ከአንድ የ«አምራ ብሄርተኛ» ያደረግኩትን ቃለ ምልልስ

ከአንድ የ«አምራ ብሄርተኛ» ያደረግኩትን ቃለ ምልልስ ላቀርብላቹ እወዳለሁ። እኔ አስፋው ጠያቂው ሆኜ እንግዳዬ ደግሞ ግዮናዊት ሀገሬ ትባላለች እራሷን የአማራ ብሄርተኛ ብላ የምትሰይም የ28 ዓመት መምህርት ናት። ቆይታችን እንዲህ ነበር፤

አስፋው፤ ለቃለምልልስ ፈቃደኛ በመሆንሽ አመሰግናለሁ፤ እንኳን ደህና መጣሽ።

ግዮናዊት፤ ምንም አይደለም፤ እኔም አመሰግናለሁ።

አስፋው፤ እስቲ ስለ አማራ ብሄርተኝነት ርዕዮተ ዓለም ትንሽ ንገርኝ።

ግዮናዊት። የአማራ ብሄርተኝነት የአማራ ህዝብ ለአማራ ህዝብ መቆም አለበት የሚል ርዕዮተ ዓለም ነው። የአማራ ህዝብ ባለፉት 27 ዓመት፤ 40 ዓመት ማለት ይቻልም ይሆናል፤ ብዙ ግፍ እና ሰቆቃ የደረሰበት ነው። ክብሩን ከማጣት እስከ ቡድናዊ ግድያ (genocide) ተፈጽሞበታል። ከበየ ኢትዮጵያ ክልሎች ተፈኛቅሏል። ህዝቡ ተገድሏል። የመንግስት በጄቱ ተቀምቷል። አማራ ሀገር ከሁሉም ድኻ ሆኖ ግን በጨቋኝነት ይፈረጃል። እስካሁን እንደ ጨቋኝ ይታያል እንደ ህዝብ መቀጣት አለበት ተብሎ ይሰበክበታል። የአማራ ብሄርተኝነት ይህን ያለፈውንም፤ ያለውንም፤ ወደ ፊት የሚመጣውንም አማራ ላይ ጥቃት ለመቋቋም ነው የሚቆመው። ከዛ አልፎ ተርፎ የአማራ ህዝብ መደራጀት ያለበት እራሱን ለመከላከል ብቻ ሳይሆን ለመቋቋም እና ለመበልጸግ። ልጆቻችን እንዲማሩ፤ እርስ በርስ እንድንረዳዳ፤ ለራሳችን ልማት እንድናመጣ ወዘተ የሚታገል ርዕዮተ ዓለም ነው።

አስፋው፤ ግን እስቲ «አማራ» ከሌላው ይበልት ተጨቁኗል ማለት ይቻላል። ባለፉት 27 ዓመት ሁሉም ትግራይ ያልሆነ ተጨቁኛለሁ ይላል። ኦሮሞ በስመ ኦነግ። ጋምቤላ ለመሬቱ፤ አኟክ ጭራሽ ጄኖሳይድ ተፈጽሞበታል። ሲዳማ በየጊዜው ተመቷል። ወዘተ።

ግዮናዊት። አዎን ህወሓት ሁሉንም መትቷል ግን እንደ አማራ በየ ክልሉ የሚገደል የለም። እንደ አማራ የህዝብ ቁጥሩ እንዲመነምን የተደረገ የለም። እንደ አማራ በየ ክልሉ የሚፈረጅበት ጭቋኝ ተብሎ የሚረገጥ የለም።

አስፋው፤ አዎ ግን ሁሉም ጎሳ እንዲሁ የራሱ እሮሮ አለው እኮ።

ግዮናዊት፤ አይደለም፤ ሁሉም መንግስት ጭቁኖኛል ማለት ይችላል እንበል። በዚህ እንስማማ። ግን አማራ የተጠቃው በመንግስት ብቻ ሳይሆን በሌላው ህዝብም ነው። ይህ ነው ልዩነቱ። ሲገደል ሲፈናቀል መንግስት ብቻ አይደለም ይህን የሚያደርግ የነበረው። መንግስት «ጭቋኝ» ብሎ ሰየመው ከዛ በኋላ የተለያዩ ግለሰብ እና ቡድኖች ይህን ይዘው አማራን በየቦታ ያሰቃያሉ። ይህ ነው ልዩነቱ። አማራ የትጠቃው በመንግስት ብቻ ሳይሆን በህዝብም ነው።

አስፋው፤ ግን እኮ የአርሲ ኦሮሞን ብትጠይቀው የአማራ መንግስት ለ100 ዓመት ጨቁኖኝ ነበር ሰለዚህ እኔም በመንግስት ብቻ ሳይሆን በግለሰቦች ተጨቁኛለሁ ይላል። አማራ ብቻ አይደለም እንደዚህ አይነት ጭቆና ዘመን ያሳለፈው ይላል። የ«ተጨቆንኩኝ» እሽቅድድም አልሆነምን?

ግዮናዊት፤ ያየድሮ ታሪክ ነው ባለአባቶች መሬታቸውን ከተነጠቁ 44 ዓመት አልፏል። አማራ ላይ ግን አሁንም ነው ጥቃት የሚደረገው።

አስፋው፤ ግን የታሪካዊው ጭቆና አሁንም ርዝራዥ አለው ይሉናል። አማራው ጨቁኗል አሁንም የድሮ ጭቆናው ውጤት ነው የሚያገኘው ይላሉ። መቼም ወደ ኋላ እየተሄደ ሁሉም የግፍ ቆጠራውን ያደርጋል ከሁሉም እበልጣለሁ ይላል አይደለምን?

