Our current president campaigned heavily on accountability and was duly praised for it at home and abroad. I believe that is something we should take seriously to combat some of the more serious social crimes that hurt our society today, but more importantly we should learn to apologise when we are wrong.
Most of the youth have developed a sense of self-righteousness and have somehow managed to convince themselves that they are above other people and don’t owe an apology to anyone, even when an apology should be given. How we got here, I don’t know. There is a sense of self entitlement that a young person carries with him/her as he/she navigates through life. Even though the youth haven’t lived long enough in this world, they seem to think that it should bow to them and openly and freely give them what they demand. With this type of thinking, life has humbled many, but the generation simply doesn’t want to learn.
The reality on the ground is that we are more wrong than right in most cases and unfortunately not many people can see that. Over the centuries wars have been fought over who is right and who is wrong, some of which could have been avoided if an honest and simple apology was given. If one is wrong than one should apologise, especially if they hurt another person. It’s difficult if you are the one on the receiving end of an offence, you would seek justice or an apology, it’s just how the world was meant to work.
Everyone can easily relate to when one was offended. The Ovaherero and Nama people of Namibia will deeply understand how important and effective an apology can be. Ever since the Germans committed genocide against their people, they have spent most of their lives asking for an official apology, they just want the Germans to admit their mistake and apologise for it and then pay for the horrendous crimes. In many cases most of the youth’s behaviour is carved out of their environments and surroundings. Here in the country, while our leaders sing songs of accountability and transparency, they rarely live up to their promises and when they are in the wrong they rarely apologise for it or even try to make amends. Not a lot of responsibility as well.
We all make mistakes and occasionally step on someone’s toes from time to time, but maybe this place would be a much more better place if we learned to apologise when we are in the wrong.
*Olavi Popyeinawa has a diploma in Alternative Dispute Resolution and is currently studying law, LLB at the University of Namibia (Unam). He will weekly contributing this column on youth mattersInstagram: niceguy_olavi Facebook: Olavi Longfellow Twitter: @OlaviPopyeinawa