There is a raging debate going
on whether or not Tigray should form an independent state of its own or remain
as an integral part of Ethiopia. Some are completely on one side (separation
and non-separation) and others (G. Amare) are advising balance. Every time I
read or listen to the different views aired on the issue I am deeply worried
about the self awarded mandate this generation of Tigrean politicians is trying
to have on what the fate of a founding region of Ethiopia- Tigray- should be. For
several generations Tigray as a founding region and integral part of Ethiopia
has been the home of hundreds of generations in the past and hundreds of
generations into the future. Every generation can take a mandate for its time
to enhance the level of economic and social development of the Region and
improve the standards of living of the population. Economic and social
development is like a relay race where every generation is obliged to run its
allotted distance as fast as possible in order to contribute to the winning of
the whole race. Generations pick up from the previous and add their own where
the running sum at every stage will be higher than the previous allowing a
meaningful level of life for the people at any point in time.
There are limits, though, to what
duties and responsibilities and above all mandates any particular generation
can claim to possess. As generations contribute their own share to the
cumulative development of the entire life time of a state or region or country
they have to be very careful about how much they can contribute with how much
of natural resource use. If natural environmental resources utilized in the
process of development are squandered at some point(s) in the flow of
generations the essence of the sustainability of development, which is about
the intergenerational equity or justice in the availability of adequate natural
resources will grossly be compromised. Some governments in some generations may
be determined to show off by squandering natural resources to accelerate economic
growth dishonestly done to ensure winning the next election. Hence, the rule of
thumb of environmental resource use is “use only your share of the resources
without undermining the use of the resources by future generations”. In fact
there should be altruism whereby current generations may live a simpler life to
allow for future generations to have enough and better. American officials are
in the habit of saying “for our children and grand children”; and they mean it.
Among hundreds of things, for instance, they save their own oil resources and
buy from the Middle East; they even go to war for it while they have enough at
home. They are going to war they don’t like to engage in because they want to
make sure that their grandchildren have the same living standards or better
than their grandparents have in the current generation.
Separating a region from the
mainland is not as simple as building factories by a particular generation to
boost economic growth, which no doubt is beneficial to the next generation and
the generations long after. The industrial revolution was just one generation’s
contribution to the wellbeing of generations of humanity for the last 200 years
and may continue to be important for the next 2000 years. If this generation of
politicians of the State of Delaware (USA) decides to separate from the United
States because they became disillusioned with the politicians in Washington DC
Capitol Hill; this will not be considered like building a factory or initiating
a new industrial revolution for generations of Delawareans to follow. Delaware
is the founding state of the USA because it was the first state out of the 50
to ratify the Constitution of the United States of America. The best possible
expression for the separation of Delaware is “Delaware would be demanding to
separate itself from itself”. That “itself” is not the itself of this
generation of Delawareans but also those of the future generations to come. By
deciding to separate Delaware from the USA, which is a mammoth
intergenerational decision, are the Delawareans of the disillusioned current
generation absolutely sure that the future generations of Delawareans will love
their Delawarean citizenship and never regret the loss of being American? There
is a huge difference between what ordinary politicians and politicians in power
do or say and the values that inseparably bindpeople of all generationsto a
Nation.
To be Ethiopian is a value
which should neither be expressed in economic terms nor be considered as a
share holding membership in a company. It is much bigger and more complex than any
foul-mouthed politicians who insult entire people, who wants to starve entire
people, and dream of eliminating them. Generations of Ethiopian leaders and
politicians have brutalized Tigreans for no sufficient reason at all while at
the same time telling stories of Tigray as the cradle of the civilization of
Ethiopia. Whoever politicians have been spitting whatever garbage and doing
whatever cruel things for ages does little to shake the foundation of that
value which binds Ethiopians together. Ethiopia has not been so lucky with
leaders who don’t contradict themselves. It is the funniest of all jokes in the
world that they love Ethiopia and at the same time hate Tigray! This is mental
illness of the worst kind! One should and must run away from a lunatic in the
streets to save own life. Running away from such misanthropic politicians is
not the right approach; dealing with them with a sense of equality as
Ethiopians is! Above all, such people who humiliate fellow citizens, threaten
them, and abuse them are committing a criminal act of treason. They cannot and
they are never allowed to be more Ethiopian than others. Running away from them
translates very clearly that the victims recognize them as true representatives
of Ethiopian Nationhood or otherwise there is some vested interest of
individuals or groups in that retreat.
When it comes to the idea of
the separation of Tigray, first one must see the intergenerational nature of
such decision making with the help of the following expression: “If you did not
make it you have no right to ruin it”. Ethiopia of the present time is a climax
of the several hundreds of generations of cumulative decisions and actions.
