BUILDING THE NATION TOGETHER
by SW Mwaekwa
The time has come when every Barotse National should realize that this is a new era we have just entered into, whose start-off point dawned in the Pizo of March 2012. From that day the minds of the Barotse should have shifted gears into over drive. I remember as a young boy growing up in the late 50s, my mother telling me that “Son if you want something better done, you should were possible do it yourself”. I may not have known what this meant, but as I grew up, I realized what this meant- it works out perfectly. If we want to build our Nation, no one can do it better than “Our selves”. Needless to remind all Barotse people that this is the time we all rose to the occasion and did what is good for the once strong Nation of Barotseland that was once enticed into merging with the unscrupulous North Eastern Rhodesia. Ever since, we have not been the same. What happened then, up to March 2012 is history. This, therefore, calls for all hands on board. I know that it is at this time that many will jostle around for positions in the Barotse Transitional Authority (BTA) or whatever name it shall be. This is where our great danger lies. If we have selfish and un-patriotic people in the BTA, then we will end up like many other nations that are experiencing all the vices that endanger peace and development. We have a lot of glaring examples around us (Africa, South America and the Middle East) and we should not be so myopic that we allow ourselves to fall into the same trap. We have a lot of patriotic people within and without our boarders that can come together and prepare a road map for setting a transitional legislative council and Authority until such a time that democratic polls can be held and leaders elected. This will allow us to demonstrate to the world that the Barotseland statehood has been actualized. Any person imposing himself on the people must be regarded with a lot of suspicion. Authority is vested into an individual or a group of individuals by the consent of the people, for the benefit of the people. We need all hands on board and our old administrative and management structures should be revisited, modified and regenerated to suit present realities. Even us we do so, nobody should be left behind but allowed to be heard and contribute in their own special way. We need to educate each other on the need to work hard. We should be mindful of the fact that education should not only provide the academic knowledge but the capacity to apply it in practice also. Therefore, our system should be an all-inclusive one, designed in such a way that helps individuals to discover their personality, develop their potential and contribute to the well-being of others. We must produce people that can use their skills, talents and knowledge to contribute to the development of our nation and not merely job seekers contributing zero or negative productivity. Einstein once said, “the significant problem we face cannot be solved at the same level of thinking we were at, when we created them”. In this regard, our thinking and approach to our situation today requires a complete change of mind-set. A new mind-set that is focused, provides hope, desires to achieve set goals, disciplined and hardworking people with zero tolerance to corruption, hate, selfishness or any other negative vices with potential to eat away the moral fiber of our society. Given what is going on in Addis Ababa at the Heads of State and government Summit, we should all roll our sleeves, work harder than ever before, hold steady fast and surge straight ahead. Start today, if you are not doing so already. We have a lot of distractors from within and without who should be ignored. Let us all do what we have to do and it is better done now. It is only in unity in diversity that will enable us to build a harmonious Nation. We have plenty to discover and exploit from our vast sands, waters, forests and most of all, our potential as individuals.Unity is power, “Tu kongote wa mwana Nongolo” Ishaa!