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(HERALD) Zimbabwe: A truly land of the best

Zimbabwe: A truly land of the best
Friday, 03 February 2012 00:00
Patrick W Mamimine

Zimbabwe is truly land of the best! A country of highly educated, industrious, bold, humourous, discreet and unpredictable people. Above all, a society of "master tacticians" (to quote one Westerner). But how many of our people know that of all forms of love, no love is loftier than the love for one's country? How many of our people realise that what you are is the sum of individual and national values?

How many of our people realise that our national anthem is a summation of our national values and aspirations? Better still how many of us live by those values in leadership and ordinary citizenship? Did you know that patriotism forms the foundation of all great nations?

How many of us have such depth of love for this great country and its people to an extent of saying: Ropa rangu muchariwana pamureza we Zimbabwe!

The difference between great nations and small nations lies in the extent to which people uphold the values of their nation and the extent to which their people are prepared to defend those values. Great nations owe their greatness to a few selfless men and women who in pursuit of fulfiling their nations' values constantly dream beyond the horizons of ordinary minds and passionately mobilise compatriots to back up their lofty dreams and aspirations with action.

Usually, the vision of men and women behind the making of great nations spans hundreds of years. Small nations, in contrast, have their growth momentum retarded by a few selfish men and women of nose-long vision, who spend most of their mental energy and resources seeking individual glory and greatness.

This selfish minority lacks a sense of nationhood and has no sympathy for the underprivileged members of their society and instead blames them for the condition they find themselves in. Are you one of the few selfless men and women who harbour lofty dreams for this country and who will lay a foundation for a prosperous Republic of Zimbabwe?

In celebrating Zimbabwe, a truly land of the best, we need to capture the essence of patriotism or love for one's country (madenyika). This is aptly summarised by George William Curtis who says, "A man's country is

not a certain area of land, of mountains, rivers, and woods, but it is a principle and patriotism is loyalty to that principle".

Patriots of Zimbabwe Trust (PoZ) exists for the purpose of, among others, celebrating and defending the heritage of this great country both material and non-material.

Patriotism is about loyalty to and defence of this principle. In this seminal article, we salute some of our men and women deserving a seat in the inner circle of patriotism. These are our gallant sons and daughters who shed their blood to attain freedom and independence for this country. Also belonging to the inner circle and worth saluting are the men and women scattered throughout the breadth and length of this country who emerged from the trenches of the liberation war alive. PoZ is a forum for immortalising the values that these people stood for and still stand for.

Also unforgettable in this roll of honour, are all the patriotic Zimbabweans who were the backbone of the liberation struggle and who continue to bear the brunt of economic hardships facing our nation today with hope, resilience and determination to overcome. Do you have what it takes to belong to the inner circle of patriots of Zimbabwe? If so what are you doing about it?

In charting our way into the future we cannot afford to ignore the centrality of our own nation's history. Tell me of any nation that forgot its history and prospered! History is an epitaph of any nation's past challenges and subsequent triumph over them. In order to have a better understanding of where we are now as a nation and where we are going, we need time to reflect on and celebrate our past.

For in our past lie the narratives of subjugation, heroism and conquest, again in our past lie the narratives of some of the worst challenges faced by our nation and the nation's triumph over them. The history of this great country requires special attention because history has a stubborn tendency of repeating its ugliest face. Our past has taught us that we cannot build a nation from ever exchanging gratuitous hate language among ourselves nor from ignoring the rewards of constructive criticism. History has taught us that people-centred politics is not about self-service. Neither is it a project for capturing power for a few elites.

People-centred politics is about improving the welfare of the majority of one's fellow men and women and not a race in which success is measured by the number of countrymen you see in the rear view mirror sobbing in abject poverty. History has taught us that everlasting greatness is achieved when one identifies more with those in misery and suffering than identifying with those sitting on the rich man's table. Everlasting greatness is indeed attained through what we do for others and not what they do for us.

History has taught us that power at the service of a few is not only misdirected but also misplaced. Past experiences have taught us that wealth without generosity is an evil man's empire built on shaky grounds.

History has taught us that wealth without limit or redistribution is shameless greed. We cannot change our past but we can derive lessons from the past in order to shape the history of our future in a particular direction. If as of now you lack a place in this country's roll of honour because you cannot be counted among patriots the only chance you have is now.

Where will your name be placed when the list of future patriots is drawn up? What is that you can do for your country now to earn yourself a place among this country's unforgettable patriots? How deep is your love for this country and its people? What are the indicators of the depth of your love for the fatherland (motherland)? What are you doing now in the name of love for your country? Can you be counted seriously among this country's patriots (vana madenyika)?

It doesn't matter what field of human endeavour you are in. You can still demonstrate your love for this country in your own way. Our history of the future of this country belongs to some of our men and women who make a decision now to put the nation first in whatever they do.

The future history of this country belongs to men and women who measure their greatness from the sacrifices they have made for the love of this country. Love for this great country means defending our hard won freedom and independence against aggressors. For any nation, no calling is loftier than the defence of the freedom and independence of one's country.

The ultimate in the spirit of patriotism is captured by John F Kennedy who says, "In the long history of the world, only a few generations have been granted the role of defending freedom in its hour of maximum danger. I do not shrink from this responsibility - I welcome it." When the future history of this great country is written, will you be counted among those who never shrank in the responsibility of defending Zimbabwe's freedom and independence in its hour of maximum danger? The issue of freedom and independence is quite central to the hearts and minds of the founding fathers of this nation.

When President Mugabe was put in a corner to abide by the interests of the Commonwealth at the expense of what he perceived to be national interests he categorically stated: "If the choice were made, one for us to lose our sovereignty and become a member of the Commonwealth or remain with our sovereignty and lose the membership of the Commonwealth, I would say let the Commonwealth go."

Are you proud to be a Zimbabweans? A nation without a pride is like a king without a coroner. Do you walk with your shoulders high wherever you are to assert your Zimbabwean identity? Do you notice the respect that some people accord you outside the country, as if to acknowledge that you hail from the "and of the best"?

Indeed, it is time we celebrated our Zimbabwean uniqueness, identity, heritage and relative greatness. Indeed a time to celebrate our greatness as a nation!
The unprecedented period of socio-economic decline which swept across the breadth and length of this country from early 2000 reaching its peak at the end of 2008 cast a dark shadow on this nation's capacity to rise from the worst economic decline in human history.

* Dr Patrick W. Mamimine is the executive director of Patriots of Zimbabwe.

Labels: ZIMBABWE

posted by MrK @ 3:58 PM