I have always been fascinated by the worldview and insights of old people— fellow mortals who have trodden these ever changing paths for so long that the story of their lives is the story of an era. I am doubly enthralled when such old people have impacted their societies and LIVED FOR SOMETHING.
In a world where expediency is fast becoming the norm, where men and women of principle are fast going the way of the dodo, I have nothing but adulation for those who have stood by their commitment to what they perceive as the common good.
It was that fascination with veterans of popular struggles that propelled me, in 2018, to attempt speaking to President Mugabe after he was deposed. I still had fond memories of the liberation struggle days when, as university students in Nigeria, we fought on the side of our oppressed brethren in southern Africa. A chat with 94-year-old Mugabe would have been a fitting climax to my visit to Harare. But the interview never happened because elements…
Source: Leadership Newspaper
