Dr erieka bennett biography of mahatma gandhi

 

BY USMAN MAMA

In an exclusive interview with this magazine in Abuja, the capital of Nigeria, on the heels of the May 29th, 1999 inauguration of then-Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo, Dr.

Erieka Bennett, who headed a delegation comprising reporters and entertainers to the historical event, said: “You really are not whole until you understand your roots. Our roots belong to Africa.” Echoing the same sentiment eight years later during a quiet moment in 2007 after being presented in London with the Global Leadership Award endorsed by the World Bank and the IMF in recognition of her impressive achievements, Bennett – an African American woman born and raised in the United States – stated: “You are not an African because you are born in Africa; you are an African when Africa is born in you.”

It’s impossible to capture in one article the full dimension of this extraordinary woman with multiple hats, for Bennett is a top-grade africanist, a diplomat, a media leader,