This week, Rwandans will once again take time off to pay tribute to the men and women who lived at different times and exemplified and defended the highest values of patriotism for the country and its citizens. National Heroes Day is celebrated annually on February 1 but the celebrations also involve weeklong activities aimed at reflecting on the values of different national heroes and encouraging Rwandans to borrow a leaf from these heroes. The good thing is that among the national heroes who have already been identified, are Rwandans of all walks of life; there are traditional leaders, political and military leaders, ordinary men, women and even those who were children. All these lived in different times; traditional and contemporary, during colonial and post-colonial times, in times of war and in peace-time. It therefore disabuses the excuse that may be created that being heroes is a preserve of people of certain caliber or that only certain situations permits for heroes to stand out among the rest of the population. The truth of the matter is, everyone can be a hero and at any given time. Taking from our national heroes most of whom lie at the National Heroes’ Mausoleum, it did not require one to be educated or to be old enough to be a hero. This is why the focus this year is on the youth who are the majority of the population, to take after the heroes we have to do good for the country in different forms especially within the realms of the development ambitions that the country set out to achieve. Almost every year, the youth are reminded of the acts of the RPF-Inkotanyi and its military wing, the RPA, which was predominantly composed of youths, but who gave up their right to do all things that people their age yearn for and joined the struggle to liberate our country, many of them paying the ultimate price in the process. It is not just an example but a challenge to their contemporaries.
