Revisiting the "Black Man"s burden: Eritrea and the curse of the nation-state

REVISITING THE “BLACK MAN‟S BURDEN”: ERITREA AND THE CURSE OF THE NATION-STATE

A 2010 Masters thesis by Aman Sium

can be accessed here:

https://tspace.library.utoronto.ca/bitstream/1807/25675/1/Sium_Aman_201011_MA_Thesis.pdf

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Thanks to Omer Abdulgadir Mohamed Ali for sharing the link
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Abstract 
This thesis argues that the state apparatus has failed to provide Africans with a culturally compatible form of governance. The state is a product of colonial origin, and thus, has failed to resonate with Indigenous African spirituality, moral consciousness or political tradition. By grounding my argument in the Eritrean context, I make the case that the Eritrean state – not unlike other African states – is failing in three fundamental ways. First, it is oppressive towards Indigenous institutions of governance, particularly the village baito practiced in the rural highlands of Eritrea. Second, the state promotes a national identity that has been arbitrarily formed and colonially imposed in place of Indigenous ones, such as those formed around regional or linguistic groupings. Lastly, because the Eritrean state is a rather new phenomenon that suffers from a crisis of legitimacy, it inevitably falls back on processes of violence, coercion and control to assert its authority.
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Chapter Five: is on the Case of Tigrinya People in Eritrea: Anatomy of the Village Baito, Core Principles: enacting the spirit of Wefera and Adetatnan/Abotatna Kem Zemharuna, the examples of the Tigrinya naming ceremony and conflict resolution, Re-asserting Indigenous Nationalism and Trans-territorial Identity, Resisting State Violence and De-indigenization