Good vs Evil

Imagine this to be the end of time when all creations of God stand before the creator, when the good and evil stand in front of the judge. The time when the earth swallows everything above it and everybody is raised according to their intentions. The time when the creator asks every creation what they have done with their lives. Without differentiating colour, race, religion and size. The time when angels defend the good and Satan and his followers side with the evils. What would the world say about all the war, mass murder, destruction, poverty and the hypocrisy? Where would all hypocrites hide and what excuse would they come up with? Would there be a place for them where they would be chained and interrogated? Would those who are instigating and engulfing the suffering in the world beg for mercy? Would those traitors who are being bribed into becoming tools confess their crimes? 

The world has eyes but does not see and has ears but does not listen. It has become a place where those who sell their country and people then live off the suffering are commended, where those who massacre the helpless majority are called democratic and rewarded, where those who are fighting for their rights are labeled as destructive, where governments are imposed externally to serve those who are causing horror and where citizens are being bribed into becoming servants.

On Sunday 17^th of January 2009, we made our way to south London to attend ‘Hizbawi Mekete’ seminar organized by Eritreans in UK. The seminar was held in south eastern part of London, UK in a place called Camberwell. The hall was easy to locate with easy access to transportation and a lot of parking spaces in the area. The seminar was scheduled to start at 3pm, but as people were arriving late it was delayed by an hour and half. 

We got there around 3.30PM and the hall was filled with people. Extra seats were to be fetched from the store room. I thought it was a small venue for such a big seminar, but I was told it was also being transmitted live via Paltalk and people could follow from the comfort of their warm living rooms. As there were no more seats left, people had to stand wherever they could squeeze in. Many of the participants were of the young generation mixed with older generation. When we arrived at the door, we were met by two young men who directed us to the table on the left to the main door. There were about 6 youth with letters in front of them and they handed us one each and we were asked to put our names and address after we read their content. They were petition letters to the British Government Parliament members about the unjust and illegal sanction that is imposed on Eritrea. It is unacceptable to accuse an innocent nation without any evidence therefore Eritreans are condemning the British Government and they want the sanction lifted immediately. We registered our name and signature and passed it back to the young woman sitting in front of the table. 

We found a spot at the back where we could stand and I was scanning the hall. Mothers, fathers, religious leaders, young men and women were waiting patiently while more people were still coming in. I was then asking questions to myself. When would this end? When would all the animosity toward Eritrea stop? When would Eritrea rest? 

My favorite singer Wedi Tiquabo came to my mind. In one of his songs ‘Mieraf’ he says, “I used to think rest was a comfortable bed after a hard work. The long struggle and success have only brought peace but not rest. Rest is a destination that calls us from afar and network of generations march towards it.”

I am beginning to realize that, rest will come when evil is completely defeated and as long as Eritrea rejects the evil, then temptations will carry on. Satan will attack those who are advocating peace as he is the master of chaos. Few Eritreans will be possessed into becoming tools and turn on their fellow Eritreans. They clearly see outcome of their sins yet they stubbornly continue to harm their fellow citizens. When EPLF was a few Kilometers away from Asmara in 1991, some similar possessed individuals were still blindly siding with the colonizers. 

In the speech he made during the seminar, the humble and eloquent Ambassador of Eritrea in UK, Mr. Gerahtu said one thing which stayed in my head. He said, “no matter when and no matter how we get bullied, we will never break the promise we made to the Eritrean Martyrs and that is we will never compromise our national security. In other words Eritrea will not be a servant nation, a play ground for the evil. 

The leadership in Eritrea has clearly become a threat to those who are looking to exploit. Until now African countries have been classified as incapable mutes. While heads of government on other continents are expected to deliver peace and prosperity with only their people's gratitude and a pension as compensation, in Africa's case leaders are uncontrollably corrupt and this is a view widely held not just outside, but within Africa. Africans seem to accept the argument that the Kenyan policemen are corrupt because their wages are so low. But why would Africans pay their leaders a small fortune each month hoping that they then wouldn't need to steal from them? Africans are made to accept that they are failures and they have no future in their continent hence they abandon their homes. 

Eritrea in the other hand has a unique prospect which is promising. Eritreans are have the opportunity which almost all African countries are deprived of. Eritreans own their own destiny. The leadership in Eritrea must hold their ground and they have the backing of 99.9% of the Eritrean population. 

