By Prof. Mammo Muchie
|
October 31, 2008
Inspiring Quotes!
“Our liberty is meaningless unless all Africans are free.” - Emperor Haile Selassie Speech at the Launch of the OAU in 1963.
“African nationalism is meaningless, dangerous, and anachronistic, if it
is not at the same time pan-Africanism.” - Julius K .Neyerere
“Borders are scratched across the hearts of men,
By strangers with a calm, judicial pen
And when the borders bleed, we watch with dread
The lines of ink across the map turn red.” - Anonymous
1. Introduction
In Part I, we have introduced the book entitled
Abyssinia: The Powder Barrel, a book on the most burning question of the day.
What is revealing is how far this fascist
writer estimated the power of Ethiopia’s national resistance and its
meaning and significance for wider Africa and indeed the world. This is
not something that we Ethiopians have been made aware of. So we continue
from Part I and present both the various statements from the fascist
author and what we can glean from it as lessons with respect to its
contemporary resonance to Ethiopia’s uncertain future.
2. It is the Success of the Ethiopian Anti-Colonial Struggle the Fascists Wanted to Bury
It seems that Ethiopia stood for African unity roughly from the end of
the Era of the Princes to the coming of the military regime in 1974
objectively by the resistance it put up against the world
colonial-imperial system! In the Post World War II period Ethiopia did
have clear policies as well to do many things to support other African
freedom fighters: from training Mandela and others to providing
scholarships to many fellow African brothers and sisters.
Emperor Haile Selassie worked closely with Dr. Kwame Nkrumah, where in
the Long Walk to Freedom, former president of South Africa Nelson
Mandela relates his conversation with Julius Neyerere where support from
Ghana to the ANC and not just to other parties like the PAC in South
Africa will come quickly if Mandela gets the support of Ethiopia’s
Emperor Haile Selassie to win Ghana’s support.
It seems the Pan-African agenda continued under the post-war imperial
regime too, where like Dr. Nkrumah, Emperor Haile Selassie appeared to
say Ethiopia’s national independence is incomplete without the entire
Africa’s full independence and freedom from colonialism! Subsequent
Ethiopian politicians have not expressed even a fraction of that vision
and understanding linking Ethiopia’s destiny with Africa’s destiny as
that expressed by the late Ethiopian emperor.
Ethiopia’s incoherence of its relation with Africa came after the
ideological period replaced the patriotic and African national era after
1974. After 1974, “ pro–former Soviet Union ally eliciting
internationalism, and after 1991 ethnic federalism” replaced
Ethiopian-African patriotism where the virtues of love and brotherhood
and concern for African anti-colonialism were subordinated to the
degradation of preferred alliance with the former Soviet Union
(1974-1991), and later the narrow selfish politics of ethnic and
vernacular identity(1991-?). No wonder, today Ethiopia’s relation with
the rest of Africa mirrors the incoherence of its internal inter
community relations. What is there from Ethiopia to spread to the rest
of Africa, ethnic division, split and war between Eritrea and Ethiopia,
war with Somalia, identity politics and division under the guise of
self-determination?
If Ethiopia’s politics since 1974 is a mirror, what the rest Africa sees
in it is not a model or example of her heroic national resistance
exemplified from the period of the end of the Era of the Princes to
1974, but a problem to avoid that came with the strange and alien notion
of fanning and exacerbating differences, ethnicism and the confounding
complexities in identity politics that have together resulted in a
virulent mostly anti- African and ant-Ethiopian unity politics today!
This negative politics of drawing ethnic borders has been pursued by the
political and intellectual useless elite that are still at large
ruining the nation that has a distinguished and recognised record for
playing a pivotal role as a leading promoter of African dignity,
self-respect and historical identity in particular whilst providing a
historical example for the entire anti-colonial and anti-imperial world
struggle in general.
The book also reveals inadvertently the epic nature of the Ethiopian
national resistance. The positive data of national resistance is not
only good for Ethiopia but also even more important to recover the full
dignity and humanity of Africans the world over, which is still yet to
be fully attained in spite of the progress made thus far.
3. The Significance of the pre-1974 Period of Ethiopian History
To be sure the period from the end of the era of the princes to 1974 was
not without its gross deficiencies that has no doubt contributed to the
emergence of the ideological period since 1974.Owing to the many social
inequities and feudal injustices and unfair rules, the deficiencies in
social justice, human rights and democracy was stark. The feudal class
relation was a big constraint to promoting sustainably the patriotic
virtue that Ethiopia exemplified by its history of national resistance
to spread African unification by positioning Ethiopia as a leader.
