By Obi Egbuna, Jr

ON Saturday August 16, I scattered my late father’s ashes in Zimbabwe at Mosi-Oa-Tunya, one of the world’s seven wonders, commonly referred to as Victoria Falls. 
The English translation is the smoke that thunders.
What influenced this decision was his African revolutionary fighting spirit. 
From my childhood he made it emphatically clear to me that we were Africans first and foremost, which means the country where his remains ended up in the final analysis is rather secondary.
For those of us who function from the understanding that our patriotism is determined by our illustrious history and culture, as opposed to our passports and birth certificates, all true daughters and sons of the African soil consider every grain and inch of our beloved mother continent home sweet home.
In September 2003, I had the honour and privilege of having a meeting with the President of the Republic of Zimbabwe, H.E. Comrade Robert Gabriel Mugabe. 
I will never forget my father’s level of excitement and the wisdom he imparted before I walked out of the door. 
He urged me to do very little talking and listen very attentively to President Mugabe.
When I returned to Washington DC, from President Mugabe’s suite in New York, I shared the experience with my father. 
His response was it reminded him of his first meeting with Osagyefo Dr. Kwame Nkrumah in Conakry, Guinea, in 1968.
He went on to say defending the image of President Mugabe and ZANU PF along with Zimbabwe’s sovereignty, would be more challenging than standing firmly behind Osagyefo Nkrumah and the Convention People’s Party in the 50s and 60s.
His next point was that just like the Osagyefo Nkrumah, our collective appreciation for President Mugabe will only come full circle long after he is no longer with us physically.
It is only fitting that my father’s final resting place is an African nation whose bold and courageous leader also happens to be a disciple of Nkrumah. 
At the conclusion of our meeting, President Mugabe thanked me for briefly sharing my father’s association with the Osagyefo.  
While I was in Mosi-Oa-Tunya for the historic SADC summit where Zimbabwe assumed leadership of the region until next August, it was no coincidence that I gave my father a homegoing in the nation, which at this moment has the distinction of being Mother Africa’s answer to Western imperialist domination in the 21st Century.
For Africans at home and abroad who at some point plan to visit Mosi-Oa-Tunya, you may be awestruck by its natural beauty, but try to remember you are in the final resting place of one of the finest African writers and frontline soldiers the 20th Century produced.