Whatever decision each generation takes based simply on personal or group
reaction, which seemed the best at the time on particular situations of a
particular time, could have grave repercussions to future generations. Yohannes
IV decided to march to Metema leaving the delighted Italians behind on his
land; and Menilik signed the Wuchale agreement letting Italy to freely occupy
the entire Bahre-Negash. It never occurred to both monarchs that because of
their personal or governmental (?) decisions the following four or more
generations would suffer continuous war and devastation. In science projections
are made and scenarios built based on models built from available and wisely
guessed data. On the basis of such projections decisions are made. Projections
or predictions are very helpful to decision making to give a general idea about
the future scenarios. Hydrological models are built to predict runoff and soil
erosion levels 20 or so years ahead. However, the model is built on known
variables only. It is possible to have a different scenario evolving as a
result of unpredicted variables that may turn out to be more important than the
variables which were used in the predictive models. There may be unpredicted
massive human settlement in the area and massive deforestation which wrecks
havoc to the model predictions.
I can assure myself and my readers
as well that no one knows exactly what will happen to Ethiopia and to Tigray
itself after separation. No one knows whether future generations of Tigreans
will curse the current generation of Tigrean politicians for separating them
from Ethiopia or bless them for their actions. No one knows, except for making some
wise guesses, about how much better democracy and good governance in Tigray
will be than it is/was/will be in Ethiopia. Will Ethiopia completely disappear
because of a chain of separations following the separation of Tigray? Do
Tigrean politicians desire to see the rest of Ethiopia in one piece after the
separation of Tigray or they would not mind or even contribute to its total
disintegration? Would a separate Tigray be able to live with a healthy
diplomatic relations with Ethiopia or Tigray and Ethiopian troops will perpetually
face one another on their shared border and destroy any hope of development
behind the frontlines in Tigray and in Ethiopia? By all this I don’t mean that
the so much treasured value of remaining as Ethiopian rather than abandoning it
should be taken at all costs. A household member may be continuously and
harshly treated by his siblings, although she/he is their own flesh and blood,
the victim will surely be in a big dilemma: “Don’t want to leave home vs. don’t
want to live with the intolerable siblings”. Instinct dictates that the reflex
action is leaving Home to avoid the siblings; but second thoughts dictate
acting on the siblings and on oneself to bring about peaceful co-existence. It
is economically, socially, and psychologically more costly to leave Home than solving
the problem in situ. All the siblings are not enemies; they are rivals! Sibling
rivalry has its solutions however hard it may seem; however unbalanced the team
formation may be; however harsh and uncompromising the methods of rivalry are.
There were rivals during the ZemeneMesafint not enemies; there were rivals
during the EPRDF-Derg war no enemies. It is from an enemy that one has to distance
itself not from a rival. The methods of resolving both contradictions are not
the same. Amhara and Tigreans have always been rivals but never enemies. There
is no single reason for them to be enemies. They are siblings in culture,
language family and religion. An endless cycle of reconciliation and fighting
is characteristic of rivalry. This does not happen among enemies. None of them
stop before eliminating each other. We don’t have this situation in Ethiopia
I will continue by asking a few
key questions: Is Tigray at odds with Ethiopia and the former wants to abandon
the latter? This question leads to another: Who is delegated to represent
Ethiopia as “a separate entity” in its political battles against Tigray another
“separate entity”? As Tigray is Ethiopia and Ethiopia is Tigray where and how
are the battle lines drawn?The last two questions are based on what I hear from
interviews of some Tigrean politicians referring to the “two sides” as
Ethiopia and Tigray. The next question is to interrogate those who boldly claim
separation to be a “Tigrean question”: How democratic and inclusive isthe
quest for separation? Is it the agenda of a few emotion driven politicians or
disgruntled members of the TPLF leadership whose decision to separate Tigray is
driven only by self-service rather than intergenerational justice? Leaving the
future generations of Tigreans aside, is even the current generation of Tigray
with five to six million people on the same political latitude in the quest for
separate statehood? How many of the millions of Tigreans really comprehend the issue
of separation from Ethiopia they hear everyday about from the wildly enthusiastic
Tigrean politicians who have chocked the media with the separatist narratives?
I know the world has never been
as democratic as God created it to be. Few powerful individuals have the
readiness and the means to make decisions with an adverse effect spanning for
centuries. Many of them take those decisions with full knowledge of the
negative long term impacts. Possessing knowledge without concomitant skill does
not help in solving problems. Some may have both knowledge and skills; but are
overwhelmed by greed (power, fame, wealth) which blinds them in decision making.
