The passing on of Founding President Sam Nujoma has left many with a void that is difficult to fill in many spheres of society. In all honestly, nothing could have prepared Namibia for this day. Not the ripe age that he lived; not all his contributions to this great God’s country – nothing could prepare Namibia for such a day. For some reasons, we all rightly believed Sam Nujoma will never leave us. And quiet rightly so, for he has been a figure larger than life itself. His spirit spelt immortality, and we believed such.
Poet Melvin Banggollay reminds us to “Cry if you must, but don’t stay there. Life is passing by. Relive, create, imagine and share…”
A befitting tribute to the Founding President, after the mourning and send-off is done, is to take forward his legacy. To tackle the challenges that we are left with as a country.
The Founding Father’s embodiment for hard work, integrity and selfless giving for the betterment of the country was no secret. To drive the message home, he lived these ideals. They formed part of his existence.
He declared openly that the fight for economic emancipation must now continue. He repeated this at almost every platform accorded to him. The fight for economic emancipation must continue, and we must win such fight in our lifetime, he would say.
Therefore, it is time to forge ahead aggressively with the quest for economic emancipation. This will indeed be a befitting tribute to the legacy of the man we are mourning. A leader who showed in many ways that all it takes is a belief, hard work and dedication to achieve greatness.
Let us tear through the layers of self-doubt and self-loathing, and take the bull by the horns. If Nujoma was prepared to pay the ultimate price for his belief, surely enacting policies and systems which will attain us economic freedom is not a high ask?
Let us fight poverty, inequality and vices that have been eating at the very root of our existence. No battle was won without great sacrifice; we should be willing to go through some discomfort to pave a better way for future generations. Let us sit our children down, and instil such values into them. Make it a culture to steer them in the right direction. The Founding President reminded us that “A nation without culture is like a tree without roots. When the wind blows, it uproots that tree.”
The comfort zone that we have become accustomed to is slowly eating away at the fabric of society, as it continues to lowers our morals and good standing.
Nujoma had education at heart. Already before independence, he was thinking of having an educated nation; a nation that could stand at shoulder level with others across the region and the world in general. To achieve this, he send a number of young Namibians abroad to read on technical fields that would be needed for the country after independence.
Let us not drop the baton that is thrust upon us by the founding president. It needs to be carried through to the next generation, and the next, and the next…
As we celebrate the life of this extraordinary man, let us also embrace unity of purpose, and ubuntu in general. Ubuntu is arguably one of the most profound concepts that is ever crafted. “I am, because you are.” Or aptly put, “I am what I am because of you.” We share the same sun and breathe the same air; let’s make it pleasant on everyone.
Such should be the spirit that we bade farewell to Namibia’s most revered leader. He would have preferred it no other way.
Now, hard work!