History is the biggest teacher and many are not grasping what has been taught. The fools are committing crimes after crimes. I am astounded by the foolishness of those who have chosen to serve the evil. They can clearly see the failures around them and they still choose to fail. They can see the sins around them and they still choose to commit more sin. The most astounding factor of all is that, some of the crimes today are being perpetuated by individuals who suffered atrocities. The so called webmasters of Awate, Asmarino and other armature websites (I call them tea boys), have clearly become instruments of those satanic parties who are against Eritrea. 

God Protect us from our possessed citizens and we will take care of our enemies. The desperate and blinded citizens who have no care for the existence of our prosperous nation except their pocket money, the citizens who benefit from chaotic situations, citizens who are incapable and narrow minded and mentally enslaved.

I will leave you with a slightly modified R Kelly’s lyrics ‘World’s Greatest’ but I have called it ‘World’s most free.

Eritrea is blessed by God and is qualified to say
I am a mountain
I am a tall tree
I am a swift wind
Sweeping the country
I am a river
Down in the valley
I am a vision
And I can see clearly
If anybody asks u who I am
Just stand up tall look them in the Face and say

I am a giant
I am an eagle
I am a lion
Down in the jungle
I am a marching band
I am the people
I am a helping' hand
And I am a hero

I'm that star up in the sky
I'm that mountain peak up high
Hey, I made it
I'm the world’s freeyest
And I'm that little bit of hope
When my backs against the ropes

In the ring of life I'll reign love
And the world will notice a king
When all is darkest, I'll shine a light
And use a success you'll find in me

We Denounce the Unjust Sanctions Against Eritrea
We Say No to Unjust Sanctions Based on Lies
We Call for an Immediate Lifting of Unjust Sanctions
We Still Call for Constructive Engagement

Samson Negassi,   samson_negassi@yahoo.co.uk

If you fail to prepare then prepare to fail.

 A good Leadership is a facilitator and provider of a better living and better future. Good leaders promote new directions such as better products and services and they open doors to everyone who is able to show a good leadership and this means that leaders manage as much as lead. At present, many nations in the world are suffering under a very bad leadership. The most ‘powerful’ nation in the world in USA has suffered a very embarrassing and damaging eight years under the leadership of George W Bush and Americans have a very long way to change this negative image they have inherited. Is Obama the right person to lead American achieve this mountainous task? We will have to wait and see. The UK leadership has suffered embarrassing corruption issues in the last few months. These corrupted UK government members were exposed, but how about those who were not exposed? How much corruption did go under the bridge?

Last week I followed the interview of President Isaias Afewerki with the financial times with great interest. President Isaias and his colleagues in the Eritrean Government have one mission and this mission is to prepare a strong Eritrea for the coming generations. The clear and transparent vision of this leadership is being put into practice. Staying independent physically and mentally is the only way forward and I thought the President did well as usual. The question about Somalia took half of the time during the interview. The turbulent poor country is being terrorised and since Clinton administration was chased out of the country during early 1990s, Eritrea’s stand was consistent. Somalis can only solve their own problems. External interference should only help bringing all factions to one table. How can one support a nonexistent Government? How can USA and UK accuse Eritrea of fuelling the situation in Somalia while they are actually arming war lords in Somalia and the invading soldiers of Ethiopia?

These questions should be raised by those who are ‘representing’ Africa. The mute organisation by the name of ‘African Union’ has sadly become a servant of those who have geopolitical agenda and therefore it is partly weakening Africa. This ‘Organisation’ does speak when it’s told to do so and keeps quiet when it is ordered to do so. Is it really capable of leading Africa in progressing to a better future? Clearly not. A bunch of clueless fainthearted corrupted lames get together and take orders. When they are told to jump, without any hesitance they ask how high.

Why are most African nations tapped in a very narrow hole and it has become impossible for them to free themselves? It is only because they failed to prepare. One leadership goes and another one follows, but the same story of war, poverty, destruction, disease etc. If mistakes are made then it should be only right to rectify them. The question comes to all the failed leaders in Africa that, why is this simple logic not clear to them. For instance, if you spent 17 years fighting to bring ‘Democracy’ in Ethiopia, then being a tool or a puppet should be the very last thing in your mind. You become progressive as you don’t want to be trapped in the narrow hole of destruction. The sleazy prime minister of Ethiopia and his gangs would change their story everyday only to please those masters who are paying their pocket money. In this case, there is no leadership in Ethiopia, because the Weyane thugs are not leading Ethiopia, but facilitating for those who are weakening the country. The same story in Djibouti, Kenya, Uganda, Nigeria etc.  

