nbsp;

quot;Even though we face the



difficulties of today and



tomorrow, I still have a



dream. I have a dream that



my four little children will



one day live in a nation where



they will not be judged by the



color of their skin but by the



content of their character.quot;nbsp;

~ Martin Luther King, Jr. nbsp;nbsp;



__

nbsp;

In 1964, Nelson Mandela was sentenced to life in



prison. Seven years later, I was born. As soon as



I was old enough to understand, my mum and dad,



both historians, had taken me through pages in



history.





Outside the bloody, sad tale of the fight of my Igbo



people for survival and fulfillment within Nigeria,



that of the Jews, African Americans, native American



Indians, Koori (Australian Aborigines), Tibetans,



Palestinians; including Mexican Indians, and others



across the world of then and today, the story of



the blatant oppression of native, aboriginal South



African black people by a white minority struck me in a



moving manner.





By reading and observation, I followed the struggle



against apartheid. In humane spirit, I was drawn to



the humble, but unequivocal yearning of this South



African leader who had been condemned to spend



the rest of his powerfully advocative life in prison.





Mandela became an enigma to me. Far from me and even



farther from the world around him, Mandela, symbolic



of the courageous spirit of the South African people,



became a spirit of the deep ancestral Africa which I



resolved to uphold, embrace and celebrate after the



dawn of freedom I longed for.





Above all, I came to realize that I had fallen in



love with a people and their struggle for a peaceful



recognition of the worth and dignity inherent in their



human essence. This love stems from my family#39;s



unwavering involvement in the South African struggle -



a high level involvement that date back to the time



my uncle, Jaja Anucha Wachuku:



http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jaja_Wachuku , was Nigeria#39;s



Foreign Affairs and Commonwealth Relations Minister.





Notably, a 1964 telegram from the United States Embassy



in South Africa to the Department of State read thus:



quot;Cape Town, April 22, 1964, 11 a.m



/1/Source: Department of State, Central Files, POL



29 S AFR. Confidential; priority, repeated to London,

nbsp;

USUN, Pretoria, and Lagos.

...



...



/3/In the quot;Rivoniaquot; trial, nine African Nationalist



leaders, including Nelson Mandela, were charged with



planning and carrying out sabotage. The Rivonia trial



was so called because of the arrest of a number of the



defendants on a farm in Rivonia, Transvaal.



I read the following statement to FonSec Joostequot;



of South Africa quot;yesterday afternoon:



`Nigerian Foreign Minister Wachuku has expressed to



our Ambassador#39; - USA - `in Lagos his view that if



death penalty should be imposed and carried out on



Mandela and other defendants in Rivonia sabotage



trial it would Place moderate African leaders like



himself and Government of Nigeria, who are attempting



to follow a reasonable course on the South African



problem, in an impossible situation.#39;



Jooste took careful notes. His reaction to Wachuku#39;s



statement was calm.



Satterthwaitequot;





Later, in the early 80s, as Senate Foreign Affairs



Committee Chairman, my uncle, Jaja Wachuku, against the



Nigerian government policy of isolating the South African



government because of apartheid, in a very dangerous



mission, secretly went to South Africa to put pressure



on President P.W. Botha, for the unconditional release



of Nelson Mandela and others; including the dismantling



of the obnoxious apartheid system in every humane sense



and truthful reality. Jaja Wachuku#39;s meeting with President



Botha was a rewarding but acrimonious one. My uncle took



this clear risk for the love of his fellow brothers and



sisters in South Africa. Unflinchingly, he truly loved



all humanity; and cared so much for people#39;s well-being,



fulfillment and peaceful joy.





For example, after the sorrowful Nigerian - Biafran war,



there were so many orphans amongst our Igbo people



in Nigeria. Jaja took some of these orphans into the



Wachuku family and wholly trained and cared for them till



adulthood. Today, these orphans of yesterday are happy and



responsibly fulfilled members of our big, interesting



Wachuku family and the Nigerian society at large. Today,



they are my cousins, brothers and sisters in that uniquely



African manner of caring and overwhelmingly inspiring



family tradition. Throughout his distinguished 78 years,



(1918-1996), on this earth, Jaja Wachuku deeply believed



that a wrong-doer cannot be corrected by isolation; but by



compassionate and lovingly understanding dialogue coupled



with constant interaction in order to bring that person



to the same level of love and compassionate awareness



of the fact that we all are worthy and dignified human



beings created in the image of God Almighty.





That was why, for Jaja Wachuku, his unpopular interaction



and dialogue with the apartheid regime had to be kept



going; not just to free the blatantly oppressed and



brutalized blacks and other groups, but also to free



our beloved brothers and sisters - whites - from their



heavily overbearing circle of hatred and destructive



feelings entwined with fatal actions of hopeful



superiority upheld by glaringly unjust laws and



government policies which had no human face.



Crucially, please, kindly hear Frederik W. de Klerk in his



autobiography titled: The Last Trek - A New Beginning:

nbsp;

quot;It is not only black, coloured



and Indian South Africans who have



been liberated. After generations,



whites have been freed from the



defensive Laager (the circled ox-



wagons which served as a kind of



fortress within which they could



protect their women and children



and cattle) in which they had for



centuries been confined.quot;





As I take you on this soulfully moving journey



through The Great Place, let me say a little bit



more about my uncle#39;s eventful life of servant



leadership - in terms of the meaningful responsibilities



of service he had. Jaja Anucha Wachuku was first African



laureate in oratory of the Trinity College Dublin, Ireland.



