http://www.shabait.com/news/local-news/19867-president-isaias-afwerkis-24th-independence-anniversary-speech
Dear Compatriots at home and Abroad
Ladies and Gentlemen
Allow me first to congratulate the people of Eritrea, and, the friends
of Eritrea, on the occasion of the 24th Anniversary of our
Independence. The Eritrean people have paid unparalleled sacrifices to
make national independence a reality as well as to preserve the
integrity of their sovereignty and liberation. They have persisted in
bolstering their resilience to reach the current state. Pride and
Tribute is due to them!
I also wish to express profound thanks to the Commission of Sports and
Culture and all those inside the country and abroad who have made
illustrious contributions to embellish the Independence Anniversary
celebrations conducted under the theme: "development through resilience".
As we celebrate Independence Day every year, we assess the journey we
have traversed and chart out, in a proactive mode, the tasks we need to
accomplish in the period ahead.
The meaning and significance of independence is not only gauged by the
liberation struggle conducted and the precious sacrifices exacted, but
also by the struggle and sacrifices paid to preserve and build it. The
symbiosis between, and complementarities, of the tasks of achieving
national independence and building an independent country imply that the
struggle and martyrdom of our heroic freedom fighters will have been in
vain unless we succeed in building a truly free country. It is
therefore with this conscientious culture and heritage that we evaluate
our past performances and map out our future trajectory.
Every year, as we assess the current year with its own specific
attributes and in conjunction with the cumulative past experiences, the
recurring theme we ponder about is whether we have preserved the
independence and sovereignty of our country; whether we are building a
nation worthy of the ultimate sacrifices paid by its heroic sons,
daughters, as well as, its patriotic people? At times, we gauge and
compare the difficulties and intensity of the challenges of conducting
the liberation struggle with that of building a free nation.
The powers that encroach on our independence and sovereignty are
precisely those forces who had maintained in the 1940s that Eritrea's
independence did not serve their strategic interests. These are indeed
the same forces who antagonized us subsequently for almost half a
century and who were vanquished through our unparalleled heroism and
resilience.
The end of the Cold War has ushered in a process of dynamic
transformation in the global order in the past quarter of a century.
This reality notwithstanding, certain powers prompted by greed and
domination and spearheaded by the United States continue to harass us
and derail our efforts of nation-building in a serene and stable
environment. In this context, they instigated a border conflict with
Yemen that never arose prior to Eritrea's independence and further
induced skewed arbitral decisions. Later on, they exacerbated a
meaningless conflict on account of Badme and associated border dispute
using a subservient TPLF as a convenient umbrella. They blocked the
implementation of the final and binding arbitral decision to impede a
lasting settlement of the dispute. They stoked war and aggression
through the flagrant flouting of justice. And when all these schemes
failed to induce capitulation of the Eritrean people, they imposed
sanctions on our country on the basis of spurious pretexts.
Furthermore, they prompted a fabricated conflict in collusion with
Djibouti on a putative dispute that has no basis whatsoever on the
historical, colonial boundary determinations, of this region. This was
conceived in order to undermine our historical place and role in the
southern Red Sea and Bab-el Mendeb Straight.
All these vain subterfuges were concocted and are designed to keep us
hostage in a web of regional crises. They constitute the catalogue of
hostilities that we have confronted to preserve our independence and
sovereignty. The failed subversive machinations and open military
hostilities conducted in the past, and that still continue, to impair
the political process of nation-building and to paralyze national
economic development and growth are part and parcel of this sad narrative.
The relentless provocations and hostilities perpetrated against our
independence and sovereignty is not confined to us alone. This must
indeed be seen within the framework of their misguided policies of what
they label as their global "strategic interests." In the last quarter
of this century in particular, as the insatiable strategic appetite for
domination and monopoly has increasingly faced strong resistance, the
tactics they have refined constitute reckless power games of "chaos by
war" or "war by chaos".
Beginning from Afghanistan, the upheavals they have stoked under
different pretexts in the region continue to rage without let up:
- turmoil, bloodshed and displacements in Iraq;
- endless crises and disintegration in Somalia;
- continuous turbulence in North and South Sudan;
- subversions weaved to plunge Egypt back into crises as it starts to
put its act together as if it wasn't enough to paralyze the country for
30 years;
- chaos and destruction in Libya;
- turmoil and vacuum in Yemen;
- instigating tensions in the Nile Basin for hidden agendas;
- incubating and deploying terrorist organizations with different
labels to add chaos and destruction to chaos and destruction;
- instigating and stoking misguided religious polarizations; and,
- plunging the entire region into interminable turmoil by undermining
the regional organizations instead of allowing the countries of the
region to solve their own problems.
All these trends and phenomena cannot be seen in isolation. They must be
seen as part and parcel of the dramatic spectacle of the last quarter of
a century spawned by the strategic interests of domination and monopoly.
