Twenty Years Later: Overdue for Dagmai Sewra

Those old enough to remember know what it was like then on May 24, 1991, simply indescribable. The difference today, twenty years later, is like night and day. As we mark this milestone in Eritrea’s recent history, many questions are being asked. Where is the opposition? Is there a credible one at all? But the most important one of these questions is this: Was the thirty-year struggle worth it? My answer is yes, absolutely. How can I say that given Eritrea’s current situation that we all know about; given Eritreans are dying in the high seas and the deserts of North Africa; the youth enslaved in an endless military service; the people back in Eritrea made mute by repression; the elders and parents of young people left behind without support or care? Only if we are able to separate the current reality of the tyranny and dictatorship that has befallen the country from its independence struggle, are we able to see the difference.

For, Eritrea’s independence is a fait accompli and therefore Eritrea’s independence is inviolable, no matter what revisionist historians may say. Most Eritreans today are ashamed of Isaias Afwerki and his regime. Most Eritreans are not, or should not be, ashamed of their struggle for independence. For, simply put, it wasn’t their fault that they were colonized by Europeans and their rights to self-governance violated by subsequent Ethiopian regimes. These two are mutually exclusive, distinct issues. That is to say, the fact that Eritrea has a dictator and a failed government does not mean the struggle for self-determination and independence was wrong. Anybody who tells you otherwise is being intellectually dishonest, are utterly confused, or just on a mission to revise history. Confusion, frustration and despair understandably are the current state of mind of many well-meaning Eritreans.

Eritrea’s problem is compounded by the lack of a credible alternative. The opposition has been weak, directionless, lacking in clarity, and hence incompetent for the last two decades. The fact that there are more than a dozen opposition groupings explains the sad story. The organized opposition keeps on splintering into different groups and then the same groups come together to form a 'united' organization only to go back to splintering again a few years later. They are just groupings of self-appointed people claiming to represent and speak for Eritrea and the Eritrean people. They don’t. They represent themselves and their members only. The various civic organizations too are no substitute for the political organizations since they themselves are, true or not, perceived to be associated with one or the other opposition group.

We are also muddled in political correctness, attempting to appease every person, every nationality or religious group. One cannot even state a well-known historical fact before the hounds are out and are all over them for speaking the ‘unspeakable’. A house that is built on such foundation, a foundation of political correctness, of lack of democracy, of intolerance will not stand for long. It doesn’t help that this sad theater is being performed in the Diaspora, not in Eritrea proper. What do I mean by that? Instead of reaching out to the people, we are mired in our own, the Diaspora’s, problems. We have been unable to inspire the youth and the people inside the country. Instead, we let them look for external help to deliver the solution, the salvation if you will, when the solution can only be found within Eritrea. We need to stop pretending that we are capable of fighting and changing the regime from afar, by remote control. The Eritreans in Eritrea are capable of fighting and changing the regime, not the Diaspora. Just like the struggle for independence was successfully led from within the country, the second revolution (dagmai sewra) should be led from within the country as well. There is no alternative for such leadership. We in the diaspora can only play a supporting role. We have not realized this until we saw the Arab Spring. If there is going to be an Eritrean Spring, an African Spring, we have to stop pretending and accept our role as being supportive, inspiring, and helping from outside. The main work and leadership for change should be left to those inside the country.

This has been the reality. In short, Eritrea's problem is not its viability as an independent nation, as some would like us to believe. Rather, Eritrea’s problem is the lack of a selfless leader who can think and work selflessly for the people, not for one particular organization but for the people of Eritrea as a whole. Eritrea lacks such leadership who can lead the second revolution from within Eritrea proper. Let's empower, encourage such leadership to emerge for the Dagmai Sewra to be successful. There is no such leadership right now. Hence, twenty years after independence, lack of credible, indigenous leadership is Eritrea's main problem.