So Can I.
As I woke up this morning and checked my Twitter notifications, messages on WhatsApp and e-mails; it felt like I was dreaming. The juxtaposition of my nationalities was on full display all over the internet summarised in two trending hashtags #Zimbabwe #SPACNationFoundationInFT
The two topics have been making headlines all morning and continue to do so even until now and as a dual-national of Zimbabwe and SPAC Nation I couldn’t help but share some of my thoughts having experienced life inside Zim and SPAC under the leadership of CDE R G Mugabe and PT Adegboyega.
To that I have concluded:
If Mugabe can, so can I. If PT can, so can I.
Today will forever be remembered in global political and economic history as a day of firsts and a day of lasts. The first time a movement for Young African’s led by a visionary, entrepreneur and mentor, Tobi Adegboyega has hit mainstream press in this dimension and scale and coverage and possibly the last day my beloved Zimbabwe will be under its Old African’s ruler ship, that of Mugabe. I have observed in just over 5 hours my childhood dreams, fears, hopes and passions flash before me, very quickly in the manner of 280 characters, GIFs, #tags and Emoji’s as permitted by the fantastic team at Twitter.
Growing up, I heard and read the stories of Mugabe’s rise to power in [then] Southern Rhodesia from my Grandfather Benjamin Gurajena, a remarkable head teacher and politician in Masvingo Province who also fought at the time in the struggle for liberation for the nation. Mr Gurajena (as he was known) was an intelligent man, a conversationalist who was passionate about his homeland, Zimbabwe. My grandad was imprisoned by the British regime back in the 70’s and my mum recounts countless visits to prison and close encounters with death as war broke out during her youth.
On the other side of my family, Mr T.V. Gundani was a commanding officer of ZRP, Harare Police and had served in the police force from an early age under Dr. Augustine Chihuri (who still heads up the force today). I often attended state-run rallies and events organised by the Department of Home Affairs and Governmental bodies – even snuck in Saturday football games watching Dynamos here and there. Both men in my life loved Mugabe and what he stood for, where keen supporters and remained so; or so I perceived.
Politics is a game of numbers, simply put if you can’t beat them then join them. Both my mum and sister married powerful men in their own right, my uncle also being Governor for Mashonaland Central at the time, Cde Moses Gorejena. Nonetheless, at the turn of the century into the new millennium the narrative presented itself contrary. My grandad was recovering from a severe stroke, my Dad was in hospital and my uncle had fled the country. I saw first-hand powerful [Zimbabwean] men crumble in the frailty of their humanness right before my eyes, the glory days where soon to be over.
The 15 years which followed where nothing but anguish, poverty and disarray. Myself and my mother fled to the United Kingdom in search of a better life; only to wish for a one-way ticket back to Harare. 7,492 miles later #betterthedevilyouknow is all I kept repeating to myself. How does one adapt from one of the best education systems in the world with her whole future ahead of her to an under-performing school in a neighbourhood with high crime, drug abuse and teen-pregnancies? Mugabe, that’s how.
Fast-forward to August 2015, when the doors of SPAC Nation Foundation where flung open to me; enter Tobi Adegboyega. There I was a young lady with any sign of promising future sucked out of me, nicely moulding into another statistic of a young black female in London yet still believing for a brighter tomorrow. With inadequate support from the “friends” I’d collected, family who I barely knew and unable to keep a job, I was surviving the best way I’d learned to. Until PT showed me, it didn’t have to be this way. The alternative.
Whilst celebrating the success of SPAC Nation Foundation’s article feature in the Financial Times, I can’t help but wonder how has it taken this long for the Zimbabwe to rise? I don’t have time to go into the details of my entire life as a Zimbabwean-born SPAC National in this short blog post however I do want to leave you with this:
If Mugabe can, so can I. If one man, through the abuse of his power, can scatter a nation, tear families apart and destroy the potential of the next generation, we are all in one way or another capable of doing the same.
If PT can, so can I. If one man, through selflessness, can build a nation, restore families and open doors for the next generation, then we too can also join hands and support.
The SPAC Nation Foundation was created; to Inspire, Propel and Mobilise a new generation of young leaders who play a full and active role in their social, economic and political remits.
If you haven’t already please take a look at SPAC Nation Foundation on the following platforms:
#SPACNationFoundationInFT
#Zimbabwe
