Editorial: The Return of the Obelisk of Axum

We did not post the news of the return of the second largest Obelisk of Axum because we sensed that Meles Zenawi was timing that occasion to boost his election. We did not want to be a party to any such pathetic political manipulation by anyone whether it is the current Ethiopian Government or anyone else. Ethiopia�s great history will never be affected or dimmed by mere location of its looted artifacts in foreign countries. In its over sixty years in Rome, the Obelisk of Axum was not seen as a symbol of a vanquished civilization by anyone least of all Ethiopians, but the herald of a great civilization and a great people who had at one point in their history defeated the best equipped European force, the Italian Army. Millions who visited the Obelisk of Axum in Rome had admired the great civilization of Ethiopia; some were very flabbergasted by the greatness of its creators. We posted Dr. Ghelawdewos's article now because it is highly informative and educational and not a propaganda piece. It reinvigorates our appreciation of our past. Thus, we welcome our piece of heritage back to Ethiopia. We also appreciate the great fight put up to bring the Obelisk back to its home by many Ethiopians  and Ethiopia�s true friends, such as Prof. Richard Pankhurst and Family who persevered.

We are proud of our heritage, but we are not blind to the many inequities and social and political deformities we inherited, and the ones we have add to as well. The greatest and most important monument and legacy of a people is not to be found in their technology or their other historic artifacts, but in their institutions, leadership, and people�in the relationships that exist between the government and its citizens and how its citizens treat each other. It is the intangible and the incorporeal aspect of our Ethiopianness that truly tells us who we are or what has become of us. We could parade all the great works of art that ever existed as our legacy, but if we remained violent and brutal in our relationship with each other, and if we allow barbaric leaders century after century to abuse and trample upon our human rights and dignity, then we truly have nothing to show for our thousands of years of existence as a people. Under such abusive and oppressive social and political existence, our sense of Ethiopianess will be shallow, and our pride will be hollow

We have a nation with tens of millions of people as the poorest of the poor in the world. We have human right abuse and oppression both in public and private living under a totalitarian militaristic state. We are on the verge of disintegration because we allowed treasonous leaders and sycophantic associates as our leaders for over a decade. We had one of the most repressive and brutal government committing genocidal murders for over fifteen years prior to its overthrow by the present group of leaders who are no less repressive and violent than the one they replaced. What do we have to show to be such a proud people dancing and screaming in the street just because some artifact is brought back from Rome? The true test of greatness should always be the moral, political, economic, and legal principles a people have and the reality of their individual lives. What is written in the hearts of men and women has more value than that which is inscribed in stone.

Yes, we are very joyous to have the Obelisk of Axum back in its home as our national symbol of our civilization. After all, we are the descendants of the great people who created it. Nevertheless, however justified our merriment might be, let us not lose sight of the fact that we are a people at the crossroads of our destiny of failure or success. We are being tested as never before whether we will continue to exist as a free nation. In our joy, let us not forget the fact that the seed of our destruction has been firmly planted in our social and political structure in the form of ethnic enclaves, syndicalist economic structure, and landlocking processes.  

Tecola W. Hagos, 27 April 2005