Column 0 Sometimes before I sit down to write an opinion piece and I find myself worrying about what it is that I am going to be saying, scared that I might be misunderstood, or not understood at all. These insecurities usually come up when I have to say something about Namibia, and the way that we operate as a nation, taken that there are not enough Namibians, in my opinion, that are critical of the situations we find ourselves in.Namibia is a very interesting country to live in, because it’s almost like this place is the grey area between life and death, health and complete paralysis, thirst and complete hydration. I find that I sometimes cannot place my emotions concerning Namibia and Namibians, because there is a tendency amongst Namibians to be one thing today and another tomorrow.
I have obviously had some issues with the way that young people are approached and handled as citizens in this country, alongside the plethora of issues that plague young women, old people, children and disadvantaged communities in and around Namibia.
There doesn’t seem to be a clear solution for anything that needs one, if we look to the way our political leaders address our concerns. I would have liked to think, firstly as a human being, and secondly as a Namibian, that asking for primary health care and housing would be something that should qualify as a reasonable request for a person to ask their government, which is also made up of formerly poor comrades, that should understand what it feels like not to have what you need to have; like freedom of movement without the redline or the dompass.
Yet, there is the sense that we don’t really know where Namibia is going. We hear catch phrases like ‘prosperity’ and ‘solidarity’ yet it is as clear as daylight in this Namibia that we all call our home, that it does not really belong to all of us. There are some Namibians that operate from a place of entitlement and others that just can’t give two flying fish about anything that happens here, even if those things affect themselves.
There is a reckless and lacklustre attitude that presides over all of us, from one corner of the country to the other. I don’t even need to make the analogy using our roads, because we are way past the point of trying to be cute about what is happening in this country.
The time is fast approaching where every Namibian would need to change his and her attitudes around how we interact with one another, and what the things are that we value in our communities and as a nation. From where I am standing, our peace is really the only thing that benefits us all, but from there we are divided into various ranks where our rights are rationed by people that never really had the nation’s best interests at heart in the first place.
It hurts to be Namibians that feel more and more detached from the agenda of the common people, every Namibian – seeing that we are headed in a position which juxtaposes nation building.
It’s tiring to have to go out and argue with every Namibian about everything, from a taxi driver to the lady at a till. It should be a more pleasant experience for us all to call ourselves Namibians and to live in Namibia. We don’t need to rape babies, have people living in deplorable circumstances and have our mothers and fathers die on the national roads in vain.
It’s is truly unacceptable, and at some point a person starts being conflicted about being patriotic and then has to seek for his/her own happiness wherever it may be found. And in retrospect, one wonders what those people who don’t have the luxury to leave are supposed to do? I guess we will have to wait and see.
Keith Vries