The Bantustanization of Ethiopia
A State of National Emergency
By Tilahun Yilma
Ethiopian Review, April 1996
My recent article (Ethiopian Review, February, 1996) reviewed the current situation in Ethiopia and concluded that “Ethiopia Should Secede from the Provinces of Tigray and Eritrea.” I called for a national referendum, in accordance with current constitutional provisions, to decide this issue. The response has been overwhelming. Many Ethiopians and friends of Ethiopia have rallied to this suggestion. Discussions are going on to explore the issue in depth and determine a course of action.
Now I want to bring to your attention a specific case that I believe threatens the very existence of Ethiopia within a period as short as the next five to ten years, and lead to her certain demise within one generation. It is the “Bantustanization of Ethiopia,” as explored in detail in Assefa Negash’s important book, The Pillage of Ethiopia. It follows the pattern established to enforce apartheid in South Africa. The term refers to the creation of small “homelands” by an established power, with the purpose of dividing and marginalizing the people along tribal lines in order to maintain control. Today, the TPLF and EPLF have institutionalized such a program for the purpose of destroying Ethiopia as a nation, pillaging its resources to build Tigray and Eritrea and enslaving Ethiopia’s 50 million non-Tigrigna-speaking citizens in the process.
The most detrimental effects of this policy in Ethiopia can be seen in the changes in education under the new regime. Ethiopia, with more than 80 distinct language groups, has now been divided into killils (regions) along ethnic lines, and it has been decreed that: 1) All elementary education is to be taught in the language of the region; 2) All instructors in the schools must be of that ethnic group and fluent in the particular language; 3) Regardless of the current ethnic composition of the school, all students from ethnic groups not speaking that language are still forced to study in the ethnic language of the region; 4) Except in the Amhara killil, the current national language may not be used in teaching students. This is true even if greater than 90% of the teachers and students speak this language and only a small proportion of residents speak the “ethnic language.”
The results of this policy are devastating for Ethiopia as a nation. The educational gains of the pasteven under the harsh and repressive Derg regimeare rapidly dissipating as children drop out (physically or mentally) from incomprehensible school requirements, and as the unavailability of modern teaching materials in diverse languages takes its toll. The economic burden for families who abandon their homes and move to areas where their children can be educated, as well as for teachers dismissed from their positions because of ethnic affiliation, can scarcely be calculated. Meanwhile, it is difficult, if not impossible, for small ethnic groups to locate competent instructors in modern technologies who speak the proper dialects. Standards in education have been dropped; it is impossible to establish national norms in such disparate situations.
It is ironic that the U.S., the supposed bastion of freedom and capitalism, is funding the creation of this modern “Tower of Babel.” A key feature of capitalism is promotion of free and unfettered movement of people, goods, and ideas. These restrictive policies and the resultant decline in education can only lead to limitation of opportunity and alienation from neighboring groups, discouraging free movement within the nation and communication with the world at large.
It is impossible to justify such policies as beneficial to the nation. They do ensure, however, that there will be no educated or unified opposition to the current regime. Let’s not forget that Issayas Afeworki has boasted in public about creating a condition that will keep Ethiopia in turmoil for the next 60 years.
If we are to exist as a nation and a people, we must act immediately to overturn this policy of divide and conquer. We must come together and stand firm against the interlopers who are plundering Ethiopia.
Let me just quote Shimon Peres, the leader of the world’s most successful nation in mounting its own defenses to maintain its survival: “I have been asked where we will act. My answer is everywhere. I have been asked if we will break the law. There is one law we will not break: that is the law of national and personal security of the State of Israel. It is legal for a nation to defend its existence.” (New York Time, March 5, 1996) So, too, must we be willing to break every “law” except the higher one that gives each citizen the right and even the duty to defend the integrity of his or her own nation. We owe it to ourselves, but mostly to our children. Our most sacred responsibility is to the next generation of Ethiopians.
___________________________
Tilahun Yilma, DVM, Ph.D. is Directory of the International Laboratory of Molecular Biology for Tropical Disease Agents at the School of Veterinary Medicine, University of California, Davis.