ACCOMPLISH MAGAZINE OCT 2023

50 Nelson
Mandela
Quotes on
Leadership
One recurring subject
on the lips of public
affairs analysts in
respect of Nigeria is
the quality of
leadership the
country has had so
far. On discussing the issue, the
leadership principles and style of
one man is frequently cited. That
man is Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela.
Mandela, even in death, is,
clearly, one of Africa’s leading
greatest statesmen. Only a few
heads of state and heads of
government in Africa (whether
pre-independence and postindependent
eras/apartheid and
post-apartheid eras). He was one
of South Africa’s anti-apartheid
activist and politician who
became that country’s first postapartheid
president, from 1994 to
1999, after a fully representative
democratic election. He became
president after spending a
gruelling, dehumanising 27 years
in solitary imprisonment because
of his opposition to apartheid
practices against Blacks in South
Africa.
His administration focused
on dismantling the legacy of
apartheid by fostering racial
reconciliation. Ideologically an
African nationalist and socialist,
he also served as the president
of the African National Congress
(ANC) party from 1991 to 1997.
Mandela was a renowned
orator. He consistently roused his
audience with unique leadership
concepts, most of which taught
people to stick to unusual paths
of forgiveness and mutual cooperation
to solve societal ills. We
believe that a selection of some
of his memorable quotes would
stir some patriotic, leadership and
humane strings in our hearts at a
time like this.
Nelson Mandela
Quotes:
1. “If you want to make
peace with your enemy, you have
to work with your enemy. Then he
becomes your partner.”
2. “Lead from the back —
and let others believe they are in
front.”
3. “The color of my skin is
beautiful, like the soil of Mother
Africa.”
4. “If you talk to a man in a
language he understands, that
goes to his head. If you talk to him
in his language, that goes to his
heart.”
5. “We must strive to be
moved by a generosity of spirit
that will enable us to outgrow the
hatred and conflicts of the past.”
6.
“I
have
a special
attachment
to the people
who befriended me
during times of distress.”
7. “In my country, we go
to prison first and then become
President.”
8. “It is in your hands, to
make a better world for all who
live in it.”
9. “It is not the kings and
generals that make history but the
masses of people.”
10. “One of the things I
learned when I was negotiating
was that until I changed myself, I
could not change others.”
11. “Resentment is like
drinking poison and then hoping it
will kill your enemies.”
12. “When the water starts
boiling it is foolish to turn off the
heat.”
13. “There is no such thing as
part freedom.”
14. “When a deep injury is
done to us, we never heal until we
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Accomplish Magazine