The end of one year and the commencement of another inspires in us to look at ourselves for a sobering assessment of achievements and failures. New year inspires us to double our efforts from last year, to renew our dreams and wish the same for others. This the end of one century and the beginning of another is very exciting - our past glory, miserable failures, the conquest of love, the heartache of those whom we have lost in the battle of love, and even those whom we have lost to the mystery of death, and the ones we welcomed through the miracle of birth - the lessons of each journey stands to make the ornament of our past lives to inspire us to go for the gold. Our individual path collectively put together makes up the heartbeat of a nation, a signature of a society's achievements stocked up in one year; hundred years and millennium. Perhaps it is because we started from ground zero, or because we are so passionate about the things we so badly wanted that no where is the scars of pain more visible and no where is the glory of achievement brighter than in the collective experience of Eritreans and Eritrea as a nation.

Against all odds, Eritrea is stepping into the millennium as a young nation with a promising future - who could have imagined that on December 12, 2000 after 100 years of serious manipulation to hold Eritrea down as its territory, Ethiopia would sign for the death of its legacy, the policy towards Eritrea, to have its borders demarcated and delimited! The peace treaty of this month witnessed by the international community and supported by world bodies is one of the major achievements for Eritrea at the closing of this century. Bigger in its impact than the march of freedom to Asmara on May 24, 1991, and even bigger than the 1993 UN-sponsored referendum that established Eritrea as a sovereign nation. The signature of the peace treaty will allow Eritrea once and for all to clean up the murky and muddy waters of disguised Ethiopian policy of meddling with Eritrea's territorial integrity. At the end, the war of the last two years with the Woyanes finally gave in to victory for Eritrea - if not of a hollow and superficial one in the battlefield, a glorious one indeed in the diplomatic and principle of justice.

Still, under the bright future for this young nation, we have ways to go, a long way to bring the passionate desire of every Eritrean to see ourselves develop, mature, and produce stunning political strides that would bring our dreams to reality. Who in his/her right mind would not want to see every Eritrean educated, free, happy and prosperous? Who in his/her right mind would not want to see Eritrea engaged in major world trades, with the best educational institutions, and the best quality of life? None! At least, most Eritreans that I know of -have a familial love towards Eritrea and Eritreans - this I believe is the best and greatest asset we have as a nation - that dedicated and committed genuine love for each other and our country. We must trust that love to engage it vigorously to acknowledge and deal with our political immaturity. We are a very young and fragile society as a nation - despite our desires, our shortcomings also stock up to paint a dangerous trend if we allow it to continue.

In the last one hundred years, Eritrea's miserable journey under the scramble for Africa rendered it a colony. Sliced and cut-off to serve the whims and selfish aspirations of a colonizing power, as a pawn, Eritrea was bartered for this and that by the powerful without the consent of its people. The lessons folded in the creases of history tell of atrocities committed against Eritrea to silence and manipulate its people. Justice have been badly twisted out of shape until it no longer could serve its true aspirations. Eritrea's heavy price has been a tremendous patience and red fluid gold - our blood, we have paid dearly. But, the legacy of the greatest and most visible scars of the past is the attempt to divide and conquer, to pit one segment of our society against another , to remain suspicious and egotistically arrogant. The ramification of such psychological manipulation is a serious threat even to an aspiring young nation - despite the love and commitment, these serious deficiencies deep in our psychic will play their role. These scars should be our priority in healing - to come clean with only the love of our nation at heart - to work it out earnestly. Working out issues with dedication is neither giving in, nor succumbing to another - it is putting a nation, the bigger picture ahead of everything. In the next hundred years, Eritrea and Eritreans must and should work to being at home in Eritrea, socially, politically and economically. This the last frontier in the battle to free the nation is the most inspiring challenge, and yet the most delicate of struggles we could face. I trust we can overcome this last oddity for peace and harmony to prevail in our nation. We owe it to ourselves; we owe it to our legacy, to the solemn "Hdri swu'at", and to the development of the following generation.

At this sobering junction of the dawning of another year and another millennium - my one-minute silent tribute goes to those who have given their lives unselfishly in pursuit of a vision of free and peaceful Eritrea. For the forefathers - Welwel, Ibrahim Sultan, Idris Hamid Awate and their generation who earnestly planted the seeds of vision to aspire for the highest noble causes of all, and to those mothers whose wombs produced heroes and heroines to carry the banner forward; to the young warriors of every generation whose badge of honor was sheer courage, I salute them with the greatest of honor a heart can afford.

Against all odds, your collective relentless effort have Eritrea standing as a nation today in the new millennium, with the death of an Ethiopian political legacy officially dead.

I salute the land, Eritrea who inspired and taught us the greatest lessons of love, who have shaped our lives in its image of unending struggle and championing for noble causes. The tears, agony, blood, sweat, fear and the passion have been the unmatched hallmark of our lifetime to create the heartbeat of Eritrea as a nation. May her path always be the shining example for other nations to emulate.

Happy New Year to everyone. The best and the most of good fortune to all.