In the recent past I couldn’t help but notice a news article on Ethiomedia about Eritrea as told by an Eritrean government agent. The center point of the article can be summarized, in my view, as: “The government of Eritrea is willing and able to develop Eritrea, but the Ethiopian government is hindering the process.” The Eritrean government keeps boasting how Hizbawi Gimbar (Eritrea’s the ruling party) plans to turn the port of Massawa into a worldclass, Dubai-look-alike free port on the Red Sea by putting up a multi-million dollar renovation project.
Eritreans and their government say, the current situation at the border with neighboring Ethiopia has been consuming much of Eritrean financial and human resources and is the main security concern for Eritrea that the government has not been able to go ahead with the project. In a very clear way, the Eritrean government, and in many cases ordinary Eritreans, blame Prime Minister Mr. Zenawi for being an impediment to achieving their dream of becoming an African Singapore.
It is absolutely true that conflicts and instabilities of any type more than wash away most of the developmental opportunities of a society or a nation at large. But, the way the Eritreans and their government have been saying things about EPRDF’s ‘Golden Goose’ – as his cadres like to present him – and his administration, Meles and his leadership’s herd are starting to appear as enemies of the tiny ex-province next door and get-keepers of the nation they dwell in.
Though many of us may be timid or consider ourselves un-political, even though our politicians have put truth aside and are busy chasing their twisted dreams, truth shall be told as it is – plain and unsweetened. Now, political rhetoric aside, when have Meles and his clique not stood for Eritreans? Pardon my blunt approach here, but until when the border war broke out, were not the Eritreans treated as Daddy’s favorite girl while the home kids were downgraded to a step-child level?
As recently as during the last TPLF birth day celebration, the ‘Golden goose’ himself and his God father, Mr. Sibhat Nega, in an interview with the “Dimtsi Woyane” radio station, in Mekele, asserted – to the astonishment of many of us Ethiopians – that if any one was to attack the Eritreans, they (the EPRDF government) would stand guard of the little Eritrea and its people above and beyond the Eritreans’ own Mr. Afeworki.
The shock and awe emanates not from the fact that Meles, Sibhat, or perhaps Bereket vowed to protect their beloved people. Oh No! It is the recurring insult and abuse that these crooks convey to show us that they still maintain the utmost disrespect for the great people of Ethiopia. These very same people, who have proclaimed and championed of being Eritrean guardian angels, did not have the slightest motivation to defend the very people whose tax money is paying their livings – remember when Ethiopians who lived in Asmara faced humiliation and were robbed and deported by Shabiya, later became homeless families on the streets of Addis (Saris Addisu Sefer being one of them). That was long before the border conflict!
From my perspective, the Eritreans’ continued accusation of Meles and his administration fear of insecurity and possible attack by their much bigger former mainland Ethiopia stems from their perceived view of the current Zenawi regime as a good slave-turned-enemy against them and the border standoff that existed as a result – though they should blame themselves, because had they handled their friend across the river with care, as they had done prior to 1998, they could have continued exploiting their ex-motherland freely. In order to examine the legitimacy of the Eritrean fear and the plausibility of their expressed claims in connection with the current Ethiopian government led by Mr. Zenawi, one needs to research and understand the historical relationship between the two parties currently in power in both countries; events that occurred in the past that tested Zenawi led TPLF party’s and EPRDF government’s attitude and policy towards the national interests of the people and government of Eritrea vis-à-vis those of Ethiopia.
Let me go ahead and pick three historical and existing issues that are embedded within the nuclei of the fundamental national interests of both Ethiopia and Eritrea. The reason for a thorough examination of these issues/events and their subsequent outcomes, is because the decisions and actions related to these issues have been and are primary made and executed by the Ethiopian government – the ruling EPRDF party led by Mr. Zenawi’s cabinet. I personally believe that a deep analysis of these issues, results of the decisions related to them, and the socio-economic and political implications of the outcomes to both nations would help a reader of this article to seize a concise understanding of the form and level of Economic and Political relationship that has existed between the two countries – rather the two governments.
Eritrean Independence: prior, during and after the armed struggle, the root cause of the tie between the gorilla- turned- government bodies was the formation of little Eritrea. As critical an issue as this was to the entire people of Ethiopia, including those who lived in the province of Eritrea, the people of Ethiopia – including the Tigreans, who sacrificed 60,000 lives for the struggle- virtually, had no say on this matter from the beginning to the end. On the contrary, the EPLF gangs, spies and even soldiers had all the authority to carry out every action the way they pleased; where as the then transitional government of Ethiopia, led by its then president Mr. Meles, was too busy knocking on every embassy door, introducing the soon-to be-born little Eritrea, seeking recognitions by world bodies, and, of course, shooting its own university students who peacefully protested to protect their national interest.
