Sunday 8 May 2011

Ethiopia’s Challenge is our Challenge Ghelawdewos Araia, Ph.D

“Great things are achieved by guessing the direction of one’s century1″ Giuseppe Mazzini
These days, some Ethiopians entertain the idea that the last two decades are EPRDF’s moment, not the moment of the Ethiopian people in general and the opposition in particular. This is a pessimistic and parochial view of history. Every moment in the making of Ethiopia’s history is the moment of all Ethiopians regardless of the type of regime in power. Moreover, Ethiopians should not wait for the powers that be to render miracles and or furnish the socioeconomic and political needs of the people; the latter in fact should be proactive and deliberate its own agenda in the total liberation of their country. They must transcend the current political skirmish tainted with ethnocentric psychology that could ultimately undermine not only the sovereignty and independence of Ethiopia, but also its very survival.
Out of the chaotic Diaspora Ethiopia seemingly discussion forums, two recent essays that stand out are Professor Mammo Muchie’s “Revisiting Ethiopiawinet” and Professors Aklog Birara and Getachew Begashaw’s “A Mission to Attract Diaspora Funds.” The former was addressed many times by many Ethiopian scholars (including myself) but Mammo came up with additional flavor and new vistas in critiquing the prevalent ethnic politics in Ethiopia, and I will only supplement his ideas and constructively engage his thesis in this article. The latter, without doubt is topical and timely but other Ethiopian economists, including Professor Seid Hassan, also addressed the central theme of their essay. I will further explore the parameters of development agenda in Ethiopia in its comprehensive and broader political economy dimension, and not only in its macroeconomic synthesis.
I am in full accord with Mammo’s critique of “the mistakes of our generation” but I would like to add that our generation has indeed paid a heavy price, not only for its dogmatic assertion of leftist ideologies and belittling its own Ethiopian wisdom but also for being patriotic and for being at the forefront in striving to change Ethiopia for the better. It is true that the Ethiopian Student Movement (ESM) during the reign of Emperor Haile Selassie had exhibited excesses with respect to the question of nationalities in Ethiopia; the movement had gone beyond self-determination of nationalities to the right of secession of the latter and this, to be sure, was a theoretical conception carbon copied from Stalin’s “Question of Nationalities” blueprint. It was dogmatic on the part of the students, but it was not aimed at deliberately dismantling the Ethiopian polity. Now, the EPRDF has officially installed the right of secession of regions/nationalities as it is clearly enshrined in Article 39 of the present Ethiopian constitution. This is a problem superimposed on Ethiopians; it is Ethiopia’s challenge, but it is also our challenge. In the final analysis, it is we, Ethiopians, who should (as one unified people) correct the mistakes of the EPRDF.Continued

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