Reminiscent of the 60s and 70s hairdo with a sideburn running down to the jaw, people would take him for a drawback and a man who has frozen in time in a nostalgic mood to celebrate the Hippie movement where time refuses to cease as a new era attempts to begin in vain. When one peels the cleavage however, the core is anything but. He has not only radically changed the Eritrean political landscape particularly in the diaspora but single-handedly reframed the narrative in a language that can be related to the otherwise cluttered Eritrean youth who had been craving for a leader and guidance. I dare say ዉፉይ is the ONE!
As they say, leaders are not made but born irrespective of their either humble or lofty beginnings. I don’t know ዉፉይ from Adam so to speak but I have followed his speeches and interviews religiously and if anyone had already given up on Eritrea if a leader will ever be born, ዉፉይ is the good news. Let me put it this way: I remember, during the campaign for presidency, the actor George Clooney who was campaigning for Barack Obama was asked to describe Obama in few words. Clooney said, when Obama walks into a room full of people, the people would simply follow him. Some people have extraordinary presence and their powerful and magnetic presence touches everyone around them and that is precisely the reason they are leaders and we look up to them for inspiration and guidance. ዉፉይ is just that.
For the first time in more than twenty years when the Eritrean Opposition fought against each other on an agenda that was set by the regime in Eritrea including when they squabbled on personality conflict and contest on who writes better articles in English, ዉፉይ and his follow members are communicating with the language the youth is familiar with bereft of esoteric lingua. Moreover, he focuses on what is relevant when he emphasizes on the struggle to change the mindset of the youth which had been indoctrinated by the regime for far too long when immaculate deception is taken for a matter of fact. Weyane is this and that, for instance.
His party መጻኢ ብሩህ ተስፋ which has recently graduated into a new movement ፈልሲ ሰላምን ዲሞክራስን ኤሪትራ is trailblazing as it draws membership from different parts of the world when the regime is rattled and unleashes its rabid dogs resorting into name calling and bluster where they can not challenge the core ideals and principles of the firebrand movement.
I remember growing up back in Asmara, one day, I heard older folks arguing about the meaning or the etymology [root or origin of words] of the word “Listro” a sort of a pejorative term used to describe a shoeshiner. Some said, the word was derived from juxtaposed words of “least” and “raw” indicating the often bungled up looking wood box the shoeshiners carry with them around. As it turned out, the rather creative meaning was wrong. Listro was derived from a Latin word “Lustra” which means, “make it shine.”
The reason I brought it up is that, when the rabid dogs of the regime in Asmara has nothing to say about ዉፉይ and his party’s core ideas and principles—as of yet, to my knowledge, the party is not ideologically driven—they resort into name calling and what they often say about ዉፉይ is that, he used to work as a Listro back in Eritrea. Well, way before Lenin said, ዘይሰርሕ ኣይብላዕ, St. Paul said exactly that in one of his letters to his followers. ዉፉይ at such a young age—13 or 14 years old—should be commended for earning a living instead of waiting for a handout. If the rabid dogs had a sense of history at all, Ho Chi Minh the former revolutionary leader and later President of Vietnam worked as a dishwasher in one of the hotels in Paris. The same could be said about Kwame Nkrumah the former and first president of Ghana as well when he worked as a dishwasher in London, just to mention but a few. Work builds character and as much as it showed on the said leaders, it shows on ዉፉይ as well.
When the regime in Asmara manufactured an identity based on subtraction—any thing that is not Tigrean is Eritrean—ዉፉይ and his party read history in its authentic stand where an Eritrean in say, ዓዲ ቐይሕ and a Tigrawai in ዓድዋ are a picture taken of the same person. Remaining true to history takes integrity, courage and refusal to follow the tide that ultimately capsizes the boats including most of the Opposition Parties of the yesteryears.
Certainly, there is no illusion about Eritrean independence including its sovereignty but that doesn’t mean that anyone has to bend history in a bid to frame the trajectory that has ultimately gave rise to Eritrean independence. And it is equally true that it is the prerogative of the Eritrean people to chart a way on how to move forward either to remain independent or otherwise. That said, as much as ዉፉይ or his party and Tigreans understood that they need each other from tactical and strategic point of view, they both gain only when they are united when past and recent history is any indication.
True freedom comes when we do works or lead our lives based on truth. Anything less truth is vanity. I think we have seen already the result of delusioninsm and fake narration? Why so much about Eritrea by the way? Why is even the name of Eritrea as source of pride while it is slavery name? Zimbabwe was called Rhodesian given after Rhode Cecili , the man who scooped gold from South Africa surface and the man who exchanged a hand mirror for a cow South Africans. But now Zimbabwe is reclaimed local name. So Zimbabweans are physically and mentally liberated from colonization. But us, so Tegarus, we are still either colonized mentally by Italy or Amhara. I suggest we dumb the name Eritrea because it is slavery name to begin with. Freedom refers to all kind of freeness, mental freedom, soul freedom, spiritual freedom, freedom of authenticity. I suggest both Tigrignea speakers liberate themselves from mental colonization. Are Tigeans going to allow a Sovereign Eritrea after now after genocide ? time will tell, but it is time to get to our roots on both sides. I also suggest we stop worshipping or canonizing individuals because it puts in danger. Worship issayas has made Essay a monster. Worship Meles has put us in Genocide. Let us have away of helping each and let us not hang on individual.
