THE POWER OF RELEVANCE

People ‘seem’ to love you.
They are always with you because you are relevant to them. Actually, you are relevant to their course, interests, ambitions, etc.
Basically, you play an important role in their lives. Actually, you are contributing something to their lives. Wait! Just become irrelevant to their objectives and missions, you will see what will happen to you. They will reject you because you have become irrelevant to them.

This is due to the fact that you are no longer contributing anything to their missions and objectives. In short, you have become irrelevant to them.   Paul Segreto, the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) and founder of Accler & Success Group, says relevance refers to the degree to which something is connected or applicable to a particular situation, context or topic.
According to Dictionary.com, to know relevance of something is to know why it matters or how it is important.    In any given situation, relevance is the cornerstone for success.

Strengthens

In fact, relevance creates long-lasting relationships, reliable associational memberships and it strengthens business connections. It is also good for personal growth. First, you must be relevant to yourself so that you can be relevant to others. Segreto, the revered CEO, also says relevance is crucial because it ensures that information, actions or decisions are directly applicable and significant to a specific context, goal or situation.  It helps filter out irrelevant or extraneous elements, saving time and resources while enhancing efficiency and effectiveness. I personally agree that prioritising relevance ensures that what we focus on aligns with our objectives, leading to more informed and meaningful outcomes. The foundation for relevance is contribution. In short, unwavering relevance is founded on contribution.

When one fails to contribute, he or she becomes irrelevant to the person who expects the contribution to be immerse, beneficial and consistent. For you to be relevant, you must be able to serve interests. When one carefully studies global business politics, whether it is a non-party Parliament or party-Parliament setting, external forces are running the August House because they have interests.External forces are mainly those who own the means of production and distribution. They could be their constituencies, but, oftentimes, constituents do not run Parliaments and Cabinet from the backyard. Powerful people with buckets of Dollars are the ones who call the shots. They finance campaigns, influence the election of presidents and ministers. They are all over the world.  

In order to be relevant, decision-makers are, therefore, to serve their interests. Sometimes, motions, resolutions, questions or answers are motivated by external interests. In order for them to stay relevant, the decision-makers have to please those who own the means of production and distribution. It is an indisputable veracity that billionaires owning gigantic conglomerates in any given society around the world, are running governments and Parliaments. There would not be what we refer to as ‘lobbying’ in politics and stakeholder engagement if external business/political interests are not the driving force of national and international politics. No party would ever win elections through offerings from the streets. The man on the street wants to be given some token and he cannot fund a party. He expects the party to finance him. Political campaigns need adequate financing and hugely funded strategies to gauge societal attitudes and expectations. Expectedly, once you are in power, you never forget those who cleared the road to the chamber’s seat.

Business

When you are through, they will always come with corporate demands that include making sure that their business interests in Parliament or Cabinet are zealously served.  “Serve my interests; I will serve yours,” that is the language conglomerates and power brokers in commerce taught politicians to comprehend and embrace. The problem is when you are no longer a decision-maker, and that is when one loses his relevance and credence. No matter how intellectual and smart you can be, as long as you are not contributing or serving the masters’ commercial interests, you are considered irrelevant.  Society also demands that a decision-maker becomes relevant to it by ensuring consistent contribution to its goals. Floyd Shivambu resigned from Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) because he, perhaps, felt his contemporary or discovered revolutionary perspectives were no longer relevant to the EFF, but relevant to the uMkhonto weSizwe Party.

Manifestos crafted decades ago may not be relevant to present times. It is important that government review its policies so that they are compatible with what is happening on the ground.  Eswatini must come up with strategies and programmes that will be understood by the current generation. In order to appeal to the people who live in the present times, it is vital to put in place programmes that will address the needs of the people.  Politics is not a game of slogans and social media posts. It is a game of staying relevant by responding to the needs of the people.

