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Elliot Ziwira Senior Writer
Today, Zimbabweans celebrate Robert Gabriel Mugabe National Youth Day.
Set aside by the Government of Zimbabwe in December 2017, the Day is commemorated every year on February 21 to honour the legacy of the late former President Mugabe, and celebrate young people’s contribution to the political and socio-economic development of the nation dating back from the days of the liberation struggle.
President Mnangagwa will headline the event to be held at Lupane State University in Lupane, Matabeleland North Province, in the spirit of devolution and unity, with 30 000 people, mostly youths, expected to attend.
Commemorations are also anticipated in other provinces, with Ministers of State for Provincial Affairs and Devolution officiating.
Also, provinces are free to hold their celebrations any day during the Youth Week, which stretches from February 20 to 26.
It is pertinent that this year’s celebrations are held under the theme: “Drug and Substance Abuse, a threat to Vision 2030; every community’s responsibility”, since the vice has become so rampant that societal fabric is under threat.
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, as such, programmes that encourage behavioural change among this critical demographic should be initiated.
In an interview ahead of the 2023 National Youth Day celebrations recently, Youth, Sport, Arts and Recreation Minister Kirsty Coventry, said the Day was crucial as it recognises young people, brings them together, and celebrates their resilience as well as affording them a chance to interact with the President.
She added that the rampant abuse of drugs and other substances by young people was a cause for concern calling for a united onslaught involving all stakeholders.
“The programme has different aspects to it. Obviously, the theme this year is around drugs and substance abuse and asking communities to all come together, and for all of us to take and fight this battle that is gripping many of our young people,” Minister Coventry said.
To that end, the Day’s programme will comprise different segments in which sessions will be allotted to community and youth leaders to enhance the sharing of stories on the scourge of drug and substance abuse, and highlight what is being done to curtail it. Through their representatives, Government sectors will also be roped in.
Indeed, 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 their feet are.
Collective memory enshrined in the struggle for independence 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 quagmire 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 empowered to go beyond history as a silent past, but as a source of agency that moves and speaks to the present and the future.
Since 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 residents.
Old habits die hard, they say!
With approximately 6,7 million Zimbabweans out of a population of 15,1 million being of school-going age (learners between three and 18 years), 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 greater 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.
Hence, Minister Coventry’s remarks put everything into context as she said: “For my ministry, that is how we also want to combat substance and drug abuse through sport, music, arts and culture (initiatives). I have found out that to really talk with our youth, we have to engage with them using sport, music and culture; it generally helps.
“We are trying to create more platforms for young people to know what the ministry is doing; the programmes that we are offering, and then, entice them to come and participate in the programmes and refrain from taking drugs.”
It cannot be overemphasised that through enabling policy frameworks, more citizens have been afforded opportunities to scribble their scripts on the global landscape across all spectrums 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.
The tilt towards skills training offered unlimited possibilities for youngsters such as Tinotenda Hove, a recent engineering graduate from the National University of Science and Technology, who is part of the brains behind the dualisation of the Harare-Masvingo-Beitbridge Highway.
Alexander Kamwendo, a graduate of the University of Zimbabwe, is also part of the youthful team behind the Hwange Expansion project, while Shumirai Mudyanevana, a civil engineer, who graduated from Bulawayo Polytechnic, is the on-site technician at Gwayi-Shangani Dam.
Moreover, youths under the National Youth Service’s Youth Build Zimbabwe programme took part in the rehabilitation of the Kopa-Jopa Road.
Some have also completed various infrastructural projects across the country, particularly in the construction of classroom blocks at the Centre Zimbabwe Africa School in Mashonaland Central. Young people have heeded the President’s call for them to utilise the land by taking up spaces in mining, tourism and farming.
To support the cause, the Ministry of Youth, Sport, Arts and Recreation has established desks in every Government ministry, registered/formalised business ventures for youths through the Zimbabwe Youth Council, and provided loans for them in collaboration with Empower Bank, among other ingenuities.
The Government, through the ministry, 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 as well.
Policies meant to identify, nurture and support talent were put in place, and avenues into the international cosmos were created for all citizens, chiefly young people.
Over the last five 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.
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, 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.
As Minister Coventry pointed out, it is also part of the ministry’s function to launch national programmes that entice youths and absorb them, so that they desist from abusing drugs.
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.
Independence, therefore, gave Zimbabweans a national identity embodied in their flag, which they now proudly wave at international forums. The Government’s youth-oriented policies have enabled young people to excel in their chosen fields.
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.
In the cultural and creative spheres names that easily come to mind are Soul Jah Love (Soul Musaka), Mark Ngwazi, Rockford “Roki” Josphats, and Arnold Kamudyariwa aka DJ Fantan of the Chillspot Records, among others. Others are Eglet Mtengwa Nyabvure, who is making it big in the Netherlands and Ishmael Tsakatsa of the Zarguesia brand, who won an award in Dubai.
The film industry is well-represented by Tongayi Arnold Chirisa and Danai Gurira, whose stars continue to shine brightly in the entertainment bastion of Hollywood, Los Angeles, California in the United States of America.
The Ministry is making frantic efforts to establish vibrant cultural creative industries for talented youths to showcase their talents, excel and make a living out of arts. Chambuta and Murehwa arts centres, and international exhibitions like the Venice Biennale that have seen young artists represent the country, testify to that commitment.
Initiatives by the National Gallery of Zimbabwe, National Arts Council of Zimbabwe and the Sports and Recreation Commission have opened up spaces for young Zimbabweans who were previously closed out owing to segregatory colonial laws.
The nurturing of emerging talent in sport has seen the rise of household names like Monalisa Sibanda and Kudakwashe “Take Money” Chiwandire, who proved their mettle in female boxing.
Therefore, as Zimbabweans celebrate Robert Gabriel Mugabe National Youth Day today, the values of selflessness, sacrifice, patriotism and nationhood embodied in the liberation struggle should be emphasised.
Online Reporter