ግዮናዊት፤ በዚህ አንስማማም። የድሮ የድሮ ነው። ዛሬ ግን ከሁሉም ሰለባ አማራ ነው ብለን ነው በአማራ ብሄርተኝነት የምናምነው።

አስፋው፤ ጥሩ። ግን ከሌሎች ድጋፍ አትጠብቁ። ከኛ በሙሉ እናንተ ናችሁ የተጨቆናችሁት እንዲሏችሁ አትጠብቁ። በዛ መሰረት እንደረደራለን ብላችሁ አታስቡ።

ግዮናዊት፤ ይሁን የራሳቸው ጉዳይ በዚህ መስማማት አያስፈልግም። ግን ለኛ ለአማራ ህዝብ እኛ ዋና ተጨቋኝ እንደሆንን እናምናለን ይህንንም እንደ ምክንያት አድርገን ነው የምንደራጀው።

አስፋው፤ እሺ አማራው ተጎድቷል እየተጎዳ ነው። ለምንድነው በአማራነት መደራጀት የሚያስፈልገው ይህን ጥቃት ለመቋቋም? ለምን በኢትዮጵያ ወይንም በ«ኢትዮጵያ-አማራ» ስም መደራጀት ለዚህ አይበጅም? በኢትዮጵያ ስም ብንደራጅ አማሮች ብቻ ሳይሆን ሌሎችም ለኛ ይቆሙ ነበር።

ግዮናዊት፤ ተጨቋኙ አማራ ነውና። ምን ሌላ ምክንያት አለው። በአማራነቱ እየተሰደበ እየተኮነነ እየተገደለ እያለ እራሱን በአማራነቱ መከላከል አለበት። ማን ሌላ ይከላከልለት? እራሱን ካደራጀ አይጠቃም። ሌላን ከጠበቀ ይጠቃል። ግልጽ ነው እኮ።

አስፋው፤ ማለት የፈለግኩት እንዲህ ነው። የአማራ ብሄራዊ ንቅናቄ እንውሰድ። ይህ ድርጅት እራሱን የ«ኢትዮጵያ ብሄረአዊ ንቅናቄ» ብሎ ቢሰይም አሁን የሚሰራውን መስራት አይችልም ነበር ያውም ሌሎችን አካቶ እና ተጨማሪ ኃይል አከማችቶ?

ግዮናዊት፤ አይችልም። ስሙ «ኢትዮጵያ» ከሆኑ ሁሉንም ማቀፍ ይኖርበታል ለአማራ የተለየ ጭቆና ብቻ መቆም አያችልም። ይህ «ኢትዮጵያዊ» ድርጅት የአማራ ህዝብ ለብቻ የጎደለውን ማሟላት አይችልም። የአማራን ርስት ማስመለስ አይችልም። ወዘተ።

አስፋው፤ ግን በዚህ መልኩ ይችላል። ኢትዮጵያዊ ድርጅት ከሆነ ሁሉንም ለተጨቆነው አማራ ለመቆም ማስተባበር ይችላል። ሁሉንም ለተጭቆነው ኦሮሞ ማስተባበር ይችላል። ይህ ከአማራ በቻ ይበልጥ ትልቅ ኃይል አደለምን?

ግዮናዊት፤ በቴኦሪ ደረጃ ጥሩ ይመስላል ግን በዚህ ዘመን ከአንድ ብሄር በላይ ሲቀላቀል መዘዙ ብዙ ነው። እስካሁኑም አልሆነልንም። አማራ አማራ አትበሉ እንባላለን። ይህ ደግሞ አይመቸንም።

አስፋው፤ እስካሁን አልሆነምን ተይው! የአማራ ብሄርተኝነትም እስካሁን አልሆንም። በደምብ ላልተሞከረ ነገር አልሆነም ማለት ሃሰት ነው። የአንድነት ድርጅቶች ያልተሳካላቸው በአንድነት ስለሚያምኑ አይደለም በእርስ በርስ የጎሳ ፍጭት አይደለም።

ግዮናዊት፤ ምንም ቢሆን እኛ አማሮች ለአማራ መስራት ነው የምንፈልገው።

አስፋው፤ ታድያ ይህ አቋማችሁ ከሌሎች ጎሰኞች እንደ ህወሓት ወዘተ ምን ይለያችኋል?

ግዮናዊት፤ ቅድም እንዳልኩት እኛ ለብቻ ይበልጥ ተጨቁነናል። አልፎ ተርፎ እኛ በኢትዮጵያዊነት እናምናለን። እንገንጠል አንልም። አማራ ኢትዮጵያዊ ነን ነው የምንለው። ይህ ነው ትልቁ ልዩነት።

አስፋው፤ በክልሌ ያለው አማራ «መጤ» ነው የሚለው የኦሮሞ ብሄርተኛውም እንዲሁ ነው የሚለው እኮ። ተበድያለሁ። መገንጠል አልፈልግም (መብቱ አይወሰድብኝ እንጂ) እና እኔ መጀመርያ ኦሮሞ ነኝ ቀጥሎ ኢትዮጵያዊ (የብሄር ፌደራሊዝም እስካለ አለ በለዛ ለቃለው!) ። እንዲሁ ነው የሚሉት። አሁንም ምን ይለያችኋል።

ግዮናዊት፤ እኛ ደግሞ ማንንም አንጨቁንም ከክልላችን ይውጣልን አንልም ብለንም አናውቅም። ይህ ነው ሌላ ልዩነታችን።

አስፋው፤ ግዮናዊት፤ ሌሎቹም እኮ ማንንም አንጨቁንም። ታሪካዊ ጭቆናን እናስተካክላለን ለምሳሌ በaffirmative action አይነት ነገሮች መሬተም ወደ ድሮ የተቀማበት በመመለስ ወዘተ። በክልላችን የኛ ቋንቋ ነው የሚሰፍነው እንላለን በመንግስት በትምሕርት ደረጃ ወዘተ። ሌላው ይህን ካልተቀበለ ይውጣ ከፈለገ ነው የሚሉት። በአማራ ክልልም የአማራ ብሄርተኝነት ከሰፈነ እንዲሁ እይደለም የሚሆነው? በአማራ ክልል ያለው አማራ ያልሆነው ህብረተሰብ ሁለተኛ ዜጋ አይሆንም?

ግዮናዊት፤ አይሆንም ብቻ ነው ማለት የምችለው። አሁን በአማራ ክልል ያሉ የኦሮሞ ዞኖች ውስጥ ነዋሪዎቹ ሙሉ ነፃነት አላቸው በቋንቋቸው በፍላጎታቸው መተዳደር። አገውም እንዲሁ።

አስፋው፤ ስለዚህ አማራው በክልሉ ያሉትን «አናሳ ብሄሮችን» አይጨቁንም የመጨቆን ባህሪውም የለውም እንበል። ጥሩ። ግን ሌሎቹም እንደዚህ እያሉ ግን በደል ያደርሳሉ። ለምሳሌ በኦሮሞ ክልል የአማርኛ ትምሕርት ይቀራል ቢባል አንቺ እንደ ጭቆና ታዪው ይሆናል ግን ኦሮሚያ ቋንቋችን እንዳይሸረሸር ነው ይላል። አማራው በአማራነቱ መደራጀቱ ይህን ጉዳይ እንዴት ያደርገዋል?

ግዮናዊት፤ የአማራ ድርጅት ለዚህ መልስ ይኖረዋል። ከኦሮሚያ ለሚኖረው አማራው መብት ይቆማል ይታገላል።

አስፋው፤ ከመፈክር አልፎ በተግባር ያልሸው ምን ማለት ነው?

