A Great Lesson On Forgiveness For All As Shown By Nelson Mandela

By: Chikie Nneji and Chris O. Maduka

NELSON MANDELA, former SOUTH AFRICAN PRESIDENT, wrote a personal awesome story.

After I became PRESIDENT, I asked one day some members of my close protection to stroll with me in the city, have lunch at one of its restaurants. We sat in one of the downtown restaurants and all of us asked for some sort of food.

“After a while, the waiter brought us our requests, I noticed that there is someone sitting in front of my table waiting for food”

I told then one of the soldiers: Go and ask that person to join us with his food and eat with us. The soldier went and asked the man so. The man brought up his food and sat by my side as I asked and began to eat. His hands were trembling constantly until everyone had finished their food and the man went. The soldier said to me: the man was apparently quite sick. His hands trembled as he ate!”

“No, not at all,” said MANDELA.

“This man was the GUARD of the PRISON where I was JAILED.

“Often, after the torture I was subjected to, I USED TO SCREAM and ASK for A LITTLE WATER.

“The very same man used to come every time and URINATE ON MY HEAD INSTEAD”.

“So I found him scared, trembling, expecting me to reciprocate now, at least in the same way, either by torturing him or imprisoning him as I AM NOW THE PRESIDENT of the STATE OF SOUTH AFRICA.”

“BUT THIS IS NOT MY CHARACTER NOR PART OF MY ETHICS”

“The MENTALITY of RETALIATION DESTROYS STATES, while the MENTALITY of TOLERANCE BUILDS NATIONS.

“The WEAK can NEVER FORGIVE … FORGIVENESS is the attribute of the STRONG”.

MY RESPSONSE 👇🏾 by Chris O. Maduka

I agree to some extent. Forgiveness is very profound. It releases both people ( the offender and the offended) from eternal bondage.

But the likes of Nelson Mandela , Ghandi, Mother Theresa, Martin Luther King Jr, among few other TRANSCENDE NTALIST are very rare.

In the anatomy of human conscious calculated from 20 being the lowest to 700 being the highest and only attained perhaps by Jesus Christ our Lord and Saviour, these other great transcendentalist rates at the level of 300 and above. Some of the most extraordinary people we know are rated around 200 or even lower.

So the problem I have with this is that forgiveness must come with a repentant heart. It must come when the person doing wrong realizes that they’ve done wrong. Those at that very lowest rating which are driven by fear, empty pride that cannot be sustained, and more are those that abuse the notion of forgiveness.
They lack the capacity to understand the deeper consequences of their actions as they often gloat in it.

That’s where those who murdered George Floyed belong. That’s where those who murdered women and children in Nigeria decades ago and even as we speak belong.

The common thread in all these is that either through the court system or broken dysfunctional arrangement as we have here in Nigeria some people have been forgiven and even rewarded and promoted hence decades after decades same heinous crimes against humanity are repeated.

Fast forward to the Jews and the Holocaust in Nazi Germany. Till this day, anything remotely relating to the Nazi atrocities is followed through and punished more than 70yrs after that wicked act. Has there been a repeat of such in Germany? That’s what makes forgiveness complete. Forgive but move to protect others going forward.

So I can understand this Mandela’s very rare action as an isolated incident coming from a transcendentalist. It is exception to the rule and not the rule. Because all these can only be possible when the evil and wicked lot turn from their wicked ways and turn towards God which they lack the capacity to do. So what do you do?

What I see with some people in some places is that they have underdeveloped conscience, and in their hearts there’s really nothing to be reached. So what do you do with these kinds of people? Continue to forgive everytime or do you forgive in your heart and spirit but physically make moves that will make it impossible for them not to repeat such cruelty and wrong doing to anyone else. Simply saying Never Again! And meaning that. Most progressive people and society that have advanced forward are guided by this pragmatism, but others especially people of Colour, Africans are thought to give empty forgivess even when that might put their future in a great mortal danger. That’s not forgiveness. That’s foolishness and irresponsibility.

We are duty bound to use our experience not to retaliate but to foreclose any possibility of such being the experience of others. Simply meaning to use our bitter experience to initiate actions that will make it impossible for that same thing to happen to anyone else on this planet earth.

As there are Angels among us so there are devil incarnates. It is not everyone that walks on their two legs that are human that deserves forgiveness. After all wasn’t satan cursed by God? Because God realized that there’s no need casting precious Pearls to the swine. They will trample it under their feet. So it is with forgiveness and those that do not deserve it.

Some are inherently evil just like snakes are evil by nature. There’s really no good side to a dangerous poisonous snake. It is just a matter of time before its snake evil instinct will kick in and you are in mortal danger.

The police officers that snuffed the life out of brother George Floyd, (May his soul while Rest in peace but never stay quiet) may it haunt his killers as he is joined by the warring Arch Angels to get rid of all the devils in human form among us because they deserve not to exist among normal people…Amen!

Same offor na Ogu I pronounce for the people that move into villages in Nigeria and cut down innocent people trying to eche out a living from the scorching earth, because they do not belong in the society of sane people. They deserve to be forgiven, but not in a away that will put anyone else at risk by giving blanket forgiveness to the most undeserving. Those who do not want to abide by the Igbo primordial and basic life Principle of : LIVE AND LET LIVE, must face the wrath of the God Almighty…Iseee!

Doing any less or simply giving a blanket forgiveness may cause God not forgiving those who had the chance to stop evil on its tracks but read the meaning of forgiveness upside down and by so doing took unforgivable actions or inactions as the case maybe.
May God help us.