Many a time innocuous sentiments from non-state actors in the international relations find their ways into national issues and bilateral relations. This may have informed the organisers of the Nelson Mandela’s memorial service cum burial not to have accord Nigeria any significant role during the celebration of the demise of the great African leader. In spite of the incontrovertible fact of history that Nigeria, far more than any other country, played a leading role in the freedom of Mandela from prison and the liberation of South Africa.
Many Nigerians, particularly those in active work life when apartheid held sway in South Africa, watched with bemuse of how Mandela’s former tormentors took the centre stage during the burial, making speeches and glorifying the man their countries wished had died in the apartheid gallows.
Professor and Head, Department of Political Science, University of Lagos, Dr. Solomon O. Akinboye, speaking yesterday with The Guardian, expressed shock at