THUR, 01 SEPT, 2022-theGBJournal| President Muhammadu Buhari has described the last leader of the former Soviet Union, Mr. Mikhail Gorbachev, as “a courageous reformer who will be remembered for years to come because of his immeasurable contributions to world peace and openness in his own once rigidly closed society.”
Reacting to the death of Gorbachev at 91 on Tuesday, President Buhari said “the late Gorbachev was a remarkable gentleman whose reformist agenda had fundamentally changed the Soviet society through his policy of Perestroika and Glasnost, both of which set the stage for economic and political transformation of his own country and that of others in the defunct Soviet Union.”
President Buhari explained that, “although Gorbachev’s political career was consumed by those reforms, history and posterity will be kind to him for placing the interests of the Soviet people above his own ambition.”
According to the Nigerian leader, “the impact of Gorbachev’s legacy was not limited to the former Soviet Union, but it also affected the wider world, such as his voluntary dissolution of the Warsaw Pact military alliance in pursuit of permanent peace in the world.”
President Buhari said “we cannot forget in a hurry how Gorbachev advocated for the destruction of nuclear weapons by both the former Soviet Union and the United States during his meeting with Ronald Reagan.”
The President added that, “although Gorbachev died without achieving his dream of a nuclear-free world, his genuine commitment to durable international peace and security would never be forgotten.”
Meanwhile, South African President Cyril Ramaphosa has also expressed his sincere condolences at the passing of His Excellency Mikhail Gorbachev, Nobel Laureate and last leader of the Soviet Union.
The President joins the international community in offering his condolences to Mr Gorbachev’s family and associates, including the esteemed circle of Nobel Laureates, among whom President Nelson Mandela was numbered.
Ramaphosa said South Africa is greatly indebted to the support provided by the Soviet Union over an extended period – including Mr Gorbachev’s term of office – to South Africa’s liberation movement and to anti-colonial struggles in Southern Africa.
As the first President of a democratic South Africa, President Mandela visited the Russian Federation in 1999 to express his appreciation for this solidarity.
In November 1986, Mr Gorbachev, as General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union’s Central Committee, hosted African National Congress President Oliver Tambo and former President Thabo Mbeki, for deliberations in Moscow on the anti-apartheid struggle and international questions.
President Ramaphosa said: “Mikhail Gorbachev was a statesman who was able to balance his love for his country and the advancement of its interests with the vision of a world in which conflict was reduced and humanity was able to live in conditions of peace and tolerance.
“In support of our own liberation, Mikhail Gorbachev sustained the Soviet Union’s support for our struggle in the critical period that led to the unbanning of the liberation movement and our transition to democracy.”
“We are humbled by the regard he expressed for Nelson Mandela as an inspiration to him and as a model of leadership to the world.”
“We will remember Mikhail Gorbachev with appreciation for his role in making our country a better place within a better world.”
Antonio Guterres, Secretary General of the United Nations (UN) said in his tribute said, Gorbachev was a ‘’one-of-a-kind statesman who changed the course pf history.
‘’The world has lost a towering global leader, committed multilateralist, and tireless advocate for peace,’’ He added.
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