It is not far from reality if national universities in developing countries are considered as a gauge to the socio-political situation of the respective countries. The story of Addis Ababa University, Lagos University, Makerere University, University of Cairo, etc, etc, is all the same after normalizing for some local internal differences. No wonder that citizens of the countries and capital cities look at these universities as the thermometer of their daily walks. If you wanted to know how Ethiopia and Addis are, then you asked, "How is Addis Ababa University?" The University of Asmara (UOA) may be small in size, number of staff and departments and it may lack the general stature of its counterparts, but it well represents Asmara and Eritrea, and reads the hearts and minds of their citizens. The objective of my writing today is not to seek for explanation why universities are like that but to share my observations about the University of Asmara by focusing on the developments that have worked towards its demise from an internal observer's view. I am sending this article from Eritrea and I hope the reader will bear with me for using a pen name. I promise to give my full name and address when the opportunity arrives. I was a staff member at the University of Asmara and I am a disenfranchised citizen of Eritrea. I joined the university when it was in troubles under the Ethiopian dictatorship. I saw its rebirth in liberated and independent Eritrea, and finally witnessed its unjustifiable but carefully calculated destruction.
Established in 1958, the University of Asmara would be celebrating its 50th anniversary this year. Alas, that is not to be. I do not think this landmark of its history will be celebrated in Eritrea. At this Golden Jubilee, therefore, I would like to consider this piece as a token of sympathy to the founders, staff and student alumni of the university who contributed towards its development through the years. Fifty years in the history of a university may seem little, but the UOA has gone through many bumps for its short history. It started as a private University with the name of Santa Famiglia ( The Holy Family) by members of the missionary congregation Piae Madres Nigritiae (Comboni Sisters). Its expansion in the 1960s was halted by Emperor Haile Selassie who saw it as a competitor to Addis Ababa University but also didn't want to see education progress in Eritrea due to the growing movement for independence. The university was closed in 1974 during the Zemetcha after the King was deposed by the Derg. It assumed the role of a full university only in the late 1970s, which continued until late 1980s. Even during that time, the bulk of the student body was made of Ethiopians and it was not completely independent from Addis Ababa University. With the struggle for independence at its peak in late 1980s, it was completely dismantled, its staff, students and facilities transferred to Ethiopia. It rose from the dust with the independence of Eritrea in 1991 and soon was to resume its role of spearheading the economic and social reconstruction of the war scarred country. But it was not destined to live long in the 21 st century and was deliberately taken to pieces by the present government of Eritrea. In a poignant echo of what is happening to Eritrea, now the university is closed and only buildings stand while inside it is only emptiness and the ghost of its own past.
Most of the recent analyses on the premeditated dismantlement of the UOA, in particular those by external observers, delve into the developments that followed the student protests and arrests of summer 2001. However, that was only the tip of the iceberg and the whole process of de-institutionalization had gone for years. Undermining academic freedom and lack of respect for democratic rule had long started in the immediate aftermath of liberation in 1992/93. What ensued then may seem small but it had a significant legacy to the situation we have at hand today. This is what had happened and it started with name. In 1992, the name of the university was changed from Asmara University to The University of Asmara. 'Kumsi-kumsa' it sounds. The next step towards fading the identity of the University was changing the emblem. These seemingly superficial changes were soon to be followed by a more fundamental one, changing the university constitution. The main reason given was that there were some loopholes in the constitution that were being exploited by some unscrupulous faculty and administrators. Of course, you could always play around with any constitution and I believe there was some truth to that but it wasn't the main reason behind the imposed changes. The first and main message was 'we decide what we want' and 'there is no place for any opinion or view'. The other message was that all was bad in the old times and has to be replaced by new and all new is better. But the old constitution that was thrust aside was not replaced by a new one. This was followed by the dissolution of the University Academic Staff Association that functioned under the umbrella of National Union of Teachers. Election of a department chair by departmental staff, a long tradition was also disbanded. There were some protests over the changes here and there mainly from some old timers, based more on emotion and association with the university than reason. A few other old-timers and the new faculty, from Ethiopia mostly, however, tactically joined hands with the powerful. They called their opponents 'the remnants of the Derg'. These were all to be the new faculty deans and administrative directors while most of our poor old-timers got the boot for being incompetent and found themselves jobless. Fortunately, the visa system then wasn't as tight as it is today and most of them managed to leave the country quietly using family and academic acquaintances. Some have now dignified positions abroad. Except a handful who struggled to make ends meet, those who remained at home also came better off. The chaos of 1992/93 was almost forgotten and quickly buried amidst all the euphoria, nationalism and public sentiment associated with liberation. We could all have forgiven for what happened then but soon it became clear that the intention was more sinister; there was an agenda of deliberate dismantlement of the values of the university. And it didn't take long before both the losers and the apparent winners would all lose in the end for there are no friends in the eyes of the beast.