The other things, truth be truth, Saho in Eritrea are Saho and Saho in Tigray are Saho? Afar in Eritrea are Afar, and Afar in Afar are afars, and Kunama in Tigray are Kunama, and Kunama in Eritrea are Kunama. Tegarus in Tigray are Tegarus, why are Tegarus in Eritrea Tigrignea? Tigrignea is the language of Tegarus? why pervert identity based on self hate or self rejection? A society that hates itself can never progress . let us fix all these . Because it is all these who is making us suffer. Sovereignty? what is Sovereinghty? to kill people?
Mr Nebula, partisan of TPLF , ethiopian version of Camorra, notorious for practicing violence , blackmail, extortion. Are you the mafioso fled into the embassy compound and find himself in diaspora ?
You deserve the epithet ‘ egghead’, but you are demonstrating the traits of a schmuck and zonked under the influence of weeds, like H. …. etc
I was witnessing and exposing lies propagated by some TPLF supporters proving false information to the public in an attempt to exploit the situation in Tigray and accumulate money. I met tegarus who steal properties of their friends and sending money to their parents . Many of them are taking part in henious crimes.
አቆርቋዥ ሌባ ወንበዴ ማፍያው ወያኔ ና ደጋፊዎቹ ዲያስፖራዎች ይወድማሉ፥፥ ወያኔ ሕጋዊ ሥልጣን የለውም፥፥በምትኩ ውድብ ናፅነት ትግራይ: ትግራይን ሊያስተዳድር ይገባል፥፥ወያኔ የትግል አጋሮቹን እየጨፈጨፈ የመጣና የርሱን የማኦ ማኒፌስቶ ያልተቀበለን የትግራይ ተወላጅ የተለያዩ ስሞችን በመለጠፍ ሲያስርና ሲያንገላታ ቆይቷል፤፤ህውሃት የሚመራት ሀገር እና መንደር የሀሳብ ነፃነት የሌለባት የተለያዩ የሰብአዊ መብት ጥሰቶች የሚፈፀሙባት ምድር ከመሆን አታመልጥም፥፥ስለሆነም ህውሃት ስንኳንስ ሀገር የመምራት ዕድል በትግራይ ምድር ውስጥ እንደ አንድ የፖለቲካ ፖርቲ መኖር ና መቀጠል የለበትም፤፤ለራሱ የትግል አጋሮች ያልሆነ ሕዝቡ ሲጨፈጨፍ የማይገደው የማፊያ ስብስብ ከሥልጣኑ በቀር ሌላ እንደማይገደው፥ አሳይቶናል፥፥ስለሆነምለትግራይ ሕዝብ አስተማማኝና ዘላቂ ሰላም እና ደህንነት ሲባል ይህ ማፊያ ቡድን ከሥልጣን መነሳት አለበት፥፥
N:B Mr Nebula Don’t hack my email , you will not find money(credit cards ) there!!
WHat has to do with the main Written subject? Are you here to insult or unconstructive criticism? Behave please! Change requires respectful discussions not vulgarity!
Yonathan Sebhatu , Nebula
are you here to show your loyality to gangsters of Tigray, TPLF leaders, and collect their leftover ? You are pretty the same as mister nebula , sick dog , and desperately seeking attention by posting his trashy notes. May 2023 be the culmination of TPLF era in Tigray . IN 2023 TPLF will not exist as political party .
DOWN DOWN TPLF
Various and sundry informations are coming on the scene authenticating the fact that eritrean spies deployed by Higdef( PFDJ) and residing in Addis Ababa are controlling the Dollar Import And Export business . Besides, they are engaged in daylight robbery in dollar or euro exchange deal. They are also reportedly plundering jewelry stores owned by Tigrayans.
Eritrean troops and its spies out of Tigray
Bring the genocide, and robbery of PFDJ to an end!! PFDJ leaders to ICC!!
What a good job 👏
Thank you Tekle.
Great Article, full of energy !
Just WOW !!
Senuna,
Glad you like it. Thank you.
“Remaining true to history takes integrity, courage and refusal to follow the tide that ultimately capsizes the boats including most of the Opposition Parties of the yesteryears.”
Thank you Berhane.
Very articulated written! Indeed his excellence is not only talent but hard work, we appreciate your observation as well as engagement! Thanks Paulos Yirgau!
Thank you Yonathan. I appreciate.