BY MENGESHA AMARE
Sunday morning, 2nd March 1896 had been the center of the remarkably recorded treasured Ethiopian history in particular and that of African in general. The date helped Ethiopians push invaders to the death’s door turning what Italians thought upside down.
It is an undeniable fact that Ethiopians had already registered outstripping triumphs against invaders, who were regarded as untouchable, ever knowledgeable, even creators of other world next to God.
Yes, as the Battle of Adwa has had a central place in the Ethiopian history, its victory is colorfully commemorated by all Ethiopians. Our forefathers had kneeled down Italian colonialists at a specific and notable town-Adwa-employing special gallantry.
The Battle of Adwa, the principal market town of the North of Ethiopia, had been precipitated by the great rush of the European powers to colonize Africa.
Our unforgettable patriots like the then Kings of Ethiopia, Emperor Menelik II, his wife Empress Taitu Betul, Ras Alula Abenega, among others, had chased out invaders mobilizing Ethiopians from every corner.
Though the aforementioned heroes had incomparable role in the victory, intelligence experts too had angled the balance in favor of Ethiopia. The double agent Bashay Awalom would be remembered for ever in spying and delving into the secret of enemy which led them to inevitable defeat.
Born to peasant parents in a small town of Enticho, near Adwa, Awalom has been cited the most audacious and mindful man. Since he was cautious and wise, he was chosen to make history by being double agent.
Bashay Awalom fed military officials of Italy about the geography and military status of Ethiopians. Being a fluent Italian speaker, he got the trust of Italians and Emperor Menelik. He gathered the necessary information about Italians.
Then, he informed Ethiopian military commanders how many troops and what kinds of artillery did Italians have. This important information immensely helped Ethiopians prepare themselves for the fierce battle. Besides, he was successful in persuading Ras Sebhat and Dejach Hagos Teferi to escape from Italian army.
Italy and Germany had lagged behind other European powers-most notably France and Britain-in seizing large parcels of the Continent to colonize.
The other crucial role Awalom played was deceiving the Italians as if Menelik had run out of provisions and already heading back to Addis Ababa. In addition to this, Awalom had given false direction for the Italians. Therefore, before waging war, the Italian army commanded by General Baratieri had been duped.
“The role intelligence has played in winning the Adwa victory and the ongoing security sector reform has immense repercussions in creating a stable nation.
The Battle of Adwa is still fresh in the minds of Ethiopians, and it has been remembered as a symbol of independence and black resistance,” According to Dr. Almaw Kiflie, Law and Histrory instructor at Kotebe Metropolitan University.
“The Italians colonization strategy was based on an exploitation of ethnic and religious differences in Ethiopia in which the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF) has been channeling for close to 30 years sustaining invaders’ legacy,” Dr. Almaw Kiflie said.
Adwa became a pre-eminent symbol of pan-Africanism and secured Ethiopia’s sovereignty.
According to Dr. Almaw, Basha Awalwom, was first working for Italy as there were promises on their side such as land provision, granting administrative authority and other luring aspects. However, when things were not as he thought and well expected, he came back and started working for his country.
No matter how great his did for invaders, as he had helped the country to be victorious, Basha Awalom has been remembered whenever Adwa victory is commemorated.
“We, Ethiopians, are proud of what our fathers and forefathers did and ready to sustain their legacy. If truth be told, no ground today to deny the contribution of yesterday’s heroes such as Basha Awalom one of the greatest personalities,” he opined.
The ones who have been contributing a lot to their country have to be well remembered instead of degrading their reputation for the sake of disproving people’s unity. This would be avoided when leaders are elected democratically; institutions are set up to freely run activities.
The problem is we don’t have system. “If we have system, we don’t go to history, and we can simply pass informed decisions based on evidence and real information.”
Due to lack of system, independent institutions such as defense, election board, and absence of fairly elected officials resulted in the tumultuous scenario, we have incurred great cost.
As Basha Awalom was a military intelligence person and a man for security, he was able to come up with information that would help defeat.
The war was on 23rd February on the information of Awalom. He suggested the romans that they would make him king because the emperor and their army had a double feast this day, and the Ethiopian army was well prepared. The enemy who chose the day of St. George was declared victorious, Barter’s advice led to failure.
