THE quality of a father can be seen in the goals, dreams and aspirations he sets not only for himself, but for his family,”-once said author Reed Markham to drive a point home that successful parents (read leaders) see the opportunities in every difficulty at home rather than the difficulty in every opportunity.
Driving home his school of thought today on 26th April, 2024, Tanzanians are showing bright faces that surely the father of the Nation, the late Mwalimu Julius Nyerere of Tanganyika and Sheikh Abeid Amani Karume of Zanzibar had a vision that is still brightly glowing in forming the United Republic of Tanzania.
Like any marriage at the family level, the Union has been nurtured and bore fruits to all sides to the extent that their people know no boundary, mingle and trade with ease. These people have lived in harmony, peace, known and used one currency for any business in the Mainland Tanzania and Zanzibar.
Like a coin with two sides, they have been known as one people, though with different sides, they have confronted any challenge and addressed them as a family.
As the list grows, we must be proud and keep the Union going just as it was envisioned by the late Mwalimu Nyerere and Sheikh Karume. It is good that the successive governments have also seen the essence of maintaining it to the extent that the generations born after 26 April 1964 (the Union Day) have fondly addressed it as brothers from different mothers being raised by one biological father.
As the Union keeps on growing, it is important that our leaders from both sides down the hierarchy to the grassroots remind and keep preaching its relevance to the public, especially the coming generations that are now replacing those who lived before the amalgamation.
By this time the people of the Mainland Tanzania and Zanzibar must have realised that the Union has been harmonised with ease because, they share similar experiences in culture and history.
They had similar culture aspects such as Kiswahili language that has overgrown to other parts of the continent, they should be proud of. Similarly, historically these people were involved in related economic activities.
For example, they traded as partners before and after colonialism implying that these people must depend on one another, hence, the cornerstone of the co-existence. At the same time, both sides suffered and experienced similar problems of colonial domination.
As the list prolongs, it is necessary to realise also the importance of constantly teaching and reminding the coming generations that the Mainland Tanzania needs Zanzibar and vice versa, despite teething problems which seem to be there in any part of the world.