The root is part of the tree just as our legs are part of our body. Though every part of the tree is important, some parts are more important than others. What would a tree do without its roots?
The root of the tree is the part in the soil. First of all, the tree stands on its roots; remove the roots and the tree will stand no more but fall to the ground; just as human beings stand on our two legs. To wit, the roots are legs for the tree.
The roots perform beyond the functions of legs, they actually hold the ground to give the tree a firm stand such that in the event of a flood, storm, etc. the tree is not immediately and easily removed from the ground and carried away.
Most importantly, the roots are the mouth and the stomach of the tree. They absorb nutrients from the soil and process them upwards to the other parts of the tree.
So now you can tell how important the roots are to the tree. How would the tree stand or survive without it? Because of the roots, the tree always has hope when it is cut down. So far as the tree is not completely destroyed by means of uprooting, but it is only cut, its roots still buried in the soil, there is hope that it would grow back to the tree it was.
Simple and short the tree can not stand without its roots because it heavily depends on them. As a nation or as a people what is our root? Our roots could be anything that makes us stand and grow and establish us in the midst of difficulty.
In my suggestion, the roots of the people could be high productivity, innovation, good leadership, unity, good virtues, our history, etc.
