Some six students were killed and scores more were injured in the past few weeks in a spate of clashes that rocked public universities across Ethiopia.

Democracy is not an option for Ethiopia; it’s a necessity. Absent democracy it cannot be a land of peace, equality, justice and freedom.

Ethiopia has been at a crossroads for some time now. It lacks a roadmap charting the path it should tread in the years ahead.

The political dynamics presently playing out in Ethiopia are stark reminders of the dangers of glossing over the existential threats confronting the country.

The situation Ethiopia presently finds itself has never been more troubling. The country is lurching from one crisis to another due to the inability and more worryingly the unwillingness to learn from past mistakes.

The dearth of ideas characterizing Ethiopia’s political landscape has created a favorable condition for lawlessness.

Ethiopia is presently facing strong headwinds from different directions. The challenges confronting us keep getting more complex and thornier by the day.

Ethiopia, the beloved motherland of all Ethiopians, is seriously ill. It goes without saying that a mother’s sickness worries its children out of their mind for they have no other mother.

If more energy was devoted to working hard, as opposed to gossiping, wonders can be done by exploiting Ethiopia’s massive untapped potential. Senseless bickering and malicious gossiping have done incalculable harm to Ethiopia.

The exemplary deed this week by a member of the police force of the Afar Regional State warms the heart. In a display of patriotism he refused to accept a bribe in the form of 40,000 birr (over USD 1,350) and firearms offered by arms traffickers out of a conviction that he would never compromise the national interest and promptly put them under arrest.