Deputy minister of works Veikko Nekundi urged young people to refrain from being a hubbly bubbly, drugs and alcohol generation. He was speaking on the occasion of the annual independence celebration under the theme ‘The Role of the Youth in Independent Namibia’ at Academia Secondary School in Windhoek in the Khomas region on Friday. Nekundi said as things stand, today’s youth are referred to as a lost generation. “The generation of Instagram (happy pictures but totally sad lives). So many of our fellow young people post pictures for likes, and in the evening you sadly learn that that same person took their own life. We are the generation of Tik Tok videos and senseless mottos like, “any little money I get is for my enjoyment, don’t worry about my future. We are the generation of hubbly bubbly, drugs and alcohol. We are the generation of learners who come to school each day to bunk classes,” he stressed.
The deputy minister added that the youth of today are part of the generation of zero respect for parents at home, not to talk about teachers, community leaders or even churches for that matter.
“Surely, this is not the vision our founding fathers had in mind for us when they made the ultimate sacrifice with their lives. Surely, we owe it to ourselves to stand up and be different in a world where more and more people are trying to be like someone else. In helping you to answer what is our generational mission, I stand here to say without any fear that it is to go against any of the things mentioned that makes us referred to as a lost generation,” the deputy minister stated.
He reminded them that the post-independence period has brought about significant rural electrification programmes, and to date, thousands of Namibians in the rural areas have access to electricity. “In addition, the government has invested significantly in the expansion of infrastructure such as the building and upgrading of roads, and it is eminent as Namibia is rated as one of the top three countries with the best roads in Africa,” he said.
The post-independence spell has also activated access to education, whereby basic education at government schools is free. “In addition, institutions of higher learning are producing proud professionals from different sectors to assist in the economic emancipation of our country. Post-independence has brought us improved healthcare facilities countrywide to ensure that the populace’s health matters are attended to with no further failure,” he reminded the pupils.