The satisfactory truth about Shaebia or the Eritrean leadership is that it has learned and assessed the situations in the world and particularly in Africa and has decided to follow the right path to development i.e. starting from scratch and building the way up. For example Grass roots democracy, installing basic necessities such as clean water, clinics, schools, roads etc in every corner of the country. Without being swayed by short-lived fantasies and concentrating on the reality, the leadership has proven to stabilise Eritrea in many ways. When the third offensive on Eritrea by the thugs in Ethiopia (backed by those who have geopolitical agenda) was foiled 9 years ago, another conspiracy to divide and dismantle the strong and united Eritrean identity was orchestrated. Unfortunately some Eritreans including some leaders were corrupted into becoming tools. Had that evil attempt succeeded, we would now have Eritrea which is similar to Kenya, Ethiopia, Djibouti, Uganda, Nigeria and the rest. The diligence of this leadership has managed to quash this evil and deadly virus (before it infected many others) and carried on rebuilding Eritrea.

No other nation and certainly not USA and UK have right neither are they qualified to lecture Eritrea about democracy, freedom of press, corruption, social justice etc. Without saying much, if we look at the track records of those nations that are being lectured by USA and UK; then Eritrea gladly says thank you but NO thank you. We don’t want your hypocritical lectures.     

A very few power thirsty Eritreans who are stubbornly blinded by personal hatred, greed, sick and narrow regionalist dividing ideologies do scream every now and then. Scream of failure. Those failures such as Huriy Tedla Bairu, Bereket Habteslasie, Adhanom Gebremariam, Abdela Adem, Mesfun Hagos and their tools Saleh Gedi, Tesfaldet Meharena, the mad man Amanuel Iyassu, the regionalist imbecile Isseyas Asfeha, the frustrated and attention seeking Elsa Chrum and some others (not even worth mentioning their names) self proclaimed puppets who satisfy their sick mentalities by writing laughable jokes on websites, have accepted their failure and are already contemplating their lonely lives ahead.

Eritrea is represented by over 4.5 million Eritreans. Except those (around fifty in number) failures, Eritreans inside and abroad are working for the good of their country. They assured the existence of their nation and now they are continuing to build it. Hundreds of thousands of young men and women are defending, rebuilding and representing by keeping their promise to those who were martyred before them. Every little from everyone is making a very huge positive difference. With the forward thinking, visionary and diligent leadership, the future is bright.

More rain and everlasting peace in Eritrea.

Wisdom and Strength to the Eritrean Leadership.

Glory to the Eritrean Martyrs.

Awet N’Hafash

Samson Negassi

samson_negassi@yahoo.co.uk

 

What’s wrong with doing right?

We said, we want to be free, free of colonialism

They said, we have no chance our future is grim

We asked ourselves if our future is doom and gloom

Our only choice was to fight and bring our freedom

 

They said, our fight for freedom was only a dream

We can never defeat the biggest army Africa has ever seen

They were very wrong, oh boy they were badly beaten

Eritrea made history the world has ever seen.

 

They said, we can never survive on our own

We said, we will never fall for your shallow scream

We have shown what we can do and will keep on going

Just do not interfere, leave us to do our own thing

 

Self reliance is the key to developing

Working for yourself making your earning

To think, implement and future planning

Was the aim no matter what others were saying.

 

Suddenly the whole world became interested

Even those who wrote us off seemed bemused

We started slowly building the primary need

Social justice, equality was our main road

 

How can this be? They wanted to know our secret

Why are they different from the other lot?

After all, this is Africa what have they got?

We have to stop them from hitting their target.

 

Shall we ignite ethnic and sectarian war?

Or shall we ignite war with their neighbour?

How about the issue of the border?

And use our puppets start trouble.

 

Only because we want to make our future bright

To make Eritrea a pleasant sight

Not to be dragged into the unnecessary fight

What’s wrong with doing right?

 

For us, by us, to us, was and is our theme

Bring everlasting success and fulfil our dream

Avoids dependency and assure misery will never happen

Build a strong future and blossom  

 

When there is darkness we will bring light

We are always ready and stand for our right

Peace is our choice, but ready to fight

We have learned the hard way God/ Allah is on our side.

 

 

God Bless those who gave their life for Eritrea.

 

Awet N’Hafash.

