A BALLOT PAPER CAN CHANGE A GOVERNMENT. ONLY WISDOM CAN CHANGE A NATION
Every day, as a Jew, I join millions around the world in three daily prayers that were instituted by our Patriarchs: Abraham established the morning prayer, Isaac the afternoon prayer, and Jacob the evening prayer. In the weekday Amidah (the central standing prayer), the fourth blessing is a prayer for wisdom, understanding and knowledge (3 prayer services everyday). Before we ask Hashem for prosperity, peace or healing, we first ask Him to make us wise. That has always moved me deeply. It teaches that wisdom is the foundation upon which every other blessing rests.
This is the lesson Zambia must now embrace. We are a deeply religious nation. We pray with conviction. Zambians fill churches every day. They call upon the G-d of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, but prayer must also produce wisdom. We must become a people who read, who study, who compare, who remember and who think beyond slogans and political songs. When we stop learning we eventually lose the ability to recognise the difference between genuine progress and familiar failure wearing a different face and rebranded as a solution.
The greatest gift any government can give its people is not merely roads, bridges or public buildings. It is education. That is why making free education a legal right is one of the most important investments in Zambia’s future, but education must not end at the school gate. We need a reading revolution. We need libraries in every ward. We need a culture where learning never stops, because a nation that continues learning continues growing.
A degree alone does not make a person wise. Titles do not guarantee good judgment. Wisdom is built every day through humility, study, reflection and experience. The nations that prosper are not necessarily those with the most natural resources. They are those whose citizens never stop learning.
Remember that a ballot paper can change a government. Only a learning people can change a nation.
Saviour Chishimba
President
United Progressive People (UPP)
UPND Alliance Partner
Absolutely right
You can’t deny the wisdom in Mr. Chishimba’s posts lately.
Education alone is not enough. We need to foster critical thinking in our children. Most.people accept things on face value. I mean look at the case of the disappearing manhood. A lady was killed by a mob in Northwestern province. It boggles the mind when a simple “search” of the “victim” by the mob would have established that he was lying.
Same goes with campaign promises. One candidate has gone ballistic promising everything he can think of but saying absolutely nothing about how he is going to raise the funds to actualise his promises.
Thay is Tonse Pamodzi alliance for you!!