THE “UNLESS IT IS US” MENTALITY (KANO NIBO SYNDROME)
One of the greatest dangers facing Zambia today is not poverty. It is not unemployment. It is not even corruption. It is a mindset. A mindset that says, “If it is not us, then it must be no one” (Kano nibo syndrome).
A mindset that believes leadership is an inheritance. That wisdom belongs to a select few. That patriotism belongs to a select few. That only certain people are qualified to govern, speak, lead, prosper or be heard.
This mentality is older than political parties. It survives elections. It changes uniforms. It changes slogans. It changes names, but it remains the same spirit.
It is the spirit of entitlement. The belief that a nation belongs to a few individuals rather than to all its citizens. The belief that when others succeed, something has been stolen. The belief that power is a birthright rather than a responsibility.
The Almighty alone is eternal. The Almighty alone is Alpha and Omega. The Almighty alone appoints seasons and removes seasons.
No family was created to rule forever. No tribe was created to rule forever. No political party was created to rule forever. No individual was created to own a nation.
Zambia belongs to all Zambians.
Sadly, many of those who today claim to be champions of the people had years to transform the lives of those people.
Visit the villages; visit the compounds and visit the forgotten communities. You will often find that the wealth reached a few homes, a few relatives, a few friends, while the people themselves remained trapped in poverty. Roads remained broken. Schools remained inadequate. Clinics remained distant. Opportunities remained scarce and yet today the same voices return promising miracles.
The same architects of failure return wearing new uniforms. The same mentality returns with new slogans. The same actors return with new scripts. The same hunger returns disguised as concern for the people.
What is even more troubling is that some seek support not through ideas, but through desperation. They depend on poverty. They feed on frustration. They market anger. They weaponise ignorance because a citizen who is informed is difficult to deceive. A citizen who can think independently is difficult to manipulate. A citizen who remembers yesterday is difficult to recruit into yesterday’s mistakes.
As a nation, we must learn to judge ourselves and our leaders by one standard. The same standard we use to judge our opponents must be the same standard we use to judge ourselves.
Anything less is not patriotism. It is projection. Anything less is not leadership. It is hypocrisy.
Zambia stands at a crossroads. One road leads backward into recycled failures packaged as new solutions. The other leads forward through patience, reform, accountability and national maturity.
The choice before us is not merely political. It is moral. Will we build a Republic where every child has a chance? Or will we surrender our future to those who believe that unless it is them, it can never be anyone else? This is the question of our generation.
Saviour Chishimba
President
United Progressive People (UPP)
You are intelligent and you know Zambian Politics very well sir
Well articulated lol
