Nelson Mandela At 86

[struggle4progress]

This Day (Lagos) July 18, 2004
Posted to the web July 19, 2004
Tom Obulu

Reverend Father John Aniagwu is the parish priest of Saint Leo Catholic Church Ikeja, Lagos, Nigeria. As the man whose most important duty is to sink the gospel into the hearts and souls of his parishioners, his greatest worry that morning of February 22, 1998 was how best to interprete one of the most important messages of the Bible to his listeners, taken from Luke Chapter 6, Verses: 27-38. The theme of this chapter is compassion and love for your enemies.
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On that fateful day, the determined priest began: "President Nelson Mandela of South Africa is one of the most respected leaders not only in Africa, but in the whole world". The name Mandela drew uninterrupted attention; the analogy of his reconciliation with his jailers for 27years made members of the congregation examined their minds and souls towards love and compassion and above all, forgiveness.

Since the priest's sermon, I have tried to gain from the spiritual benefits and lessons of that memorable reference to Mandela, who in strict religious sense may not necessarily be regarded as a fantastic Christian. A humble man who is not a pastor, but has a better gospel reference interpretation for mankind, a noble man who is not an advertising agent, but the best seller of any products and a gentle man who is not a show businessman, but the greatest convener of show biz stars in the world. Mandela is not a soldier, but he is the best fighter, he is not a footballer, but he carries the World Cup and he is not the President of the United Nations, nor is he the President of the United States of America, but is undisputedly the World's No. 1 statesman.
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No matter how you define the word influence, Mandela is the most influential man in the world. In the recent TIME Magazine's 100 most influential people of the world, Mandela proudly made the list. Only two Africans were worthy of mentioning; the other is Kofi Annan. Mandela's influence is boundless and has finally brought eternal joy to all Africans. Whether our detractors are ready or not, Africa is hosting the World Cup in 2010 in South Africa. Some say it is the most significant achievement on the African soil. I agree with them.
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http://allafrica.com/stories/200407190583.html