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Senior Lifestyle Writer

Growing up, it is every child’s hope to be like their father or mother.

It is true when they say that the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree, but sometimes there are some apples which fall and roll to the next garden.

Well, every generation has its geniuses who successfully spearhead innovation in various fields, be it sport, business, arts, agriculture, technology or industry.

Their superb ideas or creations earn respect and propels them to stardom.

To safeguard their legacies, geniuses, whoever they may be, groom their children to take over what they hope to become a legacy to be passed on generation to generation.

The late music superstar and national hero Dr Oliver Mtukudzi groomed his son Sam who later passed on, leaving his daughter Selmor, another talented musician, to carry on the baton.

This also happened with Tongai Moyo who left his son Peter in charge of Utakataka Express, while Andy Brown groomed his daughter Ammara, a successful musician in her own right, and Willom Tight is still harnessing the talent in his son Gary.

Farming has its own old gurus whose children inherited vast tracts of land, equipment, and even market linkages.

Some are highly successful in the field while some have failed and are failing in epic proportions, to the extent of even renting out land and selling equipment or even the farms.

Most of the young farmers that are highly publicised on social media either inherited land or are using their parent’s land or were groomed into the business.

One such highly successful young farmer is Tapiwa Nyamapfeni.

A South African educated chartered accountant, Nyamapfeni chose farming having taken a leaf from his father’s book.

He could have chosen to work at many of the top accounting firms in the region, but he chose to ‘play with dirt’ and he is continuously enjoying the fruits of his labour.

“Though my father, before he retired, was a top boss at one of the country’s parastatals, he had a niche for farming,” said Nyamapfeni.

“Growing up, I observed that my father made more money from farming than at his day job, so after graduating from university I joined him and the rewards were amazing.”

Nyamapfeni bought his first car from proceeds of tomato farming, which further fuelled his drive in the sector.

He weaned himself off his father and began operating on his own, sometimes partnering with different investors.

“I now rent land to farm on and do not plan to do anything else,” he said.

Nyamapfeni has lettuce ready for markets, while his sweet potato vines are yet to ripen.  Many business men groom their children to take over after their retirement or demise.

But many of the groomed offspring are not cut out for the line of work they are set to assume.

“It is usually the lack of passion that sees people failing in business,” said Bulawayo based youthful businessman Noah Wambe.

“Sometimes things are just too hard that it requires perseverance to keep at it, thus some who are not passionate may end up giving up.”

Wambe said as much as he would want his children to inherit his businesses they had to show interest for them to be able to run them.

“As a parent, one needs to observe among their children who is a natural leader and has passion and interest in the business and groom them to take over,” he said.

Some children grow up idolizing their parents that they naturally take interest and follow in their footsteps.

These are most of the people who then become successful, some even superseding their parents.

It is not always the case that interest and passion can guarantee success.

Some people though after investing every ounce of strength, and large amounts of time, are just not cut out to follow their parents’ footsteps.

They may have been exposed to the best practices, education and tutelage, but they just do not have the talent.

People in the arts sector are quick to allude to Peter Moyo, whose music has been labelled merely half decent, when compared to the exploits of his late father.

He has even been coached in vocals by sungura maestro Alick Macheso, but one can tell he is struggling.

“The economic situation Zimbabweans have been going through leaves one with no option but to just take on whatever that is availed to them,” said Tariro Musamhi, a social commentator.

“This is the reason why we have many people trying by all means to follow in their parent’s footsteps, it’s an easy path to follow as most of the resources are at their disposal.”

Musicians’ children grow up associating with experts in the trade and have studios to record at their disposal, thus they can easily venture into the sector.

Same as farmers who grow up with resources and connections with people who can assist them in the trade.

They can inherit knowledge, connections and even businesses, but they need to be passionate about the area of business.

Genius cannot be inherited, thus when there is no talent within the bloodline, it’s wiser to look elsewhere, groom other candidates and let them take over, under the employ of one’s offspring.