Like
the Bennu-Bird, Ethiopia Must Rise from the Ashes
IDEA
Editorial
September
24, 2018
Ethiopia
is a great nation that has proved to itself and the world its resilience
against trying circumstances and outright colonial attempts and
subjugations. For this reason and other factors, the country remained a
jewel in the crown for Africa and pride as well as symbol of independence
for the Black Diaspora. Ironically, however the present generation of
Ethiopians seem to suffer from amnesia to the greatness of Ethiopia and
the patriotic pan-Ethiopian agenda of its forebears, and on the contrary
they have wittingly or unwittingly embraced narrow ethno-national
proclivities and practices; hence, the present ethnic-warfare that has
afflicted much of Ethiopia.
Irrespective
of the many types of regimes and their attendant ideologies and/or
policies that governed Ethiopia and intermittent political disturbances
that bewitched the nation, the country still served as headquarters of the
African Union (AU) and as venue for global diplomacy. The country earned
world-wide respect not because of its industrial might and economic
prowess (none of which could be attributed to it), but because of its
reputation for being the cradle of humanity, the origin of coffee, for
hosting a spectacular civilization of late antiquity and the medieval
times, and for being the only independent country in Africa during the
heyday of European imperial hegemony and colonization.
Ethiopia
is still a poor country, but as of recent, under the leadership of the
EPRDF, it achieved major foundational economy such as infrastructure,
major dams like Gilgel Gibe and the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam
(GERD), expansion of elementary and secondary schools, and the
proliferation of technical and vocational education and training (TVETs),
the establishment of fifty universities; urban development hitherto
unknown in Ethiopian history, and with EPRDF’s policy of the
developmental state (DS) and more specifically of the growth and
transformation plans (GTP I and GTP II), Ethiopia did very well in the
last two decades in terms of constructing major railways and industrial
parks, not to mention the plethora of primary health centers throughout
the country. These gains, of course, are relative and they are not
transformative by any measure. However, the DS in general and the GTPs in
particular that were intended to catapult Ethiopia into a middle income
economy by 2025 have encountered a stumbling block by a lethargic new
policy and continuous disturbances tainted with ethnic politics and narrow
sentiments.
With
the coming of a new regime under the leadership of Abiye Ahmed, the
starting point and/or initiative of the Government was extremely
promising. The new Prime Minister Dr. Abiye came up with a new policy of
uniting Ethiopians under the banner of unity, love, and forgiveness, and
to be sure Ethiopians were not only enthused by Abiye’s eloquent
mobilizing speeches, but they also have extended their support to him and
his government. Ethiopians, above all, perceived Abiye as genuine
Ethiopian patriot and a messenger of change, but soon (in only 4-5 months)
Dr. Abiye took contradictory measures that could potentially undermine
Ethiopia’s achievements; it made a departure from the DS agenda of mixed
economy to a liberal capitalist economy; it declared its commitment to
sell shares of Ethiopian public institutions like Telecom, Ethiopian
Airlines, Ethiopian Power and Electric Authority etc. to foreign
investors.
In
due course of the shift of economic policy, which has yet to be tested in
the context of the complex global economy and the fierce competition
between China and the United States, Dr. Abiye has made a major
achievement in brokering peace with Eritrea although he was unable to
sustain peace in Ethiopia itself. Since the dawn of history and the
beginning of governance in ancient Kemet (Egypt), the first nation-state
in our planet earth, the sine qua non or prerequisite for any government
is to ensure peace and stability, followed by the provision of goods and
services and furthermore by comprehensive development agenda (domestic
policy) and international diplomacy (foreign policy). Thus far, the Abiye
government has yet to come up with a clearly delineated policy matrix that
can lead Ethiopia for the better.
We
at the Institute of Development and Education for Africa (IDEA) are deeply
concerned about the current state of affairs in Ethiopia, more so of the
degeneration of the country from relative stability and promising economic
growth to instability and massive internal deportations. We say
“deportation” instead of “displacement” because Ethiopians are now
forcibly deported from their respective turfs against their will in most
parts of the country.
