One of the most quoted sayings of Founding President Sam Nujoma has to do with his call for unity of purpose as a nation. This has been a mantra of the father of the nation for long. His vision has always been that of a united nation striving to achieve a common good for all members of society. Such nation, he believed, would always remain victorious.
As the curtain closes on the life of this legendary man, it is the perfect time reflect on whether the ideals he shared and his hopes for his beloved Namibia would be realised.
Do we currently have a united nation that is striving to achieve common good for all Namibians? Is our nation in the great state that Nujoma envisaged?
It is now time, 35 years since independence, and as the late President of Mozambique said:
“The tribe must die for the nation to rise.” – let the tribal lines that divides us die for the benefit of the nation. For as long as tribal origins, class, creed and status in society continues dividing us, we sadly are sailing further away from the shore into the deep, dark waters of life’s point of no return.
Africans, including Nujoma as a pan-Africanist, had embraced unity of purpose. Many describe this as Ubuntu, an ancient African word rooted in humanist philosophy. It can be loosely translated to mean “humanity to others”, or “I am because we are”. It comes from the Zulu proverb “Umuntu ngumuntu ngabantu”, meaning “a person is what they are through other people”.
Nujoma’s pan Africanism was inspired by many greats of this great continent who came before him, including Kwame Nkrumah and Julius Nyerere, among others.
Nkrumah’s vision was for a unified Africa that was free from European colonial rule and had a seat at the table of global powers. He believed that African unity would lead to economic, social, and political progress. Nkrumah was among those leaders that had inspired Nujoma to take on the quest for the liberation of Namibia. Nkrumah led Ghana to independence in 1957.
In one interview with Nampa some seven years ago, Nujoma said he realised through Ghana’s independence that Namibia could also gain its independence.
Mzee Nyerere, on the other hand, believed in the principles of ujamaa, which is the idea of extended families in traditional African villages. He believed that returning to this state would allow Tanzania to reject capitalism and flourish.
He was what is often called an African socialist. Nyerere had tremendous faith in rural African people and their traditional values and ways of life.
Nujoma, in many of his insightful interviews always referred to a conversation that erstwhile Ovaherero leader Maharero, father to Samuel Maharero, is said to have had with colonial settlers at the time.
He would quote Maharero asking the colonial settlers what they were looking for at his place, to which the reply was that they are looking to buy some land. Maharero could not speak European languages, so he was doing so through a translator.
Coincidently, the Otjiherero word for land, ‘ehi’ also means sand. Nujoma would narrate that Maharero would then say “If they want sand, here is sand in a basket. Give it to them…”
He spoke fondly of the gallant fight that those before him fought for the independence of the country. Never did he take all the credit.
It is time for real nation building by holding each other’s ‘hands and marching towards the future with optimism’. There is more to life than being separated by colour, ethnicity or even tribal origins. This surely was not what all these great pan-Africanists had in mind through their work.
We are biding farewell to Nujoma’s mortal being, but his spirit should continue to guide us in all that we do.
Go well, gallant son of the soil. Go well, roaring lion from Etunda.