Ed August

@ed_august · 20 Apr 2022

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Some Histories Should Never Repeat Themselves

The human race comes from a very long #history lane. I could tell everything starting with the history of the world, but that would drive me straight to evolution and creation theories, not forgetting the big bang. Anyway, let me get straight to the point.

I come from an Easy African country rich with ancient mythologies. Some of these myths have been passed down from generation to generation, in the form of stories.

Bed Time Stories
As a young boy, my dad and mom would read me stories as they tucked me into bed. However, sometimes, they could come up with their own stories. This was always my favorite time of the night. I would fall asleep at the sound of my folks.

One night, my mom’s choice of bedtime story shook me. The narrative was tense and her choice of words was scary. She said, “Son, it’s high time you knew your history as well as your place in the world that we live in today”. This was not the kind of story that made you fall asleep.

The Civil War
I live in a nation with a population of about 50 million people. The country is split into over 40 counties, with each county hosting at least one distinct ethnic group. In total, we have around 43 different ethnicities in the country.

When I was 4 years old, there was chaos in a neighboring country. Everyone remembers the Rwandan Genocide! For a country with just two ethnic groups, Rwanda almost burned to the ground. This spread tension to neighboring countries, including ours.

Post-Election Violence
As I laid down in bed that night, listening to my mom, it was clear this was not any other story. It seemed as if she was warning me against something serious. Anyway, our country has a serious history of post-election violence that keeps repeating itself. This is because most political alliances are ethnic based.

Therefore, my mom was worried about my energy. I was a free spirit. I had many kids as my friends and sometimes I would wander so far just to go and play. Since we were living in a metropolitan area, most of my friends were mixed tribes.

The Election Year
Every five years our country goes into an election. It is a way our constitution uses to empower common citizens and express the extents of democracy. However, election years here come with a lot of violence and insecurities. It is a norm to dispute election results here.

Since most political parties are tribal based, these disputes always end up turning into wars between tribes. Neighbors and friends turn against each other because they are from different disputed ethnic groups. That is what my mom was worried about – She whispered in my ear, “you have to be careful in choosing your friends Ed”.

The Ending
I decided to share with you a few things about the history of our nation. Nevertheless, in the real sense, war and conflicts cover several pages in all history books across the globe. Man is to war. Anyway, this year is an election year in our country and you can already feel the tension as you walk along the streets of our nation. All we can wish for is for some histories never to repeat themselves.

#history #humanrace #evolution #democracy #election