Whilst recognising their gross deficiencies in terms of lack of social
justice and democracy, we must nevertheless caution all not to allow
these evident deficiencies to eclipse and override the virtues they had
by placing Ethiopia firmly on the world map to promote African unity by
a national resistance with such powerful meaning to African history and
African destiny.
Despite the feudal constraints, the national awareness of linking
Ethiopia’s national destiny with Africa was fully appreciated. In the
pre-1974 period, we must acknowledge this whatever our views are on the
deficiencies and oppressions that we are right to denounce from that
period.
Those who oppose feudalism did go to the extreme extent of devaluing
this important national achievement and used the thesis used by the
fascists of the self-determination of oppressed nationalities or tribes
to undermine the Ethiopian-African combined patriotic national project.
What in reality was needed was to change feudalism by building on the
Ethiopian-African national patriotic combined project, and not use the
excuses of fighting feudalism at the expense of a united national
Ethiopian-African project for doing so by unleashing dissipative and
disintegrative impulses legitimised by borrowed ideology.
There is a strong need to promote Ethiopian patriotism where love for
Ethiopia means also love for Africa without hating anyone, any other
country, nation, people, or race, religion, ethnic group and gender more
than ever now. The national project is positive to ones own nation, it
does not have anything to do with spreading hate to any other nation.
In this effort to change the paradigm from ethnic narrow nihilism into
broader Ethiopian-African patriotism, the relevance of what Ethiopia did
through its epic history of non-surrender and non-capitulation to the
colonial system remains hugely significant and meaningful for the
present and future. Historical memory is useful to excavate to build
the patriotic agenda and push it forward without any apologies or
concessions to any special group interest.
2. The Fascist Formula: Either Colonise and Humiliate Ethiopia or Permanently Disable Ethiopia by fanning inter-ethnic strife!
The book openly and disgustingly advocates the destruction of Ethiopia
by whipping inter tribal contradictions against what it calls the
‘Amhara ‘and ’Abyssinian imperialism’.
The writer decried: “Actually,
there is no such thing as a unified Abyssinian people, but merely an Amharic minority amounting to about 20% of the total population.” (P.70)
He continued to argue that if Italy were to fail to colonise the
country, Ethiopia must remain permanently weakened and crippled by
making sure deep distrust and animosity is spread through the veins and
arteries of every ‘tribe’ in Ethiopia.
It is not against class; it is not against feudalism that the fascist
writer railed against, but against what he calls the ‘Amhara’ as a
people. It is not even directed at the ruling class drawn from them. It
is a whole people as a people who were marked and targeted by inciting
others to rebel and overcome them for possible extinction. Nothing short
of the destruction of the ‘Amhara’ has been advocated with such
careless and casual sociological classification and the deeply
unattractive ideology of fascism to exterminate a whole community. It is
the hate politics that preceded the dropping of exterminator poison gas
on the areas inhabited predominantly by Amharic language speakers. It
is a crime that has not found any proper historical justice and redress
to this day.
The hideous fascist author writes using very much the language that
we see bandied about by Ethiopia’s own home grown contemporary ethnic
entrepreneurs: “For it should always be remembered that the majority of
the peoples constituting the population of Ethiopia are themselves the
oppressed, while the ruling Amharic Abyssinians are the oppressors”
(p.79).
The formula of advocating ‘self-determination for the oppressed tribes’
was to realise the objective of planting and sowing inter-tribal strife
in Ethiopia without end.
The writer expresses the “Abyssinian colonial thesis” to advocate and
justify territorial as opposed to cultural and social
‘self-determination with dry and cold cynicism!
He said: “Emperor Menelik established his rule over peoples and tribes
differing entirely from each other in race, religion and history.
The Italians thus had just as much right to the ruleship of Ethiopia as the Abyssinians.”(Emphasis added!) p.54
Translated into the current situation, it means anyone has a right to
rule the various communities in Ethiopia as long as the communities can
be dispersed and are not united to put up a common front of resistance
against those who wanted to rule them by dividing them either internally
or externally.
