OUR history, as a country, is loaded with evidence of selfless service to the nation.

Luswingo, Nalatale, Khami, Ngulungundu, Matalitali, Great Zimbabwe, King Lobengula, Mbuya Nehanda, the Chinhoyi Seven and the Crocodile Gang, among others, are all evidence of a people strong-minded to assert themselves as a productive people driven by a deep sense of patriotism.

We must not tire of remembering and telling our history as is because ours is an exciting and unique one.  

It is our duty to enlighten Zimbabweans of their history, cultural heritage and the limitless potential of their natural and human resources. 

It is imperative that we tell our story and not wait to hear it from the citadels of some foreign lands with sinister motives.

Yes, we have seized our political power, our land and we control most, if not all, of our natural resources.

It is the intellectual space that we must now effectively take over as Zimbabweans. Indeed, it is a fact that we did not wait for other countries to liberate us.

Instead, we took the initiative and those willing to help joined us. 

In the same spirit, we must seize the intellectual agenda and write, as well as study everything that defines and makes us a people.

It is our responsibility to continue providing Zimbabweans with well-researched information about what constitutes our heritage in its richness and diversity. 

No doubt our story and history as a people must come first in everything we do. 

Our history reminds Zimbabweans of their past and gives them reason to celebrate their successes and achievements throughout the ages. 

Our history will also help us recover the ‘lost generation’ of youths who believe in other nations and salute other flags as if theirs is a sin. 

Due to no fault of their own, many of them seem to have somehow lost their way, chasing the mirages of the Western world. 

Why then don’t we sing the Zimbabwean story very loudly from every mountaintop because nobody will sing this song for us except us. 

I have always said we should not seek to be better than the next person, but to improve our lot as a people.

And we must always remember that our problems have not been as a result of a lack of resources because we have those abound.

Our problems have persisted as a result of failure to unite and fight for a common cause as a people.

Lest we forget that our colonisers will always dislike those who strive for their identity and sovereignty.

And as we always say; it is the duty of every Zimbabwean to appreciate and value what the country possesses because true ownership of resources is rooted in knowledge of that which is owned. 

We have always had challenges and, always, we faced them head on.

No, we have never cowered or retreated but emerged victorious despite the odds being stacked against us.

Many of us never saw the squalor, the deprivation and sub-human conditions of Rhodesia and there was, and will never be, anything beautiful about that dreadful era.

Hoodwinked by pieces of silver and gripped by the spirit of selling-out for individual benefit, some in our midst have forgotten why we waged the liberation war.

Perhaps it is time we took time to remind them.

Zimbabwe did not come on a silver platter.