In addition, there are self-styled or aspiring regional powers which
misconstrue the vacuum and imbalances entailed by the war of chaos as a
blessing in disguise and which aggravate the prevailing turmoil in order
to promote their influences in the region. In the event, all the
conspiracies and hostilities perpetrated against our independence and
sovereignty must be seen in the context of this broader perspective.
Against the backdrop of such misguided and reckless policies, the
resolute efforts that we have and are exerting to defend and safeguard
our independence are not less than the long armed struggle we waged to
achieve our liberation. And as we confront the challenges in unison with
all those working for the security, stability and harmony of this
region, time will tell that we will emerge victorious by bolstering our
resistance and resilience.
Ladies and Gentlemen,
In tandem with the resilient resistance we have been waging to safeguard
our independence and sovereignty, we have not been kept hostage,
contrary to the hopes of our detractors, by external hostility to
compromise our commitments to develop our country that was devastated by
war. This remains, indeed, the priority of our priorities.
The central purpose of the nation-building process is not only prompted
by the solemn pledge that emanates from the precious sacrifices paid in
the liberation struggle. It is also a fundamental right of all the
citizens. As such, it involves putting in place extensive
infrastructural facilities and services with equitable and fair spatial
outreach in order to create a conducive environment for bettering the
standard and quality of life of all citizens. Narrowing the
urban-rural development gap and reducing socio-economic disparities are
thus critical components of the economic growth drive. This means
according primary opportunities to those who lack adequate food supply;
those who are deprived of access to potable water, housing, electricity,
efficient road and transport facilities as well as effective social
amenities such as education and health services. These segments of the
population must be given the opportunities to bolster their resources
and capabilities so that they would be able to secure sufficient income
to lead decent lives as their compatriots.
This development and economic growth matrix is not rooted on one's
preferences or sympathy. It is indeed a matter of rights and
obligations of liberation and independence for the realization of which
the entire Eritrean people have and continue to pay immense sacrifices.
It cannot be governed by a distorted logic of appropriating the best and
always first to a selected few.
It goes without saying that the achievement of extensive and all-round
development - in a country that was denied opportunities for half a
century and where the infrastructure is both old and dilapidated -
demands time, resources and hard work. Furthermore, it requires
determination of the appropriate pace and realistic phasing; the
judicious use of resources; the quality and effectiveness of the
manpower employed as well as meticulous planning and the requisite
resilience to face and overcome potential challenges.
In this spirit and framework, the following were the sectors of highest
priority in the past 24 years:
- In infrastructure: building of roads, power plants, water
harvesting facilities, ports, airports, communications networks, and
transport fleets;
- In agriculture: development of seeds and animal husbandry that go
beyond food security and sufficiency;
- In Marine Resources: enhancing capacity to exploit the fisheries
potential ;
- In manufacturing: development of modern value-adding processing
capabilities in all categories of industry and enterprises with the aim
of producing quality products for the domestic and export markets;
- In services: building sea and air services connectivity to enhance
the growth of tourism both for domestic and foreign clients;
- In Social Services: development and expansion of quality health and
education services to bolster the growth of human capital as well as to
acquire the necessary professional and technological expertise to
implement all planned, sectoral, development projects and programmes.
It must be pointed out that the gap between the strategic objectives in
each category and the progress achieved to date -- as the documents
illustrate -- remains rather considerable. (For reasons of brevity, I
shall skip the detailed statistical analysis on this occasion). This
does not of course mean that we have not been successful, outside public
relations reports, in implementing the objectives we had charted out.
This is meant to highlight that the difference between where we want to
be or where we can be, and, where we are today after 24 years of
independence, is still not negligible.
Laying down a conducive platform for the rapid and reliable
implementation of planned projects is clearly crucial. In this
connection, we can assert with full confidence today that we have
reached the stage where we can implement what we aspire for and the
plans we chart out henceforth without any obstacles. Indeed, we are
finalizing all the necessary preparations, by marshalling all the
requisite resources, capabilities and time, to start implementing from
this year major programmes that had been shelved so far.
Let me mention, at this juncture, a matter that requires attention and
which I would not like to gloss over.
There are no short cuts or sudden leaps in the development drive or in
accumulating wealth and prosperity. One may entertain aspirations and
wishes and this is not, of course, a vice. But the malpractices
manifested this year by a few deluded and corrupt individuals and
government functionaries who sought to amass wealth by any means without
toiling and working hard can only lead to a perilous path. Such
deplorable practices of corruption and theft must be combated
vigorously. In this respect, and in order to successfully implement
the major development programmes that have been charted out, we must
work hard with patience and diligence, to give precedence to development
through resilience. Indeed, we need to emulate the exemplary practices
of the members of the Defense Forces, who are not only defending the
independence and sovereignty of the country in conjunction with the vast
majority of our people in spite of many hardships and difficulties, but
who are also engaged in implementing challenging developmental
programmes without the requisite reward.
Glory to our Martyrs who made independence a reality!
Victory to the Masses!
Received on Mon May 25 2015 - 12:40:50 EDT