By Muyiwa Adetiba
The ailing Nelson Mandela tops a short list of personalities I wished I had interviewed during my interviewing years.

This was not really such a vain wish as it might have been realised had Mandela not been in prison when I made my tour of Southern Africa.

Especially since I did interview some of his cotemporaries in the struggle like Oliver Thambo (the then President of ANC), Joshua Nkomo (the ebullient father of Southern African liberation struggle), and yes, Robert Mugabe.

Mugabe

My interview with Mugabe was pleasant and I came away with a favourable impression. He brought out a good laugh when I told him he wasn’t who I expected and he responded by saying it was because I was expecting him to be in an army fatigue with a gun by his side.

But that was then. He has since seized to impress me. I can not reconcile the Zimbabwe I saw and the future I envisaged, with the reality of what Mugabe and his conies did to their country.

So when he said the other day that Nelson Mandela did not go far enough in dealing with the evils of apartheid, I had to laugh. Mandela’s South Africa leads the rest of Africa economically, while Mugabe’s Zimbabwe is swimming in the backwaters.

In the first place, while Madiba did not believe in the superiority of the white skin, he did not canvas the notion of the superiority of the black skin either.

He breathed and espoused racial equality. More importantly, he believed that South Africans, whether white, black or in between, were all ‘sons of the soil’.

He also rose above the pettiness and highhandedness that most rulers —including Mugabe — have by not using the instruments of office to hound real and imaginary enemies. The result today is that Mandela is an icon and a pride to humanity, not just to the black race.

And what is it that Mugabe would have wanted Mandela to do? He would have wanted certain strategic positions stripped from whites and handed to the blacks — deservedly or not. He would have wanted thriving farmlands, goldmines and industries taken from whites and given to blacks — again deservedly or not.

He forgets, despite examples all over, that people who feel ‘entitled’, and are ‘handed things’, be it in communities, or even in families, hardly amount to anything because they have no sense of appreciation. And no matter how much is allotted them, it is just never enough.

This footpath that Mugabe had trod to the damnation and ruination of his country has become the beaten footpath of our leaders who hide their incompetence under several guises.

For the avoidance of doubt, I am talking about the pattern of ‘entitlement’, of ‘exclusivity’ and ‘privilege’, sometimes hidden under the cloak of Federal Character or ethnic balancing.

That is why you can take a young graduate from a backward state and bring him to the centre to boss people who could be his teacher.

That is why you can bring a political jobber to a place that should be occupied by technocrats. That is why you can bring your wife and your son and install them in high political positions. That is why the cry of ‘it’s our turn’ is louder than the cry for merit.

We have seen — just like Mugabe— how these have promoted mediocrity, sloppiness and corruption. We have also seen, or should have, how developed countries have managed diversity in tribe, colour and race. They simply set up rules and expect compliance whether you are an immigrant or a native.

They encourage talent, genuine talent, irrespective of colour. And for as long as you bring something to the table, you will be welcome to dinner. Can we say the same of those who come to dinner in our country?

While we admire Obama and look at him as a symbol of hope for minorities all over the world, we must also admire the system that accommodated him. A system that did not shift the goal post because an unlikely, and maybe unfavourable son emerged. More importantly, a system with all its faults, that was prepared to give content a chance over colour.

Back home, the race for 2015 is between those who want Jonathan to run and those who don’t. Both groups are basing their arguments on considerations outside competence and track record for a man who has been in the saddle for about four years.

For example, is he entitled to another term based on his achievements on security, employment, and socio/political integration? Or other key elements that matter to the nation? Has he been a visionary leader — a leader for this century?

A pan Nigerian leader? Has the system allowed him to perform?  Who are the alternatives to him, and what are their antecedents? Do they possess the strength of character to work on, and correct the ills of our country?   I am tired of this eight-year rule campaign that has no bearing with competence. I am also tired of the cry from the north slogan, again without any reference to competence.

The Civil Society for once, must look closely at content and insist on the same. Our privileged elders must realise that Nigeria does not owe them a living. They owe Nigeria. Nigeria must also get off the Mugabe footpath of ethnic patronage and embark on the pathway of content and merit.