by Tedla Asfaw
Professor Ezekiel Gebissa and Ato Asfaw Dargue Meshal are suggesting on ethiomedia that the Woyane/OLF Kilil is the way to go forward. For that we “Ethiopian nationalists” as suggested by Ato Asfaw the “weakest” compared to the ethnic nationalists , I do not know what test he used to measure it, have to work very hard otherwise it will be too little to late. Are there Oromo Nation armies who controlled the current Oromia marching to take Addis Ababa/Finfine as its historical capital claimed by the Oromo nationalists ?? Can Addis Ababa residents of multi ethnic groups claim it as “Addis Nation” Why not ?? There are five or more million people.
Why should we accept the Woyane/OLF made kilil as if it was done with the participation of the people ? Dividing Ethiopia into nine kilils brought conflicts on land/water and it also brought ethnic cleansing that resulted to large numbers of population displacement and death. Amharas were targeted in most kilils with vengeance and hate.
It is true that Ethiopia is a home for more than 80 ethnic groups of people like Oromos who have their language and culture. Why should we deny the Welayta, Kembata, Sidama among others etc their own nation like Oromo and call them “Southern People” ?
Did we not have historically a Welayta “king” an Adal Sultan similar to the claims Professor Ezekiel put forward for Oromo Nation ? Or is this the game number ? Oromos are tens of millions while others have less numbers ? Are we going back in time and make territorial adjustment or recognition for what happened few hundreds years ago by declaring Welayta, Sidama, Kembata etc and expand the nine nations to few tens if not 80 nations ??
Nations are mainly built by the barrel of Gun in war time and economic survival in peaceful time, Ethiopia is no exception. Who ever has Gun will establish and declare a state. As we speak, the Kurds who have their own unrecognized enclave in Northern Iraq after 1990s are expanding using the ongoing war against ISIS in Mosul as a cover. We heard them boasting that they will not leave. They are right !! The Sunnis know haw to fight and Gun is not a problem. The Syria we see now is totally different from Syria of 2011. When the war will be over Syria will not be the same. We will have a Syrian Nation in Europe too ??
Similarly the current 9 kilils geography will expand or decrease by whoever got the upper hand in the battle front. That is the truth Ezkel and Ato Asfaw afraid to tell us. Ethiopian nationalists know how to fight for Ethiopia like their ancestors did in the past and the Talk will come later if it is now seen as weakness.