If I were to deliver a "Rhodes Memorial" public lecture at UCT, South Africa

At a child-trafficking 16years of age, history records that an  unaccompanied minor called Cecil John Rhodes was sent here in Africa by his own parents to stay for a longer time if not forever, or just to prolong his life and most likely have him die in Africa even as a "pauper" he was when he left Britain.

However, fate of life and other somehow complex systems would finally have it their own way until he died in Africa. He was already at the knife edge of death at that age with the reported heart problem, and natural causes or effects believed to be climatic conditions then recommended Africa for him.

Now, a Rhodes Memorial Lecture could be a better devil coming the way of UCT students in particular to retrace most critical footsteps of this man, and some Africans in general after the statue and grave fracas is dead and buried again in South Africa and Zimbabwe respectively. Therefore, I volunteer to make the very inaugural address to such a "Rhodes Memorial" lecture for a number of reasons including the basic fact that I'm just an ordinary African passionate to share his own disruptive thoughts on this man.

I hope l have not really incited some prominent and probably African world-renowned lawyers to also consider the merits of posthumously pressing charges against "child-trafficking and child-negligence" of many years ago, just as l recently heard of a Kenyan lawyer who is suing for the death of Jesus under the rules of Roman government. But methinks maybe that's where the matter should now start to resolve this recurring problem and exorcise the ghost that keeps haunting Africans.

My title for such a memorial public lecture can be known in advance as it will be "Colonial Statues and Graves: Are they still numbers to dial from the African directory of our lifetime?"

The analogy of "contact numbers" aptly befits such a public lecture to quickly transmit messages in a conversation of our modern times about those over a century old events and ideologies rather than a telegraphic symbolism. It is very clear some of our African brothers and sisters still strongly believe the Cecil John Rhodes (CJR) statue and grave must be the "hotline numbers" to dial in order to register any new complaints to the former Colonial Office in London. On the flip side, should we really just delete these "hotline numbers" from the African directory of history?

One can only wonder if they are still correct numbers to dial after all these years, and I seriously doubt if an intended receiver can be reached on the other end. As usual the number they are dialing may not be available at present, or is busy engaged with other more current pertinent global issues. So, is it worth it to keep trying?

We may all know that Rhodes' ambitious Cape to Cairo Telegraph Line project never saw the full light of day during his lifetime. It is therefore clear that even today our communication lines are not very open for a reasonable conversation over the effects of colonialism, but they're still very disconnected from the network. The quest for a genuine discussion can easily become shattered dreams over this old but new subject matter.

Moreso, the method used for encoding the recent "telegraphic message" in the form of human waste and exhumation must be strange from both the senders' side and receivers' end especially over such long distances. We now on both extreme ends can no longer clearly read the message!

By now it is a public secret such a lecture I'm more than ready to deliver will be premised on the backdrop of inundating calls by ZANU-PF members to delete the grave "number" at Matopos Hills (World View) in Zimbabwe, and to remove the statue contact symbol of Cecil John Rhodes mainly by black students at UCT Campus in South Africa. But alas, pressing a delete button of things or events we don't want as part of our lives any longer does not create permanent relief of tensions at all. You would have moved it to a recycle bin, or it can simply be immediately "undeleted" by other current numerous methods and in the future.

With a short life of almost half a century that ended exactly 113years ago as of the 26th March 2015, CJR has clearly been outlived by his history or colonial legacy by double. History must always have the correct "physical" address and "grave" number of anyone or event that it wants called to account for certain past actions or decisions. It is quite true especially for any painful past events that history always gives the contacts of responsible people to the future generations or other future events too. I hope those with ears heard this well, especially some of our African leaders.

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This article has been written by Fbr Mthokozisi Ndiweni in his own personal capacity, but he is also the Firebrand-in-Chief of ZIM-ID Firebrand Youth. He can be contacted on ndixam@gmail.com or visit our website at www.zim-id.org .