A MUTUAL LANGUAGE FOR ALL-Hinges That Bind Us All
Nielson Mandela said: “Ethiopia always has special place in my imagination, and the prospect of visiting Ethiopia attracted me more strongly than a trip to France, England, and America combined. I felt I would be visiting my own genesis, unearthing the roots of what made me an African.”
The president of Kenya, Uhuru Kenyatta on his part described Ethiopia as the mother of African independence.
If you regularly spend time with history, you would wholly agree with both Presidents. If you don’t know much about Ethiopia, let’s share you a few things here.
Ethiopia is located in the Horn of Africa, it is the 27th largest country in the world, 12th and 2nd most populous in the world in Africa respectively.
Ethiopia is one of the oldest countries in the world. The country has 84 indigenous languages and over 80 ethnic groups which explains the country’s diversity.
Ethiopia is a founding member of the United Nations, the Organization of African Unity, the Non-Aligned Movement, the Group of 24, and the G77. Addis Ababa– the country’s capital is the headquarters of the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa, the African Union, the Pan African Chamber of Commerce and Industry, and the African Standby Force. Ethiopia’s security forces serve in peacekeeping missions in South Sudan and Somalia, they also team up with Western allies to fight Islamist militants.
Ethiopia is rich in history and honour, having acknowledged this fact we’ll walk you through a brief history in an attempt to help you understand how resilient Ethiopia is.
In the 1890’s Ethiopia was challenged by an intruder– Italy, Ethiopia’s independence was at stake. Italy offered Ethiopia’s Emperor Menelik the 2nd a treaty and a bribe of two million rounds of ammunition. Menelik rejected it all, in response to this, the Italians declared war on Ethiopia.
The Italian colonists assembled to invade Ethiopia with a Brattier-led army. On March 1, 1896, the Italian army and Ethiopian army met at Aduwa, Emperor Menelik and every citizen fought for their freedom with a never-ending strength and national pride. Ethiopia won and Italy had no other choice but to recognize Ethiopia’s Independence and sovereignty.
However, the fascist Italy came over to Ethiopia after 40 years in 1936 for revenge.. Ethiopia didn’t surrender once again and its heroic patriots gained decisive victory over fascist Mussolini after its 5 year occupation in 1941, which ensured Ethiopia’s independence and territorial integrity.
This is not just a story, this is a reminder of how united Ethiopians were in their fight for freedom.
Ethiopia was not only united in fighting for its own freedom, the multi-ethnic state was united with other African countries too in their fight for independence from colonial rule.
After Ethiopia’s success from multiple struggles, Ethiopia should be standing tall and adapting into a leading African power. Unfortunately this ambitious and great nation has been inflicted by externally sponsored internal conflicts.
In 2018 Abiy Ahmed becam the new Ethiopian Prime Minister, and he quickly managed to end the 20 year lengthy impasse with neighbouring Eritrea, which earned him the 2019 Nobel Peace Prize.
This feat made him an international favourite, unfortunately the TPLF, a former political player in Ethiopia who still hunger to remain in power and its 30 year poisonous ethnic politics have been major blockage for Abiy’s vision to strengthen the unity and sovereignty of Ethiopia. A painful aspect of this conflict is that the media, attempts of the US administration to get involved in the matter directly or indirectly, and the hidden hands of Egypt in support of the TPLF.
Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed aims to displace the Ethiopian federal constitution likewise, the multi-cultural ethnic governing coalition was drawn up by the Tigray People’s Liberation Front who has chosen ethnic identity over national identity.
The Tigrayan leadership overthrew Ethiopia’s Marxist Derg, who in turn established a multicultural governing coalition and the federal constitution which granted the right to determination and autonomy to nine ethno-geographic regions in Ethiopia.
After 2018 when Abiy came to power, his government decided to dissolve the Tigrayan leadership formulated a multi-ethnic coalition because it posed huge problem on nation’s sovereignty and regional integration. The creator party, TPLF however was not ready to accept this.
Furthermore, the federal government had to postpone the local and national elections supposed to take place in May 2020 due to the worldwide Covid-19 outbreak. However TPLF maintained that the scheduled regional elections in 2020 proceeded against the federal government’s decision.
This triggered the fight in Tigray region in November 2020 between the federal government and the TPLF.
The Tigray People’s Liberation Front has become a nuisance to the unity of Ethiopia. They had an estimated 200,000 soldiers, and boasted of the third-largest arsenal in Africa and the largest reserve of Ethiopia’s military weapons and equipment when the war broke.
