NELSON MANDELA'S STORY SHOWCASING THE SUPREMACY OF WISDOM OVER ACADEMIC ACHIEVEMENTS

By: Rahaman Onike

When Nelson Mandela was studying law at the University, a white professor, whose last name was Peters, disliked him intensely.

One day, Mr. Peters was having lunch at the dining room when Mandela came along with his tray & sat next to the professor. The professor said, "Mr Mandela, you do not understand, a pig & a bird do not sit together to eat"

Mandela looked at him as the parent would look at a rude child & calmly replied, *"Do not worry professor,Sir. I'll fly away and he went & sat at another table giving an impression that he was a bird and the Prof.was the pig.Mr. Peters, reddened with rage, decided to take revenge.

The next day in class he posed the following question:
"Mr. Mandela, if you were walking down the street & found a package and  inside it was a bag of wisdom & another bag with money, which one would you take ?"

Without hesitating, Mandela responded, "The one with the money, of course."

Mr. Peters , smiling sarcastically said, "If I were to be in your position,I would have taken the wisdom." Nelson Mandela shrugged & responded, *"Each one takes what he doesn't have."*

Mr. Peters, by this time was about to throw a fit, seething with fury. So enormous was his anger that he wrote on Nelson Mandela's exam sheet the word*"IDIOT"* and he returned it to the future struggle icon.

Mandela took the exam sheet & sat down at his desk trying very hard to remain calm while he contemplated his next move.

A few minutes later, Nelson Mandela got up, walked up to the professor & told him in a dignified polite tone, "Mr. Peters, *you signed your name on the sheet*, but you forgot to give me my grade."

Lesson:Don't mess up reasoning a with people endowed with wisdom and native intelligence no matter your academic qualifications and achievements.

Pass it on to your friends to serve as a reminder that reasoning ability, intellection and wisdom are not solely defined by the number of degrees one posseses  but they are natural endowments that God gives to whoever He pleases regardless of ones parental background and academic qualifications.