I would like to express my
congratulations, highest optimism and exuding hope with the election of the new
Prime Minister, Dr. Abiy Ahmed, who stands for all Ethiopians.
We must, always, remember that every difference of
opinion & ideology is not a difference of principle and shouldn’t be
construed as a personal vendetta and should be discussed or expressed with
respect.
In 2008, making the first black presidential nominee
of a major U. S. political party, Barack Obama appealed to the nation in words
that millions now hope will never be forgotten by US government: “America, we
cannot turn back. Not with so much work to be done. Not with so many children
to educate, and so many veterans to care for. Not with an economy to fix and
cities to rebuild and farms to save. Not with so many families to protect and
so many lives to mend…Let us keep that promise – that American promise – and in
the words of scripture hold firmly, without wavering, to the hope that we
confess.”
When Barack Obama took office, it was assessed the
US faced the worst recession in eighty years, but he managed to fight back with
swift decisions.
The economic downturn Obama inherited from President
Bush was daunting with the US facing one of the worst financial crises: high
debt, growing deficit, huge unemployment, financial institutions on the brink
of collapse
After a century of trying, Obama declared the health
care in America is not a privilege for a few; it's a right for everybody.
Obama’s contribution to healthcare reform, by passing the Affordable Care Act
also known as the signature accomplishment, Obama Care, has been a
praiseworthy.
Obama put equality of opportunity policies in place
to support students a path to college giving the low-income students free
tuitions.
Obama also travelled around the world preaching a
new world order.
Obama clearly told the African leaders on the future
of Africans: “We must start from the
simple premise that Africa’s future is up to Africans. I say this knowing full
well the tragic past that has sometimes haunted this part of the world. I have
the blood of Africa within me, and my family’s own story encompasses both the tragedies
and triumphs of the larger African story. …”
“Development
depends upon good governance. That is the ingredient which has been missing in
far too many places, for far too long. That is the change that can unlock
Africa’s potential. And that is a responsibility that can only be met by
Africans. … “Africa doesn’t need strongmen, it needs strong institutions….”
He also launched the Young African Leaders
Initiative (YALI) – programs that mentors and funds projects for the next
generation of ambitious young African leaders.
Obama will be remembered and cherished for long time
to come for his contributions to social changes, inspiring and motivational
slogans such as “Change We Can Believe In”, “Yes We Can” and “The Audacity of
Hope”, thoughts on reclaiming the American dream, that encourages every walk of
life to tap their full potential in their pursuit of peace, happiness and equal
opportunity regardless of “who they are”, “where they come from” and “wherever
they live”.
Having closely watching and witnessing Obama, I
found Ethiopia’s Prime Minister, Dr Abiy Ahmed’s liveliness and character is
similar to that of Obama.
Abiy Ahmed, like Obama, was a product of two racial
families with different beliefs and lifestyles. Like Obama, he grew up with his
mother and amassed huge perseverance, resilience, and weighty discipline to
succeed in a racially and culturally competitive upbringing.
Like Obama, he’s a new breed of generations: smart,
witty, articulate, humble, compassionate, and humanitarian and has a quality
& fine-looking stature of a star.
Like Obama, he appeals to the people to work
together “from the ground up” not the other way around as this scenario is
undeniably not reflected in the past government’s dealings which seem to
recycle a status quo in our history.
Therefore, is there anyone out there from any
opposition parties or who can be handpicked amongst the crowd who will
represent all Ethiopians far better than our own Obama, Abiy Ahmed, so we can
start promoting his succession to the throne, in the coming election, by
sharing his dreams and aspirations with no conflict of interest?
Why is there so much intra-group conflict,
characterized by personal feuds and infighting in our society? And when there
is conflict, why is conflict resolution so difficult?
One explanation is that we have been brought up in
an environment where certain dysfunctional behaviours that hamper effective
communication and cause conflict are the norm.
We can observe chronic feuding and infighting in
families, extended families, friends, non-political civic organizations such as
professional associations, churches, community organizations, charity
organizations, and others.
It is said that those who do not learn from past
mistakes are doomed to repeat it. Many mistakes and errors have been committed
by successive habits in the past. These mistakes need to be identified, studied
and lessons drawn from them so that they will not be repeated again. We need to
build collective agenda to advance and support these mistakes and undertake not
to repeat them.
Indeed, the most infectious conflicts occur in
apparently homogenous groups whose memberships have not only similar
ideologies, but similar frames of reference, perspectives and interests.
The four parties
under the EPRDF: the OPDO, the Amhara National Democratic Movement (ANDM), the
Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF) and the Southern Ethiopian People’s
Democratic Movement (SEPDM) need to be vigilant and work together openly with
no favouritism.
Marginalized political groups develop an
ethno-nationalist discourse as opposed to democratic governance, arguing that
their exclusion violates the principle of ethnic representation as outlined by
TPLF’s own ethnic policy. The biggest challenge facing the future of democracy
in Ethiopia is indeed this notion of ethnic entitlement. One can only hope this
troubling form of identity politics has not yet become deeply entrenched to the
point where a new order based on democratic norms will not be able to fill the
crack created by ethnic division and the related deficit of trust among us.