ግዮናዊት፤ በአማራ ክልል እንደዛው አይነት ፖሊሲ እናመጣለን። በኛ ኦሮሞ ዞኖችም ትምሕርት ቤት በአማርኛ ብቻ ማድረግ ነው።

አስፋው፤ ግን አማራ በብዛት በየክልሉ አለ። በዚህ ብድር በመመለስ (tit for tat)ተሸናፊ አማራው ነው የሚሆነው። ልክ እንደ ሰርቢያኖች በዩጎስላቪያ በኢትዮጵያ የጎሳ ግጭት ከተነሳ አማራው ነው ከሁሉም በላይ የሚጎዳው አይደለም?

ግዮናዊት፤ አማራው በደምብ ከተደራጀ ሁሉንም አማራ በየ ቦታው ያለውንም መጠበቅ ይችላል። ጦር ይኖረዋል ሄዶ ይከላከላል።

አስፋው፤ የአማራ ጦር አዲስ አበባ ሄዶ የአዲስ አበባ አማራዎችን መብት ሊጠብቅ ነው? ሻሸመኔ ሄዶ አማራውን ሊጠብቅ ነው? ይህ አጉል ፉከራ ከእውነታ የራቀ አይደለም።

ግዮናዊት፤ አዎን ዝም ብዬ የኛ የአማራ ብሄርተኞች ስሜታዊ መልስ ነበር የሰጠውህ! ትክክለኛ መልስ እንዲህ ነው፤ አማራው ተደራጅቶ ሲጠነክር ሌሎች ክልሎች/ብሄሮች ይጠነቀቃሉ ከጸንፈኝነት ይቆጥባቸዋል። ከግጭት ይልቅ ወደ win-win ያመጣቸዋል ነው።

አስፋው፤ ሁሉም አሸናፊ አካሄድ ቢቻል ኖሮማ እስካሁን እናደርገው ነበር! የጎሳ አስተዳደር የሁሉም አሸናፊ ሳይሆን የዚህ ተቃራኒ የሆነው የሁሉም ግጭት ውጤት ነው የሚያመጣው። ያለፈው 27 ዓመት ይህን አሳይቶናል ብለሽ አታምኝም?

ግዮናዊት፤ አዎን ለዚህም ነው የአማራ ብሄርተኞች የጎሳ ፌደራሊዝምን የምንቃወመው። የአማራ ብሄርተኝነት ንቅናቄ (አቤን) አቋሙም እንዲሁ ነው የጎሳ አስተዳደርን ለመቀየር።

አስፋው፤ እንዲህ ከሆነ እንዴት ጠንካራ አማራ ከጎሳዊ ግጭት ያድነናል ትያለሽ? ላለፉት 27 ዓመት በዚህ ክፉ "experiment" እንዳየነው የጎሳ አስተዳደር በጎሳዎች መካከል ግጭት ያመጣል። በሺዎች የሚቆጠሩ ግጭቶች በመቶ ሺዎች የሚቆጠሩ ህይወት አልፏል፡ እኔ ሀገር አልባ ሆኛለው።

ግዮናዊት፤ ምን ማለትህ ነው?

አስፋው፤ አንቺ ከደብረ ማርቆስ ከአማራ ክልል በመሆንሽ የኛን ከአምራ ከአዲስ አበባ ውጭ የምንኖረውን አማሮች ታሪክ አትረድቱም። ከኔ ቤተሰቦች ሀገር በምዕራብ ሀረርጌ በጣም ብዙ አማሮች ሁለተኛ ዜጋ ላለመሆን ለህይወታቸው ሁልጊዜ ላለመስጋት ብለው ወደ አዲስ አበባ ተሰድደዋል። ይህ የሆነው ከ1983 ጀምሮ ነው። እስካሁን። ትውልድ ተሰድዷል ሀገር አልባ ሆኗል። ልጆች ሀገሬ ነው ብለው መጎብኘትም አይችሉም። በአካል መሄድ ይችላሉ ግን ሀገርህ አይደለም ስለሆነ የቦታው መንፈስ ዋጋ የለውም። የጎሳ አስተዳደርን በዚህ በተጨባጭ መንገድ ጉዳቱን አይተነዋል ደርሶብናል። ምናልባት እናንተ አምራ ክልል ያላችሁ ምንም ቢደርስባችሁ ሀገር አልባ አልሆናችሁም። የረሳችሁ ከሃዲዎች ናቸው የሚጨቁኗችሁ የነበሩት። ግን ሀገር አላችሁ ዛሬ በነፃነት ዘመን ሀገር አላችሁ። እኛ ግን የለንም። ሰለዚህ ስለ የጎሳ አስተዳደር ጉዳት እናውቃለን። ይህን አውቀን ነው አማራ እራሱን ማደራጀት ለኛ ዋጋ እንደሌለው የምናውቀው።

ግዮናዊት፤ አሳዛኝ ነው ግን መቼስ መደራጀታችን ይጠቅሟችኋል። ቢያንስ በገንዘብ እና ሌላ ነገር ድጋፍ ልንሰጣችሁ እንችላለን።

አስፋው፤ እስቲ ወደ ሌላ ርዕስ እንሂድ… ለምንድነው የአማራ ብሄርተኝነት የሚያስፈልገው ብሄ ስጠይቅሽ በመጀመርያ እና አጥብቀሽ የነገርሽኝ ስለ አማራ ላይ የደረሰው በደል ነው። ሌሎችንም ሳናግር ስለ አማራ ብሄርተኝነት አንድ ገጽ ከጻፉ 70% ስለ አማራ መጨቆን ነው። ይህ የ«ጭቁን» ስነ ልቦና (victim mentality) እንዲሰፍንብን አያደርግም? ይህ አይነት አስተሳሰብ ደግሞ ጎጂ አይደለም እንደ ጥቁር አሜሪካኖች፤ አቦሪጊኖች፤ ኦሮሞ ብሄርተኞች ወዘተ ማንነታችን ከመጨቆን ጋር አቆራኝቶ ወደ ታች አይጎትተንምን?

