col Fekadu Wakene: The man who taught Mandela to be a soldier. 2013 Addis Ababa. |
In 1962, Mr. Nelson Mandela secretly came to Ethiopia for military and political training. Ethiopian army, on the orders of Emperor Haile Selassie himself first trained and armed Nelson Mandela in his struggle against apartheid. On the personal orders of the Emperor, the Ethiopian Colonel Fekadu Wakene in charge of Mandela's military training. During his stay in Ethiopia, Nelson Mandela received an Ethiopian passport under the alias David Metsamayi. Meeting His Highness, Emperor Haile Selassie of Ethiopia, would be like shaking hands with history.
"On his Ethiopian Airlines flight to Addis Ababa, Mandela was surprised to find a black pilot in the cockpit, the first he had ever seen."
Nelson Mandela often associates the significance of Ethiopia and Ethiopianism as the inspiration for the formation of his political party the African National Congress(ANC). In December 1992 at the Ethiopian Orthodox Church of South Africa, he was quoted saying, “Fundamental tenets of the Ethiopian Movement were self-worth, self-reliance and freedom. These tenets drew the advocates of Ethiopianism, like a magnet, to the growing political movement. That political movement was to culminate in the formation of the ANC in 1912. It is in this sense that we in the ANC trace the seeds of the formation of our organization to the Ethiopian Movement of the 1890s.”
Following his release in February 1990, Nelson Mandela returned to Ethiopia in July of that year as part of his worldwide tour, timed for the opening of the OAU summit. The Washington TIMES reported that, “the Organization of African Unity opened its annual summit here yesterday by giving anti-apartheid leader Nelson Mandela a hero’s reception.”
He gained international recognition, and
won many awards including the Nobel Peace Prize with F.W. De Klerk for
their efforts to abolish the apartheid system in South Africa.
It was noted that during the second annual International Nelson Mandela Day in 2011, 2,500 trees were planted around Addis Ababa in Mandela’s honor, according to Ms. Clara Keisuetter, Charge de Affair of the South Africa Embassy in Ethiopia.
The legacy of Nelson Mandela will continue to remain in Ethiopia. Today in Addis Ababa, there is a distance education college named after Mandela, a center in Addis Ababa University in his honour and a school in Arba Minch named after him.
Ethiopia’s Prime Minister Hailemariam Desalegn, African heads of state as chairman of the African Union told reporters:
"Nelson Mandela will be remembered as a symbol for wisdom, for the ability to change and the power of reconciliation,” AU Chairman PM. Hailemariam Desalegn told reporters here in Ethiopia’s capital city on Friday 6th. 12.2013 morning. “His life and legacy is the biggest lesson, motivation, inspiration and commitment any African can give to Africa."
Quotes from Nelson Mandela:
"I walked out the door toward the gate that would lead to my freedom, I knew if I didn’t leave my bitterness and hatred behind, I’d still be in prison." Nelson Mandela
"Education is the most powerful weapon we can use to change the world." Nelson Mandela
"Courageous people do not fear forgiving, for the sake of peace." Nelson Mandela
"I dream of an Africa which is in peace with itself." Nelson Mandela
"Peace is the greatest weapon for development that any person can have." Nelson Mandela
"There are few misfortunes in this world that you cannot turn into a personal trimuph if you have the iron will and the neccessary skill." Nelson Mandela
"We must use time wisely and forever realize that the time is always ripe to do right." Nelson Mandela
"For a revolution is not just a question of pulling a trigger; its purpose is to create a fair just society." Nelson Mandela
"It is music and dancing that make me at peace with the world." Nelson Mandela
"You will achieve more in this world through acts of mercy than you will through acts of retribution." Nelson Mandela
"There is no easy walk to freedom anywhere, and many of us will have to pass through the valley of the shadow of death again and again before we reach the mountaintop of our desires." Nelson Mandela
"What counts in life is not the mere fact that we have lived. It is what difference we have made to the lives of others that will determine the significance of the life we lead." Nelson Mandela
"I learned that courage was not the absence of fear, but the triumph over it. The brave man is not he who does not feel afraid, but he who conquers that fear." Nelson Mandela
"Do not judge me by my successes, judge me by how many times I fell down and got back up again." Nelson Mandela
"The brave man is not the one who has no fears, he is the one who triumphs over his fears." Nelson Mandela
"There is a universal respect and even admiration for those who are humble and simple by nature, and who have absolute confidence in all human beings irrespective of their social status." Nelson Mandela
"Nothing is black or white" Nelson Mandela
"Know your enemy — and learn about his favorite sport." Nelson Mandela
"One of the things I learned when I was negotiating was that until I changed myself, I could not change others." Nelson Mandela
"Courage is not the absence of fear — it s inspiring others to move beyond it." Nelson Mandela
"May your choices reflect your hopes, not your fears." Nelson Mandela
"After climbing a great hill i realized that there are many more hills to climb." Nelson Mandela
"A good head and a good heart are always a formidable combination."
Nelson Mandela
"It always seems impossible until it's done."
Nelson Mandela
"If I had my time over I would do the same again. So would any man who dares call himself a man."
Nelson Mandela
"I like friends who have independent minds because they tend to make you see problems from all angles."
"Real leaders must be ready to sacrifice all for the freedom of their people."
Nelson Mandela
"A fundamental concern for others in our individual and community lives would go a long way in making the world the better place we so passionately dreamt of."
Nelson Mandela
"Everyone can rise above their circumstances and achieve success if they are dedicated to and passionate about what they do." Nelson Mandela
"For to be free is not merely to cast off one's chains, but to live in a way that respects and enhances the freedom of others."
