Death is quite an interesting concept to life, for lack of a better term, it is a characteristic and a requirement to living.
As we approach the second half of the year, we as a nation have lost giants to the reaper. The latest being our first vice president, the late Dr Nickey Iyambo. It’s a huge loss for the nation. It’s a piece of our national identity lost.
As I have said before, we as the youth and just a generation in general, stand and live on the shoulders of giants, people who have sacrificed their lives and freedoms so that we can enjoy what we do today. When someone like the late doctor or the late Aandonga king passes on, our giants of the nation take a piece of the national identity with them.
While the family and friends of the late giants grieve at the loss of their beloved, the youth loss a piece of their compass and sense of identity.
Our country is relatively young, one of the youngest on the face of the earth. People like our kings and Dr Iyambo and the likes of Tate Sam Nujoma have done more than just represent and unify the country in one of its most important times, they have inspired a whole generation, especially the youth and showed them through action what is possible when you set your mind towards a goal, no matter how difficult or impossible it seems at the moment.
When one of them leaves us, it’s a great loss, they take their blueprint, wisdom, and history with them. No matter what we do, we can never get it back or replicate it. We can never ask for their guidance or help again. It’s a great loss to the nation.
I hope their passing isn’t the end of their work and through their memory and the great foundation that they laid for us, we can build on it and achieve what they strived to achieve and much more. To the remaining giants of the nation, teach and pass your wisdom and knowledge onto the youth, we need it. I would like to send my condolences to the family and friends of the late giants that we as Namibians and humanity have lost over the few months. May they rest in peace and continue looking over us from above.
In the words of famed author Robert Heinlein, “a generation which ignores history has no past.” Let us not forget our past.
* Olavi Popyeinawa has a diploma in Alternative Dispute Resolution and is currently studying law, LLB at the University of Namibia. He writes on youth matters. Find him on Instagram: olavi_popyeinawa, Facebook: Olavi Popyeinawa and Twitter: @ OlaviPopyeinawa