ግዮናዊት፤ እውነት ከሆነ ተጨቆንኩኝ ማለት ምን ጉዳት አለው? እውነት ነው። መካድ የለበትም። እውነቱን ካላመንን ደግሞ ወደ ፊት ሊደገም ይችላል አጥፊዎቹም ላይማሩ ይችላሉ እኛም ይቅር ማለት ያቅተን ይሆናል።

አስፋው፤ እውነት እማ እውነት ነው። ይካድ አይደለም የምለው። ምን ላይ እናተኩራለን ነው ጥያቄው። አዎን ጥቁር አሜሪካኖች እጅግ ተጨቁነዋል። ግን ያንን ከማመን አልፎ ማንነታቸውን ከመጨቆን ጋር አያይዘው ምንም ነገር ጉዳይ ላይ መጨቆናቸውን እንደ ምክንያት ሰበብ ይጠቀማሉ። (ያው በጅምላ እያወራን ነው ነገሩን ለማቅለል)። ስለዚህ እራሳቸውን አቅም አልባ (disempower) አድርገዋል። ለሚደርስባቸውም ሊሚያደርሱትም ሃላፊነት መውሰድ አቅቷቸው ሃላፊነቱም ምክንያቱም ሁል ጊዜ ጭቆና ይሆናል። ይህ ህብረተሰቡን እንዴት እንደጎዳው እናውቃለን። አምራ ብሄርተኛው ዛሬ ሲያወራም እንዲሁ ነው የሚሰማኝ። ስለደረሰበት ጭቆና በደምብ አሳምሮ ይናገራል። ምን ይመስልሻል?

ግዮናዊት፤ አዎ ስለ victim mentality እና ክብር ማጣት አውቃለሁ። ግን ይህን በኛ አማራ ብሄርተኞች አላይም። ሰለባ ሆነናል እና እንደገና እንዳይደገም መደራጀት እና መስራት አለብን ነው ጉዳዩ።

አስፋው፤ ጥሩ ነው የበታችነት ስሜት ከሌለ። ግን አይመስለኝም። የድሮ አማራ ቢበለም ተበድያለሁ አይልም ጸጥ ብሎ እራሱን ይጎላብታል እንጂ። ሽንፈትን በፍፁም አያምንም፤ ቢያውቀውም አያምንም። ይቅርታ ጠይቁኝ አይልም። የድሮ አማራ በትንሽ ቁጥር የሆኑ ህወሓቶች ተገዛሁኝ በገዛ ሀገሬ ተጨቆንኩኝ አይልም። ይህ እማ ጉድ ነበር የሚባለው! መቼም አያምነውም። የራሴ ጥፋት ነው ብሎ ወደ ራሱን ማስተካከል ቶሎ ይሻገራል። የዛሬው ትውልድ ግን ህወሓት እንዲህ አድርጎናል እያለ ይደጋግማል። እነ ይሄንን እንደ ታላቅ የአዕምሮ ሽንፈት ነው የማየው። ይቅርታ አድርጊልኝ እንጂ ያሳፍረኛል። ዝም ብለን ስራችን ነበር መስራት ያለብን።

ግዮናዊት፤ ታድያ አሁን ስራችንን እየሰራን ነው። ግን ልክ ነህ ቢያንስ ባሁኑ ወቅት ስለበደል ማውራት አቁመን ወደ ስራ መግባት አለብን።

አስፋው፤ ሌላ ጉዳይ… ምንድናቸው እነዚህ ከመካከላችሁ ሆነው ጸንፈኛ ሃሳቦች የሚያራምዱት። የኢትዮጵያ ብሄርተኝነት ዋጋ የለውም እስከ ኢትዮጵያ ፈርሳለች የሚሉ አሉ። አንቀጽ 39 ችግር የለውም የሚሉ አሉ። በጠቅላላ በጎሳ ብሄርተኝነት የሚያምኑ አሉ ከአማራ ጨቋኝ ነው ከሚለው ትርክት በቀር። እነዚህ የአማራ ብሄርተኝነት ምልክቶች ናቸው?

ግዮናዊት፤ ባጭሩ አይደሉም። የሰው ልጅ በተለያየ ምክንያት ወደ ጸንፍ ይሄዳል። አንዳንዱ በስነ ልቦና ምክንያት በደል ወይንም ጭቆና በዝቶበት። እንደምታውቀው ደግሞ ምሁራኖቻችን የጸንፈኝነት ችግር አላቸው። ቀላል መፍትሄ እንደ ዝክተኝነት ይቆጥሩታል። ከባድ እና ውስብስብ መፍትሄ እንደ ሊቅነት ይመስላቸዋል። ለዚህ ነው ወደ ጽንፍ የሚሄዱት እንጂ የአማራ ብሄርተኝነት እንደዚህ አይነቱን ነበር አያምንም። ኢትዮጵያ ከሌለች እማ ምን ዋጋ አለው? ለኛ የአማራ ብሄርተኝነት ኢትዮጵያዊነትን ማጠንከርያ መሳርያ ነው። እንጂ ሌላ ፍልስፍና አይደለም።

ውይይቱ ብሌላ ቀን ይቀጥላል…

ይሄ ነው ራዕይ!

በያንዳንዷን ጥቃቅን ነጥብ ባልጋራም አቶ አቢይ አህመድ በዛሬው ኢትዮጵያ እንደዚህ አይነት ወርቅ የሆነ አመለካከት፤ ሃሳብና እቅድ ማርቀቅ መቻላቸው እጅግ ያስደንቃል!

በተለይ ስለውህደት ለሰላምና ፍቅር አስፈላጊነት ያሉትን በደንብብ ያዳምጡ። በተለይ በተለይ ስለቋንቋ በውህደት ያለው ሚና!

የአብይ አህመድ ራዕይ!

ብራቮ!

ምርጥ ንግግር ከአቶ ለማ መገርሳ

ምርጥ ንግግር (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aim-D4EKMlI)።

1. በመጀመርያ በንግግሩ የጎሳ ብሄርተኝነትና የሱ መዘዞች አንዱ ዋና የኢትዮጵያ ችግር መሆኑን አምኗልም አስረድቷልም።

2. የኢትዮጵያዊነት መንፈስ ወይም ርዕዮተ ዓለም ለሁሉም ኢትዮጵያዊ ለህልውናው አስፈላጊ መሆኑን አሳየ።

3. ህብረተሳባዊ ችግሮች እንደ ስረዓትና ስነ መግባር ማጣት እያመለጠን (runaway) እያለ የሆነ ችግር መሆኑን ተረድቷል። በዚህ ረገድ የህብረተሰብ - ወላጅና የሃይማኖት መዋቅሮች - በዋናነት ሃላፊነት እንዳለበትም መገነዘቡ ትልቅ ነገር ነው። በርካታ ዪትዮጵያ ምሁራኖች በዘመናዊነት ርዕዮተ ዓለም ተለቅፈው መንግስት ሁሉን አዋቂ ሁሉን ማድረግ የሚችል ይመስለዋል።

