By Samuel Estefanous
Nations come together and Nations break up. There is no divine writ consecrating Greater Union. Small might be chic, metaphorically speaking that is. I guess we are getting used to the general idea. I mean folks are increasingly getting indifferent to those who are pressing the agenda of secession. The hitherto ‘righteous indignation’ that counters secessionist rhetoric is visibly waning. When AbbaSerke birhan’s declaration relative to Tigray being better off without Ethiopia was posted online, the immediate comment below the video reads-‘Is there any way we could be of some assistance?’
That comment bugged me for so long. I know the author might not have given it much thought. He might have even forgotten penning the words but for some reason it really got under my skin. You know why? Because it isn’t an isolated instance, the idea is beginning to get a firm grip on the popular consciousness of the rest of the country. From Mayor Adanch to Dr. Sisay Mengiste down to a beer hall regular, the idea is increasingly getting viable traction. We all seem to be in a lot of hurry to bid farewell and the unmistakable vibe is ‘let us kiss and say goodbye.’
One thing is for sure the days of holding Ethiopians hostage to the threat of secession are no more. In the case of the breakaway Tigray Synod, the only thing that caught most off guard was the one institution which is believed to be the last one to speak for secession has come out as the vanguard party sponsoring the bill. The Church in Tigray used to be such a formidable bulwark against any secessionist tendency that even TPLFites were afraid to invite its wrath upon themselves. No wonder folks were blindsided by the recent developments coming from the Clergy in Tigray.
One has only to read Aregawi Berhe’s book to understand the veritable feud between the Church in Tigray and TPLF. He writes that TPLFites did everything in their power to ‘neutralize the Church’ though in vain. Among others, the reason the core promoters of Manifesto-68 (Ato Meles, Sibhat, Abbay and Seyoum) were forced to withdraw the program had much to do with the psyche of the overwhelming rebels attached to their village parish and God father than the theories of Stalin. Aregawi writes beautifully about this synthesis between the village Church and the parishioners. Isn’t this enduring attachment a fascinating legacy? A good friend of mine from one of the Northern Provinces to this day identifies his village parish as ‘his country’.
So when the leaders of this all powerful Church which holds sway over the temporal life and eternal soul of its followers say something like ‘breaking away’ from Greater Ethiopia the significance and impact of the measure is incorrigible. Thus, unlike in the case of the gun totting freedom fighters, the Clergy meets little resistance both from within and out. Besides, the Clergy and flock in Tigray are reputed to belong to the conservative section of the Orthodox Church. They are implicitly trusted. At least the honest ones are. Remember the passage in the book ‘Love till the Crypt’, where the impostor nun meets the ‘Samaritan’ woman? Seble says she is from Tigre to escape detection and the woman notes something like the Tigre being steadfast in their faith.
Anyway, I remember writing an article bemoaning the visible situation where politicians on both sides of the aisle are helping Tigray drift away from the Federal Union. I wouldn’t involve the Clergy not only out of sheer decency but knowing it as the ultimate bastion of Ethiopiawinet. However they just wouldn’t be ignored. They are out in full force to be heard as a vocal voice of secession. They slam shut Church doors in the face of a delegation of Church elders from Addis headed by His Holiness the Patriarch citing ‘irreconcilable difference’ with the Mother Church. Church leaders – not TPLFites- are doing this. Makes one wonder, how fast they have traded roles in just a few decades.
I mean Nations break up but Churches hardly do. There is no Canonical reason for the Eritrean Christian Churches to break from their Ethiopian counterparts unless for reasons of administrative expediency. I might have missed the details but as far as I understand Eritrean Catholic Churches were under the dominion of the Ethiopian Catholic Synod until very recently.
Speaking of secession, we will not be the first and we will not be the last to break up. Had Eritrea been gone in good faith, we could have remained enviable good neighbors. Unfortunately Eritrea’s sentimental Sovereign Credit Worth is expressed not in elevating it to the Singapore of Africa- which by the way it could have attained with all the potential at its disposal- but it is measured in terms of seeing Ethiopia go down the gutter. How could a country which reckons its worth in such terms as ‘we are down on our luck but at least we have permanently denied Ethiopia’s access to the Sea’ become viable? Thus, if Tigray takes its lesson from Eritrea and becomes a good amiable neighbor there is nothing to fret about. May rolls of silk cushion the road of their departure as Ato Meles would have said. You see in the event Tigray goes, unlike in the case of Eritrea, chances are half Tigraway may choose to remain Ethiopian and they would be most welcome.
Besides, even Eritrea wouldn’t just go. It just wouldn’t quit hovering around Ethiopia like a lost satellite. Most Ethiopians were like ‘you wanna go solo, take a hike and be gone.’ On the contrary as I heard someone around Lafto (one of the Piccolo Asmara settlements in the country) observe ‘ተላቅሰን በአዉቶቡስ የሸኘናቸዉ፤ የድንበር አጥር እየዘልሉ አራት አምስት ሆነዉ ከልጆቻቸዉ ጋር በእግር ተመልሰዉ መጡ’.
Thank God except for a handful I rarely hear Addis folks saying ‘ተመልሰዉ መጡብን’. They are so welcome back. So much so that it isn’t unusual to hear second generation bilingual Eritrean kids born in Addis helping out their elder relations around Department Stores, Bus stops and Banks. Let us be honest ATM machines are fitted with Tigrigna App to cater for Eritreans; otherwise you won’t find a single Tegaru who isn’t conversant in Amharic language-at least not in Addis.
God Bless.
The writer could be reached at : estefanoussamuel@yahoo.com
Editor’s note : Views in the article do not necessarily reflect the views of borkena.com
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this is an article from mahibreseytan , full of tehadesso campaigners.
Ato Sereke exhibits psychological instability and holds anti-Ethiopian Orthodox Christian views. He expresses a strong disdain for Ethiopia as a country and appears to be driven by racism, particularly against the Amhara ethnic group.