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Much of the political challenges Zimbabwe is facing arise from lack of public consciousness of who we are as a people, what our national interest is and what we must do to defend and promote it.

We have politicians who don’t see anything wrong in eulogising Rhodesian leader, Ian Smith and the draconian, deplorable system of government he personified, while at the same time telling our war veterans to “go and tie up the country where it was before 1980 and see if we will be unable to liberate it also.” They go abroad pretending to be fleeing government brutality and proceed to appear on global news networks speaking badly about their country and government as well as calling for a military invasion to overthrow a democratically elected government. They campaign for sanctions against their own country too.

There are many reasons why these people behave this way but key among them is because they don’t really know who they are and what the national interest is. Above all, they lack pride to defend and promote it. They refuse to acknowledge that the war that yielded Independence on April 18, 1980 was a just war and that freedom is timeless and invaluable. They think that democracy came to Zimbabwe in 2000, not on April 18, 1980.

One way such people can understand the national interest is to intensify education from a young age right into adulthood. That education comes in many forms, one of which can be to introduce compulsory national service to youths, not the voluntary programme the country used to have. The other one, which we hail, is the National Strategic Studies (NASS), a course that is compulsory for all first year students at universities and colleges in the country. It is meant to instill national pride and patriotism in students.

But the system as it is now tends to fail to capture younger people in any way. Yes, they sing the national anthem and stand at attention when the national flag is being hoisted or taken down. Yes, they also take history lessons on the liberation struggle and so on, but we don’t think these are sufficient.

A new proposal by the Ministry of Primary and Secondary Education contained in the new curriculum that has undergone extensive review is expected to buttress the promotion of the ideal of patriotism. The ministry is proposing that pupils at primary and secondary levels recite two respective national school pledges.

Infants will recite the following pledge of allegiance: “Almighty God, in whose hands our future lies; I salute the national flag, I commit to honesty and dignity of hard work.”

Junior and secondary schools pupils will be expected to recite the pledge of allegiance saying: “Almighty God, in whose hands our future lies; I salute the national flag. United in our diversity by our common desire for freedom, justice and equality. Respecting the brave fathers and mothers who lost lives in the Chimurenga/Umvukela and national liberation struggles.

“We are proud inheritors of the richness of our natural resources. We are proud creators and participants in our vibrant traditions and cultures. We commit to honesty and the dignity of hard work.”

They both extol the virtues of honesty, hard work, freedom, justice and equality. They promote respect for the national flag and the liberation struggles Zimbabweans fought since British occupation of this land in 1890. They enjoin the pupils and the nation as a whole to take pride in our natural resources, utilise them to the national good and defend them. We are basically a Christian people, who pray to God. Both pledges note this important religious point.

There is nothing wrong with a school pupil, or anyone for that matter, singing praises for his or her country and being educated to lead virtuous, patriotic lives. We don’t think anyone sensible will be offended by this. Perhaps Smith, in his grave, might.

As we hail introduction of the national pledge, we are reminded of the national youth service programme which sought to inculcate the same values, albeit differently. Launched in the early 2000s, the national youth service programme was a voluntary exercise that involved youths undergoing training at eight provincial centres spread across the country. They learnt about the liberation struggle, patriotism, independence, national pride and self-help skills.

We regret that the programme ran into funding problems in later years, resulting in the government suspending it. Nonetheless, we implore the government to re-introduce the programme, on a compulsory basis now, to enhance the benefits the country is to derive from the recital of the national pledges in schools and already deriving from the teaching of NASS at colleges and universities.