ENYIMBA: Condolence Message to the Family

KWENU! Our culture, our future

October 21, 1999

Condolence Message to the Family, Government and People of Tanzania on the Passing of

Julius Kambarage Nyerere

A Great Son of Africa Departs

The Teacher: JULIUS NYERERE

1922 — 1999

1922:

Born

1961

Leads Tanganyika to independence

1964

Becomes President of Tanzania, formed from Tanganyika and the island of Zanzibar [He and the late Mzee Abeid Amani Karume created the United Republic of Tanzania.]

1966

Supports strongly the right to self-determination of the persecuted Igbo people and their neighbors of southeastern Nigeria; In 1967, Tanzania becomes the first of four African countries to recognize the independence of Biafra.

1967

Enshrines the policy of self-reliance in the Arusha Declaration, the most important political documents to have emerged in the developing world.

1978

Sends Tanzanian troops into Uganda to depose the Killer of Kampala, General Idi Amin Dada, who is currently in exile in Saudi Arabia, and reinstall democratically elected Milton Obote.

1979

Helps shape peace plan for Zimbabwe. He was the key figure in the formulation of the peace plan that was concluded at the Lancaster House conference in London.]

1985

Steps down voluntarily as president

1990

Resigns as head of the ruling party

1999

Dies on Thursday, 14th October 1999 at St Thomas’s Hospital, London, England

Buried in Tanzania on Thursday, October 21, 1999. [Nigeria’s President Obasanjo attended.]

ENYIMBA, the worldwide pan-Igbo think tank, received with great sadness and a deep sense of loss the news of the passing of Mwalimu (Dr.) Julius Kambarage Nyerere on Thursday, 14th October 1999 at St Thomas’s Hospital, London. With the passing of the Venerable Teacher, death has silenced a vibrant voice of sanity and sensitivity in Africa, leaving shocked and saddened citizens all over the world.

We are saddened by the irreparable loss of a great human being, a father of a nation, and a great son of Africa. We mourn with you the passing of a great friend of the Igbo people of southeastern Nigeria. We mourn with you at this time of great sadness. On behalf of the Igbo people, please accept our deepest condolences on the passing of the principled patriarch of peace.

Now that the Great Teacher is with our great ancestors, we must all live according to his great teachings. Dr. Julius Nyerere was indeed a great teacher. He taught Africa that a leader could control a country’s wealth without exporting them to his or her private coded Swiss account. He showed us that ethnic differences could be overcome with the right leadership. He taught us that evil must be expunged at all costs to preserve the honor of humanity. To the world, Dr. Nyerere showcased that an African leader could voluntarily step aside and allow a new generation to govern. He was among the last few, true pan-African patriots. He was one of the few Africans who refused to sacrifice principles in the fight for the abolition of evil in Africa. Dr. Nyerere looked evil in the eyes and called it evil. He was the first African head of state to speak up and severely condemn the genocidal persecution of Ndiigbo during the 1966 Pogrom.

ENYIMBA calls on the people and government of Tanzania to continue with renewed vigor, and in the spirit of pan-Africanism, Dr. Nyerere’s work for peace and prosperity in Africa. The socioreligious legacy of utmost respect for the sanctity of life must never be abbreviated, be it in Angola, Biafra, Rwanda, Sudan, Uganda, etc. The linguistic legacy of making Kiswahili the lingua franca must continue to accommodate ordinary Tanzanians in decision-making processes.

Finally and at this painful period of great loss, ENYIMBA expresses our profound and sincerest sympathy to the Venerable Mwalimu’s immediate family, especially his wife Mrs. Maria Nyerere and their children, to all our Tanzanian brothers and sisters, and to the government of the United Republic of Tanzania. We will harbor the sadness of this loss for a very long time to come.

May the soul of Dr. Julius Kambarage Nyerere rest in peace, and may God bless Africa.

M. O. Ene, Ph.D.

Chairman

Nwachukwu Anakwenze, MD

Special Adviser on External Affairs