By Kingsley Moghalu

聯(lián)合國第七任秘書長科菲·安南8月18日與世長辭，享年80歲。他是公認的聯(lián)合國歷史上最富有改革精神的秘書長，就任后為了和平使命，在世界各地不斷地穿梭訪問、調(diào)停斡旋、化解危機、防止戰(zhàn)爭、呼吁和談、譴責(zé)暴力，足跡遍布五大洲。無論是在伊拉克危機、中東巴以沖突中，還是在克什米爾爭端、阿富汗戰(zhàn)爭里，都可以見到安南的身影，因此他被譽為“世界上最忙碌的和平使者”。

T o live is to choose. But to choose well， you must know who you are and what you stand for， where you want to go and why you want to go there.

—Kofi A. Annan

The quotation above reflects my worldview. But these are not my words. They belong to someone much older and wiser， and whose mentorship1 and friendship has taught me many lessons in life. I salute Kofi Annan of Ghana， the seventh Secretary-General of the United Nations and my boss of many years， Nobel Laureate and renowned global elder statesman.2

On a recent visit to Mr. Annan at his Foundations offices in Geneva， Switzerland， I was pleasantly surprised to see him just as spritely3， well-kept and un-aged as I had last seen him several years ago. In 2009 I had met him at his office in Geneva to let him know I had decided to resign from my UN system career and was going into the private sector as the founder of a global strategy and risk management consulting firm. As someone who always had the courage to launch out in new， versatile directions during his 35-year UN career before he became Secretary-General， he was very encouraging of my decision to seek new horizons.4 Later that year， he telephoned to congratulate me on my appointment as Deputy Governor5 of the Central Bank of Nigeria.

So， here we were again in Geneva a few months ago as I briefed6 him on my decision to offer myself to serve my country as its President if elected in 2019. He was clearly pleased with my decision， believing as he does that Africa needs a new， vibrant7 generation of leaders. As I left him after an hour of rejuvenating one-on-one discussion in which， as usual， he shared several wisdoms that left me shaking my head in awe， we took photographs.8 We shook hands as the camera clicked. “Ah， politician”， he intoned9 to general laughter from all present.

Kofi Atta Annan did not begin his illustrious UN career on the political or diplomatic side of the ledger.10 Rather， he was a competent manager of human and financial resources. After graduating from Macalester College in Minnesota， USA and post-graduate studies at the Graduate Institute for International Studies in Geneva in the early 1960s， Annan joined the World Health Organization in Geneva， at the lowest professional entry level of “P-1” and later transferred to the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa.11 He later returned to school as a mid-career student at the Sloan School of Management at the renowned Massachusetts Institute of Technology （MIT）12， where he obtained a Master of Science degree in Management in 1972.

He subsequently served in the UN peacekeeping mission that supervised the truce between Israel and the Arab States in the Middle East， as a senior manager in the UN Joint Staff Pension Fund in New York， and as Chief of Personnel at the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees in Geneva.13 In the mid-1980s he became Director of Personnel at UN Headquarters in New York and， in 1990， Annan was appointed Assistant Secretary-General and the United Nations Controller with responsibility for the budget and fiscal management of the world body.14

Kofi Annans political career really took off when UN Secretary-General Boutros Boutros-Ghali made him Assistant Secretary-General in the peacekeeping department and later promoted him to Under-Secretary-General and head of UN peacekeeping.15 This was historic because that important part of the UNs work had hitherto been led exclusively16 by officials of American and British nationality since the organization was founded in 1945. I had joined the UN Secretariat in 1992 and， after serving in the UN Transitional Authority in Cambodia for a year，17 I was appointed a Political Affairs Officer in the peacekeeping department at the New York headquarters in 1993.

With Mr. Annan now my boss， I observed him closely. I learnt from him how to manage cultural， ethnic and racial diversity in the global workplace in addition to my daily political duties. It turned out also that we were neighbors in Roosevelt Island18 in Manhattan. We frequently took the cable car together over the Hudson River into the city and walked to work at the UN most mornings. Unlike most African “big men，” Kofi Annan loved to walk， disliked driving， and to the best of my knowledge did not have a driver. He would tell me stories about his career and advise me on mine as we trekked19 to the office.

