SAYING FAREWELL TO
THE HERO
Friday December 30th
will be recorded and remembered in the Eritrean history for infamy for
saying farewell to the Eritrean hero the late Tegadaly Seyoum
Ogbamicahel, the chairman of ELF-RC. The body of Tegaday Seyoum
Ogbamichael was buried at Holy Cemetery in Vlaardingen in the suburbs of
Rotterdam in Netherlands on that unfaithful day. The host country gave
a state level staged funeral because it recognized him as a statesman
who fought for his country’s independence, peace and democracy. The
city of Vlaardingen provided the entire tradition funeral services it
had been providing to its fallen heroes to our hero Seyoum Ogbamichael.
Dutch men in uniform carried his body following motorcades and staged at
the Liberty Square where fallen Dutch heroes are staged and all the
mourners who came from as far as the USA and all over Europe paid
respect. The city of Vlaardingen was swarmed by his comrades in arms,
members of the Eritrean Opposition Organizations and the Eritrean civic
organizations, friends and family who came to pay their last tribute
and to say farewell and thank you to their hero. The city became
paralyzed and the city police worked tirelessly in the middle of a
stormy winter day to divert the local trafic and closed all the major
streets to accommodate the buses and cars carrying people to the
funeral.
His comrades in arms
and his friends of over forty years carried Seyoum’s coffin to its last
journey. They carried the coffin on their shoulders and as they walk to
his final resting place of his body a clear shift of responsibility was
seen transferring from Seyoum’s body unto them. He handed over the torch
for democracy and piece to them and they vow to continue to hold the
torch and to continue the struggle where Seyoum left off and finish it.
A symbolic Eritrean
flag with a logo that reads “Thank You for Your Hard Struggle” was
handed to his eldest doughtier and to his family to commemorate his
service and lifetime devotion for the sake of peace and democracy for
the people of Eritrea.
The priest who
delivered a symbolic speech on his service at the funeral ceremony
compared Seyoum’s lifetime struggle to that of Moses. Moses continued
his struggle to save his people and died before he reached the top of
the mountain but finally his followers made it. The same is true for
Seyoum he did not reach the top of the mountain but his comrades of his
right cause will continue march to the final destiny and the there will
be peace and democracy in Eritrea.
So many people
compared Seyoum to Mandela of South Africa and Martin Luther King of
America. The comparison is right but fell short. Mandela and King
started their struggle for emancipation when they were at their middle
ages and the tempo was short. Seyoum started that same journey while he
was a teenager and lasted more than four decades.
Druning his life
Seyoum wore many hats: He was:
Student movement organizer.
Workers Union
Organizer
Orator
Linguist
Prisoner
Fighter
Leader
Diplomat
Human Rights
advocator
Journalist
Humorist
Husband
Father
Kind
Selfless
Forgiver
All
tribute payers to Seyoum had one thing in common they were all mourners
and embraced that Seyoum’s passing is not only a loss to his family but
a loss to all.
May his body rest in
peace
Eternity to our
Martyrs
Alem Yohannes
USA
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