Why Ethnic Federalism Fails

 

As the international community tries to help the government of Ethiopia craft a lasting peace following the hoped-for definitive end to the conflict in Tigray, one hopes there is due consideration of the difficulty in making ethnic federalism in Ethiopia finally work. It hasn’t thus far, and if the flaws in the current system aren’t properly addressed, it never will

We in America (as in much of the developed world) understand federalism to be a form of administration in which a central government operates in conjunction with regional governments (provincial, state, cantonal, territorial or other sub-unit governments) in a single political system. It was first embodied in the Constitution of the United States of 1789 as a relationship of parity between the two levels of established government.  In the United States, that means that the federal government must govern in concert with states.  However, in Ethiopia, as in just about all of Africa, the understanding of how federalism operates is quite different from the American interpretation.  According to Ethiopian nationalism, ethnic groups have equality of rights that constitute sovereignty, so Ethiopian nationalism is supposed to be multi-ethnic and promote diversity.

Ethiopia's population is comprised of more than 80 different identifiable ethnic groups. According to the last census in Ethiopia, the ethnic breakdown is as follows: Oromos (34.6%), Amharas (27.1%), Somalis (6.2%), Tigrayans (6.1%), Sidama (4%), Gurage (2.5%), Welayta (2.3%), Hadiya (1.7%), Afari (1.7%) and other ethnic groups combined (13.8%).  Thus, the ethnic composition of Ethiopia does not provide for a majority ethnic group, as in Lesotho or Swaziland.  Whereas the multi-ethnic United States or Canada both experience ethnic discord, such conflict is not regional.  Unlike in most of Africa, emigrating ethnic groups in both countries are free to relocate without triggering concern among indigenous ethnic groups in various regions.  In Africa, large-scale movement of members of ethnic groups by 50 miles could completely change the character of a location in terms of creating or diminishing political power.  This has triggered heightened concern about losing political, religious and social control, such as has happened during the various reorganizations of states in Nigeria.

Thus, there are four reasons why ethnic federalism continues to fail to work in Africa:

1.      Past grievances among the various ethnic groups prevents people from accepting those considered “the other.”  Stretching back before colonialism and through the colonial “divide and conquer” strategy, African ethnic groups too often have as part of their taught history the cruelties visited upon them by competing groups.  For example, among the Ibos in Nigeria, the young are taught about how vicious people in the North were during the Biafran War.  Most certainly, the Ibo elders were well justified in remembering what happened to their people half a century ago, but their teachings were so vivid and were backed up by the calls from some northerners for Ibos to leave the region that young Ibos want to return to a new Biafra.  These your Ibos either don’t realize or accept that the situation is far different in 2021 than in 1967.  Such recall of past attacks and discrimination prevent even younger generations removed from past clashes from finding ways to work together with those outside their ethnic group.

 

2.      That leads to the issue of who is in the majority and minority in various regions.  When Nigeria phased in its current state system, some ethnic groups became a majority or minority overnight.  Given the fact that different groups have often conflicting religious and cultural beliefs and that majorities too often want to impose their way of life on all others under their jurisdiction, this causes those in the minority to chafe at being forced, for example, to live under sharia law if they are not Muslim.  Pluralism is something even the United States continues to learn and appreciate.  Living in countries where differences were exploited for so long to enable colonial rule makes it difficult for people to allow each other’s differences and tolerate diversity, especially when unscrupulous leaders still play on divisions to achieve and exercise power for personal gain.

 

3.      Africa is blessed with natural resources, but those natural blessings are not evenly divided geographically.  Not everyone lives along navigable rivers or on the coast.  Some live on fertile lands while other live in arid or semi-arid areas. Only some communities live within oil fields or near mines with abundant mineral bounty.  Even when communities do have natural resources at their fingertips, they may not control them.  National power groups swoop in to benefit from resources outside their home areas to the detriment of the people who live there.  Ask the people of the Cabinda region in Angola if having oil in their backyard has enriched them or ask that of the people in diamond-rich areas in Angola’s eastern areas.  In fact, the struggle for resources often causes chaos and becomes a curse rather than a blessing for those who live in resource-rich locations that outsiders fight over.

 

4.      Finally, and most importantly, there continues to be a lack of national identity among African people.  If an African is traveling and asked where they’re from, they will tell you they’re from Kenya or Mali or Namibia.  However, inside their country, they see themselves are members of a specific ethnic group rather than identifying as a national of that country.  Identifying by your ethnic group is not in and of itself bad.  In fact, having an established ethnic identity and history gives one a certain pride that can be part of an overall national identity.  Unfortunately, the various ethnic identities are not always taught in a way that makes each group appreciate the contributions of other groups. Ethnicity should be like pieces of a quilt assembled to make a beautiful whole picture.  Instead, it can become a mishmash of clashing cultures, each striving to be dominant and downplay the role of the others.

Because Westerners don’t share the African experience with colonialism in terms of ethnic divisions used to enable foreign rule (except of course for the divisions of Native American groups by European settlers), governments in the West downplay the challenges of making federalism work in multi-ethnic African societies.  Foreigners contributed to this current inability to bridge ethnic divided in Africa and should help to remedy what they created, but Africans must accept blame for this ongoing inability to mesh cultures as well.  Just like African Americans must overcome the legacy of slavery through our own efforts, so too must Africans overcome the legacy of colonialism by their own hands.

Establishing and maintaining effective federalism is not an easy task.  In the United States, we had a civil war over the failure of federalism.  Some will describe it as a battle over slavery, but that was because our federalism didn’t allow for such a major divide to be bridged.  Many years later, a conflict over states’ rights due to a disagreement over civil rights led to conflict between southern states and the rest of the country that provoked widespread demonstrations and videoed cases of police brutality.  With this as a background, we here need to be more understanding of the challenges Ethiopians and other African face in devising and implementing federalism that takes into account the unique circumstances in each country.  What works in Malawi likely won’t work in Morocco.

I urge my countrymen and others in the West to be a bit humbler in crafting suggestions for others to follow and study their situation more carefully before presenting definitive answers to the problems with which Africans struggle.