Through out this process, all the sons and daughters of Ethiopia who had their nationalistic flame burning in their heart, even our brave men (Tagays) who fought for that referendum day to come, could not help but watch as the preferred bloods of Mr. Zenawi from next door freely turn their beloved nation upside down. The out come, obviously, was that Mr. Zenawi’s government successfully made Ethiopia the first and perhaps the only nation on earth to celebrate the secession of one of its provinces and the status of being a landlocked country.
Those with an opposing view argue, as usual, that the Eritreans fought for 30 years and they deserved their independence that referendum was the only right thing to do at that time to avoid further destabilization that it was inherent for a government to aspire to build a democratic system and so forth. But, let me limit my details here and give you the opportunity to ask your self these questions: Meles and his administration has claimed of having been building democracy for the last sixteen years and OLF has been fighting for almost forty years now for independence, so is it not natural for a democratic government to hold referendum for the OROMOs? And whose interest was the Mr. Meles led transitional government supposed to promote during Eritrean independence referendum?
Ethio-Eritrea Trade: in an effort to find out whether Mr. Zenawi’s administration has been a hurdle or a helping hand in promoting Eritrean national interests, it is worth exploring the unforgettable super romantic shoulder-rubbing cha-chas of the two governments’ right after Eritrean independence. During these times of endless fun and rising aspirations of Eritreans and amusement and sadness of Ethiopians, the former had full right to use Ethiopian currency, unrestricted access to Ethiopian commodities and other resources, and, most astonishingly, they even had full access to our military secrets – for instance, one of the top IT officials in the Ethiopian military was an Eritrean who lived in Canada until he moved to Addis following his appointment.
What is even more ludicrous was that Ethiopia had agreed to bear all the operating costs of running the Assab refinery and sell refined petroleum to Eritrea in Ethiopian birr, all in addition to paying Eritrea for the use of the refinery! Oh, this reminds me of the most important issue here; that Mr. Zenawi’s leadership graciously handed over , swore never to claim again, and pledged to condemn to eternity any one who tries to reclaim Ethiopia’s one and only sea access – the port of Assab. Every other ‘brother-hood’ benefits granted to Eritrea and Eritreans is, in fact, nothing when compared to this.
Again, the outcome, as obvious as usual, was that the biggest country in the horn and the third largest nation in Africa, the very nation who fought invaders at the shore of the Red Sea to preserve its black independent heritage was bound to become landlocked and its strategic security interests compromised for good – left to totally depend on the countries that surround her, all of whom have a history of remotely being friends to Ethiopia. It was stunning to me, at one point, to have known that Eritrea at that very time had become one of the top coffee exporters in Africa, taking over Ethiopia! Eritrea does not even grow coffee for God sake! Back to my point, in spite of all the facts mentioned above, can one be considered rational to treat the Meles administration as an obstacle in promoting Eritrean national interests advanced either by Eritreans or others?
Border Conflict: some had foreseen the inevitability of some sort of friction between the two lovers eventfully; while others gave up on any possibility of such phenomenon and opted to adapt to the environment. Those who expected things to alter their direction sharply based their premises on the unrealistically rising ambition of the EPLF to mold the new little Eritrea into African Singapore at the expense of the bigger and relatively richer Ethiopia. The cause of the conflict is one big topic by itself so important that it needs its own time for discussion, so let me leave it here for now. Thus, whatever the cause of the conflict might have been, it has had some very serious repercussions. What directly relates to my analysis and argument is the response to the invasion and the way the Meles regime handled the situation from the start until now, as it is not over yet. The two important facts that I must point out here are:
1. If it was not for the revitalization of the nationalistic element , which was dead and buried in the bodies and souls of some of the TPLF central committee members who carried the bloods of Alula and Yohannes, the Meles circle would was likely to have conceded to EPLF’s demands with out any more pressure from any one. After all, what is Badime, Zalambesa or Erob for those who did not flinch to give away as vital a port as Assab?
2. Mr. Meles’s foreign minister or Mr. Meles himself never took the issue seriously that they neither stood strong to pursue it by force, as it was already in progress, nor, at least, at the court of law as they promised. First they told the entire people of Ethiopia, who sacrificed more than fifty thousand lives, to celebrate for having won Badime at the Hague; then they said that it was a mistake, only to shock the nerves of millions. It took Meles’s leadership only few months of wavering before fully agreeing to the Eritrean demands. The only thing that is keeping Eritreans from taking all the land they want from Ethiopia is their foolishness and stubbornness. Otherwise, all they are asked to do is to sit and talk with Mr. Zenawi before formally receiving the land that did not and does not belong to them!
For one last time, ask your self if Mr. Meles and/or those under his leadership has/have, in any way, been an obstacle/s to the advancement of Eritrean national interest – be it economic or otherwise?
In my view, Eritreans would rather pray that Mr. Meles and his administration live longer than to accuse him of being a hurdle to their ambition. Just like one of the slogans that a farmer was seen carrying in a government-sponsored rally in Awassa following the prime minister’s country tour, Meles Lezelalem Gizan,” or “Meles Rule Forever!”
