Celebrating the ‘Otherness’?

Our columnist Taye Negussie (PhD) argues that at the root of EPRDF’s ethno-centric ideology is the dubious assumption which conjures up the Ethiopian state as a mechanical amalgam constituting of neatly divided, geographically contiguous and homogenous ethnic entities

On December 8, 2013 Ethiopia marked  the 8th ‘Nation, Nationalities & Peoples’ Day’ in Jigjiga town, the capital of Ethiopian Somali Regional state under the theme “Our Constitution for Our Renaissance”. For the last eight years, the country has been observing the day to celebrate the day of the adoption of the current Ethiopian constitution which supposedly ‘signifies the reincarnation of the identities, traditions and languages of ‘Nation, Nationalities and Peoples long ‘repressed’ by successive past Ethiopian regimes. Hence, at the core of the celebration is a glamorous display of the uniqueness and distinctiveness of each and every ‘Nation, Nationalities and Peoples’.