Africa-Press – Ethiopia. 24/2022/ENA/ The new generation has to be careful not to be swayed by things written in the name of history and be critical about books or articles written on Ethiopian history, the esteemed historian Professor Bahru Zewde said.
In an exclusive interview with ENA, the professor noted that the youth and the new generation have to be very critical about books or articles written on Ethiopian history.
“My message is that they have to be very careful not to be swayed by everything that is written in the name of history. They have to be very critical about the books or articles written on Ethiopian history,” he underscored.
They have to be very careful in whatever they read and they should not depend on the social media, the historian stressed.
“They (the youth) have to be critical about whatever they read and they should not depend completely on social media and social networks. They have to make extra efforts and read some books written about Ethiopia.”
According to him, history should be free of political influence and narratives. “History should be a source of freedom not prison.”
Regarding the role of historians for realizing the upcoming national dialogue, Professor Bahru pointed out that the discussion of professional historians on Ethiopian history is crucial.
“It is crucial because this is the first time that professional historians are meeting, discussing and debating about the history of Ethiopia, what the problems are and what are the challenges; and the outcomes of such deliberations will hopefully contribute to the national dialogue.”
He stressed that homegrown wisdom is very important. At the end of the day, Ethiopian history has to be written by Ethiopians, which has been done for quite a number of times.
Affirming that homegrown wisdom is crucial to sustainably resolve internal challenges, Professor Bahru said quite a number of scholars have written Ethiopian history and this has to be continued.
Training have to be expanded and reach higher levels and the quality of researches improved, he noted.
An inaugural workshop of the Association of Ethiopian Historians under the theme “ The Role of History in Building National Consensus” opened in Addis Ababa today.
The chairperson of the 11-member National Dialogue Commission, Professor Mesfin Araya recently said that the commission aspires to conduct inclusive dialogue among stakeholders which will efficiently create national consensus and narrow the age-old differences among the political forces and the public at large.
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