 

Samson Negassi

 

samson_negassi@yahoo.co.uk

Afabet was the beginning of the end- Massawa was the Burial of colonialism

Ethiopian soldiers surrendering

In 1988 I was in my early teens, but very much aware of the liberation struggle and one Sunday afternoon-as me and my friends usually did, I was looking forward to going to watch a football match between my beloved Red Sea (Elpa) football club and Melotti (Asmara Birra) football club-at the Asmara (chichero) stadium. Before the match of Red Sea and Melotti, there was another match between Walia (the Ethiopian Military team) and Adulis. I met my childhood friend Saeed and we made our way to the stadium with the money that was given to us by our parents for the entrance and also to treat ourselves with some sweets and peanuts.

Sundays in Asmara were usually quieter than other days as Asmarinos enjoy a relaxed day with their families and friends, but that Sunday was unusually busy with a lot of military soldiers on the street. We were oblivious to the miraculous achievement of EPLF in Afabet, but every Ethiopian soldier we came across had angry and suspicious look on them-more than usual. When we got to the stadium, there were more uniformed Ethiopian military soldiers than civilian Eritreans and the whole atmosphere was tense. While waiting in the queue to get in, older guy from our neighbourhood called us from behind and took as away then he quietly but firmly ordered us to go back home as situations in the stadium were not safe. The excitement on his face was visible and it didn’t take us long to realize the seriousness of the situation and we run back to where we came from.

By the time we got back to our neighbourhood, a group of our friends were sitting and chatting away and we joined them. After telling them why we came back, one of them said –“Yes Afabet has been captured by Tegadelti and that they are on their way to Asmara”. Excited but scared-scared because we were surrounded by colonisers-we then started making up stories about how much we knew about Tegadelti and how courageous they were. We were comparing them to movie stars.

When I got home I started talking about the situations in the stadium and the capture of Afabet to my older sister. She obviously knew what was going on, but she was dismissive to what I was saying. For the first time in my life, I knew Eritrea would be free. The capture of Afabet completely changed the mood in Asmara. Eritreans were actually planning ahead with excitement-they were looking forward to the following miracle. When EPLF destroyed the strong 18^th military division headquarters of the Ethiopian army- which humiliated the colonial regime ‘Derg’ and with the capture of Russian military advisors, the Eritrean liberation struggle leaped to another level.

February 1990, I was 11^th grade student in Barka (Comboni) secondary school, Asmara. In the morning of a school day I walked into my class room and my classmate Mokonen called me excitingly and asked if I had heard that the Asmara-Massawa road has been blocked by Tegadelti? I remember it like yesterday - the whole class was talking about it and no one was concentrating on what the teacher was saying. The Ethiopian Maths teacher knew the students’ excitement and was clearly angry. The situations in Asmara changed dramatically. Ethiopian soldiers were in every corner of Asmara, people were stocking up food, electricity was restricted from 6pm until mid night, 9pm curfew was declared and most Asmara streets were dark and deserted. Asmarinos would make sure they are home by latest 6pm.

Eritrean Peoples’ Liberation Front was only a few kilometres away from Asmara-putting the airport on target-the military airport in ‘Sessantotto’ was being bombed every day. Asmarinos could hear missiles whistling past their city towards military targets. Though it was terrifying to begin with, people got use to it. Pamphlets were spread by EPLF insurgents advising the residents of ‘Sessantotto’ to leave.  Checkpoints were setup around ‘Bar Jima’ and ‘Sembel’ by the Ethiopian army. Anyone was not allowed to pass beyond the checkpoint well inside Asmara. Those who were travelling out of Eritrea had to catch a NTO (National Tourism Organisation) tour bus to the airport from the then Ethiopian airlines ticket office-now the elegant Harnet Avenue- as cars and taxis were not allowed. When passenger planes arrive, the bombing was halted not to injure the civilians. After all everyone was shaebia and the bombing was accurate with the help of informers within the enemy inside the airport.

Bars and restaurants had barely anything to serve. When people order tea it was served without sugar. Petrol and kerosene was out of question. Coffee machines were redundant as there was no electricity. The inventive Asmarinos were making it happen somehow. There was no act of whining. People were more hopeful and joyful. Ykealooooooo, Ykealo, Ykealo was echoing on Dimtsi Hafash. Operation Fenkil started the burial of colonialism. The Freedom Bell was sounding loudly.

