Mandela’s Diary and a Strong Lesson in Human Nature.

In the early hours of today, I was held spell-bound by a special BBC radio program on the reading of Nelson Mandela’s diary, written while on trips to other African nations.

In January 1962, at the age of 43, Nelson Mandela secretly left South Africa in a bid to explain the objectives of the ANC to the rest of the continent. He was also mandated to seek the supports of African leaders politically, financially and in the area of military training for its proposed arms struggle.

Incidentally, that was the period that newly-independent African nations were rapidly emerging, full of ambitions for a pan-African role in the world. Mandela’s African trip, from one country to another however, was filled with several unexpected surprises---both pleasant and very unpleasant.

One major example was the “divide and rule” tactic the ruthless South African Intelligence agency tried to employ. It once persuaded North African nations such as Morocco, Egypt and Algeria that in view of their almost Caucasian skin colors, they should have nothing to do with the ANC.

When Mandela and his group approached those countries therefore, they were very skeptical. But according to the diary, the man was stunned when the same “light-skinned” North Africans embraced them as soon as they landed on their lands, referring to them as brothers and sisters. The Algerian and Moroccan governments did not just give the ANC large amounts of money and other gifts, they also provided intelligence supports and made arrangements for military weapons and trainings.   

Tangayika (now Tanzania) and the other countries in East Africa were very supportive. President Julius Nyerere was especially eulogized.

And then, Mandela came to West Africa. As at that time, President Kwame Nkrumah was well known across the world as an influential 20th-century advocate of Pan-Africanism. So, Mandela was full of hope in their trip to Ghana. But was he grossly disappointed!

First of all, Mandela and his companions were treated like a bunch of irritating fellows by the so-called Pan-Africanist. Secondly, Nkrumah sent a message to the men that, unlike the other African nations they earlier visited, Ghana would not pay a “dime” out of their hotel bills. While Mandela said that aspect did not really bother him, he and his people felt greatly disturbed when Nkrumah delivered the final blow---he refused to meet with the ANC guys as other African leaders did.

Then Mandela arrived in Nigeria.

Now, I held my breath as the diary got to this particular point. Finally, I beamed proudly with smiles as the man (in a very thick accent) narrated how the Nigerians treated them like royalties. In Mandela’s words, they were practically “spoiled”.

And then came another surprise: Earlier, as they embarked on the trip to Nigeria, the delegation was warned to watch out for a man called Sir Ahmadu Bello, the Sardauna of Sokoto, a topmost Nigerian politician, and the first premier of the Northern Nigeria.

“Can you imagine…” Mandela narrated. “Even Nkrumah was among those who considered the Sardauna to be too conservative and too friendly with the British Imperialist. But as words got to the great man (Sardauna of Sokoto) he quickly sent for us. And when we met, he addressed us as brothers and gave us a cash sum of ten thousand pounds…a lot of money in those days. We were shocked beyond words. He admitted to being close to the British but stated emphatically that ‘blood is thicker than water’…that he would do anything to make the Nigerian federal government stand by the ANC at all times. This was a major lesson for us about the human nature. In comparison to Nkrumah who was very popular across the world just for being a Rhetoric, an unpopular man such as the Sardauna was more humane as a pragmatist…”

This was Mandela’s first trip outside of southern Africa. He returned in July, 1962 and was promptly arrested in August. He was subsequently sentenced to life in prison at the then “Rivonia trial”.