A Reflection On 30 Years of Independence

Namibia will be celebrating 30 years of independence on 21 March 2020 and indeed one would agree that it has come a long way, as there are so many beautiful things in our country that we will always cherish as Namibians.

We will live with the concept of ‘unity in diversity’ with diverse languages, cultures and religions. We live in harmony and celebrate each other with love. We welcome people from other countries with respect and care that is our valuable tradition as Namibians.

Even though our politics has taken a different turn over the past few weeks, I would like to mention that we should not forget the great leaders of this country. The people who fought for the freedom we enjoy today.

Most importantly let us remember the way or rather the manner in which the independence of this country was gained.

Yes there are many setbacks that we still face as a country such as corruption, youth unemployment, poverty and ignorance, however one cannot really deny that even the most successful countries have setbacks. At least in Namibia we have the freedom to talk about things such as corruption which is not the case with many countries around the globe.

Slowly the country is trying to eradicate poverty and one of the initiatives that touched my heart is the food bank and the increase in pensions and other related social grants.

Even though everything in the world may change, principles and human values remain the same – there is no magic behind that. So let us continue to thank and praise our great leaders who fought for our freedom. Let us thank our government for recognising these heroes and heroines with investments in great structures such as the Heroes’ Acre, street names and other monuments. Even though many of our heroes and heroines are no more, at least we know where they rest.

So I call upon the youth of this generation, from this day forth think about the contributions you are going to make for this country. What would you want the next person, in a few years from now, to say about you or what you did for Namibia? It is our actions and where we invest most of our time, that will determine whether we as a nation will be able to reach our goals for vision 2030.

Most importantly, let us not focus on the things that we don’t have but rather on how to use what we have, and that includes our great talent and potential to make our country a better and a safe-place. Let us spread awareness, knowledge, values and try to gain wisdom from our almighty God every day in order to make Namibia our motherland shine even brighter.

Nghoshi Serron is a youth activist and motivational speaker. Follow him on Facebook at Nghoshi P Serron and Instagram, on email at serronnghoshi@gmail.com or on 081 440 0092.