Victory of Adwa Symbol of Pan-African Unity, Says Editor and Publisher

Addis Ababa March 1/2023/ENA/ 

The Victory of Adwa is a symbol of pan-African unity and identification for African countries, the Pan-Africanist American Editor Abayomi Azikiwe said.

In an exclusive interview with ENA, Abayomi Azikiwe, the American editor and publisher of Pan-African News Wire noted that Victory of Adwa was very significant because it halted the expansion of Italian imperialism into Africa.

Ethiopians were able to mobilize people from different regions of Ethiopia and defeat the Italian military.

According to Azikiwe, the victory and resistance of the Ethiopian people has been a beacon of hope for African unity and pan-Africanism until today in the 21st century.

He also stressed that what is important to know is that following the Victory of Adwa many regions of Africa rebelled against European colonialism.

For instance, there was a huge war that began in 1897 and lasted for several years in Zimbabwe. There were also clashes that took place in West Africa among the Ashanti people against the British.

"All of this history is hidden due to the rise of European Imperialism in the 19th and 20th century. They have distorted the history of Africa and the history of black people all over the world."

After World War II, there was a huge upsurge in African independence movement from the Gold Coast to Guinea, to countries in southern Africa, Kenya, the American editor and publisher recalled.

Stating that the Victory of Adwa had significant role in expediting not only the independence of African countries but also other countries like the Caribbean, he said.

Azikiwe pointed out that the whole Ras Tafarian movement is based on that history and even in USA there had been Ethiopianism movement.

During the Italian invasion in1930s, thousands of African-Americans signed up to go to fight against Italy in the struggle of Ethiopians to defeat Italian fascism, the editor and publisher recalled.

He believes that it would have been much more difficult to fight against colonialism without that symbol of victory in 1896 because following the victory of Adwa there was mass liberation in the continent against colonialism.

Pointing out that the victory is not told enough and thought to the people of Africa, Azikiwe stressed the need for teaching about the victory from the primary school to university levels in African countries so that the African youths would understand the history and utilize it as aspiration.