Friday, 23 March 2012 13:51 | Written by Daniel S. |
Some places and some events have more significance in the history of
nations. In Eritrea that place is Nakfa. Nakfa was, physically and
symbolically, the core of the Eritrean struggle for liberation. It is the
only town that never went back to the hands of enemy once liberated on March
23 1977. Just as was declared at that moment, the liberation of Nakfa was a
revolutionary victory that determined the future of the struggle of the
Eritrean people, both on the ground and in the hearts and minds of the
people.
Nakfa is a place about which many has chanted; a legend that will always
burn inside the heart of every Eritrean.
"Flmawit ade nay moral nay tesfa,
nay mebaeta awet fetsimu zeyhalfa."
Indeed Nakfa was the pioneer mother of morale and hope and the founding
victory of our struggle for liberation. When we mention the history of our
armed struggle, our people's steadfastness, our brave fighters, and our
front, the name that conspicuously forms their integral part is our own
Nakfa. It is impossible to mention all that needs to be mentioned about
Nakfa in this article. Indeed, it is not unusual to see even fighters who
spent most of their younger days in the Nakfa trenches be continuously
amazed by events that happened there. How, then, can we say enough about
such a place. Instead, let's just reiterate the oft-repeated words and speak
more on the relevance and the need to remember the history of Nakfa, and the
history of our country in general.
In a time of immense challenge, many often have sought for remedy from the
past. Though there is quite enough to learn about the world today, it has
been found wise that we should still look at history. To put it simply and
plainly the knowing and study of history is essential for every person.
Because the world is more complicated and diverse than words can ever tell
and it needs practical wisdom to deal with it, which can only be fostered by
being familiar with history. This wisdom is what's called knowing oneself:
knowing your potential, your resources, your advantages and disadvantages,
knowing what you are capable of and all culminating in the above word,
practical wisdom. And the only way to know ourselves is by knowing how we
resemble and how we differ from others. In other words, acquaintance with
the past is the only way to such self-knowledge.
Without individual memory one literally loses his or her identity and would
not know how to act when encountering others. Well, history is our
collective memory, which is carefully codified and critically revised to
make us social; its loss entails a similar consequence. Memory, indeed,
makes us humans. And these shared ideas and ideals with others form all
sorts of different human groups. The point here is that each such group acts
as it does largely because of shared ideas and beliefs about the past and
about what the past, as understood and interpreted by the group, tells about
the present and the probable future. As such, it can both make us wiser and
more sensible humans in all aspects of our lives.
All the above bookish and rather theoretical explanations are given to make
one good point. As we are in the week of the celebration of a major
historical event, the 35th anniversary of the liberation of Nakfa, its good
to stop for a while and look back to our history and appreciate and strive
to understand what we've been able to accomplish so far. We should make
sense out of our history and have to get across the idea that we have to
know who we were if we are to know who we are and where we are heading. Only
when we see ourselves through this perspective can we be able to understand
and be better equipped to overcome any challenges. Looking at the history of
Nakfa and encountering powerful commitments to ideas and ideals, like
devotion for what one believe in, sacrifices for one's people to mention few
among many of our own people's history; puts our personal commitment to our
own ideals into a new perspective.
We often hear about what the difficult and dangerous time we live in. And it
is very difficult, very dangerous and very uncertain; it has always been.
And this nation of ours has been through darker times. The history of Nakfa
attests to this fact. But it also stands as a grand testimony that the
values of Nakfa, namely devotion to your people, steadfastness in your
principles, great fortitude and courage in the face of immense challenge,
commitment to the national cause, clear vision, and camaraderie, can all
prevail to any challenges ahead. In Nakfa, these values forge an alliance
with a just cause, with the people of Eritrea thereby made miracles and
wonders.
Understanding and appreciating this history is the ultimate guarantee we
have as people and nation; failing at that, we lose the answer to the
present and future.
"Anyone who closes his eyes to the past is blind to the present." And as
John Henerick Clarke put it, "History tells a people where they are and what
they are, most importantly history tells the people where they still must go
and what they still must be."
Only an understanding with our entire history, and even the entire human
adventure on earth, allows us to fully appreciate and make sense of the
contemporary reality. Otherwise, surprises and frustrating failures are sure
to be every day encounters.
Last Updated (Saturday, 24 March 2012 02:05)
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Received on Sat Mar 24 2012 - 10:29:33 EDT