4. መልካም አስተዳደርም አለመኖሩ (በሌላ አባባል የሙስና ከሙስና ጋር የተገ መብዛት) ሌላው ዋና ችግር መሆኑ የብአዴን ስብሰባ ላይ መቶ መናገሩ ትልቅ ነገር ነው። ባአዴን ከህዝቡ ጋር ያለው ዋናው ችግር በዚህ ዙርያ ነው። እርግጥ የወልቃይትና ሌሎች ከሌልች ክልሎች የሚያገናኗቸው ቢኖሩም ዋናው የብአዴን ችግር መልካም አስተዳደር ነው። ወንድ ሆነው ይህን እንቅፋት ቢያሸንፉና ጭቆናና ሙስናን ቢያጠፋ ከህዝቡ ጋር አንድ ይሆናል ሀገራዊ ሃይሉም እጅግ ያይል ነበር።

እግዚአብሔር አቶ ለማ መገርሳን በዚው መንገድ እንዲቀጥል ዪርዳው።

What's Ethnic Nationalism? Again...

I've written often on the subject of ethnic nationalism (http://asfawdarguemeshal.blogspot.ca/2016/11/some-basics-on-interacting-with-ethnic.html and other articles). Because I think it has become, since the Dergue and especially the EPRDF, the most important issue in Ethiopian politics, as well as the most dangerous in terms of political instability and general social disruption.

 

I recently had a discussion with some friends on the issue, and we found ourselves trying to form a common understanding about what ethnic nationalism means. I mean, if it is the most pressing issue in Ethiopia, then of course it would help if we could all have, at least to some extent, a common understanding of what it means. In practical terms, not theoretical.

 

Coming up with a common understanding was a difficult slog, even though my interlocutors, the friends with whom I was talking, are, to put it broadly, Ethiopian nationalists. Like me, they are not fond of ethnic nationalism as it is in Ethiopia today. But, in our discussion, I took the side of ethnic nationalism, so to speak, and they the side of Ethiopian nationalism. They presented to me the following well worn arguments against ethnic nationalism:

 

1. Identifying people by ethnicity is a form of discrimination. Why should an Oromo having more rights than an Amhara, just by virtue of being Oromo? This is discrimination and is backward or immoral.

 

2. Yes, there are different ethnic groups and languages in Ethiopia, and all of them should be recognized as part of reality, but organizing around ethnicity is exclusionary.

 

3. There is a history of war and oppression in Ethiopia, but it was not based on ethnicity per se, but on conquest and land. There were wars amongst ethnic groups (Gondar and Shoa, Guji and Borena), not just between ethnic groups.

 

4. The Southern expansion (invasion) of southern Ethiopia was not an Amhara invasion, not an ethnic invasion, but an invasion by the Ethiopian government, specifically the Kingdom of Shoa, which included not only Amharas but others, including Oromos.

 

5. The Southern expansion was but the latest of many wars in Ethiopian history. Perhaps the most significant were the Oromo expansion (invasion) and the Muslim (Adal) expansion (invasion!).

 

6. In more recent history as well, the Ethiopian government has never discriminated on ethnicity. Yes, Amharic was the national language, but one national language had to be chosen. This cannot be considered ethnic discrimination.

 

7. In terms of economic opportunity, there was no ethnic discrimination. Access to government-sponsored post-secondary education was open to all, and in fact it was the policy of Emperor Haile Selassie to include students from all regions and all classes, as long as the students were capable.

 

8. Ethnic nationalist policies such as separation or autonomy of ethnic regions would result in disaster for the economy.

 

and so on. You get the picture.

 

These are good and valid arguments. They make sense. Yet they seem not to matter to ethnic nationalists. But they should matter, my friends said, these are rational arguments - any rational person would more or less agree with them. So we just have to argue more?

 

In order to try and get them to empathize with ethnic nationalists, I asked them to consider the following scenario. What if two hundred years ago Italy had invaded and occupied Ethiopia. And what if they had brought about a good deal of development and governed without ethnic discrimination or racism. Would we not, today, after 200 years, still want them to leave Ethiopia? Would we not consider them to be sufficiently 'different' from us? Would we not want to change the textbooks to reflect our version of history, which would mean portraying the Italians as colonizers, as a category morally inferior to us, even though we too had made war at different times in history? Etc.

 

This scenario exercise did not work - it did not convince my friends. I didn't think it would. I think it was too abstract - too removed from reality - and not similar enough to the reality in Ethiopia. The Italian relationship with Ethiopia cannot be compared with the relationship of different ethnic groups within Ethiopia, which even in war interacted in a ways much different to the interaction between Italy and Ethiopia.

 

My next try was to simply assert that ethnic identity is a human condition that supersedes the 'rational' arguments above. Why does an Ethiopian in America choose to be in community with fellow Ethiopian-Americans rather than mainstream Americans? After all, a human being is a human being. If I am interested in football, then I share these interests with anyone, no matter what his ethnic group, who has the same interests. If I am a parent, then I share the same interests around parenting as any parent of any ethnic group. Yet, there is an attraction to other Ethiopians, based solely on ethnicity. This is simply because ethnic identity is a fundamental part of being human. It may not make sense in certain contexts, but it is a reality that we have to work around, rather than bash our heads against.

 

My clinching argument - clinching as far as I am concerned but perhaps not my friends - was to point out the various ethnic nationalisms in so-called developed countries around in the world - ethnic nationalisms that seem to be increasing in strength as development increases! Quebec would have separated from Canada years ago had it not been for the immigrant population which ruined any chance of a pro-secession referendum vote. Catalonia, supposedly the richest and most 'socially developed' part of Spain is becoming more and more ethnic nationalist. These are just two examples - there are many. This, for me, illustrates that the above 'rational arguments' against ethnic nationalism simply do not work. They do not work. Ethnic identity remains.

 

So what is the solution? Well, is there a problem to begin with? As I've written before (http://asfawdarguemeshal.blogspot.ca/2016/09/curbing-ethnic-nationalism-via_26.html), yes, too much ethnic nationalism, no matter how it's defined, brings about conflict. In fact, one can define excessive ethnic nationalism as one that results in conflict. If we see ethnic related conflict, if we see people protesting for ethnic rights, then we have a problem with too much ethnic nationalism, or ethnic persecution, which is the just the flip side of the coin. This is obvious and evidence around the world shows this. So, yes, it is a problem and we need a solution - we need to curb ethnic nationalism.

 

So if these 'rational arguments' don't work, what works? Before going on to that, let's look at some factors that affect - that can increase or decrease ethnic nationalism.

