The Sunday Mail
Victoria Ruzvidzo
In a speech “The Man in the Arena” made in France in 1910, former United States President Theodore Roosevelt said; “It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs, who comes short again and again, because there is no effort without error and shortcoming; but who does actually strive to do the deeds; who knows great enthusiasms, the great devotions; who spends himself in a worthy cause; who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who neither know victory nor defeat.”
Since the turn of the year days have turned into weeks and weeks into months. Now is the time to rewrite the script different from any we’ve written last year and before. A lot has happened to get us this far, we have made tremendous progress individually and collectively as nation.
The environment in which we find ourselves operating in, is much more conducive now than it was not too long ago and that’s in no small measure as a result of the sterling effort put in by those who pro actively seek a change of fortune and the advancement of national, social and economic goals. Results and progress, thereof, have been and are encouraging and highly commendable and as the year gains momentum we need not relent in effort, but do everything we can to make the most of the opportunities for redemption and progress afforded us.
This is definitely not the time to stand by the way side and criticise those putting a valiant effort in making their lives and those of others bearable, sustainable and progressive.
Wherever there is work done, critics arise. Doomsayers and naysayers seem to mushroom whenever there is conscious effort to overcome any personal, social or economic challenges.
Now is not the time to make oneself feel good about themselves and comfortable with their own shortcomings or lack of effort by downplaying and player hating those that are being battered and bruised daily with the sole intention of a better life for self and others.
Now is the time to come together even more as a nation for the attainment of the success we all aspire to achieve.
Indeed it’s time to get into the arena and sweat and err, and faint and wake up again. Time to exhibit ferocious focus on only those that will amount to a good and impressive report come year-end.
On the sidelines of life are people who are critical of and who find fault with every word uttered and action taken by those that are firmly involved in fighting and overcoming, forging and building.
Indeed there is no effort without error and it is an unappreciated human element that we actually learn more from or when we make mistakes and retain lessons and apply them more effectively.
Not knowing success or failure is the worst thing that could happen to any individual and that comes with sitting idle and seeing only the bad of those who have decided to do something about their situation and circumstances.
Whining and complaining and criticising negatively will not bring results to the table, but will drive us down and throw spanners in the works of valiant and virtuous men and women who will stop at nothing to get to the destination they set out to reach.
Come, we must all go to the party and that too with a singleness of mind, heart and purpose. Only then will we be able to say we are doing all we can and more to make our own lives and those around us better.
We have an exemplary leader in our President and head of State. This is a man who has never backed down from a fight. From the moment he stepped into the ring, he has shown great stamina and prowess in executing his duties. This is a man who has had critics from day one, those who said he couldn’t do it and those who said he wouldn’t last the distance. They couldn’t be more wrong. As a country we find ourselves in these favourable and ever improving circumstances as a result of the strength, stamina and astuteness of our leader.
We ought to learn from him indeed because he has done nothing, but lead from the front and has lived through the harshest of criticism and actually seems to thrive as a result of it. Having a leader like him in a time like this is something that a lot of nations crave for, but do not have. There has been a notable change of fortunes ever since the president stepped into the ring.
The economy is performing better and increasingly so on a daily basis, inflation has been tamed, a once dead manufacturing industry has been brought back to life and a raging pandemic brought under control. This, unfortunately, will not stop the naysayers from trolling out rubbish and seeking to reverse the progress we have made under the president’s leadership.
Jobs have been and are being created, there is widespread youth empowerment and farms have started to produce as they should.
It takes a whole lot and more to achieve any of these things.
It takes having a robust, assertive, vigilant and aggressive leader who is performance and results oriented. A leader much like the one we were blessed with.
We can only learn and not criticise, join up and not jump ship and it will be in our best interests to do so, individually and as a nation.
We have seen some Government ministers and other officials giving their heart and soul towards making a better Zimbabwe. Projects have been run and accountability has improved greatly. Now all ministers and the permanent secretaries have signed performance management contracts against which they will be rated.
This means it is no longer business as usual in the Government. Everyone will have to earn their dollar and mediocre performance will no longer be tolerated. This is worthy to be praised. I bet the auditor-general is smiling. She has raised issued of mismanagement and lack of accountability as some of the challenges that have been constricting progress.
The private sector has also upped its game in many instances, setting challenging production targets which have been met or exceeded in some cases. We have seen such organisations as the Zimbabwe National Chamber of Commerce, the Confederation of Zimbabwe Industries, the Chamber of Mines, the Institute of Corporate Directors in Zimbabwe and others rallying the Government in the quest to attain Vision 2030 as they harken to the “Nyika inovakwa nevene vayo” mantra.
The onus is on all of us to do our utmost in creating the Zimbabwe we want. Criticism is good only when it is constructive. We have some that have made it their eight to five job and even working overtime destroying efforts by others and criticising just for the sake of it.
Every Zimbabwean should put in their bit. Of course no one is infallible. As Roosevelt correctly said, one is bound to make mistakes in their bid to do good but they should not be crucified for trying while others are sitting on the terraces waiting for the next mistake. These destructive tendencies are harmful.
Let’s all play ball. The potential to achieve better as a nation this year and beyond is quite evident.
In God I Trust!
Twitter handle: @VictoriaRuzvid2; Email: [email protected]; [email protected]; WhatsApp number: 0772 129 992.
