To me the greatest achievement of Castro was his unparalleled leadership qualities, unrivalled intellectual clarity about the issues that confronted his years in power, his charismatic mien, boundless physical energy, all of which gingered him to look unblinkingly at his mighty next neighbor – the United States of America. That he succeeded magnificently to hold the Cuban nation together, until President Barack Obama broke decades of diplomatic ice that enabled him to visit Cuba, made Castro one of the greatest revolutionaries in the special class of Ho Chi Minh of Taiwan, Nikolai Lenin of Soviet Union, Gemal Abdel Nasser of Egypt, etc. Fidel Castro is on my mind because there are still gigantic leadership deficiencies and dislocations all over Africa.
By Igbotako Nowinta
I have been carrying a burden in my mind since the passing to eternal glory, of one of the greatest revolutionaries that has ever lived on earth, Fidel Castro.
The burden is simply that I have not been able to say anything in my column since the legend died at the ripe age of ninety (90) years.
Now the burden is being lifted off my shoulders because such colossal and historical personality like Fidel Castro deserves to be celebrated in one way or the other by all living genuine revolutionaries.
Fidel Castro was a mighty fighter for change, societal progress and accelerated development.
Despite some of his short comings, like holding on to political power tenaciously until ill- health forced him to relinquish supreme power to his junior brother, current President Raul Castro, the Cuban Icon was an extra-ordinary leader.
He incredibly understood the way to play out day to day dynamics of government; his brand of socialism and democratic prosperity shocked many of his foes and dazzled his harsh critics.
Papa Castro was a living legend who stood against the brand of imperialism displayed by the United States and went on to place the Cuban nation in a special corridor of great nations in the world.
Because of Castro the Cuban people stoically regained their battered image that took several decades to be pushed down by both internal and external foes of the country.
Fidel Castro indeed made Cuba a mighty place compared to the small geographical size of the Latin American nation, where American drug barons and other bandits used as a platform to unwind and gambled away their ill-gotten wealth prior to the revolution of 1959.
To me the greatest achievement of Castro was his unparalleled leadership qualities, unrivalled intellectual clarity about the issues that confronted his years in power, his charismatic mien, boundless physical energy, all of which gingered him to look unblinkingly at his mighty next neighbor – the United States of America.
That he succeeded magnificently to hold the Cuban nation together, until President Barack Obama broke decades of diplomatic ice that enabled him to visit Cuba, made Castro one of the greatest revolutionaries in the special class of Ho Chi Minh of Taiwan, Nikolai Lenin of Soviet Union, Gemal Abdel Nasser of Egypt, etc.
Fidel Castro is on my mind because there are still gigantic leadership deficiencies and dislocations all over Africa.
Castro won laurels where the likes of Kwame Nkrumah of Ghana, Robert Mugabe of Zimbabwe, Ahmed Sekou Toure of Guinea, Felix Houophet-Boigny of Cote de voire, etc lost control and derailed shamelessly, largely because they failed to translate their ideas into eternal glories within their countries.
Fidel reminds me quickly of Chairman Mao Tse-Tung who perpetually brought the people of China from debilitating and excruciating backwardness, when he spearheaded the Chinese revolution on October 1st 1949.
Like Mao, Castro perpetually focused on his vision and shot his name beyond the zenith of immortal giants around the planet earth. That was Fidel.
When will the world see another in his likeness? In death history has perfectly absolved him positively.
I join the Cuban people to celebrate and never to mourn the exit of this immeasurable revolutionary icon. May his great soul rest in peace!
On the final note here, the ordinary people of Africa and Latin America must create the necessary democratic avenue to replicate Fidel Castro within their countries in any way absolutely possible.
That is the challenge that the extraordinary great works of Fidel Castro, who was a priceless friend of Africa, has thrown at all of us! Castro might be gone, but his revolution lives on!
Nowinta wrote: Where We Are – A Call for Democratic Revolution in Nigeria
