US President, Barack Obama, has praised late Nelson Mandela as a man that leaves a lot to be learnt from and the last great liberator of the 20th century.
At the memorial service for the former South African President in Johannesburg, Obama, in a speech that rekindled in the thoughts of the onerous commitment Mandela made in the fight for freedom, described him as a man that taught millions to find the truth within themselves.
“It took a man like Madiba to free not just the jailer but the prisoner themselves.
“We see a man who earned his place in history through struggle and shrewdness.
“He disciplined his anger and channelled his desire to fight in the organisation, platforms and strategies for action so men and women can stand up for their God given dignity.
“He accepted the consequence of his action, knowing that standing up to powerful interests and injustice, there is a price. He fought against white domination and fought against black domination,” Obama said.
The US president also said that Madiba also cherished the ideal of democracy and a free society, where all persons would leave together in harmony and equal opportunities.
In his fight against injustice, Nelson Mandela had said; ‘democracy is an ideal which I hope to leave for and to achieve. But if needs be it is an ideal for which I am prepared to die’.
Nothing is inevitable
Obama tasked leaders, who claimed solidarity with Mandela’s struggle for freedom to show commitment to their citizens and tolerate what Mandela tolerated.
“Nelson Mandela reminds us that it always seems impossible before it is done.
“Nothing he achieved was inevitable. We see a man who earned his place in history through struggle and shrewdness. He showed us the power of action and taking risk on behalf of our ideas,” he said.
He urged young people of South Africa and the world to make Mandela’s life a challenge to work out their own lives.
“We can choose our world, defined not by our differences but by our common hopes. We can choose our world defined not by conflict but by peace, justice and opportunity.
“We will never see the likes of Mandela again, he stressed.
