This week that greeted Ethiopia with many happy things like the Noble peace prize, Timket’s registration in UNESCO’s list and the unearthing of a new town in Aksum kick started with the marking of the Nation Nationalities and Peoples’ anniversary.
Facilitating forums for such anniversary, not meant for window dressing, cements unity and hammers home the significance of peaceful coexistence. It is instrumental in bringing citizens of a nation closer.
Watering togetherness, it helps one to fathom the identity as well as understand the culture of others. It also allows a springboard under the instrumentality of which one carries across one’s culture and identity thereby forge one’s relationship with others.
As Ethiopia is a showcase of a spectrum of ethnic mix, cultural amalgam, broad array of languages and multitude of values, such anniversary serves as a green light to the furtherance of these virtues.
Paying huge sacrifices, Nation, Nationalities and Peoples of Ethiopia had tried to materialize a genuine federal state. Yet, the federal state birthed after a mortal struggle for freedom was hijacked by the self-seeking few.
As such, under the smoke screen of federalism, centralism was saddled on the shoulders of Nations, nationalities and Peoples of Ethiopia, who waged a bloody struggle for equality, freedom and justice.
People of Ethiopia hard been fighting hard to acquire the right for self-administration and for the development of one’s culture and language. As Ethiopia was a country whose citizens were paying sacrifices on equal footing, citizens of the nation were equally groping for the necks of dictators. As this struggle bore fruit they had got recognition.
However, when acid tested by translation into action the federal system put in place was not one that fully answers their demands and across the board observance of their rights. Instead of unification via a genuine federalism system indirect centralism or a command-like system took the upper hand.
As such, most states that were supposed to administer themselves were forced to be administered by God fathers. States became standers by to the siphoning of their natural and manmade resources. State that had an exclusive license to lead a nation came to the foreground, while others were relegated to the background.
The constitution that attended the severe struggle of Nations, Nationalities of Peoples’ of Ethiopia and which was meant to warrant citizens’ right suffered erosion. Hence, the domination of the select few proved palpable. The violation of human rights stopped becoming uncommon.
Torturing hidden prisons became ubiquitous. Grabbing states’ land by those who have a bent for exercising indirect command system turned a common drama. States resources were mercilessly exploited.
The projects that got rolling in different states could not escape leeching by those that perpetrate indirect command system. Victims who questioned such follies were thrown behind bars, where unheard of atrocities were perpetrated.
As the saying goes “Adding an insult to injury!” the aforementioned political gamblers who were inured to these disgusting gluttony and atavistic bent of theirs barefacedly cry foul when a genuine federalism-driven unification is due to take shape. Fortunately, citizens are repulsed by the grotesque face the diabolic project in the political arena.
That is why scholars reflect the unreformed EPRDF was a hotbed of conflicts based on ethnic enclaves. It had hatched under its overcoat states that are ever at loggerheads in an attempt to maximize their self-interests. They unfairly kept on competing among themselves on security, power and hegemony.
Proving politically feeble this way, EPRDF shaped weak states. The states in turn molded individual and group behaviors in their images that could result in conflicts, wars and negotiations. But as all these do not warrant a lasting peace. A centralized ethno-federal rule sounds a plausible panacea. “A smooth transition into a stable democracy, without necessarily undermining their specific nationalist ethnic interest!” is necessary as scholars put it.
In order this idea sinks in and gets credence among different states and citizens in due course of time a prudential sensitization work is called for.
The conflict forestalling task obligates the support of international organizations as well.
There is a need to stand by peace champion and prosperity lover leaders of ours.
The Ethiopian Herald December 5/2019