Finally, the writer admonishes the colonial world to go for the
complete ‘eradication’ of Ethiopia, which he described in his own words
as “this plague-spot in East Africa” (p.52)
4. Concluding Remark
Ethiopia’s history is known by its enemies and friends outside Ethiopia
as having produced a ‘resistance-liberation historical logo’ not only
for Ethiopia, but also Africa and even the previously colonized world as
well.
Many nations and peoples outside contributed to the Ethiopian struggle
knowing full well the meaning and significance of the resistance and
liberation logo that Ethiopia’s history provided in the mortal
confrontation between Ethiopia and the colonial system.
What remains troubling is the self-understanding of the current
generation of Ethiopians to the history made by previous generations.
More often than not the tendency is to denigrate that history and not
build from what is worthy to create a future that is even more worthy
and historical. This generation lacks historical appreciation, depth and
imagination and keeps conflating internal oppressions with the larger
imperial and colonial menace that Ethiopia successfully countered by
resisting at various levels including diplomatic and non-diplomatic
efforts.
This must change now. But all should invest in making the effort to
change. There is no value in creating more useless elites by creating
more divisions. What kind of elites did the division of Eritrea and
Ethiopia bring? Can we truly say that the ruling elites are useful as we
have them now? If, by using the self-determination of nationalities,
peoples and nation’s politics, we create a number of useless elites to
miss–run the breakaway states, are we contributing to a future that
guarantees wellbeing or ill-being to the people?
It is remarkable to see how the current politics since the 1970s uses a
divisive and fracturing politics where those who came to power managed
to do so by saying either we get territorial self-determination for ones
identified nationality together with others or we go it alone. Some
still continue to stress of going it alone and seem to prefer to be
alone territorially more than to come together to forge a shared
collective history and destiny together.
Some are supported by those who went alone and made their own states and
to this day continue to incite and fan inter-community strife while
claiming they stand for one Ethiopia.
According to the previous World Bank president, the African ruling
elites spend 5 billion dollars on travel alone annually while India
spends a mere 20 million dollars. One wonders what spending billions on
travel will do for Africa’s wellbeing by the ruling elites. Do these
rulers unite and offer a strong Africa perspective to whatever
challenges Africa face today?
If Ethiopia splits, the budget for the travel of the useless classes of
rulers will rise but the people’s condition is likely to remain
unaltered. Ethiopians must go back to their history in order to create
even a stronger history and civilisation on the foundation of unity in
their diversity.
The significance of Ethiopian history for African dignity (Part III)
By Prof. Mammo Muchie
|
October 31, 2008
Inspiring Quotes
“It is a well-known fact that we always recognise our homeland when we are about to lose it.” - Albert Camus
“Do not forget your history and destiny.” - Bob Marley
1. Introduction
In part III we concentrate on the generational mistakes that require
courage from all of us to admit and try to correct it. All must learn to
show humility: those of us who have survived the Red Terrors; and those
also who uphold the so-called ‘the nation, nationalities and peoples’
mechanistic-reductionism to an ethnic formula by erecting ambiguous and
self-serving programmes of either with Ethiopia as it is if possible,
or without Ethiopia if not possible (See the TPLF’s1976 Manifesto); and
today’s mushrooming vernacular-ethnic based political parties populating
the country’s political space under the spurious guise of promoting
democracy. All must re-evaluate their politics by factoring in the
relevant but up to now much ignored Ethiopia’s positive historical data.
It is not too late. All can learn to know history, and with knowledge
must come also humility for the sake of getting Ethiopia completely on
the direction that unites rather than permanently fractures. We call on
all to show humility before the judgment court of history and pay
respect to the achievements of those who bequeathed a historical logo of
national resistance that has inspired not only our own people but
Africans at home and in the Diaspora and all those colonised peoples the
world over.
As far as India, Ghandi was making collections to help the Ethiopian
resistance in the 1930s, and African Americans were ready to fight with
Ethiopia. We must never try to devalue a historical achievement of
resistance that meant a lot to all those who struggled against the
imperial-colonial system. The historical record of standing up against
the colonial system qualifies Ethiopia to be a respected historical
nation and indeed a civilisation-nation, and not to be fought as many of
our ethnic entrepreneurs have made it a habit to an extent of costing
us both the loss of both this history and Ethiopia itself.
All thoughtful people who respect the hard earned historical
achievements must also respect Ethiopia’s history and its significance
for both Ethiopia’s future and Africa’s future. Get up, and stand up for
the right to respect this history and even better still build on it
instead of disorientating such a worthy nation with all sorts of
half-baked ideas that have miss-directed the effort to transform and
modernise the country.
