Ethiopia is a sovereign country that needs to establish strong, long-standing relations with other countries to ensure mutual benefits for its people. Ethiopia is always ready to cooperate with any country in order to achieve its political, economic and social reimbursement. However, the country will never and ever collaborate with those who are interested to distort the dear interest of its people.
On the contrary, as it is recorded in its longest history of the country, Ethiopia has never and ever been negotiating with any party and stretching its hands for those who need to twist its arms for the sake of their advantage.
The victories of Adwa and Karamara, which was commemorated within a distance of a few days, vividly showed the aforesaid statement is a reality. For those who recognized the history of Ethiopia well, both the Adwa and Karamara victories convey one important message to anyone looks Ethiopia as enemy—Ethiopians are determined and ready to ensure their by all costs.
As history tells us, the Battle of Adwa in 1896 was the result of Italian encroachments south of their colony of Eritrea on the Red Sea. Though bound by the Treaty of Wichale (1889) to friendship, the Italians and Ethiopians had different opinions about the nature of that friendship.
Due to the disagreement of the treaty, the two forces engaged in one of the greatest battles in the history of Africa—the Battle of Adwa, on March 1, 1896. Finally, the Italian army was defeated by the Ethiopians. A settlement after the battle canceled the Treaty of Wichale and acknowledged the full sovereignty and independence of Ethiopia, but the Italians were allowed to retain Eritrea.
The outcome of this battle ensured Ethiopia’s independence, making it the only African country never to be colonized. Adwa turned Ethiopia into a symbol of freedom for black people globally. It also led to a change of government in Italy.
The Ethiopian army’s victory checked Italy’s attempt to build an empire in Africa. The victory had further significance for being the first crushing defeat of a European power by African forces during the colonial era.
The Adwa victory provided practical expression to Ethiopianism: self-worth, dignity, unity, resistance, confidence, self-reliance and freedom from colonialism. Africans should unite as humans, and not give in to the tribal divide and rule tactics colonialists left behind, which still persist as vile ethnicism.
Adwa is a symbol for Ethiopians’ unity to win against any sort of enemy standing in front of them to sustain as a sovereign country. We (Ethiopians) knew that poverty is the two important matters that make us dependent on foreign aids. Thus, we celebrate the day to repeat the victory in ensuring sustainable economic progress that makes us self-reliant to replicating past triumphs toward development.
Likewise, the Karamara Victory which commemorated yesterday, in the Ethio- Cuba Friendship Memorial Park also shows the unbreakable unity of Ethiopians irrespective of their ethnic and religion diversity. March 5, 1978 marked the victory of Ethiopian army over the invading Somali army under the leadership of President Siad Barre. In the summer of 1977, Somalia invaded its neighbor Ethiopia, in hopes of conquering the Ogaden Desert region, which was populated by ethnic Somalis.
Some writers said that competition for resources and power, repression by the military regime and the colonial legacy are the background causes of the conflict. Politicized clan identity, the availability of weapons and the presence of a large number of unemployed youth have exacerbated the problem. Ethiopian dislodged Somalian forces in a major counter offensive and the final victory was achieved at Karamara in March 1978.
The aforesaid two historical events tell that Ethiopians people in general have one and the same stance with regard to its sovereignty and national integrity. Understanding this, enemies of Ethiopia have been tried to isolate the people applying Machiavelli’s Divide and Conquer rule. Now, Ethiopia is waking up and trying to strengthen its unity through conducting a national consultation programme that will narrow differences democratically.
This means so much for Ethiopia in terms of ensuring lasting peace in the country so as to establish a strong economy in the Horn of Africa. The effort would enable it to declare an economically independent and self-reliant country not twisted its arms via declining aid or putting sanctions of any sort. For this to happen, the country has already laid the foundation to root out what its enemies planted via undertaking deliberations.
BY GIRMACHEW GASHAW
The Ethiopian March 6/2022
