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"id": 494713,
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"content": "Throughout most of his life, especially in America for over 40 years, the real themes of racism and oppression were not only themes that he wrote about, but probably things that he felt as well. But, again, in his very articulate and humane way, he still discussed this and encouraged others to live beyond that. In one of his writings, this was very key, apart from the two presidents that he wrote about – Kwame Nkrumah and Nelson Mandela – he also did some work on Barrack Obama’s father, I guess as a way of really showing what good can come from Africa. So, he was always very positive, very enlightened and very focused in dealing in matters Africa all the time. He remained with those ideologies right through. Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir, he advocated for the Pan African Movement and he wanted to have a full unification of all the peoples of Africa – that was very important. But within that, he removed and did not want to have any form of extremism. I think one of the things that stand out most was his level of fairness in terms of his dealing with people. First of all, treat the other person first as a person rather than thinking about what you are going to gain as an individual. So, again, it is that level of humanity and hospitality that is very important. He was also not shy to move away from within his realms in terms of interaction. Both the wives that he married were non-Muslims and from different continents. That shows the level of outreach that he had in terms of communicating with other people and giving out what he had to share. Indeed, I think even us, from the coast, have not paused enough to appreciate this great son from the coast. We need to even have courses within primary schools; we need to acknowledge him as a hero; we need to keep on talking about him; we need to have writings put out so that we actually showcase and say that from the coast, we have produced Prof. Mazrui; from the coast there will be many other Prof. Mazrui’s and it is possible. I think we need to nurture the talent. He acted as a true role model. Therefore, we only have to look at what he did, his capacity, what he was able to put in because we have a route and a path to follow. From the coast, we can stand up and say that we are proud of Prof. Mazrui. From an academic point of view, he is a well renowned person. He was Vice Chancellor in various universities and he worked hard. I remember once meeting Prof. Mazrui when I was in Oxford, in the UK, where he was presenting a paper and we had a chance to talk. From the way he spoke about that paper and from the input that he put into that paper, you only saw humility. But through that humility, there was great academic experience and great knowledge. In conclusion, Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir, Prof. Mazrui was a model of integrity and decency. May the Lord rest his soul in eternal peace; may Allah rest his soul in eternal peace. Thank you, Sen. Wetangula, for giving us this chance to pay tribute to our great leader, Prof. Mazrui. Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir, I beg to support."
}