Let the country, having beaten one great humiliation, which is, fascist
colonialism, should be enabled by its own children to focus and
concentrate with one goal to defeat the second unacceptable humiliation.
That is the call is to enjoin all of us to learn to unite with purpose
and commitment to feed all the people irrespective of race, religion,
ethnic origin, language or beliefs as an urgent priority.
2. Learn from Mistakes: Appreciate Ethiopian History of Resistance and Experience to build from it to Shape Ethiopia’s Future
The generations in the post-war period have ignored what is critical:
the significance of Ethiopia’s history of national resistance and the
historical logo it provided for African colonial freedom. All those who
have ignored and paid lip service to their history and who refuse to
build their future by recognising their historical achievements will
suffer. Ethiopia continues to suffer for such oversight and hubris.
Today the elite have substituted ideology by devaluing the importance of
a national-patriotic project for building the future by due
appreciation of the country’s rich historical experience. We must admit
we were wrong as a generation to do so. Ignoring and not being able to
build on Ethiopia’s notable historical achievement is a generational
mistake that we must all accept with humility and begin to learn from
our mistake if we are truly honest and respect the people, the country,
the nation, Africa and all justice loving people who suffered colonial
humiliation in one form or another in the world.
Not only was it wrong to eclipse Ethiopia’s historical achievement with
ideology, but also the ideology we spread was not fully understood and
historically contextualised. It was an ideology that was also
ill-digested, never fully grasped by all those who fanned it out with a
pamphleteering culture which still has not left us at all. Such a
disposition and proclivity keep subverting our best intentions. We
suffer from a lack of depth in our reflection and our inability to
integrate the new from the outside with the realities inside Ethiopia.
We lack deeper understanding with the history, context and social
practice of our people, nation and country. We cannot say those who rule
us either care or show any concern to understand. We cannot say those
who are in opposition except those who stand for Pan-Ethiopian national
patriotic agenda also fully understand history. What Fanon called the
‘useless classes of elites’ remain useless? But we must encourage and
incentives them to learn to become useful and productive. We must also
learn to appreciate what deserves genuinely appreciation.
The ideology that was imposed on the hapless nation ‘the right to
self-determination including secession’ was like adding water to oil and
hope to get a new compound. It became too irrelevant to unite the
nation to focus on issues that matter. It, in fact, has been encouraging
to foster ethnic vernacular agitation contrary to the ideology which
claimed by promoting this ideology, the nation will be united!
Another country which is a historical and civilisation nation like
Ethiopia had elites that were not what Fanon would call the useless
classes! The society, the history and the culture were able to give
anything that came from outside to have Chinese characteristics: Christ,
Buddha, Mohammed and Marx - their teachings went to China but were
given Chinese characteristics and were re-shaped with a hybrid synthesis
and imagination with their Confucian tradition, history, culture and
philosophy.
We cannot say that everything that came to Ethiopia also was re-founded
and re-shaped with Ethiopia’s core histories and values. That is where
our generations failed Ethiopia not to learn, but learn badly and
destructively. It is always good to learn from outside, but it is also
important to select what to learn and how to learn, and appropriate
lessons well rather than engage in hollow mimicry.
3. The Generation that Fanned ethnicism must learn to reject the Ideology of such sub-nationalism!
We can see that ideology of ethnicism that has been applied fully now
in Ethiopia has been one that has been enunciated with such mendacity by
the Austrian fascist whose statements in his book on ‘tribes’ resemble
eerily with all those who fan the erroneous concept of “Abyssinian
imperialism’ today. All those who claim that Ethiopia is an ‘invention,’
it does not exist, became paradoxically and inadvertently strange
bedfellows with the fascist writer whose book we have introduced for all
to read. When the fascists spread the ugly notion that only ‘Amharas’
stand for Ethiopia, that was a gross insult to all the people, however
diverse they are, from those who fought against Italian aggression from
the Red Sea to the Indian Ocean! It is the disservice to all the
patriots drawn from all the diverse communities that fought valiantly
for Ethiopia.
The fascist writer himself admits the resistance against Italy was every
where: Some examples he cites (See pp-48-49). Amongst others the author
mentioned ‘The Abyssinian tribe of the Anauks”, “the Abyssinian border
tribe from the Province of Dankali” and others! So it is not only
‘Amharas’ but other Ethiopians from every part of the country have
fought by the own admission of the fascist writer.
