PM Abiy extends best wishes on the 17th Nationalities (Ethiopianness) Day
Addis Ababa, December 7, 2022 (FBC) – The FDRE Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed extends a happy Nationalities and Peoples’ (Ethiopianism) Day to all Ethiopians.
Here’s the Prime Minister’s full statement:
Congratulations on the 17th Nationalities Day (Ethiopianism Day).
This year’s Nationality Day (Ethiopianism Day) is celebrated with the theme of ‘Our united national unity for lasting peace’. We will have lasting peace when we can strengthen our national unity. Ethiopia and Ethiopianism without lasting peace and lasting peace without national unity cannot be achieved.
The festival of nationalities is the celebration of Ethiopianism. Ethiopianism is a manifestation of the common and unity of the nationalities [in the country]. Ethiopianism is a common identity where the values, cultures, histories, heritages, languages and arts of the nationalities are manifested together. If we want Ethiopia and Ethiopianism to emerge victorious on the world stage, we must create a way for all of us to be victorious. The question is how do we create it?
We can all be winners when we can build an Ethiopia that belongs to all of us. We can do things that we say were not done in the past in the Ethiopia we are building tomorrow. We will be able to correct the flaws that we say should not have been done in the past in the Ethiopia that will be built tomorrow. We can build the Ethiopia that will be for all of us if we all focus on tomorrow.
We are building Ethiopia in two wise ways. The first is by allowing ourselves to contribute from what we have, and the second by allowing all of us to gain. For the sake of survival, peace, honour and justice for our fellow Ethiopians, we must be willing to sacrifice some things from ourselves. Living together requires a sacrifice of will. Even if a husband and wife of different nationalities want to live together, there must be sacrifices that they make together for the sake of their marriage. But this sacrifice must be made by all of us.
Losing something by force is punishment. Depriving something without consent is oppression. Forcible abduction of a person is violence. Voluntary loss, however, is a historic price to pay for building a shared home. It is the price of love that we pay when we want our other people to live, to be respected, and to find peace and justice. If we are not ready to pay this sacrifice, our fate we will be exposed to pushing instead of cooperating, blaming instead of supporting each other, differences instead of unity, broken instead of being respected. We may lose something if we do what we say, the work we do, the law we enact, instatement we give, the wealth we share, the procedure we implement, and the holiday we celebrate.
But this is done to live together in harmony and to build a nation. It is a sacrifice paid to ensure prosperity for all. It is a precious sacrifice that every generation can be proud of. There is no one who has not stood by the sacrifices of others.
We are all products of the sacrifices made. This is why we must make sacrifices for the sake of others.
Self-centered acts may temporarily feel like we have won, excelled and profited. But it is not possible to go through more than one chapter by excluding the other and including all. We, humans, have lived in history making the earth suitable only for ourselves. We continued to grow without paying much attention to animals, plants and other organisms.
But in the end, humans realized that they could not live alone. Man alone cannot live on earth unless he takes care of the earth to make it comfortable not only for humans but also for animals, plants and other living beings. He understood even late that even the invisible creatures are important for human existence and that man has to pay a sacrifice for them. Lately, he realized that many of the diseases for which mankind has no cure are due to his long-term struggle to live alone by destroying others.
Dear children of Ethiopia,
In no way can we live, grow and win without each other. All peoples in Ethiopia are our people. All languages are our languages. All cultures are our cultures. All holidays are our holidays. All beliefs are our beliefs. All heritages are our heritage. All areas are areas of all of us. All natural resources are the resources of all of us. That is why our security forces are shedding their blood and breaking their bones in any part of the country.
And it is vice versa. The oppression of any nation is the oppression of Ethiopia. Any party’s wound is Ethiopia’s wound. Yesterday’s fracture of any nationality is Ethiopia’s fracture. The humiliation of any nationality is the humiliation of Ethiopia. The killing, displacement and loss of peace of any people is the killing, displacement and loss of peace of Ethiopia.
Ethiopia is like a person. And, we, her children are her different body parts. If it cannot be ensured that what is done to one part of the body does not harm the other, the damage will come back. It is not possible to honour one part of the body and disrespect another. The sickness of one is the sickness of all. When one part is sick, all parts go to treatment. We, the Ethiopian nationalities, are the same.
Today is the day to extend our hands for our common needs and unity beyond our personal needs. Today is the day to witness that there is not beauty in diversity, but life in diversity. Today, we will end up being a roof overhang. Today we hold our own irreplaceable place in our homes. A home is like a country. Knowing that we cannot achieve our goals separately, we stand together with knowledge and desire for our common existence. Let’s build our country in a beautiful state by being equal walls, equal roofs, equal doors and windows without forgetting that we are irreplaceable options for living with each other.
Dear Ethiopians,
Our time of light and glory has come. Ring our morning bell with patience and not giving up. Stopping short of our goal is a huge loss, so let’s pick up our pace and keep moving. An unfinished journey is labour in vain, and our energy will be exhausted before it is time to eat the fruits of our labour.
In this era where countries without a foundation of government and history are building a beautiful country in a short period of time, we should not fail to finish what we started with a country with a strong foundation like Ethiopia. If other countries can build a system that embraces all with the laws they pass today, we can strengthen our country of building better than them. Let the time of forgetting that we are a people with a strong foundation end. If we embrace our differences, our unity will build beautifully on our values. Unity and diversity do not conflict. Difference is the name of our job to cover our gap. Unity will be our journey of knowledge. And not only by standing together, but by joining, let’s increase our strength beyond our numbers.
If we don’t ask for the benefits that we all use, living in the same country, our benefits alone cannot be sustainable. If we don’t all win equally; No one can win forever. If we are not all respected, no one can be respected in the long run. We should not do any work unless we are sure that it does not harm others, or even benefits others.
Let us note that the criteria we should consider should be two. Let us know that everything that does not make the whole of Ethiopia a winner will inevitably cause damage sooner or later. On the other hand, a race to succeed will be a dream race. There will be no prosperity that we can achieve without running and sharing the poverty.
Once again, Happy Nationalities (Ethiopianism Day!
Ethiopia shall live in forever in dignity and pride through its children’s efforts!
May bless Ethiopia and its people!
December 7, 2022