The Ethiopian colonisers were frightened and terrorised as they knew their final day was near. They were losing hope and were becoming more hostile. Young men and women were being imprisoned and murdered. Walking out of the house became more dangerous. It was the time of 1990 World Cup when Cameroon beat Argentina. The football loving Asmarinos were out watching the match in friends’ house and on their way back 30 young Eritreans were massacred by heavily armed Ethiopian soldiers. Their bodies were left on the street of Asmara until the morning. Everyone heard the sound of those deadly bullets that night, but no one could help-it was one of the darkest times of Asmara. Colonisers wanted to terrorise and break the hopeful and joyful spirit of Eritreans, but to the contrary Asmarinos became more committed and dedicated to getting rid of the barbaric colonisers. 

The terrorism did not stop there. One afternoon our school friend Helen invited three of her friends to her house-to work on some school work together. It was Saturday afternoon and we were studying and discussing our homework. A loud bang-something I have never experienced before erupted. It shook the house and as we run out, we could see people screaming, shouting and running everywhere.  A missile landed in the middle of Asmara. Shopkeepers were shutting their shops, people were rushing to find their loved ones and it was a very chaotic and frightening moment. I remember walking home with other fellow Asmarinos that afternoon-everyone was looking out for each other and the elders were advising the younger ones to walk together with the crowd-not to be singled out by the Ethiopian soldiers. It was like a war zone with heavily armed colonial soldiers in every corner. It must have been the longest 20 minutes I had to endure until I got home.   

As it was later discovered from a captured Ethiopian soldier, the missile was deliberately fired by the Ethiopian Army around Asmara to cause hatred on EPLF. The captured soldier was interviewed by EPLF radio ‘Dimitsi Hafash’.

The Liberation of Massawa began the burial of colonialism and it certainly changed Eritrea once and for all. The hard fought and sacred freedom has to be moulded with great care. Our martyrs gave their life and true Eritreans shoulder the responsibility of making Eritrea the unique pearl in the world. 

Happy 21st Anniversary Massawa.
God/Allah bless the Eritrean Martyrs.

Samson Negassi, samson_negassi@yahoo.co.uk

“An Eye For An Eye Makes The Whole World Blind”

The world population has become accustomed to the daily headline news of war, terrorism and destruction. Questions are not being asked as to why the bad news has become our daily deafening noise. Many are being recruited to orchestrate stories and wage wars between countries, groups and clans. The world seems to be ruled by one “superpower” that is invading countries, bending the rules and imposing sanctions on those nations that “refuse to obey”. There is war in every corner of the world more than any time since the Second World War and many seem to grow hatred and animosity towards this so called “superpower” nation and are looking to take vengeance on behalf of their people who are being unfairly treated.

Instead of looking for solutions some corrupt lobbyists and want to be politicians who barely know their geography are deteriorating the situation. Human traffickers are taking advantage of vulnerable citizens who are looking to cross to the western countries for a “better life” by charging up to $12,000 per person. The third world and particularly many African counties have been buried in a deep hole and their resources are being emptied and people have become salves in their own countries that they cannot decide their future and have no say about their present. Its a vicious circle.

Eritrea has chosen the hard, but the right way and this is for a very good reason. Eritreans went through so much of hardship looking for everlasting freedom. Eritreans gave their life so that coming generations would not be trapped in the vicious circle. When Eritreans were fighting for their freedom, some of the servants so called “lobbyists” and “ambassadors” in the United Nations were perhaps enjoying hip-hop in some ghetto corners of USA. These servants had no brains to stand for the African Americans who were swept by tornado in New Orleans when the administration of George W Bush left them for dead, but they are front line warriors when it comes to bullying and intimidating the weak and poor nations in Africa. I can confidently say that, these people did not even know the existence of Eritrea until the last few years.

It is a blessing to come out of a solution oriented people and leadership. The realistic Whole World Blind” and cautious approach to the nation building process has made Eritrea the stable country in one of the most turbulent area of the world. Not bowing to the outside pressure has helped Eritrea prevail in the last ten years. Every prediction by the leadership has turned out to be the reality. And now the approach of cleaning up your neighbourhood will only be productive for the future. By not getting involved in the satanic conspiracy in Somalia, Eritrea has stood high with pride as every operation by the invaders is failing. Earlier on, Eritrea predicted that the invaders and their servants would only get stuck in quagmire and that is exactly what is happening now.