In the mid-1990s Egypts Dr. Boutros Boutros-Ghali， the brilliant but pompous Francophile who in 1991 became the first African to be elected Secretary-General of the UN，20 was engaged in a running battle with the United States government. “BBG，” as he was known， was the master of all he surveyed. For this reason， he clashed often with Dr. Madeleine Albright， the U.S. Ambassador to the UN who later became the American Secretary of State.21 Albright was not a woman to be scorned22 without consequence. As Boutros-Ghalis first five-year tenure drew to a close， Washington blocked his re-election by casting a veto against him in the first ballot for the selection of the SecretaryGeneral in the UN Security Council.23 Boutros-Ghali“suspended” his candidacy and the rest is history.24

Most pundits25 and UN staffers did not give Kofi Annan much of a chance of becoming Secretary-General. In their narrow conventional wisdom， they saw him as lacking experience as a “political heavyweight”in the diplomatic world， unlike several African ministers of foreign affairs who had home or regional “constituencies.”26 On the contrary， it was obvious to me long before the end of BoutrosGhalis tenure that Annan would replace him. The reason was simple： Quite apart from the convenience of Annan being a black African （in which case no one could successfully accuse Boutros-Ghalis American traducers of racism）， his qualifications matched the mood and needs of the time.27 Management reform was the big issue at the UN in those days and， unlike his competitors from Africa who were all African politicians in the traditional sense of the word， Annans technocracy and management credentials redounded to his advantage in the mind of the Western powers that in reality control the UN.28 I was therefore not surprised when he emerged victorious in the selection process.

Before then， a situation arose in which， despite my deep respect for Annan， I had to make a decisive personal choice. In 1995， as Boutros-Ghalis tenure wound down to a close and rumors swirled that Annan might be in the running for his job， the Egyptian diplomat appointed Annan as his Special Representative for the Former Yugoslavia， which had become known as “the graveyard of diplomats.”29 The assignment lasted four months. Soon after Annans arrival at his base in Zagreb30， Croatia， I received official word that he had directed that I be released from New York to join him there as his Special Assistant. This was the kind of career opportunity any young officer would die for， and colleagues assumed I would jump at the honor. Under “normal temperature and pressure” I certainly would have， but there was an important complication： My wife was heavy with our first child and close to delivery. As a young couple we did not have a house-help in New York. Faced with a choice between strategic career advancement and a critical family obligation， I opted to stay with my spouse in New York and sent word to Annan apologizing but explaining the situation.31 He was most gracious32 and indicated that he had not known the intimate details of my family circumstances and that he understood and respected my decision.

Kofi Annan went on to become perhaps the most successful Secretary-General of the UN in its history. Those who hold that position have always been assessed through the prism of whether they were more “secretary”or “general，” but Annan managed to escape this simplistic categorization.33 Boutros-Ghali was a general. Ban Ki-moon34， the South Korean that succeeded Annan a decade later， was seen as a secretary. Annans personality and his personal technocratic competence were what made him so successful in running the UN. He led far-reaching management reforms in the UN， launched an ultimately successful war against the HIV/AIDS pandemic including the establishment of the social investment fund The Global Fund to Fight AIDS， Tuberculosis and Malaria in Geneva， and launched the Millennium Development Goals.35

It was not all smooth sailing.36 The American invasion of Iraq in 2003 complicated37 his second term in office. His relationship with Washington soured after Annan boldly described the intervention as “illegal” under international law， and the remainder of his tenure was troubled as the Americans undermined his authority and prestige with orchestrated attacks against him.38 Out of office as UN scribe39 Annan， alongside Nelson Mandela， became a leading global statesman and remains so to date. Besides Mandela， its doubtful that any African has projected the black race into the global mind with as much success as Kofi Annan. Thats called a life of consequence.

1. mentorship： 師長的教誨。

2. Nobel Laureate： 諾貝爾獎獲得者；renowned： 著名的；statesman： 政治家。

3. spritely： 有精力的，活潑的。

4. 成為秘書長之前，他已經(jīng)在聯(lián)合國工作了35年，一直銳意改革、謀求多方面發(fā)展，他非常支持我尋求新發(fā)展方向的決定。launch out：開始做某事；versatile： 多方面的。

5. Deputy Governor： 副行長。

6. brief： 簡要告知，向（某人）介紹情況。

7. vibrant： 有活力的。

8. 我們進行了長達一個小時的充滿活力的單獨交流，像往常一樣，他給了我許多讓我不停地搖頭驚嘆的睿智建議，會談結(jié)束后我們合了影。rejuvenating： 使人恢復(fù)精神的。

9. intone： 緩慢莊重地說。

10. illustrious： 杰出的；on the political or diplomatic side of the ledger： 在政治或外交方面。

