ZIMBABWE, the land of our fathers and mothers, continues to inspire.
It dazzles the world, drawing its attention in the unlikeliest of circumstances.
That is why its independence was precipitated by the blood of its sons and daughters.
Nyika yababa.
Nyika yechipikirwa.
Nyika yeuchi nemukaka.
Again, global attention is firmly on Zimbabwe.
A not-so-hidden treasure has just been unravelled.
There is oil in this our great country.
Mashonaland Central once again finds itself carrying the hopes of the nation.
In its womb, from Muzarabani, that silent land of the ever-smiling people, we have a resource that could turn around the economic fortunes of our country.
We have been told before that Zimbabwe’s womb carries every resource that one could ever imagine.
Time and again, that narrative comes to pass.
Yet, in the fullness of time, all that the people of Zimbabwe have endured is the untold poverty and suffering that has eaten at the core of their willpower.
Mistakes of the past, where we failed to make full use of our resources, must be negated.
We have the resources and the manpower to fully exploit that which lies beneath our surface.
Our land.
Our resources.
Our human capital base.
Our bravery.
Our endurance.
All these lie in our hands.
But before we get carried away and revel in this new discovery, we should do something.
We should first thank our ancestors and the spirits of our great nation for opening our eyes to this exciting, potentially game-changing prospect.
This is what happened when President Emmerson Dambudzo Mnangagwa was inaugurated on August 26 2018 as the leader of the Second Republic.
This is the route that we should have taken on April 18 1980.
This is the route that we should have taken when diamonds were ‘discovered’ in Chiadzwa.
This is the route that we should take in everything we do as a nation, as a people.
Of course, we are an open society where various religious beliefs are respected and honoured, but we should never forget where we come from.
We should never abandon our spirits, the spirits of our land.
We should pay homage to them.
Give them the honour they deserve.
Before we plunge those oil drilling rigs into the ground, we should do certain rituals to give thanks to the spirits of our land.
Those of various religious persuasions must all converge in Muzarabani to thank God and our ancestors for giving us a game-changing discovery.
After that, we can exploit this asset.
We can wash off the poverty that is gripping our land like a difficult-to-appease spirit from the ancient world.
God has blessed us with everything.
He has, time and again, opened His hand for us the good people of Zimbabwe.
The time to harness our resources has come.
And our leadership has already demonstrated that it has what it takes to move us to greater heights.
Let us make good use of our oil.
Let it oil our industries, our mines and, significantly, our economy.
Let us move with speed to exploit this resource and develop our nation.