Later on, as first Speaker of the Nigerian parliament or



House of Representatives, he received Nigeria#39;s instrument



of independence also known as freedom charter - on 1 October,



1960 - from Princess Alexandra of Kent who represented



the Queen of England at ceremonies marking Nigeria#39;s



independence. On a 1960 United States of America tour as



House Speaker, Jaja Wachuku was honoured and presented



with the city of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Blue Seal and key



to the city of Atlanta, Georgia. Afterwards, he served as



Nigeria#39;s first Ambassador to the United Nations. And on



7 October, 1960, he hoisted the flag of Nigeria as the 99th



member of the United Nations. At the world organization, he



was elected first African Chairman of a United Nations



Conciliation Commission. That was the Conciliation Commission



to the Congo. Subsequently, Jaja Wachuku served as first Nigerian



Minister of Foreign Affairs and Commonwealth Relations, later



called Minister of External Affairs. During Nigeria#39;s Second



Republic, 1979 to 1983, he was elected Senator representing



Aba zone of Africa#39;s most populous federation and country.





Also, I must let you know that everyone of us who



belong to the Wachuku family is humbly proud to be



part of the bunch. Ours is an inspiringly outstanding



family which date back, in known history, four hundred



and eighty years. This means that presently, the Wachuku



family of the area that is today known as Nigeria is



in its twelfth generation because biblically, a generation



is forty years. Indeed, over the years, my love for the beautiful



South African people and all of humanity has continued to



grow in unfathomable dimensions:





Then, when on 11 February, 1990, six years before



my distinguished uncle, Jaja Anucha Wachuku, went



the way of all mankind, Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela



walked out of Victor Vester prison, a free and



healthy man, unconditionally, I held my breath



with tears and hopeful unbelief. In the deepest



corners of my soul and being, I knew that Albert



John Lutuli#39;s visionary South Africa was here:



Accepting the 1960 Nobel Peace Prize in Oslo, Norway



on 11 December, 1961, Lutuli said:

nbsp;

quot;Our vision has always



been that of a non-racial,



democratic South Africa



which upholds the rights



of all who live in our



country to remain there



as full citizens with



equal rights and



responsibilities with



others. For the consummation



of this ideal, we have



laboured unflinchingly.nbsp;



We shall continue to



labour unflinchingly.quot;





Today, as I write The Great Place - in celebration



of Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela and all the beautiful and



humanely brave people of South Africa - these quot;rainbow



people of Godquot;, I feel so fulfilled knowing that an



enigmatic reality outside of me has finally found creative



expression and explanation within the inspirational depths



of my being.





Accordingly, afterwards, concerning the South African



experience, I was calmly moved by the following words



from John Pilger in his paradoxical British Broadcasting



Corporation (BBC) aired documentary film entitled



Apartheid did not die:

nbsp;

quot;Coming back to South Africa,



I have been surprised to discover



a generosity of spirit that



survived the atrocities of



apartheid. It is a humanism



expressed in the distinctly



African notion that people are



people through other people.



This sense of community and



sharing is not without the



usual frailties. But the



evidence of its resilience



is everywhere in this country.



And this film has been a tribute



to that vibrant quality.



But tributes are not enough!



It was the ordinary people



of South Africa who set the



pace of change. It was their



humanity and their courage nbsp;nbsp;



that triumphed here;



proving that fundamental



change is possible. It



will be a tragedy for all



of us if their continuing



struggle goes unrewarded;



for its inspiration and



lessons are universal.quot;

nbsp;

Therefore, I am exceedingly glad that humanity has,



through FIFA, chosen these beautiful and inspiring South



African people to host the 2010 World Cup. Step out with



me then - as I take you on an unforgettable journey of life



into that soul enriching heart of The Great Place to be.





From the enchanting, peaceful gardens and green country-



sides of poetic Geneva through the humbling confluence of



Nigeria#39;s inspiring rivers Niger and Benue to the welcoming



and bravely kind Kraals of South Africa through to the ends



of our breathtakingly beautiful blue earth unbound, let



us acknowledge and uphold our love and cherishment for



one another. We must move with God#39;s loving spirit in us.



Humanity must be willing enough to learn from the healing



South African experience or else, we are lost forever!





Indeed, may God Almighty gracefully grant us the mustard



seed faith to find our spirit of the healing deep in South



Africa#39;s inspiring and powerful yearning for peace, harmony



and fulfillment founded on love, oneness and respect for the



divine worth and dignity of all humankind. These are the



subtle, soul stirring words I leave with you this day and



always.nbsp;

Ugonna Wachukunbsp;nbsp;

http://www.amazon.com/Great-Place-Soulful-Celebration-Beautiful/dp/1413740081 nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;

http://www.kalahari.net/books/The-Great-Place/632/27947785.aspx nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;

http://search.barnesandnoble.com/The-Great-Place/Ugonna-Wachuku/e/9781413740080

http://www.borders.com/online/store/TitleDetail?sku=1413740081 nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;

nbsp;