Many of the Tigrean politicians are craving for separation as the best solution
to the problems Tigray is facing in its relationship with the rest of Ethiopia.
Separation is the best solution, because given the level of administrative
autonomy Tigray is currently having, it is the easiest solution! Why should
the easiest be the best solution? The easiest is best solution only because it
does not care about consequences; it just wants to avoid the pain involved in
the search for more complex but better solutions. Alexander the Great of
Macedonia was presented with a knot known in the legend as the Gordian Knot to
untie. Prophecy had it that it was the wisest of all men who would conquer
Asia that can untie the knot. Alexander possessing so much of the might of the
sword was unable to untie the knot. He drew his sword as he always did on men
and cut the knot into pieces. The problem was not solved because the knot was
destroyed rather than relieved from the tightness of the knot.
I argue from the bottom of my
heart that solving the problem Tigray is facing by distancing it from the
sources of the problem rather than face the sources and untie them; is “cutting
the Gordian knot” pure and simple. There is restriction for the separatist
politicians not to take that easy route: The shared values and history as
integral part of Ethiopia and the intergenerational injustice they will be
committing care-freely. If we take the law very seriously there is also the
element of treason in it. The easy solution is certainly going to be followed
by more difficult problems that Tigray cannot handle without a lot of pain. A
TPLF leader said so easily: “Separation is possible with the only possession
being rocks”. In which market would any one buy this grossly negligent
statement? Human beings are human beings; they don’t eat rocks no life eats
rocks. Even plants eat them after the rocks turn into soils. What he said may
be just a figurative speech; to mean that the political pressure on the people
to go for separation makes the economic consequences trivial for the people of
Tigray. I agree if that is so; but I ask: Is the political pressure sufficient
for that figurative speech to hold water? Aren’t the TPLF and associates on the
separation solution inflating the pressure beyond proportions? Isn’t more than
half of the rage Tigray is facing from the rest of Ethiopia triggered by TPLF
itself? We must see the last question insome detail next.
TPLF started its first friction
with politicians and ordinary people of Ethiopia when it chased EPRP and EDU
out of Tigray as if the land does not belong to them as well, as Ethiopians.
Next, and what devastated any Ethiopia loving individual was the uncompromising
support they gave to the separation of Eritrea in spite of the fact that
Eritreans wanted to go for some negotiated settlement, most probably to the
satisfaction of Ethiopians (restoring the federation). Even around the time of
Eritrean referendum TPLF prevented any effort for persuading Eritreans to cast
unionist voting cards and alternatively negotiate for an Ethiopian port in the
east. While everyone felt that that could have been supported even by the super
powers and the UN, TPLF was oddly adamant uncharacteristic of any party ruling
a country without access to the sea. Any disappointment on the part of
Ethiopians in this regard is understandable. It was hard for any politician or
lay Ethiopian to embrace them as real Ethiopian citizens. They promised Ethiopians
to install real democracy based on free and fair elections, which would effectively
replace the military dictatorship; instead they sunk in deep corruption,
nepotism, maladministration; rigged elections, discouraged the opposition from
making any progress, and tightly controlled the people in all spheres of life.
Worse still was the persistent
propaganda campaign that suffocated the public media that Tigray was
prospering.Tigray was trying to make ends meet while the TPLF media all over
the country was displaying it as the El Dorado of Ethiopia.The people of
Ethiopia were forced to behave irrationally as a result against any Tigrean
they meet in the streets or in the neighborhoods. They cannot be blamed because
they got the information about the “wealth” in Tigray direct from the “horse’s
mouth”.Why was the TPLF doing this? If it was intended to deceive the people of
Tigray that “they have prospered but they don’t see it” or is it to create
discord between Tigray and the rest of Ethiopia so that Tigray will remain as a
helpless stronghold for them in time of need? Obviously, it cannot be the
former but the latter that is the truth. Adding fuel to the fire was the ill
advised words and actions by some irresponsible TPLF members and/ or
supporters, sons and daughters in the streets, in neighborhoods, in cafes, bars
and night clubs were severely aggravating the hatred on Tigreans by the rest of
the Ethiopian youth. Using the “opportunity” of the removal of TPLF leadership,
which they considered as the “protector” of Tigreans politicians and ordinary
Ethiopians alike had no sympathies for the Tigreans living elsewhere in Ethiopia
outside Tigray. They accused every one of them as “wealthy at their expense”.
Some even chased and brutalized thousands of innocent Tigreans. In problem
solving doesn’t rush into hasty conclusions painting yourself as a saint;
examine yourself honestlyto knowif you have also been part of the problem.