News / National
Mutambara slams 'dull' student activists
13 Jul 2017 at 13:29hrs | Views
FORMER deputy prime minister Arthur Mutambara, has said he is not impressed by student activists who score poor marks.
Launching his book - In Search of the Elusive Zimbabwean Dream: An Autobiography of Thought Leadership (Volume One) - co-published by Southern African Political Economic Series Trust
in Mutare last Saturday, the former radical student activist said "dull" students must stay out of activism.
"We don't want young people who are radical but come last in class . . . make noise and excel in your studies. If you are not good with your academics, stay out of activism," Mutambara said.
The garrulous robotics professor, largely credited for pioneering student activism, also described academic excellence without social responsibility as "hollow".
"A combination of academic excellence and social responsibility is what our young people should also have. Don't be nerd. In life you will be a problem," he said.
Mutambara, whose father died during his infancy before any of his three siblings was in school, also spoke highly of the extended family, as an institution that saved his family.
"The extended family is our own institution that we should continue to preserve. Without it, we would have been doomed," he said.
"My message in this book is also that do not worry if you are poor, if you are downtrodden, the sky is the limit," Mutambara said.
He also challenged locals to document their family history and not let foreigners to be authorities of locals' history.
"Let us write our own history. We have to craft our own history so that we become the authorities on the history of Africa. I am trying to walk the talk. We must be masters of our own narratives," he said.
He said it was embarrassing that Zimbabweans had a very limited written history about their culture and ways.
"If you go to China, they will tell you 5 000 years ago we did the following. We cannot even say 60 years ago we did this. Shame on us Africans!"
Launching his book - In Search of the Elusive Zimbabwean Dream: An Autobiography of Thought Leadership (Volume One) - co-published by Southern African Political Economic Series Trust
in Mutare last Saturday, the former radical student activist said "dull" students must stay out of activism.
"We don't want young people who are radical but come last in class . . . make noise and excel in your studies. If you are not good with your academics, stay out of activism," Mutambara said.
The garrulous robotics professor, largely credited for pioneering student activism, also described academic excellence without social responsibility as "hollow".
"A combination of academic excellence and social responsibility is what our young people should also have. Don't be nerd. In life you will be a problem," he said.
"The extended family is our own institution that we should continue to preserve. Without it, we would have been doomed," he said.
"My message in this book is also that do not worry if you are poor, if you are downtrodden, the sky is the limit," Mutambara said.
He also challenged locals to document their family history and not let foreigners to be authorities of locals' history.
"Let us write our own history. We have to craft our own history so that we become the authorities on the history of Africa. I am trying to walk the talk. We must be masters of our own narratives," he said.
He said it was embarrassing that Zimbabweans had a very limited written history about their culture and ways.
"If you go to China, they will tell you 5 000 years ago we did the following. We cannot even say 60 years ago we did this. Shame on us Africans!"
Source - dailynews
