Modern life offers numerous advantages with the potential to increase our abilities to do much more than what was possible in previous years, whilst it has also unintentionally created just about as many disadvantages that could potentially cripple our functions.
Amongst these worrisome obstacles is the naked reality that it makes people less self-reliant and more dependent on others, hearsay, hope, unrealistic expectations and obviously in the Namibian context – self-entitlement – so prevalent in our midst, to put it bluntly.
The challenging practice of interdependence becomes quite destructive when we become hopelessly too dependent on others for survival or to fulfill our dreams and accomplish our too often farfetched desires.
We should under no circumstances allow ourselves to be sucked into false and unrealistic beliefs and expectations when least expected to.
The ensuing brouhaha that unfolded at State House earlier this week has surely obliged yours truly to put things into perspective in a bid to bring closure to this nonsensical and nauseating debate that threatens to create unnecessary or rather unwanted animosity amongst athletes and sports authorities.
Truth be told, yours truly felt some unease and somewhat embarrassed when sports scribes made it their sole beat to bamboozle portfolio minister Jerry Ekandjo to reveal government’s stance on a possible reward for professional boxer and triple title world champion, Julius ‘Blue Machine’ Indongo.
If my recollection serves me well, it’s an open secret that professional athletes do not represent Namibia when they compete locally or internationally – this is simply why they do not receive national colours whenever they are engaged international activities.
For starters, Paralympian athlete Johanna Benson became the first Namibian to win the prestigious gold medal in history at an August gathering. The Walvis Bay-born sprint sensation claimed the evasive precious gold medal representing her beloved native land of the Brave at the London Olympics in 2012.
And while those with probable challenging memories might have concluded that retired head of state Hifikepunye Pohamba set a precedent by awarding the queen of sprint with a house in the posh residential area of Meersig in her native Walvis Bay – it should be well considered that this exceptional gesture was at the sole behest of the then president.
There is nothing in the written rulebook that states that each and every Dick, even Tom and never mind Harry – or any other confirmed individual – who has achieved international accolades as a Namibian citizen would earn automatic qualification to be rewarded stacks of monies or any other form of material benefits.
Some might argue that Namibian icon Frank Fredericks was given a plot in the posh residential area of Auasblick for claiming a gold medal at the prestigious IAAF World Athletics Championships in Stuttgart in 1997, but that honour was bestowed upon him by the City of Windhoek, not by the Namibian government.
It’s still the prerogative of the CoW to reward Indongo or any other deserving athlete with a plot or by naming a street after them for their heroic exploits – it is certainly not a given that those who excel in various fields are entitled to freebies on top of the lucrative prizes they stand to garner whilst conquering the world stage.
With that, I rest my case.