11. “P-1”： 聯(lián)合國公務(wù)員的等級之一。聯(lián)合國國際公務(wù)員的職位分三個等級，包括高級官員D級（Director，分D-1和D-2兩個級別）、業(yè)務(wù)類官員P級（Professional，分P-1至P-5五個級別）和一般事務(wù)類人員G級（General Service，分G1到G7七個級別，主要是秘書、服務(wù)和安全人員）；United Nations Economic Commission for Africa： 聯(lián)合國非洲經(jīng)濟委員會，聯(lián)合國經(jīng)社理事會下屬的區(qū)域委員會之一。

12. Massachusetts Institute of Technology （MIT）：麻省理工學(xué)院。

13. supervise： 指導(dǎo)，監(jiān)督；truce： 休戰(zhàn)；UN Joint Staff Pension Fund： 聯(lián)合國合辦工作人員養(yǎng)恤基金，目的是在工作人員退休、死亡、殘疾和有關(guān)福利停止時向其提供養(yǎng)恤金；personnel： 人力資源部；Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees： 聯(lián)合國難民事務(wù)高級專員辦事處。

14. UN Headquarters： 聯(lián)合國總部；Assistant Secretary-General： 助理秘書長；United Nations Controller： 聯(lián)合國財務(wù)主管；fiscal：財務(wù)上的。

15. Boutros Boutros-Ghali： 布特羅斯·布特羅斯-加利，第六任聯(lián)合國秘書長；UnderSecretary-General： 副秘書長。

16. exclusively： 排他地，專有地。

17. UN Secretariat： 聯(lián)合國秘書處；UN Transitional Authority in Cambodia： 聯(lián)合國柬埔寨臨時權(quán)力機構(gòu)。

18. Roosevelt Island： 羅斯福島，位于美國紐約市。

19. trek： 遠距離行走。

20. pompous： 自大的，浮夸的；Francophile： 親法者。

21. clash： 沖突；Secretary of State：（美）國務(wù)卿。

22. scorn： 輕視，看不起。

23. 當布特羅斯-加利的第一個五年任期即將結(jié)束時，美國政府在第一輪投票中否決了他作為聯(lián)合國安理會秘書長的人選，從而阻止了他的連任。tenure： 任期；veto：否決權(quán)；ballot： 投票選舉。

24. suspend： 暫停；candidacy： 候選人資格。

25. pundit： 專家，權(quán)威。

26. heavyweight： 有影響的人物；constituency：選民，支持者。

27. traducer： 誹謗者；qualification： 資格，條件。

28. 管理改革在當時是聯(lián)合國的大問題，與那些擁有傳統(tǒng)意義上的非洲政治家背景的競爭對手不同的是，安南的專家型的政治素養(yǎng)和管理資歷使他在實際上控制了聯(lián)合國的西方大國看來具有優(yōu)勢。technocracy：技術(shù)專家治國論；credentials：（復(fù)數(shù)）資格，資歷；redound： 促進，有利于。

29. 1995年，當布特羅斯-加利的任期接近尾聲，且有傳言說安南可能在競選他的職位時，這位埃及外交官任命安南為被稱為“外交官的墓地”的南斯拉夫的特別代表。wind down： 接近尾聲，即將結(jié)束；swirl：（使）打旋，起漩渦。

30. Zagreb： 薩格勒布，現(xiàn)克羅地亞（Croatia）首都。

31. 面對關(guān)鍵的職業(yè)發(fā)展和重要的家庭責(zé)任之間的選擇，我選擇和我的妻子一起留在紐約，并向安南致歉，解釋了這一情況。

32. gracious： 親切的，和藹的。

33. prism： 棱鏡，through the prism of指從……的角度來看；simplistic： 過分簡單化的。

34. Ban Ki-moon： 潘基文，第八任聯(lián)合國秘書長。

35. pandemic：（全國或全球性）流行病；The Global Fund to Fight AIDS， Tuberculosis and Malaria： 抗擊艾滋病、結(jié)核病和瘧疾全球基金，是一個政府與民間合作創(chuàng)辦的國際金融機構(gòu)，總部設(shè)在瑞士日內(nèi)瓦；Millennium Development Goals： 聯(lián)合國千年發(fā)展目標，是一項旨在將全球貧困水平在2015年之前降低一半（以1990年的水平為標準）的行動計劃。

36. 這并不都是一帆風(fēng)順的。

37. complicate： v. 使……復(fù)雜。

38. 在安南大膽地說這一干涉根據(jù)國際法是“非法的”之后，他與美國的關(guān)系就惡化了。他余下的任期也受到了困擾，因為美國精心策劃了對他的攻擊，削弱了他的權(quán)力和威望。sour：（使）變壞，惡化；orchestrate： v.精心安排，密謀。

39. scribe： 文員。