BY FITSUM GETACHEW
One need not be an expert in geography to know that the Nile is the longest river on earth and it bathes more than ten African countries in the east and northern area. The Nile Basin involves a population of more than 600 million. Clearly, this is a river that has vast implications in the lives of all these people. But its influence cannot be of equal weight to all nations alike. Egypt for instance could be one which may be considered as relying on the Nile waters for practically all of its needs. Sudan then comes next even if it may have some alternatives. But many people do not know that even if the biggest feed to the Nile flowing to Sudan and Egypt originates from Ethiopia, the water has never been of any significant use to Ethiopians!
To understand the situation related to the Nile it is vital to remember that the river is composed of two major tributaries, namely the White Nile and the Blue Nile with the former originating from Lake Victoria in the East African region while the latter originates from Lake Tana in the highlands of northern Ethiopia. The two major tributaries of the Nile meet at Omdurman in Sudan and then flow together to the north in Sudan, and then cross the sands of Egypt to end up in the Mediterranean Sea. In fact, we hear many academics who study this river asserting that Egypt would not exist without the Nile while the Sudan as well would struggle to survive, despite its alternative water resources.
There appears to be now a huge controversy over how much water should be left for exclusive share for which country in the wake of Ethiopia’s resolve to build a dam to generate power for crucial development projects. For centuries Egypt and Sudan have been using the waters of the Nile undisturbed, unhindered and in exclusive manner, as if it would never end, as if it would never diminish, and as if no one else would have a claim or a share of it! We can agree that this is part of history, and there would be nothing to do about the past. The water has already flown across these regions for centuries and these two countries may have made the best out of it without ever consulting the source country, Ethiopia. The point to always keep in mind and underline here however is that, this does not in any way entitle them to be nor to claim to be the only and exclusive owners nor users of this immense natural bounty! This is what our Egyptian and Sudanese neighbours seem to forget or deliberately disregard. In the twenty first century there can be no room for such monopolistic or ‘hegemonistic attitude’ over shared resources, particularly such priceless and crucial resources as water!
We have noted that the water of this mighty river originates from the two lakes Victoria and Tana; but we need to remind readers that 85% of this resource is Ethiopian. There have been made countless numbers of researches and studies on the River Nile, on its regime, on its ups and downs, on its overflows and its scarce seasons, year by year, month by month, and even day by day.
There are records that all eyes of Egypt are focused on the Nile and countless number of hydraulic engineers and scientists are trained to engage in the study of the regime of the Nile as a family may dedicate its entire life for a single child of whom one is naturally very fond! And rightly so, because the Nile is Egypt’s source of survival! Ethiopians would fail the test if they did not realize this. Hence no wonder that both Sudan and Egypt engage their scientists and researchers to study how to best use this irreplaceable resource because effectively and without exaggerating their lives would be in jeopardy if they were caught unprepared for any significant ups and downs or if they mismanaged the resource.
It is often reiterated that a country called Egypt would never have existed as we know it today without the waters of the Nile. The climatic and environmental conditions of Egypt would not allow for any settlement to survive in the sandy deserts without the continued flow of the Nile. Even before any of the majority of African countries ever existed as we know them today, Egypt had its own ancient civilization flourishing along the Nile. The great history of the pharaohs and all the rest would be inconceivable without the Nile. This created the premises for the expansion of Egypt; and in fact it has come to be stated that ‘Egypt is the Gift of the Nile! True. No objections.
However, there is one vital fact that no one especially from the side of Egypt ever volunteers to note because this story has also another side to it. It takes us directly to where the Nile originates and how it reaches the sands of Egypt! This feature of the Nile has always been deliberately downplayed and this has always harmed other states who might have the right to claim a share of the resource. We are now living in a world where everything is shared in a negotiated and fair manner without one state bullying others! This is the reality of the twenty first century we like it or not!
