Adekunle Aliyu
22 April 2008
Lagos — South Africa's President, Thabo Mbeki, yesterday honoured Chief Emeka Anyaoku with the country's highest national honour for non-South Africans.
Chief Anyaoku was honoured with the "Order of the Supreme Companions of O.R. Tambo: Gold" in recognition of his contribution to the ending of apartheid in South Africa.
Anyaoku, a former Secretary-General of the Commonwealth and one-time Foreign Affairs Minister for Nigeria, also worked toward the enthronement of democracy in South Africa.
The statement said Anyaoku's association with the legendary leader of the ANC, Oliver Tambo and his colleagues began in 1963.
Anyaoku was actively involved in the negotiations of 1991 to 1993 that paved the way for elections, which led to the assumption of office of Nelson Mandela in 1994 as South Africa's first black President.
In his foreword to Anyaoku's memoirs, The Inside Story of the Modern Commonwealth, Nelson Mandela said: "I am well aware of the need to avoid exaggerating the role of the individual in history.
"On the other hand, history is replete with examples of individuals intervening in situations and making all the difference.
"Emeka Anyaoku's intervention in South Africa's transition from apartheid rule to a non-racial democracy was a decisive contribution which history, if properly nursed, will come to acknowledge."
Anyaoku was accompanied to the ceremony by his wife, Bunmi, family members and friends.
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