Despite all helping hands from western particularly the US government and the media, TPLF has now been confined to Tigray region; and it is in a state of losing its footings as the large numbers of Tigray people scaping to save their lives to neighbouring regions, and even to Eritrea. This shows the extent the terrorist group has been rejected not only by non-tigrayans but by its own Tigray people. This is not surprise. Why? Because most people of tigray benefited nothing except brutal oppression during the TPLF’s 27 year rule. The majority of them still on the safety net livelihood. The poor tigrayans haven’t had shares in the plunder of TPLF. Tigray mothers still have to travel long miles to fetch safe drinking water.
On the other hand, news are emerging to say that some key TPLF figures have left the country though we haven’t proved yet this from independent sources.
But the toxic spread over their reign is not leaving soon. At this point, there’s a cry for unity all around the country.
Recently Mustafa Omar, President of the Somali Regional State twitted: “Instead of counting ethnicity, I would rather like to replace it with Eastern Ethiopia, Northern Ethiopia, Western Ethiopia, Southern Ethiopia and Central Ethiopia and so forth. ” This is Impressive! But don’t get him wrong! What he is trying to explain is the extent of spoil the TPLF’s 27 year of ethnic identity and politics over the national identity.
The Ethiopian flag we see flying high now may not matter for some, however the pain is more severe on a day when it’s lowered, says Abrarr Suleiman an Ethiopian Social Media Activist with hundred thousands followers.
A famous Ethiopian proverb supports Suleiman’s argument, saying: “The Gold held in the hand considered to be copper.” The most precious wealth becomes cheap and ordinary because we own it. If a healthy person wants to stay healthy, they should continue to take care of their health. They shouldn’t take it for granted.
It would be very hard to find out the hinges that bind us all again once the territorial integrity and sovereignty of the nation is out of our control. Let’s think about our unity mindfully!
Now we are at a historic juncture where we can lay our hands on extremists, bury racism and prepare for national consultation! Ethiopia will not fall apart! Unity For Ethiopia, Abrar Suleiman added!
We must not forget that the centuries-old coexistence of Muslims and Christians in Ethiopia has produced many enemies for the nation. Let’s avoid setting the fire on gasoline!
Muslims in Arsi Zone, Munessa Woreda have donated 3 million birr and 20 head of cattle for the construction of the Orthodox Church recently. This reflects Us! This is Ethiopia!
If anyone who is not impressed or doesn’t like this news, they must be missing out a very special and unique culture of this great nation. If this is the case, our value system must be wrong. Let’s share you another similar incident recently happened. Fikre and Abraham Molla, who broke the window of Gemisie Kebele Medhanialem Church in Ghuraghe Zone and stole money from Mudaye alms, were arrested and brought to justice by the cooperation of Mekbul Mohammed and Hiru Mohammed from the local Muslim community according to the information obtained from Zonal Communication.
Showing belongingness and support between communities right at this demanding moment, and working together in a group motivates everyone to be at the top to ease tensions, and create a sense of community harmony.
The Ethiopian government should take careful actions and challenge itself to create a unique atmosphere for the unity of the nation. The authorities at various levels must work in coordination and harmony with each other as well as with the federal government. We think creating the same mindset similar to that of the Ethiopian National Defence Forces is crucial.
Victory is inevitable when there is harmony and unity.
That is why we say time and again Unity for Ethiopia. This country is accustomed to victory through unity, not division. Let’s ensure that we are all on the common ground, that’s the motherland Ethiopia. Don’t deprive her of what she is accustomed to.
The time is due to facilitate a national dialogue within the nation. Community leaders and African leaders need to promote and facilitate a democratic, transparent, and partaking resolution of the conflict. Uniting Ethiopia must be taken with urgency. It’s time for unity and peace.
We believe that the federal government is trying everything to undo decades of divisions and mismanagements. But the people of Ethiopia must understand the challenges of Abiy’s administration, and closely collaborate with it, to turn the tide of divisive conflicts.
The Prime Minister recently twitted the following message on his official twitter page. We, as a people, have embraced our differences and lived together for many generations. Tolerance is one of the most important factors in our joint venture. As a nation, we must not allow those who want the destruction of our country to represent us in their plans. In some societies, the evil that we allow to occur is more likely to be used by other agents of evil rather than by close association with one another. Let us seek the minds of the discerning in our society and work to bring them closer instead of highlighting differences. The humanity we share compels us to do this. Violence in Ethiopia is killing all of us. We condemn the perpetrator and stand with the victim. None of us will benefit from the Ethiopian unrest, but peace from Ethiopia.
Chief Ajij, a Nigerian who recently said: “I do not consider myself Nigerian. I am African. Nigeria is the country I happen to have been born but Africa is my nationality. And Ethiopia is my capital I’m committed to doing everything within my power to protect Africa and Ethiopia, so help me God!
Chief Ajiji is a Passionate Pan-Africanist who spread hope not fear for Africa.
We urge every party and individuals to put aside existing minor differences, let’s restore peace to Ethiopia, peace and unity can heal the land. The time to embrace peace is now. Let’s embrace peace.