It is clear the isolation of ‘Amharas’ was more an ideological gimmick
to divide and rule, and also to target them for poison gas aerial
bombardment, than a true record of what took place. It was not based on a
real appreciation of who was actually fighting Italian fascism.
Everyone fought from the ordinary peasant to the emperor of the time in
Ethiopia valiantly. If that emperor had not been Haile Selassie, any
other person in his position would also have led the resistance. It has
been acknowledged despite poorly armed resistance fighters with
outnumbered Italian troops; Ethiopia held its own and even scared the
Italian aggressors by holding on the resistance for nearly a year before
the Italians entered the Capital.
The misuse and abuse of the name ‘Amhara’ serves clearly ulterior
motives. It is nothing but a gross insult to all the other communities
and vernacular groups that have equally fought them from Eritrea to the
inhabitants of the Omo River in the South?
The fascists claim that Ethiopia’s anti-colonial resistance is
anti-white and an anti- European race, which too is a strong propaganda
ploy to isolate Ethiopia in the League of Nation. In fact, many white
people did support the Ethiopian cause.
Has not, for example, Ethiopian resistance been supported by Italian
anti-colonialists, Sylvia Pankhurst, Spencer, Swedes, Russians,
Americans, Mexicans and many others. Ethiopia’s resistance and the
leaders of the resistance were not anti-foreign. They were anti-fascist,
anti-colonial. They must be respected not condemned for their stand.
History must recognise their efforts.
We should make a wake-up call on our generation including those who
now rule or miss-rule the region from Eritrea to the Indian Ocean in
Somalia to be humble and acquire high knowledge with high humility and
recognise that those who passed paying the price must be recognised and
not condemned. The best recognition is to preserve the Ethiopia that
they fought and died for! Nothing will vindicate their sacrifice than to
keep Ethiopia strong, alive and developing!
4. My generation has been wrong and we need to respect and learn from History!
My generation was right to raise issues of social justice, human rights,
social solidarity and democracy, but this should not have been at the
expense of Ethiopia’s historical achievements. It should have built the
new social change on that historical achievement rather than negate
history and Ethiopia together. The generation should have derived an
agenda of patriotism with social justice and democracy that would have
made its contribution relevant and enduring, the country to develop and
complete the haphazard efforts of the earlier era to undertake
modernisation.
No one can accuse my generation that their intention was not noble. But
there is no doubt that the consequence from lack of generational
historical sense has cost Ethiopia dearly.
My generation of Ethiopians with intentions to do no harm ended up doing
huge harm by not understanding the significance of Ethiopia’s national
resistance not only to Ethiopia’s future but also for Africa and indeed
the colonised world as a whole, which their predecessors understood so
clearly, as conceded even grudgingly by an Austrian arch fascist enemy
of Ethiopia! Instead of building on a patriotic agenda from Ethiopia’s
historical achievement and develop a robust development strategy to
transform the people, the country, the society, the economy and the
nation irreversibly to get out of the low poverty equilibrium trap, ‘the
history averse and history condemning’ elites created a false
ideological agenda that played entirely into those who always wanted to
eliminate the country. The Ethiopia that bore the shining example of
non-surrender and non-capitulation to the world imperial-colonial system
has thus been entangled in a web of conflict, war, poverty, growing
social inequalities and threat of disintegration ever since!
My generation must recognise that we were too dismissive and
condescending with little or no knowledge of the significance and
meaning of Ethiopia’s national history of resistance against the world
colonial system to consolidating Ethiopian unity with diversity
nationally and with African unity continentally.The fascist author
himself told us very clearly their plan to eradicate Ethiopia by
inciting and intensifying intra-tribal contradictions and conflicts!
Reading the book indeed sends shivers to ones spines seeing the length
to which the colonial and imperial powers have gone to make Ethiopia
remain permanently in a state of destructive conflict. To this day,
Ethiopia has not come out of the seemingly endless state of conflict,
war and hunger! It seems to have fallen under arrogant ruling elites
whom Fanon describes as a “useless class” who still do not know how to
oppress the people except by threatening to kill them with sub-level
‘tribalism’, violence and massive deception and disinformation.
5. Ethiopians in the Resistance were Aware of the Significance of Ethiopia’s Wider Role to Africa
We have always been told what Ethiopia meant based on the views of
others from Africa and outside. We never were able to tell the history
of what Ethiopians themselves understood by relating the larger
significance and meaning of their national resistance to Pan-African
unity.
