The Chancellery for Heroes, National Orders and Decorations of Honour (CHENO) has announced plans to set up an educational centre at Nyange school in Ngororero District, the scene of cold-blooded murders of students in 1997 by insurgents linked to the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi.
The school was the site of a deadly attack on the school on the fateful night of March 18, 1997 when Interahamwe militia and remnants of ex-FAR soldiers raided it, indiscriminately shooting and killing six learners.
The attackers started spraying bullets on the students after the latter defied their order to separate along ethnic lines, bravely responding that they were all Rwandans. The plan of the insurgents was to kill Tutsi students.
By standing up to armed hate mongers, ethnic bigots and genocide ideologues just a few years after the Genocide, the youngsters were one of the early encouraging signs of a changing Rwandan society, one that embraces every Rwandan regardless of their backgrounds.
The victims – along with 39 of their former colleagues who survived the attack – have since been made national heroes for their towering example of patriotism, courage, selflessness and commitment to our unity.
Twenty-five years after that cowardly attack we’re still drawing lessons from the example of the youngsters who chose unity over division, love over hate, patriotism over chauvinism, and serving others over self-serving.
These are critically important values that must continuously be inculcated among the youth if we are to ensure a future anchored on the foundation of ‘Ndi Umunyarwanda’.
This is why it is commendable that Nyange school will soon host an educational centre with a view to promoting a sense of patriotism, heroism and other values of nation building.
Equally welcome is the plan to build a museum at the school in honour of the extraordinary courage and unwavering commitment to the unity of Rwandans by the schoolchildren, even after it became clear they could pay the ultimate price.
Their acts of bravery and sacrifice is an enduring reminder that it is never too early to stand up for your country.