The other side of the story on the Nile that is deliberately omitted from practically the mind and psychology of Egyptians due to persistent and repeated artificially fabricated stories is that ‘the Nile is an exclusive property of Egypt!’ And this has always been convenient for Egyptian politicians because they have even dared to put it in their constitution, threatening any force that would dare share the water of the Nile! This is a result of at least colonial mentality if not based on arrogance and even ignorance. It is based on the assumption of ‘might is right’ and hence no compromise on it. Can this be sustained in 2021? Would any country in the shoes of Ethiopia accept such state of facts? Would Ethiopians continue to live in darkness and thirsty of potable water when they have a resource that originates in their bosom and then flow to downstream lands? Don’t Ethiopians have at least half the rights that Egyptians or Sudanese people claim over the Nile? These are questions to be answered by not only the Egyptian and Sudanese politicians but also the population and of course the international community. Ethiopians are asking nothing more than what they deserve!
The issue of the Nile water is of course a crucial issue that needs to be settled with great care and caution without rushing into conclusions nor emotions; because it is clear that confrontation among nations does not help settle things. Needless to add the focus must be on how best to make the best use of this resource, in an equitable and reasonable manner. The myth that Egypt is the ‘gift of the Nile’ has its own exclusivist implications in it which does not go hand in hand with the current state of affairs or relations between nations. It does not reflect the reality of the modern days and is clearly in contradiction with it because it also has dangerous implications. Hence, it is mandatory to assert that a part of the story over the Nile has always been hidden or not publicized deliberately to mislead generations of Africans who gather and live around the Nile basin. It has particularly hurt Ethiopian peasants who never made any use of the river’s potential!
Immense literature has been dedicated to this story across the years by Egyptian intellectuals in every field and the sole objective of such extensive campaign has been to continue to hammer down in the minds of millions with the hegemonic attitude and mentality of Egyptian politicians, demagogues and nationalists who do not see beyond their exclusive interests and affairs. Generations of Egyptians have been born and raised with this attitude and conviction deeply entrenched in their psyche that a country called Egypt is the sole owner and hence the sole deciding force when it comes to the Nile water!
Such totally misleading reality has continued for centuries without any objections from any other nations for a number of reasons. But there has always been the undeniable fact that this has never been the true reality. There is a significant part of it that has always been deliberately omitted for convenience purposes of Egyptian politicians who have thrived on such ‘fairy tale’. It is sad that Egyptians have always been informed or educated by their political leaders to believe that ‘the Nile waters actually originate from Egypt itself’ and hence belongs to them, exclusively. And no one can touch a drop of it! Recent survey has shown that most Egyptians believe in this narrative.
This is of course contrary to the crude, tangible facts and the reality on the ground. And beyond showing how clearly Egyptian politicians fail the test of times, it also reveals to the world how they have undermined the intelligence of their own citizens by feeding them material that is in open contradiction with the reality on the ground!
The very perplexing thing is that it is a well known scientific fact that Egypt does not contribute even a drop of water to the Nile. But what is even more perplexing and troubling is the very idea of trying to prohibit Ethiopia, the origin and chief contributor to the river from using any portion of it! From whichever perspective this may be viewed, the glaring truth is that it is unjust and unfair, and above all very dangerous! Furthermore, it is counterproductive, and could result a boomerang! It does not help peaceful coexistence between neighbours, particularly when clearly knitted with a common river! Making the most out of a river is not a sin nor is it a mistake. It is rather wise and imperative given the times we are now living in. We have several instances in the world at large. Nile is not the only transboundary river on earth! But to try to dictate that I am the only one to do that and any other nation who tries to do that is my enemy is something that cannot be sustained for long, nor can it ever stand the test of times. It is extremely dangerous and can easily lead to a major showdown!