 

1. Geography: Being on an edge, so to speak, like Eritrea or Catalonia or Scotland, results in greater ethnic nationalism. Being in the middle, like Oromia, curbs ethnic nationalism. Why? Because being in the middle means more interaction and mixing with the rest of the population and it also makes secession more difficult, which forces ethnic nationalists to find ways to live together rather than take extreme positions.

 

2. Economy: In Quebec, when the economy goes bad, people get upset and become more ethnic nationalist! In the case of Catalonia, that's not the case. The effect of economy depends on the context. In the case of Oromia, the ethnic nationalist elites market their ideology partly on "fertile and resource rich Oromia". On the other hand, on the ground, the people of Oromia know how important rich urban centres like Addis Ababa are to them.

 

3. Politics: Repression, poor governance, etc. increases ethnic nationalism, as the case of Eritrea illustrates so well. Who would want to live in an Ethiopia governed by the Dergue? Indeed, Shaebia owes its biggest debt to the Dergue!

 

4. Language and culture: On face value it would seem that expanding the ethnic nationalist groups aspirations when it comes to language and culture would decrease ethnic nationalism. But the evidence is that it might curb ethnic nationalism in the short term, but in the long term, there's no impact. Canada became fully bilingual, increased the economic advantages of Quebec, and implemented other policies Quebec nationalism wanted, and this helped in the short run, but in the long run the francophones in Quebec still voted to separate from Canada.

 

5. Other factors: During the two Quebec secession referendums, one of the things the nationalist (Canadian) side was preoccupied with was trying to prevent some famous Canadian figure from making disparaging public statements about Quebec. One or two such statements, and the polls would swing towards secession!

 

Funny how ethnic nationalism works. Today, take a poll, and 30% may favour secession. A couple of months from now, after a couple of ethnic skirmished in the media, maybe an economic downturn, suddenly 60% are in favour of secession! How do these people change their minds about such a fundamental matter, perhaps a fundamental matter of identity, so quickly? Are they ethnic nationalists or what? Do you see how ethnic identity can be so complex, mild, and yet strong, fickle, and yet long lasting?

 

So, again, what is the solution? Integration and demography. Or as Donald Levine put it in Greater Ethiopia, synthesis. We need in Ethiopia a synthesis of ethnicity, or more accurately to increase the current synthesis. I will give one example of a government policy that can accomplish this - making Afaan Oromo a national language and teaching it equal to Amharic or other languages in schools. Make all federal services available in Afaan Oromo throughout the country, not just in Oromia. Then have at least the large regions such as Amhara Region include Oromiffa equal to Amharic in public schools, so that every child that graduates from school in Amhara region will speak Oromiffa as well as Amharic. Imagine the integration of ethnic groups that this will promote, while at the same time promoting Afaan Oromo throughout Ethiopia as a national language. This will result in a larger integrated population, which will reduce the 'market' of ethnic nationalists. I offer this as a solution because it's the only one that seems to have worked throughout the world throughout history.

 

So, in summary, ethnic identity is fundamental part of the human condition, and its modern consequence ethnic nationalism almost so. No amount of rational arguing against it will reduce it. Too much ethnic nationalism results in conflict, which we see in Ethiopia and other places around the world. The way to moderate ethnic nationalism is to promote integration.

Catalonia - Another Lesson for Ethiopia

The first lesson, Ladies and Gentlemen, is that ethnic politics is not particular to Ethiopia. I make this obvious point because it seems that a lot of my fellow Ethiopianists - those of us who are wary of ethnic politics - continue to think that only Ethiopia is 'plagued' by ethnic politics. No, ethnicity is universal, nation-states have been for the past two hundred years at least universal, and therefore ethnic politics exists in all states to some extent or another, depending on their ethnic demographics and history.

The second is that the root of ethnic politics is ethnic identity, which has existed for the most part of the existence of this world! People naturally have and are fond of their ethnic or national identity, which, by the way, are fundamentally equivalent. If you ask someone who identifies as Spanish what it means to be Spanish, and if you ask someone who identifies as Catalan what it means to be Catalan, the answer will be the same. My language, my culture, my geography, my ancestry, etc.

What about exclusivism - that is, what about an ethnic or state identity that excludes others? Today's clever Catalan secessionist will say that anyone can be Catalan as long as they identify as Catalan and speak or want to speak the language. Quebec separatists have said the same for decades. Secessionists often adopt this position to ensure that they are not attacked as exclusivists or 'racists'. Anyone can become Catalan or Quebecois, as long as... At the end of the day, ethnicity (and nationalism) are fundamentally exclusivist of course. It is a particular language or culture or geography or way of thinking that one has to adopt. So an Ethiopian nationalist can also say that anyone who adopts Ethiopian language, culture, etc., can be an Ethiopian.

A fourth point is that although ethnic identity is natural and the root of ethnic nationalism, ethnic nationalism itself, that is, the need to politically assert ethnicity, can be manufactured. Latent ethnic sentiments can be stoked by clever politics on the part of ethnic nationalist politicians, and stupid politics by those opposing, and this is what we have seen in Spain. Catalans who only a few years ago would oppose secession today are all for it not because anything substantive has changed in Spanish politics, but because of clever and poor marketing.

The fifth lesson - another very important one - is that wealth, 'development', modernity, etc. do not mitigate ethnic identity. In fact they may amplify it. Catalonia, compared to Oromia, is quite rich. And 'educated'. And modern. Yet it is rife with ethnic politics driven by the need to assert ethnic identity. So the assumption by some in Ethiopia that with development ethnic nationalism, especially 'narrow nationalism', will decrease is a false and dangerous one.

The sixth lesson is nothing except demographics can stem the tide of ethnic nationalism. The problem in Catalonia, as was the problem in Quebec until 25 years ago, is that there are too many people who are today or are potential Catalan nationalists. So secession via referendum is always a threat and ethnic nationalism is always the main political issue. This situation exists because there has not been enough Spanish-Catalan assimilation to create a 'mixed-identity' population in Catalonia and, very imporantly, in the rest of Spain. If there were a sizeable mixed-identity population, then Catalan nationalism would be much weaker. So without sufficient assimilation, the threat of ethnic nationalism always exists, and the solution will end up being ethnic strife or, if possible, secession.

