Ethiopia commemorated the 123rd anniversary of the victory of the Battle of Adwa on Saturday (March 2) under the theme: Adwa is the Emblem of Our Unity”. It is being celebrated colourfully all across the country and most notably, in Addis Ababa at Menelik II Square and the town of Adwa, where President H.E. Sahle-Work Zewde attended the commemoration.
President H.E. Sahle-Work Zewde said the victory of Adwa reminds us that despite differences, Ethiopians stand in unison when it comes to defending their country and safeguarding their national interest, which she says,offers lessons for today.
Prime Minister H.E. Dr. Abiy Ahmed in a statement called for today’s generation to repeat the victory of Adwa by overcoming current challenges and barriers.
The Battle of Adwa was of huge significance for Ethiopia and for Africa. It meant that the age of continental invasion by the then European colonial powers could not be completed. Ethiopia remained independent, a sovereign and un-colonized African country, an example and a model for the rest of the continent.
Today, the spirit of Adwa can still provide a springboard for the African Union’s “Pan-Africanism for the African Renaissance”, for the emergence of a new Africa, an Africa free to decide its own destiny. #Adwa certainly belongs to Africa, as well as to #Ethiopia where it provides the basis for the youth of the country to develop their own winning spirit drawn from the example of the courage and determination shown by their grandfathers.
Adwa was and remains a redeeming moment for black people. It stands with the gallant Zulu resistance by Shaka in the 19th century and the Mau Mau in Kenya fifty years ago as one of the major symbols of resistance. It was a victory that inspired Marcus Garvey, William Du Bois and Martin Luther King and other great freedom fighters that led the Back to #Africa and Civil Rights Movements in America.
It therefore provided an inspiration for African countries in the subsequent struggles for independence, and it was not mere chance that African countries chose Ethiopia to be a permanent host of the African Union.
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