Youth needs moral guidance

The Namibian youth still faces many challenges including unemployment and HIV/AIDS. Therefore it is up to elders and leaders to pass values and leadership skills onto young people to assist them to overcome these challenges, says Mandela Kapere, chairperson of the National Youth Council of Namibia (NYCN).
Speaking at the launch of the 5th National Youth Week on Wednesday, Kapere said elders should also give young people guidance and nourishment and involve the youth in community projects so that they can make something out of themselves.
Samuel Nuuyoma, governor of the Khomas region, agreed with Kapere’s views and said that  leadership in the youth is a must as it is needed for development, good governance and prosperity in the country.
He added that the youth is expected to do justice and take over the responsibilities of their leaders who fought for freedom.
Nuuyoma further urged young people to not let the challenges of belonging to different cultures weigh them down but to firstly identify themselves as Namibians and then as Africans, in order to be able to work together.
Another major problem young Namibians face, is the abuse of drugs and alcohol.
“Drug and alcohol abuse play a huge role in the destruction of our youth as the substances are cheap and readily available. If our youth is addicted then we must forget about Vision 2030,”said Pohamba Shifeta, Deputy Minister of Youth, Sports and Culture.
Shifeta said that the youth has a huge role to play in the building and development of the Namibian nation and that an agenda which does not involve the youth, is a dead agenda.
The National Youth Council of Namibia’s main aim is to empower youth organisations so that they can empower the young people, enabling them to do something for themselves and not always rely on the government to do things for them.
The youth week ambassador and Kwaito artist,Lazarus ‘Gazza’ Shiimi, urged young people to keep on trying to make a difference in the community even if its through simple tasks such as picking up paper in their neighborhoods.
He said that the youth of Namibia are not “empty pots but half filled pots, half filled with the history of their fore fathers and leaders” and that they must strive to fill themselves up to the brim and bring  change to the nation.
“We are fighting a new war,we have our freedom, so now we are fighting for economic freedom. Our bullets should be directed at poverty and unemployment,”Gazza said.
The National Youth Week will run from 26 to 30 April.