This last lesson is what, I believe, the policy of the Government of Ethiopia should be based on. It is what we Ethiopian nationalists have to advocate for. Assimilation is the key to reducing ethnic nationalism and tension in Ethiopia. Note here that assimilation is not one way - it does not mean everyone should assimilate towards one particular ethnicity - for example, 'Amhara'. It means that there should be assimilation towards some merged and mixed ethnicity. In Ethiopia, for example, if there were significant intermigration and intermarriage between Oromos and other Ethiopians, with Oromiffa being spoken in most parts of Ethiopia along with Amharic and a significant mixed population, such demographics would greatly reduce the power of ethnic nationalism and tension such as exists today. In my view, the Ethiopian government (and state governments) must seriously study and implement policies that promote such assimilation, such as for example teaching Afan Oromo in schools in Amhara State and promoting inter-state migration. Such policies will bring about the necessary assimilation that will mitigate ethnic tension.

The Oromo Nation – A Fait Accompli?

2009/2/20 (Ethiopian calendar)

2016/10/20 (European calendar)

[Note: An Amharic version of this post will appear sometime!]

(pdf)

I've just read Dr Ezekiel Gebissa's reply to Dr Tedla Woldeyohannes' questions about the upcoming Oromo Leadership Convention in Atlanta. While answering the questions, Dr Ezekiel gives us some idea of his vision of the relationship between the Oromo nation and Ethiopia. In this article I'll take what I consider to be the best parts of his article – two major points – and expand on them.

The first is that Ethiopian history, in other words the story of Ethiopia, can be interpreted in various ways. It can be made to fit a story of a single nation albeit with different ethnic groups, or a nation of nations, or even prison of nations.

For what it's worth, I too agree that history and ethnic and national identity are to a large extent matters of interpretation. No one interpretation is the Gospel Truth. We can argue all we want about these, as we have done for decades, as laymen, as academicians, as politicians, in various contexts and within different paradigms; some of us might even change our minds; but at the end of the day, if we want live together in peace, we have to be able to agree to disagree.

Note that I say this as an ardent Ethiopian nationalist who considers the synthesis story of one multiethnic nation as the true story. Further, I consider the ethnic nationalist story not only untrue but that if it goes too far, it does not bode well for the nation as a whole. The mere fact that arguments for this story are often buttressed by claims of victimhood obviously makes for tensions, acrimony, and negative competition between ethnic groups. I would like to note that such claims are not at all necessary to build the ethnic nationalist story – it can be constructed quite well without them – but the fact that they are often used illustrates the risks that come with ethnic nationalism.

But I digress... There are valid differing opinions and they have to co-exist. In order to co-exist, I believe that we Ethiopian nationalists have not only to strive to understand these opinions, but beyond understanding we must try to empathize. Look, Oromo ethnic nationalism is not the first ethnic nationalism in the world! Plenty of other multiethnic nations are having to deal with ethnic nationalisms of different types. This alone should give one pause. We are not alone. As such I believe that humility requires that we Ethiopian nationalists step back re-assess our understanding and response to ethnic nationalism. Yes, we are right to stand and argue against it, but our position should not be as in the past, where we fought against the very right of ethnic nationalism to be politically expressed and advocated repressing it by force. That was then and is now not only an unwise but also, dare I say, an immoral course.

The second point of Dr Ezekiel's that I wish to discuss is the following: that all the arguments have been made and done, and today the Oromo nation, as part of an Ethiopian nation of nations, is a fait accompli. Ethnicity is enshrined in the Ethiopian constitution and a generation of Oromos have been taught, exclusively, ethnic nationalism. Again, this is true. Sad, for us Ethiopian nationalists, but true! We have to not only accept this new political reality, but we have to learn from how it came about so that we can avoid making the same mistakes as the past.

So, how did it come about? We Ethiopian nationalists played a huge role by mismanaging the country, by neglecting to make necessary accommodations, and perhaps worst of all, by committing political fratricide over the past half century. We managed to convert Eritrea from a region eager to join Ethiopia to a nation willing to sacrifice thousands to leave it. We made Ethiopia such an inhospitable and repressive country that some relatively few ethnic nationalist elites were able to leverage this into a vast expansion of ethnic nationalism. After the EPRDF gained power, rather than doing the obvious – conducting a self-examination to see how we could go so wrong as to leave the hands of the country in the hands of self-proclaimed ethnic nationalists – we concentrated on blaming the EPRDF for happening to fill a vacuum we created! And we bickered... Even after the EPRDF instituted today's radical ethnic nationalist constitution, we continued, in absentia, to argue amongst ourselves while the roots of ethnic nationalism spread!

Yet, despite the failures of the elite, Ethiopian nationalism still remained strong among the masses. You will recall that even just eleven years ago Kinijit demonstrated an unexpected amount of nation-wide support for at least some degree of de-ethnicization. However, our Ethiopian nationalist elites managed to make a right mess of that as well. Even today, there is no significant Ethiopian nationalist political movement – Ethiopian nationalism, as a story remains only in the hearts of the masses.

Now, we have to face Dr Ezekiel's fait accompli, not with denial, not by blaming others, and not with nostalgia, but by accepting reality and responding with a constructive agenda. Given the huge rise in Oromo ethnic nationalism and the confused state of the EPRDF, the nation of Ethiopia needs a strong Ethiopian nationalist movement to act as a counter-balance – to bring about a less risky equilibrium to the country's politics. The impediment to this is not the EPRDF nor Oromo ethnic nationalism, but the Ethiopian nationalist elite. It is time we pull ourselves up with our bootstraps before it is too late.

Curbing Ethnic Nationalism via Integration and Demography

2009/1/15 (Ethiopian calendar)

2016/9/25 (European calendar)

[Note: An Amharic version of this post will appear shortly!]

In a recent post on the dangers of ethnic nationalism in Ethiopia, I explained why I agree with the idea now fashionable among followers of Ethiopian politics to establish Afaan Oromo as a federal language equal to Amharic. This policy will have two 'effects' – an integrative effect – it will help increase inter-ethnic integration – and a 'placating' effect – it will have a psychologically soothing effect on ethnic nationalists and reduce their zeal, so to speak. In this article, I'll explain that the integrative effect is the strongest and most effective and that the placating effect will be minimal. In addition, unless accompanied by other policies that advance inter-ethnic integration and policies that ensure demographics do not favour ethnic nationalism, the policy step of making Afaan Oromo a federal language, by itself, will not have much effect..

Before going further, let me review why ethnic nationalism is dangerous for Ethiopia as a whole. First, what is ethnic nationalism? We know there are different kinds of it – soft nationalism, hard nationalism, opportunistic nationalism, ideological nationalism, etc. For our purposes here, let's define an ethnic nationalist as one who places his ethnicity ahead of his country. The type of person who says, for example, I'm Tigrean first, then Ethiopian. We all know what this means at the gut level, but let's try and spell it out with an example.