Looking for solutions would still have been the best option today. Eritrea would gladly forgive and move on taking the rest of Africa with her to the right direction. As they say “Confidence is contagious, but so is lack of confidence.” The confidence of Eritrea could only inspire others to follow suit. But if Ethiopia or Uganda represent Africa, then it’s all downhill.

Fixing the badly bent and nearly broken situations in the world and particularly in the Horn of Africa is the only option and that is by leaving Africans to solve their own problems and helping them without any hidden agendas. This would only mend the broken hearts and would make the world a better place. But intimidation and bullying has been chosen as a solution and Eritrea is picked on only because the failures in the Horn of Africa region were exposed and all their satanic work has failed.

If the past mistakes are going to be rectified then acknowledging them is the first step forward. Instead of admitting the lies about “weapons of mass destruction” in Iraq more lies are being told. Those leaders like George W Bush and Tony Blair who committed crimes against the world had gotten away without being tried at the International Criminal Court in The Hague.

The ludicrous part of all is accusing Eritrea of providing arms to the Somali groups. Now as they say “fool me once shame on you fool me twice shame on me”. The US administration has provided and is providing tones of arms to Somali warlords and the servant Ethiopian soldiers to serve its purpose. These arms remained in Somalia and are in the hands of Somalis. A small and poor country like Eritrea has neither the capability nor the need to provide arms to others. Eritrea tried to help solve the situation in Somalia realistically by setting up a comprehensive dialogue between Somalis as it is the only way to the final solution.

The question then, what has the involvement of outsiders in the Somali affairs achieved? The answer is, Somalia has become one of the most dangerous places on earth. This is a very dangerous occurrence in the Horn of Africa and Eritrea has a big role to play in changing this grave situation for the better. The USA and Barak Obama’s Administration should look at Eritrea as the only solution in the Horn and they should work in partnership with the Eritrean people and leadership.

Sanctioning Eritrea would not solve anything except empowering Eritrea. During the 30 year freedom war, when Eritreans fought against the Ethiopian colonisers who were armed by the then Soviet Union, the mental strength was what they were equipped with. They knew their destination and they knew how to get there. They never knelt down, but they faced their enemy with intelligence and to the dismay of those who dismissed them, they completely destroyed the biggest army Africa has ever seen. They also helped the present minority leaders of Ethiopia to Addis Ababa. The vision was to create a peaceful and prosperous Horn of Africa region that can work together. The minority servants in Ethiopia were blinded by a few Dollars and turned on Eritrea and history repeated itself. Eritreans repelled the attack inflicting heavy losses on the minority Ethiopian junta.

Eritrea always chose peaceful solutions because eye for an eye will only make the world blind.

“Those who declared death on Eritrea have died and Eritrea is still there and those who are declaring death on Eritrea will die and Eritrea will always be there.” Yemane Gebreab.

God/ Allah Bless Eritrea

Samson Negassi
samson_negassi@yahoo.co.uk

Eritreanism

Identity plays a very important role in one’s life. Who are you? Where do you come from? Going back to your roots and identifying yourself can put your life in perspective. Knowing your history can make you a very proud person.

Here in United Kingdom, there are people from different parts of the world. Europeans, Africans, West Indians, Asians, Americans and etc. They all have History, but how proud are they? How much do they know about their history?

The Eritrean struggle for freedom and the Eritrean history plays a very important role in my daily life. Enduring all the hardship and fighting against all the odds with discipline and a vision that seemed unthinkable to some and then not only making that vision a reality, but also preserving it with care is unique. When tomorrow seemed impossible, the miraculous Eritrean Peoples Liberation Front was planning for the year after next. When the going got tough, the tough got going. The tough got going, because there was a bright light at the end of the tunnel. Vision that was accompanied with action made the Eritrean freedom a reality.

Leading our daily lives can sometimes seem and feel difficult. Earning money to cover your daily expenses and perhaps go beyond by saving a bit of money every month. It can be tough and can seem too much. There are also those with children who have to provide at least the basic necessities such as, putting food on the table, shelter, clothing and etc. But if you have vision and instill that vision in your children then it becomes a reality. When children grow up knowing who they are, they grow up confident and they can always have their heads up. Shaebia’s (EPLF) secret for succeeding was, instilling the Eritrean vision in every Eritrean’s mind.