According to Associate Prof. Abebaw Ayalew, evil minded leaders in the country left no stone unturned to discredit others they assumed powerful. For instance, Adwa has been marked annually since 1988. However, what TPLF was propagating to not give respect for some martyrs has emanated from loathing Ethiopia since they were leading the nation following rule by law, not rule of law.
He said, “Hadn’t it been the courageous move and tactical intelligence work of all beloved Ethiopians Awalom and others, the victory of Ethiopia has been proud could have never been its emblem and the country couldn’t have been trekking in the on the right direction.”
Another very importance instance in this regard is the case of an ordinary Ethiopian. Here is the instance. A war broke out on 21st December, 1988 with battalion led by Major Gayli. Right this day, an Ethiopian individual hired by Italian Government to deliver a military code to Barateri stationed at Adigrat. However, he delivered the code to Ethiopians that should have been submitted to Baraterri.
Due to this, his proper stance of Italians was vividly revealed. When this person went back to Italians to find additional information, they caught and passed a deaths sentence upon him.
Taking him to homicide, they told him that ‘if he tells them about the current position of Ethiopian army and the strategic sites the army principally found, they won’t kill.’ He absolutely rejected their request and Italians killed him.
Apart from the intelligent patriots, the recent security reform in the country is instrumental in fueling the change trajectory of the nation. The government has been putting in place a wide range of reforms on various sectors principally on the federal security institutions and other linchpin organizations since the aftermath of the reform.
These measures are meant to ensure the rule of law though reforming the sector is far from over. The history of Ethiopian security institutions particularly the national defense forces had so far been under the dominance of one group hardly wining the confidence of many given the diverse nature of the country.
The security institutions have been manipulated by political leaders since Tigray People Liberation front (TPLF) junta assumed power. Following the reform taken after the passing away of EPRDF, Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed (Ph.D) has repeatedly vowed to restructure federal security institutions including Federal Police, National Defense Force, and Information Network Security Agency.
It was also reported that the reform has helped the nation register fruitful results with regard to making of security service independent and departed from political influences and make them inclusive and technologically advanced institutions.
The standard to recruited security forces should be merit based and based on skills keeping ethnic proportion since Ethiopia has sufficient human power; and a biased structure that leads to destruction should be obliterated.
Undeniably, the security force particularly the defense force is the solo force in defending the national sovereignty and territorial integrity, he said adding the reformist government should reconsider the past’s trend of political intervention into the security service so as to build independent institution.
“The very thing is, we are not supposed to say Awalom, Ras Michael, Menelik and the likes as the victory was a fruit of our cooperation and unity.
The old woman who provided the military with a sip of water, the horse with which hay was loaded, the guards who kept properties of the combatants everywhere, even those who made a prayer had contributed a lot to the victory if rationally thought,” said Prof. Abebaw.
Yes, the victory is the summation of all this. It is unfair to give a credit for one or two persons following political stagnancy as even the corpse of house loading the ration for the military have to be well remembered if thoughtfully analyzed.
Prof. Abebaw said, “We all have to learn a lot from our history. We have not yet benefited out of the prestigious history we have had. The center of everything is Ethiopia as it has hosted nations, nationalities since long back. Multinationals and fraternity have to be our manifestations instead of arguing raising trivial political-oriented narratives. No one benefits from such a trivial chronicle.”
The firm integration among people of the nation was not created yesterday, rather since its inception as an organized nation. Ethiopia was, has been, a great nation with all citizens possessing their own language, culture, living and wearing styles, oral literatures, etc.
‘That generation was courageous enough to deep buried European invaders, their notable deed imprinted in the hearts and minds of the citizenry. Respecting that Adwa is the precious asset of all of us; we have to work hand in glove with one another to create a great nation-Ethiopia,” said assistant Prof. Abebaw.
In sum, a single body or group could by no means attributable to the victory of Adwa as it has been the fruit of all Ethiopians be they were engaged in battle fields, warfare intelligence, making prayer and the likes. Adwa-African pride!
The Ethiopian Herald March 2/2021
