Nationhood campaign still in starting blocks

THE Nationhood and National Pride (NHNP) campaign is aimed at forging a stronger national identity and sense of purpose to encourage Namibians to overcome collective challenges.

Speaking at the opening of a workshop on the NHNP campaign yesterday, Information Deputy Minister Stanley Simataa said the idea of the campaign was developed by Cabinet in 2006 to address problems of vandalism, crime, violence and poor sanitation.According to Simataa these problems are a consequence of ‘apathy towards the authority and lack of sense of ownership of public resources among Namibians’. This prompted the development of the initiative to enhance a sense of nationhood and national pride in all Namibians, Simataa said. The workshop brought together people from civil society, non-governmental organisations, Government, state-owned enterprises and the private sector. The aim of the workshop was to review the draft plan to enhance nationhood and national pride, as well as to develop a draft strategic plan on the NHNP campaign. Simataa identified a number of reasons why the initiative is regarded as important by President Hifikepunye Pohamba. Firstly, the campaign can help the nation to consolidate peace and stability, and secondly to ‘instil a sense of belonging and, therefore, pride in all Namibians’. Lastly, the Deputy Information Minister said that according to the President the campaign would encourage Namibians to celebrate their joint successes, to strive together to overcome common challenges ‘and to work together to take our motherland to greater heights of success and prosperity for all’.Simataa re-emphasised the call by Pohamba that the NHNP campaign is not a campaign of the Government, but rather for all Namibians, as he dismissed media reports that the Government intends to use it to ‘mould the nation negatively’.’This campaign should be viewed as a vehicle that will enable our country to forge a stronger national identity and sense of purpose, which will in turn, encourage our people to overcome the challenges that we currently face,’ Simataa said.