Today, it’s not enough to create change at the level
of symptoms and structures. We need to work together even more deeply to change
the underlying paradigms of thought and to connect with our deeper sources of
creativity and self in a heterogeneous society.
Ethnically, the
population of Ethiopia is extremely diverse and there are more than 80
different ethnic groups declared within Ethiopia. Many languages are spoken by
the inhabitants, including Amarigna, Oromigna, Tigrigna, Guragigna, Somaligna,
and Arabigna. Numerous other local languages and dialects also are spoken while
Amharic is the country's only official language.
Keep in mind
that people have full right to exercise their cultural heritages including
their languages but it should not be to the extent that shake their own and
others survival. We should not run for dominance/ knockout game like in our
dominant past, rather we should appreciate our uniqueness for the benefits of
everyone in the game.
While we can
justly be proud of the fact that every generation of Ethiopians during those
centuries have paid in blood to maintain our independence, we cannot but feel
deeply insulted that at the dawn of the new millennium ours is one of the
poorest countries in the world. Over the course of our second millennium we
have gone from being one of the most advanced nations on earth to that of being
one of the poorest.
Even donors who
continue to support the regime is self-serving while maintaining an economic
structure that keeps the poorest of the poor trapped in a cycle of poverty.
This heroic country of ours deserve better than tired expressions.
Throughout this
process we have not been colonized by any foreign nations, thanks to our hero forefathers
and foremothers, and hence
we have always been the authors of our destiny, both our successes and
failures.
However, heroes
can be defined in many ways that satisfies receiver’s views regardless of their
differing, fields of endeavors, achievements and triumphs. It may sound like
comparing apples and oranges to some who are still wallowing in the old beliefs
and assumptions that heroes are only limited to warriors.
There are lots
of heroes who have contributed to our social cohesion in their own way and need
to be recognized open-mindedly. It’s not a conducive strategy to vent or throw
tantrums on anyone one, because they didn’t not act or fulfil our expectations.
“It's only after we've lost everything that
we're free to do anything.” –Tyler Durden.
The apparent inconsistency rested plain the TPLF’s
trickery and cynical ploy to divide the country along ethnic lines for the sole
purpose of maintaining its hegemony.
The underlying problem is the lack of good
governance and the absence of enabling factors: accountability, social justice,
transparency and rule of law. Focusing on transient issue of favouritism will
only serve to provoke and divert attention from the real struggle that is being
waged, and to undermine our resolve to build a just society.
The fallacy of identity politics is its mishandling
that created disunity and ethnocracy instead of democracy. Take for example
someone who was born in Addis Ababa (a cosmopolitan city by all account) whose
parents came from two distinct ethnic heritages - say Amara and Oromo- and yet
the only language s/he has spoken is Amharic. Which ethnic group this person
ought to be allocated? What if by virtue of his/her upbringing and the
multicultural environment of his/her surroundings s/he does not feel allegiance
to any of his/her parent’s ethnic heritage? The issue could be complicated even
more if we add to the mix of the unavoidable dynamics of intermarriage with
other group that constitute the Ethiopian cultural mosaic. I can go on with
other complex scenarios, but there is no need to press the point further, for
only in the context of democracy that the questions of choice arises. A
person's identity cannot be given to them instead a person must achieve a sense
of identity through personal experience and self-search as a result of his/her
cultural heritage and current surroundings.
Above all one can bear allegiance to multiple
identities at any one time. Obviously, Dr Abiy Ahmed’s diverse combinations of
generational experiences distinctively qualify him for the highest office in
the land.
“No,
no, we are not satisfied and will not be satisfied until justice rolls down
like water and righteousness like a mighty stream.” –Martin Luther King Jr.
We need to break free from negative emotions of the
past, out-dated beliefs and opinions how we do things which passed on to us via
generational setting, inherited collective mind-patterns that have kept our
generations in captivity creating so much of their suffering for eternities
manifesting in our misery today.
“If you're walking down the right path and you're
willing to keep walking, eventually you'll make progress.” –Barack Obama
Let’s accept what is, let go of what was, and have
hope & conviction in what will be.
These days in
age, we don’t need guns and weapons of mass destruction to change course of
history, by sharing practical concepts as an interconnected society, we can
write and re-write anything until we get it right, peacefully. The quickest way
to change how we feel is to change how we think.
Therefore, my
fellow Ethiopian brothers and sisters, sons and daughters, I urge you to fully
accept our own Obama, Abiy Ahmed, “because change has come” to Ethiopia, who
would bring about those changes he promised for our people to live with dignity,
collaboration, high spirit and economic prosperity leading our young
generations to a common goal –PEACE, LOVE and the Pursuit of HAPPINESS!
Let’s join together by resolving all trivial
differences and strengthen the team spirit to communicate with all Ethiopians
by inviting all local ethnic communities and business venders rather than
talking about each other, feeling honestly and friendly to talk to each other.
ONE ETHIOPIA FOR ALL, ALL FOR ONE ETHIOPIA!
So, the time has come when we all need to learn new
ways of doing things or businesses or interacting with others.
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