Youth Day: Reviving calls for patriotic national consciousness
AFRICAN political philosopher and revolutionary writer Frantz Fanon once said: “Each generation must, out of relative obscurity, discover its mission, fulfil it, or betray it”.
Fanon’s focus in this quote reflects the significance that every generation has in realising and accepting its historical and political duties in the struggle for freedom and self-determination.
Likewise, today’s generation also has to live to its historical and political duties for patriotic development.
As Kenyan novelist and economist David Ndii described today’s youth as the “Cheetah Generation”, because they are a better educated and technologically adept generation, they have to be better in how they see problems, and provide solutions.
This should happen despite that contemporary Africa is facing a serious threat of social imperialism, and the main target are the youth.
The trappings and lures of values that are encouraging immorality, radicalism, extremism, disorderliness and African values are finding their way in society.
Media, information communication technologies and some cultural exchange programmes have become prime instruments of soft power by the developed world to produce and reproduce knowledge systems that are intoxicating to inhabitants of the developing world.
To dehumanise and demonise a people, the West is using an organised and methodical effort to eradicate the bedrock of the patriotic fibre by sabotaging our culture, language, history, and abilities to create, arrange, narrate and create all characteristics that give us our humanness.
These are some of the realities that the modern youth ought to fight and address with patriotic calls that resist the contaminating, corrupting and compromising the aspirations to national development. The situation today is even more precarious because the concept of patriotism has fallen on hard times.
As much as social imperialism continues to target even the Zimbabwean youth, national trends and societal evolutions being experienced in this post-modern country have broadened the way people want to define and interpret their calls to patriotism and patriotic duty.
To the youth, the National Youth Day is a day to reflect on how the younger generation wants the post-colonial nation remember them.
At a time, western machinations are vigorous and forceful, to effect changes in Zimbabwe’s social strata, what contribution are the youth making to national development?
On the part of the Government, there are measures that have been put to instil in the youth habits for the betterment of Zimbabwe where they discuss the country’s challenges and offer solutions.
By so doing, this is a deliberate position that outlines the role of the youth in actively contributing to nation building through the provision of fresh perspectives and energy to issues hence helping driving economic development and social progress.
Making strides towards economic development and social progress is a duty for every youth, despite their political affiliation. It is now noticeable that these days, youth are becoming responsible for the interests of the country, ambitious, unified, and passionate about their communities.
What is enhancing initiatives for community and national development that the youth are supposed to take is that there are a multitude of new links between traditional and nonconformist problem-solving aspects that youth interact with.
There are a few, but important aspects that the youth should take pride in doing to play a role in the discourse of development.
At a time when many assume that the modern generation is lacking in patriotic spirit, the process should done slowly and a steadily without bigotry or chauvinism.
It is incumbent upon education institutions at all levels to share the enormous amount of information with the youth about the accomplishments of Zimbabwe’s society, both past and present.
Youngsters should cherish and adore being told the short stories about Zimbabwe’s famous people, scientists, fighters and real-life heroes.
These conversations should be conveyed in ways and manners that are understood in Zimbabwe’s social environment and identifying with established customs and cultural behaviours that instil discipline and focus on hard and honest work.
For the youth to participate in national activities where there is enormous potential in a safe and productive manner, it is crucial that their political consciousness is raised.
Zimbabwe’s young generation will acquire traits such as revolutionary ethics, positive political attitude, having a sense of law and responses to patriotic duty only through national political conscious that comes through education.
This fosters civic consciousness and motivates youth to be engaged citizens.
It is the youth who are vital members of society, future development ambassadors and leaders in the fight to shape the trajectory that the nation will take based on its founding values.
In the end they become captivating personalities able to harness and focus their restless energy on the advancement of the country.
It is within this ability that youths can position themselves at the crossroads of patriotic development, peacekeeping and good citizenry.
What is good for the country and nation has to be safeguarded from unpleasant influences.
To achieve this, the country’s political, social and economic dimensions have to be constantly refined to ensure that they remain attractive to the youth, but without losing what the nation stands for.
The elderly have to help to bring this desired intergenerational organisation that gives the young exposure and knowledge on how to implement the ever-intense and much-needed development operations in Zimbabwe.
Ultimately, the goal is to ensure that moulding the youth into responsible citizens is done through practical patriotic exercises where successes and failures are shared without seeing each other as an adversary. The social fabric must not be torn apart.
Reviving and revitalising patriotic calls for national duty does not only resonate with national politics. It is a multidimensional activity.
Collectively, the youth have to be pulled from dungeons of neo-colonial captivity and pushed on the frontline of national service to build a comprehensive national culture that will undoubtedly guard the country’s future against foreign invasion, whether social or political.
Some numerous ills in society, like drug and substance abuse, are a result of neglected patriotism.
Patriotism must be seen as a virtue that all people must uphold and preserve, for that is the only orientation to serious national transformation and development.