Three Days of National Mourning for Rolihlahla Mandela, Jonathan Declares

President Goodluck Jonathan has declared three days of national mourning for former South African President, Nelson Mandela, who died on Thursday.

 

The President also called for special prayers in mosques and churches in Nigeria during the period of mourning which begins on Friday for the peaceful repose of Mandela’s soul.

 

A statement by the Special Adviser to the President on Media and Publicity, Reuben Abati, said the “Flags are to be flown at half-mast across Nigeria during the period and President Jonathan urges all Nigerians to unite in solidarity with the brotherly people of South Africa as they mourn the great liberator, freedom fighter and hero of the black race”.

 

A special inter-denominational memorial service for Mandela will also be held at the State House Chapel on Sunday.

 

The South African President Jacob Zuma said the late anti-apartheid hero, Dr. Nelson Mandela, would be buried on Dec. 15 at his ancestral home in the Eastern Cape. Also, the country’s first black president would be laid to rest in a family plot at his ancestral village of Qunu, 700 km (450 miles) South of Johannesburg.

 

Zuma had also announced that the former president would be honoured with a Dec. 10 memorial service at Johannesburg’s Soccer City Stadium, the site of the 2010 World Cup final.

 

“We will spend the week mourning his passing. We will also spend it celebrating a life well lived’’, Zuma said.