By Frederick Philander
WINDHOEK
Unam students were yesterday seriously warned against social evils that beset the society and that maturity does not come with age, but with the acceptance of personal responsibility.
The scene was the official opening of the annual festival at which King TK Immanuel Kauluma Elifas, who is also chairperson of the council of all traditional authorities in the country, was the keynote speaker.
“You are here as students to study in order to go back home and accept responsibilities in various sectors and institutions to help the nation with pride and with respect. If you lose respect of your culture, you lose your life target,” the king said in the keynote address that was read on his behalf at the event.
He said that he is not recommending a destructive culture that can destroy the students’ future.
“I am proposing a culture that strengthens your foundation to know where you came from, where you are now and where you are going. Unfortunately most students want to take short cuts in education. My suggestion is that you go through education step by step if you want to be a well trained ‘soldier’, unless you want to lead a cheap life,” the king said.
According to him, a quality life comes from hard work, sacrifice, dedication, commitment and proper planning.
“This is a reality because if you fail to plan, you will lead a cheap and risky life, which is embarrassment to yourself, your parents and to the nation as a whole. This is an indication of a lack of self-control, which goes hand in hand with self-respect. Furthermore, if you leave your father’s and mother’s religion, you will go astray,” he warned the youth.
King Kauluma also warned the students not to waste their energies on alcohol, sugar daddies and drugs.
“This is a very dangerous life to practise and will spoil your whole future. We do not want to see any one of you leading a failed life. Therefore, your future is determined by yourself. Start now to do proper planning and reinforce a constant evaluation throughout the whole education process to achieve your purposes in life,” the king said quoting from the Bible.
He encouraged the student audience to manage their time properly.
“Once you have lost time, it is gone forever. We waste time on things that we think are good, but normally these are not the things to do such as wasting time speaking for hours on cellphones. It is not yet too late to change your attitudes to properly use your time that will bring you, your parents and the nation the best results,” he said.