Reflections: The Unmistakable Pride of Being Namibian

As we celebrate 36 years of independence this year, I have been thinking back to the early years of our new country. I remember proudly wearing my Namibian flag T-shirt in 1990, arguing with a teacher at the South African boarding school I went to at the time, who (for whatever reason) insisted that I came from “South West”, and being especially excited about going back to brag at that same boarding school after having watched the Namibian rugby team beat Northern Transvaal in either 1991 or 1992 (I could not find a record of the game, but I know it is not a false memory).

One of the things I love about Namibians is how we do not seem to need Independence Day to celebrate our “Namibianness”; we do it all the time in so many ways. We are a small country that shouts out our numerous achievements loudly and proudly.

For all I know, this is something people in every country feel, but there does seem to be something special about how proud we all are to be Namibians. This pride was evidenced again in a recent “Twar”* with Nigeria that drew attention, and support, not only from ordinary Namibians but also from Deputy Minister of Education, Innovation, Youth, Sport, Arts and Culture Dino Ballotti, as well as from people all over Africa and the world – the overarching message being that you “don’t mess with Namibians”. After all, how often does a user from a country like Namibia succeed in “changing” the accepted nickname of a country from “The Giant of Africa” to “Abegistan”?

It was also evidenced in a thread on Twitter (X) that was prompted by a user, seemingly (based on some very basic “Twitter stalking”) originally from Nigeria but now based in Europe, tweeting after the “Twar” about how, when she was studying in Europe with a group of students from across Africa, out of all the students, the Namibians stood out for being committed to going back home after their studies were done. In her post she writes about asking two of the Namibians she was close with “why they weren’t staying behind to build a life [t]here”, and how they felt that there was nothing in Europe for them and that “there’s so much more to enjoy in Namibia”.