Let's say that in a given province the language of the ethnic group that is a large majority is not an official language. If members of this ethnicity campaign to have their language made the official language, it would benefit them but be a disadvantage (depending on how they take it) to those who belong to other ethnicities as they would have to learn this new language. For the province as a whole, though, the benefits are greater than the costs because a large majority have their wishes respected. Let's consider a similar example, except that the ethnic group requesting that its language be the official language is a small minority in the province. Obviously having their language be the official language would benefit the small minorty, but it would place the vast majority at a disadvantage. Yet, the minority insist. They put their ethnic demands ahead of the greater good, they put their ethnicity ahead of their province. This is what I call ethnic nationalism.

The costs of such ethnic nationalism to a nation are, again, at a gut level, quite clear. The theory is obvious as well. Christopher Clapham put it succinctly in an article just after the 2005 election – to paraphrase: When in a multi-ethnic country such as Ethiopia centrifugal forces begin to exceed centripetal forces the nation begins to pull apart. This is what is being tangibly proven in Ethiopia today, so much so that even the ethnic nationalist EPRDF is worried about it. They've always been worried about it to some extent, identifying 'narrow nationalists' as a threat to the nation. But now they're realizing that even their kind of ethnic nationalism is causing dangers that might require significant reform, such as even changing their 'front' from a group of ethnic based parties to a single non-ethnic entity! (They've seen that political oppression and ethnic identity is a dangerous mix. People are much less tolerant of a small amount of oppression that they perceive is ethnic-based than worse oppression that is not ethnic-based!)

While insisting on the dangers of ethnic nationalism to Ethiopia, I in no way deny that ethnic sentiments and identity and are part of Man's nature, or to use a modern term, a human right. As far as I am concerned, ethnic nationalism too is a human right. As such I think it is futile and even dangerous to repress ethnic identity and ethnic nationalism. If an Oromo wants Afaan Oromo to be the federal language, or if he wants Addis Ababa to be devolved into Oromia, or even if he wants to have Oromia secede from Ethiopia, he has a right to these views and to exercise them politically. Of course, like any other right, the rub lies in the extent to which these conflict with others' rights.

Again, though ethnic identity arises from Man's natural desires, it is, when it crosses the line I mentioned above, a danger to the society at large. One clearly cannot have a country where in every sphere everyone favours their own ethnic group at the expense of the country as a whole. It is for this reason that we Ethiopian nationalists must do our share to reduce ethnic nationalism in Ethiopia.

That was a long review! On to a discussion of integration as a tool to reduce ethnic nationalism and increase civic nationalism... Integration is the social and political mixing of ethnic groups so as to create new groups whose loyalty is to the mixture – the nation. We all know it as an age old formula for creating new kinship, and kinship is what we are really talking about here. The reason that Ethiopia as a nation still stands today is the result of thousands of years of integration.

In today's Ethiopia, integration promoting policies are things like promoting inter-regional migration, business, infrastructure such as transportation, etc. Assuming the ethnic-based regions stay as they are, the best way to promote migration is to have people learn languages of other regions so that they can migrate there, and so that people of the other region can also come here, so to speak. So for example if Afaan Oromo is taught in school in Amhara region and is made a priority, teachers from Oromia would have to be brought to Amhara, and they would probably settle there if properly welcomed. And of course the main goal – Amharas having learnt Afaan Oromo will find it easier to emigrate to Oromia.

At the start of the article, I mentioned making Afaan Oromo a federal language equal to Amharic. This makes sense for various reasons, including integrating the vast number of Oromo youth who for the past 25 years, thanks to ethnic nationalism, have not been taught Amharic or in fact have been taught that speaking Amharic is not a good thing. It also makes sense in the context of the Oromo being the largest or close to the largest ethnic group in Ethiopia. And as I described above, this policy will have an effective integrative effect, it will increase kinship and identity at the national level, reducing ethnic nationalism, in this case Oromo nationalism.

I will note here that I'm afraid many who advocate this policy also, mistakenly, think that the placating effect will be high. That is, they think that making Afaan Oromo a federal language will be seen as a gesture of goodwill by the Oromo public and result in a major reduction in Oromo ethnic nationalism. This, I think, is a very wrong assumption. We can see throughout the world examples of cases where concessions to ethnic nationalism had no such effect. From Canada to Spain to Belgium to Scotland etc., we see the central government making concessions to ethnic nationalists, and these concessions end up reducing only the rate of acceleration of ethnic nationalism!

In the case of Ethiopia and Oromia, there's no reason to think the same won't happen. As soon as Afaan Oromo is made a federal language, Oromo ethnic nationalists will demand that Addis Ababa be absorbed into Oromia State. Against democracy, so to speak, since the majority of Addis Ababans would not want this. This demand is driven purely by grievance and history and is exactly the type of demand that prioritizes the desires of an ethnic group over that of the population at large. And after this demand, others will follow.

However, if the central government and the governments of the other states follow policies of integration and demographic balancing in concert, then Oromo ethnic nationalism will be curbed. Again, if we look world wide, the 'success' stories of reducing ethnic nationalism involve either integration or demographics. Consider Quebec... Its geographical setting is on the edge of most of Canada, sort of like Eritrea to Ethiopia. For this and other reasons, even with official bilingualism (English and French), integration with the rest of Canada remained minimal. However, demographics did the job of burying Quebec ethnic nationalism. Like all of the West, Quebec has brought in lots of immigrants (it has tried to focus on French speaking immigrants) to augment the labour force, pay taxes, etc. These immigrants are very much anti-Quebec nationalism, and their numbers have increased so much that they have tilted the balance in Quebec. If a referendum for secession were called today, a small majority of White French Quebecers would vote to secede, but their majority would be easily overcome by the immigrant vote. Where all sorts of policies failed, the reality of demographics did the job.

So too in Ethiopia civic nationalists have to ensure that the proportion of civic nationalists to ethnic nationalists in the population does not get too low. Encouraging population growth in urban centres, which tend to be civic nationalist, is one such policy. Amhara State, being a non-ethnic nationalist state, also has to ensure that its population does not decline relative to other states in the country. And so on.

In summary, ethnic nationalism is a right which citizens must be allowed to exercise politically. However, too much ethnic nationalism, such as what we've had for the past 25 years, destabilizes the nation and is dangerous enough to result in a failed state. Therefore ethnic nationalism must be curbed, and the force that will curb it, through thoroughly democratic means, is the Ethiopian or civic nationalist constituency. The policy instruments to curb ethnic nationalism is the promotion of policies that advance inter-ethnic integration and keeping a healthy balance between the ethnic and civic nationalist constituencies.