A little while ago I was talking about the current situation of the world with my two colleagues. One of them is English and the other white South African. I was talking about the negative influences the west has on Africa. The English colleague could not understand what I meant by “negative influences” as BBC and other western biased media blind him. The South African was furiously arguing with me saying, “how South Africa was better governed during the Apartheid era”. He was going on about Zimbabwe and how the country’s economy is crippled because the white farmers were kicked out the country. This colleague of mine believes only the whites can make a difference and that without their help, economy of any African nation can be crippled. This is one way of weakening one’s confidence.

I pointed out to him that there is a thing called self-reliance and that there is a country in Africa called Eritrea. I asked him how much he knew about Eritrea. Obviously he couldn’t careless about Eritrea, but I told him the mouth watering history and the brilliance of the Eritrean vision and leadership. He could not believe that, I was speaking with confidence about a tiny African country he had never heard before. 
Yes I am confident because I have history, a history that makes one's mouth water with envy. Yes I have confidence because the country that is mine is becoming exemplary not only in Africa but also in the whole wide world.

The English colleague interrupted and said, “but we did a lot to help Africans. How about Live Aid? Red-Nose day? We alerted the world about the hunger in Ethiopia. (He was talking about Michael Burks BBC Report in 1984). I asked him why Ethiopia is still hungry until now then? He looked at me and said, “well we cannot feed them everyday”. I said, “but you would rather cripple them by lending money they cannot afford to pay back and by arming them to invade their neighbors while they cannot feed themselves?” I also asked him if he knows Ethiopian Government spends millions of the aid every day feeding and arming the army and I also asked him that if he knew the Ethiopian government has refused the accept the final and binding EEBC (Eritrean Ethiopian Border commission) border ruling? He looked at me with stern and dazed look. BBC won’t broadcast crimes that are being committed by Ethiopia. The atrocities in Ogaden and massacre in Somalia, the illegal occupation of Eritreans lands. They would rather cover Amy Winehouse’s drug problems or Victoria Becham’s hairstyle. 

My English colleague has it easy because his ancestors worked hard for him. He does not think about the stability of his country, but he is proud of his grandfather who was in Africa during the Second World War. He talks about it with passion. He believes “the west is superior” and he would argue furiously if you said otherwise. Perhaps his ancestors had a vision of making Britain one of the most powerful nations in the world. Then they did not want to entertain anyone or anything that opposes their vision. People were hanged for treason because they cooperated with the enemy (Germans). (The last man hanged in the UK for treason; William Joyce was the infamous 'Lord Haw Haw' - the voice of Nazi propaganda throughout the Second World War. From bases in Germany, Joyce's transmissions were heard by up to 16 million people in the UK. His sinister broadcasts led to his indictment and execution for treason at the end of the war.)

The hypocrisy of the western superpowers is that, when poorer countries try to get out of poverty by being self-reliant, then the west would try to stop them by weakening the idea of self-reliance, by discounting it as impossible to sustain. They would finance major internal hostilities and demoralize the population and destabilize the economy.

Let’s look at Sierra Leone for example. It’s a country rich of natural resources but very unstable. Sierra Leone gained independence in 1961, opting for British parliamentary-style rule with a prime minister as head of state. When the country was free, there was no clear vision on how to govern it’s future. People of Sierra Leone were not conscious of outside conspiracies. They believed that Europeans are better. It was easier for the outside forces to come and divide them. There was violence after violence. Britain kept on sending “peace keeping soldiers” only to protect the Diamond mines. There were elections only to be marred by violence and coups. In 1999 the United Nations Mission in Sierra Leone (UNAMSIL) arrived to “make peace”, but the rebels called ‘Revolutionary United Front’ took members of the mission hostage and confiscated their arms and ammunition. The situation continued to deteriorate and violence resumed and the United Nations mission remains there until now. The biggest problem here is that people of Sierra Leon have no ownership of their future. Their fate is in the hands of outsiders.

Eritrea sits comfortably exposing these hypocrisies. Eritreans are owners of their future. We have a government that stands for Eritrea and the Eritrean Identity will be respected.

The Freedom was not donated to the people; it’s a hard fought miracle. Eritreans paid their best to earn their freedom. The western superpowers dismissed it as unrealistic. The Soviet’s Napalm bombs and the conspiracies of USA did not deter the struggle for liberation. Liberation from slavery, colonialism and exploitation.
   
"Those who declared death on Eritrea have died and Eritrea is still here and those who are declaring death on Eritrea will die and Eritrea will always be here." Yemane Gebreab, 2000

Glory to the Eritrean Martyrs.

Samson Negassi.