Years ago, I heard my grandfather advising his children about maintaining and strengthening unity among themselves with a very interesting story. And I found it illustrative for the message I want to convey here.
There were three bulls that have troubled the entire village with their gang acts. The one has black color and the others white and red. They get everything they need using a collaborated force. The villagers couldn’t resist their alliance. They knew that unless the bulls are in a state of disunity, it is indeed impossible (for the villagers) to lead a proper life. The villagers then sat down to devise a plan to disrupt the unity among the bulls. After a thorough discussion, the villagers concluded a divisive means. Then after, they sent a message to the bulls. The messenger waited for the moment when the red and black bulls were alone and approached them. He told them that their mighty power is highly celebrated by the villagers and that they want their influence to perpetuate. The red and the black bulls nodded their heads and waited for what the messenger had to say next.
The messenger continued, “However, you need to be able to avoid attacks from your enemies to fully concentrate on your dominance. You need to understand that it is the presence of the white bull that is exposing you to your enemies since his white color can easily be noticed from distance.” The black and the red bull nodded their heads in agreement and did as advised – they killed the white bull.
After a while, the villagers sent a messenger again. This time the messenger delivered the message only to the red bull so that he does the same on the black bull. The red bull was convinced that he would rein over the entire village alone if he gets the black bull out of sight; then he did so; he killed the black bull by throwing him from a cliff where he was grazing. The villagers wisely dodged the two bulls and killed the third bull easily since he is all alone. The era of the bulls was then over. United they stood, divided they fell.
Ethiopians however, seems to be conscious of the value of unity when it comes to common causes like the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD). Just last week, a high-level national conference, which has brought together the country’s competing political party leaders to discuss the issues of the Grand Ethiopian Reminiscence Dam (GERD) was undertaken at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The conference was embarked on under the maxim “Our Dam is the Symbol of Unity and Sovereignty”.
Chairman of Ethiopian Parties Joint Council, Adem Musa said for his part that political parties are ready to support the efforts of the government at the national and international level by mobilizing the entire public for the finalization of the dam.
He called on the parties to reinforce unity and avoid political polarization as the country is struggling to resolve issues related to the flagship project of the Grand Ethiopian Reminiscence Dam.
This week, the council has once again expressed its firm rejection of any pressure orchestrated to delay the construction of GERD. The joint council of Ethiopian political parties have unanimously decided to come to the defense of the long-cherished project.
True Ethiopia, the land of origins, encompasses a number of different nations with their own respective cultures, histories, psychological makeups and aspirations. We all, however, are under one umbrella called Ethiopia. Ethiopia exists as long we all exist; Ethiopia shines when we all shed our lights on each other; Ethiopia stands proud when we hold each other tight.
No matter how different our colors are, no matter how different our cultures, productions, philosophies, political agendas etc, if we fail to stand together in such times, we fail to exist in all times. Our individual existence is reassured only if our existence as Ethiopians is laid upon a rock.
This critical time is not the time for us to toil to grab our individual share of the pie, but stand together and join hands to preserve the whole piece of the pie. The unity within is deterrence outside. Our strength emanates from our unity. The difference we have within should be a source of beauty in diversity; not a source of weakness.
Unity is, of course, a two-edged sword that can resolve our political/security and economic problems. Production in each economic sector soars high when a sense of unity swipes across the air. If the chain of the business is ethnic oriented (as seen in the banking and insurance industry) instead of market competition, if our socio-economic relations are ethnocentric, augmenting economic production and maintaining political instability can’t be achieved. As unity alleviates our economic and security problems as a two-edged sword, disunity is also a two-edged sword that exposes us to external intervention and minifies economic production.
As religious people say “I” is the center of s“i”n, self-centred and ethnocentric attitudes dismantle our national unity. The political differences that we fight over each other for are not as timesensitive as that of the external threat we are facing at the moment. Some concerns are more right than others. We should join hands to achieve the greater good.
Unity is not just coming together; rather it is to understand and execute one’s role and follow an organized line of command. Each of us needs to play our part so that the national rhythm becomes symphonious. Our government has to follow a proactive foreign policy and diplomatic measures. The government doesn’t have to take only reactive measures following what adversaries do or say. As offense is the best defense, preemptive diplomatic actions have to be considered. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MoFA) has to be active and be able to take bold measures and build confidence in neighbouring countries and other major powers.
As a government and its officials are faces of a nation, their boldness builds public confidence. Our foreign policy orientation should also be realistic. That is what history teaches us. Since we are living in a world where realism triumphs, the government need to incorporate elements of realism along with idealist instruments while dealing with foreign affairs. We need to stretch our diplomatic efforts to the Arab world too with a win-win approach.
The media on its part should consistently raise public awareness the public about the geopolitical importance of the Dam. Our children need to be thought about our river be it in the school curricula or in a form of memorable childhood songs. Ethiopian artists have to work on this like never before.
The Ethiopian diaspora, particularly the Ethiopian American Civic Council (EACC), has so far been successful in awakening each other and in lobbying famous personalities such as Jesse Jackson, a prominent American civil rights activist and the founder and president of Rainbow/PUSH Coalition to stand for the cause of GERD.
Jackson has on his part said that “the African Union, Congressional Black Caucus, the Congressional EthiopianAmerican Caucus, and American civil rights leaders should stand by and with the government of Ethiopia.”The diaspora community and the council need to strengthen their efforts in lobbying and addressing the Nile issue to congress and other international bodies.
On the other hand, Egypt needs to know that the dam will be filled one way or the other. However, it would be so wise for Egypt to invest its time in building a long-term relationship with Ethiopia and Sudan than to do otherwise. Egypt has to drop its obsolete colonial agreements and agenda of enjoying a hegemonic right over the Nile.
Meanwhile, the greatest deterrence mechanism we have as a nation is unity among ourselves. We need to shun the differences and join hands to realize the completion of the GERD since it is our national emblem and source of pride. Egypt on its side should set aside its stubbornness and accept our natural right for a fair and reasonable share and utilization of our water, that we prefer to call ABAY. As the Nile did for Aswan, it would do the same for the GERD. Our desire is to harness our natural resources and elevate our people out of poverty. Stay Home! Stay Safe!
The Ethiopian herald June 4,2020
BY WOSSENSEGED ASSEFFA
