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Elliot Ziwira Senior Writer
Set aside by the Government of Zimbabwe in December 2017, the National Youth Day is commemorated every year on February 21 to celebrate young people’s contribution to the political and socio-economic development of the nation dating back from the days of the liberation struggle.
It is apt that this year’s commemorations are held under the theme: “Alleviating Substance and Drug abuse by the Youths”, since the vice has become so rampant that societal fabric is under threat.
Because youths are the backbone of the nation’s developmental trajectory now and into the future, as they comprise more than 65 percent of the population, programmes that encourage behavioural change among this critical demographic should be initiated.
It is only through change of behaviour via initiatives involving all stakeholders, with young people themselves as the major players, that national socio-economic expectations are realised.
Although the future belongs to this constituency, youths should draw inspiration from the past in their interpretation and interaction with the present.
For them to determine where they are going, they should know where they are coming from and on whose sod of soil their feet are.
The collective memory enshrined in the struggle for Independence from colonialism, starting from the First Chimurenga, needs to find a basis in young people’s endeavours, as they are the future, lest they tumble into the mire of neo-colonialism and its local enablers.
Their young minds need to be liberated both from themselves and the many substances they abuse in their attempts to create a reality only known to them, as well as opportunistic players that prey on their vulnerability.
Young people should be able to go beyond history as a silent past, but as a source of agency that moves and speaks to the present and the future. Because they are a key demographic, it should be inculcated in youths from an early age that the nation comes before the individual.
As has been observed through autochthon wisdom, a man cannot be expected to love his country, when as a child, he was never taught to love his village and fellow villagers.
With approximately 4,6 million Zimbabweans being primary and secondary school pupils, it is imperative that pledges to self and nation, involving young people are revisited.
Negativity, therefore, should not be allowed to grow into a habit, where everything to do with the country is trivialised, no matter how significant it may be to the common good.
A culture of love, peace and unity, even in the face of adversity, should be cultivated in young people, for misfortune is a state of mind.
There is always a starting point. If young people are taught the essence of nationhood and citizenship, through a shift, not only in mindset, but changes to the curricula in schools, then, patriotic nationals, who will stand tall in defence of their country, are created.
The national youth service is not a bad idea after all. It is an apt starting point, for every nation is as good or bad as its citizens. Indeed, as Andrew Jackson posits, “every good citizen adds to the strength of a nation,” for being a citizen is more than a birthright.
Participating in national events and programmes, exercising their right to vote for representatives of their choice, and defending their country from detractors are some of the duties of an informed youth.
However, young people should remain mindful that whatever choices and opportunities open to them now, did not come on a silver platter. They are products of sacrifice, selflessness and patriotism.
Youths, therefore, should take an interest in the affairs of their country, and desist from partaking in the politics of subterfuge. They should not always be pretentious and dishonestly straddle the fence, expecting others to do their bidding, and blame them when their expectations are not met.
The Government of Zimbabwe has always played its part in ensuring youth inclusivity. Since Independence in 1980, the Government has remained steadfast in its commitment to the welfare of young people and artists across all genres. Previously suppressed talents across a gamut of disciplines in sport and arts were liberated.
Through enabling policy frameworks, more citizens have been afforded opportunities to scribble their scripts on the global landscape across all spectrum of human endeavour, as spaces that colonial Rhodesia closed them out of were unlocked.
The Second Republic, led by President Mnangagwa, has situated youths at the centre of its programmes aimed at empowering them through skills training in entrepreneurship and mechanised agricultural practices. Such initiatives do not only capacitate youths in the fight against poverty, but also take them away from drug and substance abuse.
Through the Ministry of Youth, Sport, Arts and Recreation, the Government has been seized with the promotion of youth participation in socio-economic activities with the view to not only empower them, but incorporate them into the broader national discourse of development.
Policies meant to identify, nurture and support talent were put in place, and avenues into the international cosmos were created for all citizens, particularly young people.
Over the last four years, the Ministry of Youth, Sport, Arts and Recreation, headed by the Olympian, Kirsty Coventry, has been duty-bound to deliver on its obligation to the people of Zimbabwe, so that each citizen’s full potential in whatever discipline of choice could be realised, regardless of race, ethnicity or creed.
Testifying to serious intent in giving youths a voice and opening up spaces for them, the permanent secretary in the ministry, Dr Thokozile Chitepo, was among the four permanent secretaries recently honoured for excelling in their duties last year.
That is the Second Republic’s way of doing business — more action, less talk through performance-based contracts for Cabinet ministers, permanent secretaries and other senior civil servants in Government departments and State-owned enterprises.
Policies have been put in place to promote the development of youth, sport, arts and recreation. The Government has also institutionalised and enforced good corporate governance in youth, sport, arts and recreation programmes to attract investment and full participation of individuals and corporates.
It has also formulated and implemented strategies that ensure development and growth of the same.
In addition, through the Ministry of Youth, Sport, Arts and Recreation, the Government is obligated to create an environment that supports and enhances the development of youth, sport, recreation and the diversity of cultural expressions, and promote entrepreneurial skills for their development.
It is also part of the ministry’s function to establish and administer a revolving youth, sport, arts and recreation fund to inspire growth of associated industries.
It has to be recalled that Ian Smith’s 1965 Unilateral Declaration of Independence (UDI) led to the exclusion of Zimbabwe (then Rhodesia) from international sporting platforms.
Even though there was so much talent among black people, who were excluded from elite sporting disciplines, like cricket, rugby, squash, tennis and golf open to white Rhodesians, their participation at the global arena, which could have given them a chance in the limelight, was blocked since Rhodesia was under sanctions.
Talented footballers like the late George Shaya, who played for Dynamos and the Rhodesian national team during the 1960s and 1970s, and named the Rhodesian Soccer Star of the Year a record five times, three of which consecutively, from 1969 to 1977, could not go beyond the South African league because of the restrictions.
Artwell Mandaza, one of the greatest athletes to emerge from Zimbabwe, sprinted his way to a world-record 9,9 seconds in the 100m event at the South African Bantu Championships in Welkom in 1970, placing his time at par with Cuba’s Pablo Montes’ as joint fastest, but his feat was not recognised because of politics.
But the official best time of 10,2s in the 100m stretch attached to the Zimbabwean made him the 11th fastest athlete in the world in the same year. When he was sent for an attachment in Germany in 1972 and qualified for the 1972 Summer Olympics in Munich, Mandaza was shot down by the politics of the day, as Rhodesia was excluded from the jamboree.
Independence, therefore, gave Zimbabweans a national identity embodied in their flag, which they now proudly wave at international forums. The young nation State announced its arrival on the global amphitheatre through its field hockey team, the Golden Girls, who won gold at the 1980 Summer Olympics in Moscow, Soviet Union.
In 1985 the Mickey Poole-coached Warriors won the CECAFA Cup (now the CECAFA Senior Challenge Cup) when they overpowered Kenya 2-0. The Cup, a FIFA competition founded in 1926, is the oldest football tournament in Africa.
The Zimbabwe Olympic Committee (ZOC), with 30 national sport federations under its wing, has committed to having teams from all disciplines represented at the Commonwealth and Olympic Games since 1980.
As Zimbabweans celebrate National Youth Day today, therefore, the values of selflessness, sacrifice, patriotism and nationhood embodiment in the struggle for liberation against colonialism should be emphasised.
Online Reporter