In the absence of a constitution and institutional structure, the UOA was left adrift and all decisions were made top-down. The deans and administrators were mostly pliant cronies. The weak university senate was routinely by-passed and its mandate didn't go beyond grade assessments and approval of list of graduates. Excellence, rational and independent thinking, at the core of any university's truism, were ranked bottom. Long career of scientific discovery and acclaim, the norm in well established universities, were trodden down. In addition to this obvious lack of guidance for proper administration of internal university matters, it also meant that there was no clear direction on how the university related itself with ministries and other government institutions. In the early days, the university claimed to be the only institute of higher learning in the country and all colleges beyond high school level were to function under it. That brought about a major struggle for power between the UOA and the ministries that had or were planning to have their own colleges, especially the Ministry of Education (MOE), and it was to play a significant role in the downfall of the University.
It was in the middle of this conflict of power that the G-15 Manifesto and student protests of summer 2001 that came to the picture. The coincidence was a good scapegoat for the government in linking the two and an ideal occasion for attacking the University. For the government, the student protest itself was less significant than the message it passed to the other youth. It generated a great fear that it would cause a stir in the military and it was very important that it was crushed quickly and dealt with appropriately. The divisive and poisonous announcements on the national radio reflected that. University students were accused of selfish behavior and subterfuge during a critical time when the other youth were serving with dignity, steadfastness and persistence. The phrases, 'you vs. them', 'they scorn you because you are illiterate' and 'educated opportunism' suddenly came to life. The irony was that most of the university students that were considered as detractors and were sent to the Wiia and Gelalo desert camps had just returned from the war front. Some of them were killed in action while others were maimed. The student protests strengthened the long suspicion that the University was a threat and should be closed and students scattered, suggestive of the Derg Zemecha when university students, including many of the current leaders, were dispersed to rural Ethiopia. Here it must be mentioned that the University Student Body was democratically elected in the most transparent manner, probably the only example in post-referendum Eritrea. At the time when the university staff was only a distant observer, the student union lived up to its expectation by standing for student rights. The decision to close the University was passed in 2001; it didn't accept new students starting academic year 2003, and was officially closed in 2006. The attempts to start graduate programs also didn't succeed. Now students are scattered in different colleges across the country, none of which has international accreditation.
One could argue that the Government of Eritrea envisioned that junior colleges were more appropriate in solving the shortage of man-power, which is mostly at sub-university level. In the absence of transparency, however, we can only speculate or try to understand by analyzing on how these colleges were established and administered, the way the curriculum is structured and students are organized. The list of courses and colleges is simply too long, ranging from Secretarial Science to Space Technology. The stake-holders are not well known and no assessment is made on need before hand, or on performance afterwards. Student organization is strictly military and extension of the military training in Sawa. Students belong to the main units and battalions in the Eritrean Defence Forces. Nonetheless, whatever the reason for the existence of the colleges, it doesn't justify for the termination of the University. It should have been clear from the outset that the University couldn't provide for all the needs of the country, and the same for the ministry colleges. One would hope that the University and the different ministries would enter partnership that would see some necessary new diploma and degree programs developed along the already well established ones. Eventually the diplomas would serve the needs of the primary and secondary schools in the case of the Ministry of Education and the productive labor or service giving sector in the case of other ministries. The dream of swallowing of the ministry colleges by the University and that of disintegrating the University is an academic tragedy. Education, more so science education, needs proper planning.
It may not be difficult to find explanation why the university went through hurdles under the successive Ethiopian administrations. However, there could be no justification for its downfall after independence, when stability was needed most for growth. Proper explanation will need deep analysis into the nature of the ruling elite in Eritrea (PFDJ) and its contempt of democracy. The story of the University of Asmara is a sad case but only part of a much larger tragedy in post-independence Eritrea. It is only one of the many trails of destruction by PFDJ and a component of the numerous human rights violations, including the imprisonment without trial and killing of innocent citizens and widespread intimidation and violence against opposition politicians. With liberation, Eritreans brutalized by decades of colonial rules had rediscovered their voices and will; the nation was united in its hopes for the future, believed fervently in the possibilities of productive change. Unfortunately, our big men never really believed in the will of the people to begin with, and only created and used sentiments in order to stay in power. Eritrea, a proud country that dearly aspires for stability and progress is being held hostage by a bankrupt political class. Now many citizens feel betrayed and disempowered to a level of disbelieve and are filled with a sense of shame and anguish and fleeing in droves. The country faces a prolonged period of political uncertainty that will play itself out in unpredictable ways, which may in the process severely test the fabric of public order, social cohesion, and inter-group relations. The case of the University could have some peculiarity only for what it represents. It was probably the only civilian institution with a democratic structure, a conundrum to the thinking of PFDJ. PFDJ has spent nearly two decades in trying to abolish what was left of our traditional and democratic systems. In PFDJ's calendar, every year is Year Zero and to hell with tradition, history, continuity and propriety.