People need employment, decent and consistent health services, land, access to clean water, reliable energy, etc. During economic challenges coupled with cash flow inconsistences, there are things on which a government cannot compromise. These are health, education and job sustainability and creation.  The jobs that we currently have must be preserved by the State. It must ensure that companies offering jobs to thousands of emaSwati are safeguarded and treated well.  Their expansion and diversification programmes should be supported passionately.  Investors, temperamental or not temperamental, must always be given the benefit of the doubt while, in the process, we do due diligence quietly and smartly, so that they do not spread word to the global investment space that we are a non-receptive nation.

Job provision and expansion to create new openings calm emotions and resolve a catalogue of problems that would have plunged a nation into political quagmire. When people have some money, they will be able to put food on the table. The economy will also benefit from the monies that are being spent on buying food from the shops. Many governments, including our own, make good money out of value added tax (VAT).

Self-employment

I am aware that jobs are not the only solution for our people to have money that will ultimately and obviously make them stay relevant at home. I did point out that emaSwati must learn to think about or opt for self-employment, starting their own businesses. The schemes that are meant for youth empowerment should be adequately resourced so that they are relevant to the needs of our young people. I mentioned in this platform that Eswatini has opportunities for economic and business growth. The kingdom provides a conducive environment for personal prosperity and national growth. EmaSwati are a blessed people to have vast lands to produce sufficient food for exports. Virgin land is plenty and fertile. That is the only viable and rich resource that we have. I did say this.

I emphasised that someone never goes wrong with food production. Those who live in the rural areas or peri-urban communities have thousands of fields which are lying idle. Government has unused farms throughout the country that should be leased out to serious farmers interested in large scale commercial farming.  We have to study the global market to ascertain the type of crops each of the 163 members of the World Trade Organisation (WTO) need.  Many countries need food. We can supply them, only if we change our mindset to be a highly productive society.

Some countries have built industries and homes where they should be doing farming. They now expect us to supply them with vegetables and fruits.
We have rivers and streams. We have Great Usuthu, Lusushwana, Komati, Lomati, Ngwemphisi, Mponono, Mbuluzi and other dams that we can use for irrigation.  The problem with many of us is that we expect government to always create jobs for us. Our undoing is that we don’t create jobs for ourselves and the nation at large.  We have goats and sheep, we have cattle and pigs, we have horses and donkeys, we have chickens and rabbits.  The European Union (EU) can bear testimony that our beef nourishes the body and that our soil produces the right citrus for the body.

Let us penetrate the global market with our garlic. Our garlic is healthy and curative. China wants it. We have to ship it to Taiwan and Turkey, and the USA, it looks like, is ready to place orders.  But, an irrelevant government takes a huge risk by compromising on quality health services and education.  The shortage of medicines in public health institutions is a dent on government’s trust levels and also goes as far as directly challenging the relevance and effectiveness of the country’s political system.

Political direction

Another pressing need that must positively influence government, in particular, to stay relevant, is the assessment of the people’s political direction of the country. Is government relevant? If government were relevant, it would have by now known that the country needs a political strategy to take the country forward. The question that some people may ask is whether the State understands the mindsets of the current generation. For it to be relevant to the current needs, it is important that nationwide engagements and mechanisms are put in place to collect data on how they feel certain national projects should be undertaken or where alterations are essentially needed in certain decision-making  structures.   

In summary, Education Week, an intellectual think tank, states that relevance holds a tremendous amount of power. The think tank states that when students, for instance, see the connection between what they are learning in the classroom and their lives, engagement and motivation soar.  In education, relevance refers to the ability of the curriculum and instructional materials to relate to students’ experiences, interests and goals. When learning is relevant, students are more likely to see the value and applicability of their studies, leading to deeper engagement and a greater desire to learn.

According to the Education Week, educators must first understand their students’ interests and backgrounds to make learning relevant. Teachers can gather valuable information about topics, activities or hobbies that resonate with their students by conducting interest surveys and assessments.  With this knowledge, educators can tailor their instruction to incorporate elements that appeal to students’ interests. That is why I suggested that political assessments are necessary to stay relevant.

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