Given
the current messy politics and disturbances, it is abundantly clear that
ethno-national sentiments and practices have now engendered ethnic-based
attacks that subsequently resulted in internal deportations of thousands
upon thousands of Ethiopians. It began in 2015 in the Gondar/Amhara and
Oromia areas and culminated in the Somali/Oromo confrontations and the
most recent attacks and killings against the Gurage, Siltie, and Wolita
ethnic groups in the Burayo town of the Oromia Regional State. During the
Gondar/Oromia upheavals three years ago, the main target were the Tigrigna
speakers, wrongly associated with the Tigray People’s Liberation Front
(TPLF), a party that until then held a prominent and dominant position in
the ruling party, the EPRDF. Tigrayans were physically attacked and killed
in many parts of the Amhara Regional State, including in Gondar, Woldia,
Bati, and Tana Beles under the watch and alarmingly disturbing silence of
the Governor, Degu Andargachew.
Now,
ironically, the Tigray Regional State is the most tranquil and peaceful
state in the whole of Ethiopia, and it looks it is getting worse in
central and southern Ethiopia and Addis Ababa. The new ethnic-based
protestations have now flared up in the Goma (formerly Gomu-Gofa) greater
Arba Minch area and the capital city of Ethiopia; while that of the former
is similar to what took place in the Oromia State, in Addis Ababa, the
artificially mended Amhara/Oromo alliance made a dramatic turn around, in
which the Amhara youth have made demonstrations against the Kero Oromo;
the Amhara that were blaming the TPLF for virtually every wrong that took
place in Ethiopia, have now turned against the Oromo; likewise the Oromo
are now portraying the Amhara as settlers and some of the extremist Oromo
are even telling the Addis Ababa residents to go back to Gondar.
The
more Ethiopia is disturbed by ethnic skirmish, the more instability could
push the country into major civil wars. As this editorial was being
written and prepared for publishing, a significant number of Amharas are
being attacked in the Oromia region and the Beni-Shangul Regional State;
in the latter regional state, the Amharas were assaulted for the second
time and neither the local government nor the federal government has taken
any action to protect Ethiopian citizens. IDEA is very concerned about the
multitude (probably in millions) of Amhara Ethiopians who were born and
raised outside the traditional Amhara areas of Gondar, Gojjam, Wello, and
Shewa; compared to all other ethnic groups they could probably be the easy
target in light of the ethnic hatred that has now befallen upon Ethiopia.
IDEA
would like to send a clear message to Dr. Abiye and his government that
the federal government has a responsibility to quell the disturbances and
protect Ethiopian citizens from hooligan-type assaults. When Demeke
Mekonnen, the vice PM visited the Burayu victims, he said that the State
has enough power, capacity and wherewithal to take action against the
disturbing forces, but those are only words; what Ethiopians, who are
insecure and frightened, need is real action from the government. Ethiopia
has played a major role in securing peace to Somalia and South Sudan; why
is it now, it has become incapacitated to bring peace to all Ethiopians?
IDEA strongly believes that the Government has all necessary mechanisms at
its disposal to curtail the activities of the ethno-nationalist militants
and secure Ethiopian citizens in all Ethiopia. Otherwise, the Government
may reach a vanishing point if it does not take the necessary action now.
Ethiopia’s
greatness has sunk to the bottom pit in which Ethiopians are pitting
against each other, but if the Government undertakes real action the
country’s potential of resurrecting from death could become a reality
again. Ethiopia, like the Bennu-Bird could rise from the ashes and we
believe it must rise from the ashes. The Bennu-Bird, also known as Phoenix
in the Greek version of history, was the mythological deity bird of the
ancient Egyptians that died and came back to life; it is imaged as a bird
emerging from a fiery ash. However, although Ethiopia has the potential in
emulating the Bennu-Bird, it could become a material force only when
Ethiopians completely debunk and invalidate ethnocentric values and uphold
a more unifying pan-Ethiopian patriotism and agenda.
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