Such mentality may have worked in the past for a number of factors most of which were beyond the capacity of Ethiopians and others in the basin. Ethiopians have never felt the urgency, nor the need to use this mighty river because they may not have felt the urgency in using it. Fortunately, Ethiopia, unlike Egypt, avails several alternative water resources. It avails vast water resources from its other mighty rivers, (see the Awash, the Omo and the Genale etc.) and several lakes. But it also avails wonderful climatic conditions that produce lots of rain and this has always been sufficient for the subsistence farming needs of the typical traditional Ethiopian farmer or pastoralist. But this was once upon a time!
Today the needs of Ethiopians have multiplied by leaps and bounds. The number of citizens has also grown exponentially.
half a century ago or even a few years ago. There are ever emerging needs and these need solutions. Living in the dark is no more acceptable by Ethiopians. Drinking unclean water is no more the choice of Ethiopians. The various vast development projects that are planned to change the lives of Ethiopians need equally vast energy and power just as any other developing nation may need.
In short, things have changed since the days of colonialism when a state would subdue another state and practically enslave a population. Those may be nostalgic days for those who actually made a fortune out of it, changing the history of the world. But today the reality has completely changed; there is no space for such frame of mind. It would be an insult to the population of any country to preach these stories and induce them to accept. No Ethiopian today would subscribe to what Egyptian politicians have the courage to assert. It sounds like “please close your eyes and let me fool you!”
Egyptians may believe that they have the support of so many powerful countries or forces in their bid to control the Nile. But it and unjustifiable because this is not about propaganda, political or diplomatic clout. It is not even about military might because Egypt can never use peacefully the water of the Nile waging a war against Ethiopia. Sadly, this is what is or has been in circulation in the minds of certain Egyptian generals who could be are better qualified as ‘war mongers’ than anything else because they believe they can subdue Ethiopia and secure the Nile in solitude! But this shows only how ignorant they can be of the history of Ethiopia; and at the same time how distant they are from the reality of the modern world!
Meanwhile, Egypt has continued across the years to build up more and more on the Nile waters, convinced that it was its exclusive natural right to use it as it pleased. And later on in the age of colonialism it even tried to ‘legitimize’ the exclusive use of the water with ‘artificial treaties’ signed between itself and its colonial master, the UK. Again this is part of history and it may have seemed to work some time ago being the rule and spirit of the day; and we can disregard this with this remark.
Evidently, the politics of the past mostly dwelt on ‘might is right’ and that worked well under those circumstances when there was little awareness about rights and privileges. (Some may fancy that this is still the case!) No one of those treaty signatories had to consult or ask an ‘opinion’ of Ethiopia on how to go about the use of the waters. They considered Ethiopia ‘out of the fray’ because they knew it would never as a sovereign country commit to subscribe to their arrogant treaty propositions.
Ethiopia of course did make her voice heard opposing any treaty that excluded her from the use of the water of the Nile because this would never be accepted by any state worthy of the name! And such opposition has continued every time they built some dam including the great Aswan Dam on the Nile producing the largest artificial lake on earth in the middle of the torrid heat of the desert and wasting so much to evaporation! They never consulted Ethiopia on this issue. But now they want to be informed in detail on what is going on with the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam. Some Egyptian politicians have even been heard asserting that Egypt has committed an error by ‘letting Ethiopia begin to build this dam in the first place’! This of course would amount to aggression and who knows what would follow!?
In the meantime, Ethiopia never tried to block the flow of the river because it had good faith for its neighbours. It understood the situation very well although it knew that it was absurd to engage in such a treaty that blatantly denied Ethiopia of its natural and sovereign rights. Evidently, these people do not have a good knowledge of history! They had disregarded the victory Ethiopia had recorded over an invading European army in 1896. They should have known more and done better. It is really grotesque when we now hear some shameless Egyptian politicians referring to this phony treaty on the share of the Nile waters between Egypt and Sudan as ‘a legitimizing point’ or ground! We do not know what to call this because it is just trying to kill Ethiopians, not once, but twice! It is adding insult to injury! Needless to add Ethiopians of course cannot stand such infamy and accept it in silence.
The Ethiopian Herald 13 April 2021
