Congratulations To Namibians: They Get It By

One of the pristine truths about being a writer is that even when you are on a self-imposed writing hiatus and deliberately cut off from the world of 24-hour news cycle online, there are some news items that arrest your attention; whether you are hibernating in the Hollywood movie sets competing with sand dunes of the ancient city of Ouarzazate in the South of Morocco; navigating and conquering the stubbornly hilly and cold mountains in East Africa; breaking delicious coconuts and drinking palm wine in the tropical hinterlands of West Africa’s Nigeria; or reading Joe Garba’s Diplomatic Soldering whilst the Atlantic Ocean serenades and slaps you with melodious waves which are only synonymous with Swakopmund in Namibia.

One such news item was the announcement that the Presidential election in Namibia was won by Mrs Ndemupelila Netumbo Nandi-Ndaitwah on Tuesday, the third of December 2024. I was glad for several reasons and I will highlight two of these reasons in this concise piece.

The SWAPO veteran politician secured victory with 57 per cent of the electorate votes (638,560 votes) whilst the incoming

President’s contender Panduleni Itula, from the Independent Patriots for Change secured 26 per cent of the votes (284,186 votes).

The first time I was in Namibia (fondly referred to as The Land of The Brave) was in 2022 and did I have a great time in a few days? Yes, I did. One of life’s lessons which I endeavour to execute when I can, was gleaned in Namibia during several conversations with a dear friend (Dr Carmen Nibigira, the foremost tourism expert whom I was sure I first met in Lagos several years ago but later encountered in Kigali when I moved to the East African country) whose demise on Saturday, November 16, 2024 shocked me to my core as it did her friends and family members.

My first time in Namibia reverberated, so much so that four months after the visit (professional and personal), I could still sense the Namibian enthusiasm in my system. There is something Namibia does to you, the genuine happiness and jolly good disposition of the people whether wealthy, rich, average, managing or poor is infectious.

This happy disposition which I was baptised with, had me writing a long article which spanned ten parts and written in rapid successions. Most importantly, my first trip to Namibia culminated in being invited to the State House in Windhoek, to interview the late President Hage Gottfried Geingob whose mentor for forty years was Nigeria’s Professor Adebayo Adedayo (the man behind the blueprint for ECOWAS, NYSC, the post-civil war blueprint amongst others.

He was the Under-Secretary-General and Executive Secretary of the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (ECA) from 1975 to 1991. He joined the Government of the Federal Republic of Nigeria in the early 1970s as the Cabinet Minister responsible for the economic development and reconstruction of post-civil war.)

Like I have stated in all the Namibian pieces I have written, there was a Pan-African clarity that was illuminated to me during the off-the-record conversation with President Geingob which has stayed with me.

Due to my first impressions of Namibia right at the airport where the immigration officials were able to converse in Nigerian pidgin English with me, and the genuine warmth of the people, that singular experience before other amazing experiences have endeared me to The Land of The Brave called Namibia.

The second reason is pragmatic and professional. Writers look for brilliant stories to write about. Stories not yet captured or told or perspectives of stories not told yet.

As a writer and a global strategic communications consultant who travels within Africa looking for countries with the right and stable economic policies which African investors and Africans in Diaspora can invest their funds in; Namibia is one of the few countries I had pencilled down years ago and I had been watching.

One of the early lessons I have quickly understood as a founder of a global strategic communications firm is that investors, especially African investors, always look at the political stability of a country before they move funds to set up businesses in the said country.

No matter the positive economic indices of a country, no matter the positive spin of the mouthpieces of the Governments, African investors always look and ask questions hovering around political stability vis-à-vis economic stability.

One of the lessons learnt from investors who are all about the figures and statistics and who are looking to invest in Africa; is that when a country’s political stability isn’t toyed with or truncated during a transfer of the reins of power (from one political party to another) or during general elections; that country buys herself country/nation branding capital that ricochets and resoundingly reverberates amongst the players and members of the financial world.

This is termed investors’ confidence. Now, when the electorate decide to elect a Female President as Namibians have done (investors’ confidence are on steroids), the economic ramifications are better left off this concise piece.

In a world where a former Female Secretary of State (Hillary Clinton) was not elected in 2016. in a world where one of the most qualified candidates (female or male) to ever run for Presidency in the world (more qualified than Barack Obama), check Kamala Harris’ resume; was not elected in 2024.

Africans need to realise that highly educated and highly qualified women have been Heads of State on the African Continent. Read about Ellen Johnson Sirleaf who was President of Liberia from 2006 to 2018, she was Africa’s first elected female head of state. Joyce Banda who was President of Malawi from 2012 to 2014. Sahle-Work Zewde who was the President of Ethiopia from 2018 to 2024 and Ethiopia’s first female President. Read about Ameenah Gurib-Fakim who was President of Mauritius from 2015 to 2018.

Catherine Samba-Panza who was Acting President of the Central African Republic from 2014 to 2016. Rose Francine Rogombé who was Acting President of Gabon in 2009. Agnes Monique Ohsan Bellepeau who was Acting President of Mauritius in 2012 and 2015. Sylvie Kinigi who was Acting President of Burundi in 1993.

And as 2024 ends and 2025 begins, Africa will be having two serving Female Presidents: Samia Suluhu Hassan who is the President of Tanzania since March 2021. And Namibia’s incoming President Netumbo Nandi-Ndaitwah known as NNNN.

Coincidentally, I have been reading Joe Garba’s Diplomatic Soldiering (The Conduct of Nigeria’s Foreign Policy 1975-1979) for an extended period of months and I had just commenced chapter six which was about Nigeria’s role in South Africa via ANC and Namibia via SWAPO (circa 1975 -1987) when the elections in Namibia played out.

Joseph Nanven Garba was a Nigerian General, former Foreign Affairs Minister, diplomat, and politician who served as President of the United Nations General Assembly from 1989 to 1990. In 1975, he became Nigeria’s representative to the UN General Assembly and was president of the UN Security Council from January 1978, but he was recalled after Chief Olusegun Obasanjo transitioned to civilian rule, and he was head of the military academy for two years.

In 1989, he resumed his political career as President of the UN General Assembly for its 44th session, and he spoke out against Apartheid.

Joe Garba’s extensive report on Namibia commenced on page 112 in chapter six. Considering what the country had to go through to get her independence from the Apartheid-run South Africa back in the day, to electing a Female President in 2024 (not paying just lip service to women empowerment in all its ramifications), one has to chorus “It Is Not Easy”; a popular hit song released by the Nigerian group Ofege which was formed in the early 1970s by a bunch of teenage secondary school students at the prestigious St. Gregory’s College in the Obalende area of Lagos, Nigeria.

From a Nigerian who sees where Namibia is going to, congratulations to Namibia and Namibians. The Land of The Brave. They get it.
Dolapo Aina, a Nigerian writer and global strategic communications consultant and founder of The Write Communications, who is based in Kigali, Rwanda.