When Ethiopia was attacked we know many Africans within Africa, African
Americans, Caribbean’s and others tried to help in any way they can.
When this is well known, what is not known is how much Ethiopia itself
in terms of policy not just example of resistance stood for the dignity
and liberty of the Africans the world over. Ethiopians can only be proud
that their country had the wisdom and the principle, the spirit of
independence and the courage to stand not only for itself but the whole
African world since the European Scramble for Africa until 1974.
Ironically this side of Ethiopia’s role was revealed by its enemies who
feared that Ethiopia’s victories can derail the entire colonial-imperial
project. It is incredible how much they overestimated Ethiopia’s role
not only in Africa but also in even mobilising what we may call now the
then colonised world!
They were so afraid of this side of Ethiopia’s role; they concocted a
double strategy of uniting the colonial world to limit Ethiopia’s
capabilities despite the ability of some of the emperors (e.g. notably
Emperor Menelik) to exploit weaknesses in their ranks.
Today Ethiopia continues to suffer from the formula the colonial powers
laid for sustaining the seeds of internal conflict to realise their
larger objective of weakening Ethiopia’s national resistance and acquire
the surrender from Ethiopia they wished desperately to get, which they
never got. That the imperial-colonial system wanted Ethiopia to
surrender and capitulate is well known, given the numerous conquests,
unequal treaties and double standards for Ethiopians and Europeans in
Ethiopia. That they never managed to get it is a real testament to the
spirit of Ethiopia that we must always cherish and celebrate- a history
of national resistance never to surrender to colonial enslavement at
whatever cost for Africa!
What is better known is Ethiopia’s capacity never to have surrendered or
capitulated to the imperial and colonial system. What comes as
surprisingly new to us is the cost paid by Ethiopia for never
surrendering or continuing to mount national resistance no matter how
difficult the challenges! The colonial powers seemed to have been
affronted and took Ethiopia’s success as insolence to be rectified only
by its complete paralysis by sowing the seeds of conflict and
destruction in the country using the right to self-determination of’
tribes’ as a weapon.
Nothing short of Ethiopia’s extinction to continue as a viable nation
was the conventional colonial plan. That Ethiopia existed despite this
deliberate strategy to destroy her says more about the resiliency and
tenacity of Ethiopians than any concession to let her exist by the
imperial-colonial system.
6. Concluding Remark
The history of how Ethiopia survived must be told and re-told
tirelessly. Those who do not want this history to be told must be
resisted. Without an understanding and awareness of this history, the
destiny of this nation will not be secured for good.
Today Ethiopia should have been in a much better situation than it is
now in the 21st century. We must excavate what went wrong and learn
never to ignore or demonise Ethiopia’s history if we wish to discover
quickly a worthy direction so that the people can have adequate food,
shelter, clothing, education, health and infinite well being. It is
never too late to learn and to change paradigm from what creates
division and conflict to what brings unity, perspective and foresight to
move mountains with the nation, people and country living in perpetual
solidarity, justice and human rights! A new perspective that appreciates
history is needed to change the destructive politics into a
constructive politics for change.
The real puzzle is this: Why in the 1930s a fierce proponent of
Ethiopian colonial enslavement wrote this odious book holding fast a
position that Ethiopia was potentially able of giving leadership for
entire Africa and even to the extent of recognising its potential to
support and be an example to the rest of the non-colonising and
non-imperialist world?
- What did Ethiopia mean to its colonial enemies? It meant either a
country that must be colonised or destroyed. No other option existed. If
not colonisable, use self-determination of ‘tribes’ against the
oppression of ‘Abyssinian imperialism’ to break it up and weaken it to a
point of complete annihilation.
- What did it mean to other Africans who stood by Ethiopia and
its history of national resistance as a great inspirer by expressing
nothing but pan-African resistance to restore African dignity and
humanity?
- What did it mean to Ethiopians who were resisting colonialism
and imperialism and who fought and passed a national history of
resistance as a positive data? Ethiopia meant a lot. First they were
also Pan-Ethiopian patriots and understood their role as such. They were
not only Ethiopian patriots; they were also Pan-African patriots.
Moreover they were a shining example to the colonised world. History
will be kind to them. They were not perfect. They were not democrats.
