Mwalimu and the new generation

Last weekend Tanzanians remembered the passing of Mwalimu Julius Nyerere in a London hospital 18 years ago. That is to say, today, there is an entire generation of Tanzanians, who have lived all their lives in a world, where Mwalimu did not get to see and they did not see his world or his time.

At the time of Mwalimu’s passing, most of us heard of the sad news through the radio. Televisions were still very new. That was his world. For the past 18 years, there has been a proliferation of mass media even radios have gone the digital way.

This new generation does not depend or get its news through the radio. All of the famous social media platforms used by this new generation to communicate and get news were not in existence at the time of his passing.

For the past 18 years they have witnessed a country that is increasingly politically polarised. Mwalimu has become a political card used by all sides to get some political mileage. Those in the ruling party have long tried to monopolise his legacy. Evoking his memory to remind Tanzanians that he believed that CCM was the only political party that could give the country the kind of leadership that needed for moving forward.

His political heirs are careful not to pick the pieces, where he pointed fingers at how they had let the country down and lost their way. Those in the opposition have tried to pick holes in that legacy and use it positively, bits and pieces, where it is politically convenient as was the case during the 2015 General Election.

For the past 18 years, they have witnessed national celebrations becoming increasingly boring, one-sided affairs as opposition leaders have continued staying away after each general election. They might have forgotten the time they saw political leaders from opposition parties together at national celebrations. They have grown up in the time, where uniting national symbols, like Uhuru Torch, have become a source of division.

They have seen how political leaders bicker endlessly, engage in shouting matches be it in the National Assembly in Dodoma or on political podiums or media platforms at their disposal. When this happens, their politicians, who bicker all the time bring up the name of Mwalimu to justify their viewpoints.

For the past 18 years they must have wondered as to how they ended up with a country that is immensely rich, but her people are very poor. They have heard Mwalimu protected their natural resources so that to bequeath a better tomorrow for them. Alas!

They live in a country that has allowed most of them to be disillusioned to the point all they can dream about is how to get away from the land they do not see a rosy future for them.

When President Magufuli recently announced a reshuffle of his cabinet, they heard of two ministries, which have come to be synonymous with the decadence and systemic corruption that has corroded this country getting new ministers and one being split into two. In other words, as Mwalimu said, those, who were given food by the villagers so as to go get more food for the rest of the villagers ended up betraying them, leaving them up to their fate.

For the past 18 years they have grown up in a country, where patriotism is nothing more than political brouhaha! They have been told that they are the most unpatriotic generation that ever was. As if those preaching to them about patriotism, while crash-landing the country have led exemplary lives.

For the past 18 years they have grown up to take for granted some things like people from other parts of the country, different religious beliefs becoming their neighbours, marry into their families, go to school with them.

Owning land in their areas on a continent, where the conflicts between the nation and the state are far from coming to an end. It is an era of a lot of information, misinformation and fake news, the epidemic of our times.

They lead fast-paced lives, have little time for details and it is a material world. As President Magufuli spoke of Mwalimu in Zanzibar asking us to reflect on the life of one of Africa’s towering figures of the 20th century, one wonders: what do these “new” adults think of Mwalimu?