Hardly had I recovered from the shock of the news of Nelson Mandela’s death than I was hit by another deadly strike from one of the “Presidential Guards”, Dr.Doyin Okupe. Equiped with a shark instinct for smelling blood, Okupe saw a good opportunity in the death of a decent man, Mandela to panel beat the battered image of his principal. It was alleged that in an AIT interview Okupe claimed that president Jonathan is Nigeria’s Mandela. In his words: “Nelson Mandela was a great leader, he lived his life for the people of South Africa… I checked through the history of Nigeria, among our past and present leaders, the only one we call Mandela here in Nigeria is president Jonathan. There is no president in Nigeria that has sacrificed 13 hours to discuss with ASUU.” Truly bizarre! I doubt if President Jonathan will answer “Mandela” even in the privacy of his room if he has an ounce of honour in him.
Many people across the globe who had the misfortune of listening to Okupe insulting their sensibility while abusing the honour of Mandela may take a long time trying to forgive Nigerians for this blasphemy. Not even Mandela’s long incarceration in Roben Island could be as insulting to his memory as Okupe’s belittling of his status to this pitiable level. One may begin to think if Okupe was high on something for daring to draw such an analogy between indisputably the most globally acclaimed elder statesman and some situational “leader/elder” whose patriotic meter level is as low and erratic as it is undefinable.
Perhaps, Okupe’s moral degeneration is to such level that he have no problem going against the tides of logic/common sense and simple reality. He should have asked his principal who happened to be attending African leaders meeting in France when the news of Mandela’s demise hit the world if he sincerely believes he is anything closer to the “negative side” of Mandela. I doubt if Okupe could entertain the idea of President Jonathan matching the credentials of a “bad Mandela” in the inner recess of his mind much less, the hero the world is celebrating today.
Not even the exuberance of Okupe could say what was going through the minds of most African leaders at the event when the picture of Mandela was strategically placed at the venue of the event — perhaps to mock and slight them. No doubt, most of them must have imagined how easily one could achieve honour by just being honest and sincere. Of course, even in their excessively “executive” minds, they knew Mandela was an ordinary man who lived an ordinary life by ignoring the trappings of power yet, achieved extraordinary results. His aim was simply to free his people from the shackles of apartheid but he ended up conquering the world by his humility and simplicity.
From a brutally segregated and ethnically divided nation, Mandela built an enviable South Africa that rubs shoulders with nations creating waves in the global community, leaving behind classless nations like Nigeria barely clinging to life — swinging between vast potentials and pathetically destructive leaders. This is the incomparable comparison Okupe wishes to have Nigerians buy to justify the expenditure of his office.
Perhaps, Okupe is not aware that “Qunu”, the home town of Nelson Mandela is the city with the lowest crime rate in South Africa. This was not achieved by policing but by the simple respect even criminals accord Mandela. It was a taboo to steal in Qunu. Yes! Mandiba was that honoured.
I wonder how long it will take the Nigerian government to fumigate the creeks of Bayelsa and other states in the South-South of criminals to give some semblance of respect to their son. If President Jonathan is anywhere near the road to a “Mandela,” Nigeria will not be losing $1bn worth of crude oil monthly to “ghosts”. Money will not be missing from government coffers like there is no tomorrow. For Okupe to be so uncharitable and insensitive to the feelings of the human race in this period of mourning, to say the least is the worst exhibition of improper upbringing and absolute lack of quality intellectual and social makeup of the characters handling the affairs of Nigeria. South Africa needs our support not insults.
Who else but a deranged person could calculate the 13 hours ‘suffered’ by President Jonathan negotiating with ASUU to be achievement enough to revamp a battered image to achieve even a minimum level acceptability that Okupe want to have us believe were enough to turn President Jonathan into a local Mandela. How much is Okupe making that is making him this desperate. Is it so mind confusing for this guy to grasp the sacrifice made by Mandela to achieve a globally certified place of honour in the minds of billions of people cutting across racial and religious boundaries?
Perhaps, Okupe is so engrossed in his daily schedule of cleaning the president spotless to notice that Nigeria is now a laughing stock for the same “13 hours” ridiculous reason he believed made president Jonathan the only Nigerian contestant to the prestigious Mandela throne. Of course, only an insincere President will waste so much time at a negotiating table with a sensitive body like ASUU only to come out one hand empty and the other full of fake promises.
More than ever, I now believe president Jonathan’s worse enemies are those close to him – those making money with the lucrative business of cleaning the verbal mess always trailing this regime. With friends like Bamanga, Okupe and Maku, I don’t think the president need to go searching for enemies further than the walls of the ASo Rock villa.
