The adages are aplenty. “Nta heza haruta u Rwanda” or “Nta heza haruta iwabo w’umuntu” in Kinyarwanda. “East or west, home is best” or “No place is better than home” are equivalents in English. They are adages that have stood the test of time and have always served to emphasise the pride every citizen should feel in calling their country home. For the paramountcy of that pride among other prides, there are more sayings like “Home, sweet home” and others. “Umwana ujya iwabo….ntawe umuhagarara imbere” and others. And the latter, whose direct literal translation is “None can get in the way of a child bound for home”, is most pertinent in the case of Rwanda when you consider how for her disowned children, no price was too high to pay for regaining their home; not even that of shedding their blood. It did not matter that these homebound children were in their hundreds while those in their way numbered about a hundred thousand (military, para-military, interahamwe-militia, foreign armies). Moreover, apart from these being in their throngs, they had heavy guns and powerful artillery, plus accompanying foreign diplomatic support, to make the homebound children’s little arms look laughable. Still, you know who had the last laugh. The same has happened before, is happening and will continue to happen in other countries. Which serves to show that to any citizen, no country is better, more beautiful, more habitable, we could go on, than, or superior to, their own. And if that’s so because no citizen is better, more approachable or more caring than a compatriot of like mind. The man/woman who risks their all in death-trap waters or over lethal electrical fences to go abroad for any gain does so in order to improve the lot of compatriots back home and build their country, in the end. So does the woman/man who chooses to work abroad. For much as it’s true that we should not consider ourselves children of foreigners, it’s also true that there is wisdom in learning from others and exchanging ideas so as to improve our knowledge wherever we may fall short. That partnership is a salient plus is undeniable. But it’s only a queer sort who denigrates their country or others’ countries without full examination or considers themselves inferior and others superior. We should start from the premise of equality all round. Talking of citizens complexed by foreigners, examples are legion. Everybody knows how, for instance, when this nation-state was under the genocidal foot of an excuse of a head of state self-nicknamed Kinani (“The Invincible”), 1973 – 1994, decisions of all kinds were outsourced. On self-defence, any thorny issue and even on the simplest of problems, he used to either run to late Congolese “grand frère” Mobutu or late French “papa” Mitterrand for help. Those are the ones we knew; maybe there were other “‘grand’ brothers”, “papas” and “‘Bwana Madam’ mothers”! Yet when the aforementioned disowned kids of their motherland kept up their soft but protracted fire, the whole horde of so-called powerful “papas” and “frères” were not there to defend his “invincibility”. From where it’d landed as a fireball, the “invincibility” went up in smoke! Evidence, if any were needed, that, as Rwandans, we are our own best keepers and defenders. Our “own best keepers and defenders” because with a paradigm of togetherness and working in concert as a team in concurrence, we can forge that “invincibility” that the “paradigm of division” proponent, Kinani, sought to bestow upon himself. Together, we can make it a reality. They who are given advice to follow his example and take it are being sent on a fool’s errand. And it’s a sad moment for us all as citizens who crave the advancement of this land. A single citizen who is misled and truly goes astray is a lost asset, especially if they belong to the youth set on whose shoulders the future of this land rests. The older hobbling, hate-filled quislings, who gives a hoot! They’ve made their self-seeking, treacherous bed, let them lie in it! Cold and lonely for the pitiful lot but they made their choice! The youth, however, may have been misguided and are oblivious of the import of that axiom: “Nta heza haruta iwabo w’umuntu”. No doubt, they are unmindful of the fact that wherever they may eagerly be invited, whatever great station in life they may be in, they will always be seen as a mere number in the statistics of aliens. None’ll hold them as dear assets in progressing their people. Young hate-mongering offspring in foreign climes following in the footsteps of your aging génocidaires outlaws, you have a chance to return to the right path. Our later youths who’ve imbibed the lie that comatose powers in the region have fathered their people and are therefore better paternities, more’s the pity. Next time you come calling in those “better-paternity” lands, examine the lives of the people there. Your eyes will open to ugly reality. Lost lads of our land, to believe in a better home away from home is to live a fool’s paradise.