Their social policy was more traditional than scientific; neither fair
nor imbued with justice at the local level... They did not undertake
land reform. But they stood against the colonial world and left a
country that, if the generations that follow were equally committed to
Pan-Ethiopian patriotism and Pan-African patriotic nationalism, Ethiopia
could have been playing an inestimable and positive role in Africa and
the world today.
- What does today’s Ethiopia’s own generation understand by the
history of Ethiopia’s epic national resistance not to be colonised and
not to be broken up into pieces? Do the current generations understand
Ethiopian history and anti-colonial record as part and parcel of the sum
total of pan-African history or do they understand it as the sworn
enemies of Ethiopia who left no stone unturned to colonise or break it
up? This is a great challenge to all those who have been playing
politics in Ethiopia. Face the challenge or quit doing your destructive
politics! The first is to show humility and recognise mistakes committed
against Ethiopia, the people and the nation.
This generation must learn to rededicate themselves to undertake a
painful evaluation of its errors, recommit themselves to build politics
away from ethnicism to Ethiopian patriotic civic national
citizenship, build pan-Ethiopian and pan-African institutions with
resolve, determination, knowledge and historical foresight, and create a
united patriotic passion and sentiment in order to transform the
country rapidly to emerge as a strong developed nation in the 21st
century playing a positive role to overall African development and
structural transformation.
This generation of politicians that have scattered as ethnic
entrepreneur-politicians must stop implementing a politics of difference
and identity that splits Ethiopia. They must stop copying what worked
for the colonialist/fascist project and go for an alternative pan
–Ethiopian and Pan-African manifesto to rebuild Ethiopia with the
principle of unity with diversity and not enmity. It is remarkable after
nearly 80 years from the 1930s the colonialist manifesto is being
implemented in Ethiopia by home grown ethnic entrepreneur- politicians
from different parts of the country.
We must reject singling out the ‘Amhara or the Amhar-Tigrean people’ or
the so-called ‘Abyssinian colonialism’ thesis for spreading hate and
unproductive politics. It is the hate politics of the fascist era that
made the innocent people to be incinerated with poison gas.
In fact the areas where the ‘Amhara’ live that was deliberately selected
by the fascists with evil cruelty to drop poison gas and commit
genocide should have had a national memorial museum with full
compensation for all that suffered from those who committed this
perfidy. A patriotic Government in Ethiopia would not have any
hesitation to create this national museum in recognition of those that
perished fighting fascist aggression and to bequeath historical lessons
for future generations.
Those in power must mend their ways and drop the ideology of ethnic
federalism and learn to appreciate Ethiopian and African patriotic
history by going with a big-bang for Pan-Ethiopian and Pan-African unity
and civilisation with humility.
Those in opposition must equally adopt pan-Ethiopian and Pan-African
visions and programmes by building from Ethiopian history a future for
all citizens irrespective of religion, language, ethnic origin, belief,
ideology and any other difference.
The ethnic nationalist parties must stop blaming a whole community for
any wrongs of the past. There are some who continue to fight what they
call’ Abyssinians’, sometimes this Portuguese invented name in the 15th
century is applied to ‘Amharas’, at other times, it is used to include
and lump together ‘Amhara-Tigre.’ Abyssinia is a derogatory term.
Ethiopians must reject it and use the proper name Ethiopia whose people
may be diverse but are and must be united to a man to transform their
country together.
The fascists blamed the ‘Amhara people’ for not allowing other tribes
to be civilised by them. Such a wholesale blame of a whole community and
even a leader issued from such community is nothing but primitive.
Finally, Ethiopia should aim high and not split itself into pieces. It
will always be making big mistakes not to build its future on its proved
and tried national historical achievement. The future is bright as long
as we learn to back cast from our history to forecast our collective
destiny as Ethiopians and Africans with patriotism that endows our
personality with virtue and solidarity without prejudice to any other
nation and people on this earth. Let us plough on the right terrain and
walk the right path and begin to talk the politics that can stimulate
the productive direction that makes real difference to our peoples’
lives.
Mammo Muchie was a professor of social sciences at Alborg University in Denmark.
He can be reached at www.sarchi-steid.org.za and www.ihis.aau.dk
Provided from the
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Approved on Sunday January 15th, 2017
By
H.E Mr Iraguha Bandora Yves,
The President of African Union Students' Council (AUSC)" For The Better Africa We Deserve".
AUSC President's Office
E-mail:ausc.president.office@gmail.com
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kigali-Rwanda
East African Region.
