This is my Special Inaugural Ode (commemorative poem) on the commissioning of the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD) on September 9, 2025.
The other GERD Odes (July 12, 2020, and August 11, 2022) are available in pdf format here:
Click to access Ode-to-GERD-Pt-1-and-2.pdf
GERD: One big step for Ethiopian prosperity, one gigantic leap for African progress and energy security!
The GERD HAS MADE ETHIOPIA GREAT AGAIN!
******************************************************************************************************
GERD: Let There Be Light on Ethiopia!
“In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth.
And God said, ‘Let there be light,’ and there was light.” (Gen, 1.1)
“The name of the second river is the Gihon (Abai);
It winds through the entire land of Cush.” (Gen. 2:13)
For millennia, darkness enveloped the land of Cush Ethiopia
Today, light shines bright from the GERD to make Ethiopia Africa’s cornucopia.
“Darkness upon darkness,” for millennia
GERD became Allah’s Blessing/Light on Ethiopia.
GERD is the handiwork of God’s creation
Who used the Ethiopian people to bring it to full completion.
GERD was the cherished dream of mighty Ethiopian kings and queens
A glorious dream finally made real by the Nobel Laureate for Peace.
Ethiopians built the GERD with their blood, sweat and tears
They toiled day and night and finished it in fourteen years.
GERD is Ethiopia’s renaissance and rebirth
Behold in awe Mankind, Ethiopia’s rise from the bosom of the Earth.
When the world turned its back on the GERD and denied us pittance
We tightened our belts and did it Our Way, with audacity and defiance.
“Your old men will dream dreams, your young men will see visions.” (Joel 2:28)
Ethiopia’s young men and women built the GERD to last for generations.
GERD shall usher Ethiopia’s Age of Light and Prosperity
Powered by limitless renewable hydroelectricity.
GERD is God’s gift to Ethiopia and its neighbors
To our Sudanese, Egyptian and Horn of Africa sisters and brothers.
GERD is proof of God’s plan for Ethiopia
To save the Horn of Africa from becoming a dystopia.
Darkness cannot drive out darkness, there must be light
GERD will shine on Ethiopia and end a thousand years of night.
Let the GERD shine and strengthen our unity
Let the GERD light our way to the Promised Land of Prosperity.
Let the GERD on Abai wash away our underdevelopment and poverty
And make Ethiopia a beacon of African prosperity.
Wrote the great pan-Africanist Kwame Nkrumah, Ethiopia, mother of the “unfailing waters of the Nile shall rise,
GERD now shines bright in “Ethiopia, Africa’s hopes and destiny, the land of the wise.”
Sudanese and Egyptian brothers and sisters, let us make the GERD our shared source of light
Let’s open our hearts and minds and shake hands, there is absolutely no need for us to quarrel or fight.
GERD taught us all a grand lesson: Ethiopians united
Can never be conquered, subjugated or defeated.
GERD shall shine from the peaks of Ras Dashen
Over to the Red Sea and the Indian Ocean.
Let Allah give us “light in our hearts, light in our tongues and light in our sight”
Let Allah bless our GERD to give us everlasting light upon light.
Let the GERD Light shine eternally upon Ethiopia, the Land of Cush
May God save Ethiopia from poverty, conflict and anguish.
May Allah bless our GERD and grant us peace, progress and prosperity
May God preserve and strengthen our humanity, unity, security and sovereignty.
Let’s GERD and MAKE ETHIOPIA GREAT AGAIN!
******************************************************************
September 9, 2025, a Day of Thanksgiving
First and foremost, on September 9, 2025, I thank and exalt the Almighty who made the completion of the GERD possible despite the centuries-long intrigues, machinations, conspiracies and dirty tricks of nations great and small to thwart and even physically destroy the dam and keep Ethiopia in eternal darkness. They all failed.
I believe GERD is a fulfillment of God’s Promise at the time of Creation. “Let there be light on the Land of the River Ghion, the Land of Cush.”
I thank, congratulate and joyously join the great people of Ethiopia who singlehandedly built the GERD with their blood, sweat, tears.
I thank with special appreciation the project contractor Sallini Impregilio/WeBuild for its historic contributions to Ethiopia’s economic development.
I thank with great indebtedness the tens of thousands of Ethiopian and foreign engineers, technicians and construction workers, those workers who lost their lives during construction, the the soldiers and airmen who stood sentry 24/7/365 protecting the ground and airspace over the GERD, the federal and local officials who facilitated the GERD and the people of Benishangul-Gumuz Region of Ethiopia.
Scripture rightly teaches, “A prophet is not without honor, but in his own country, and among his own kin, and in his own house.”
But I honor PM Abiy (“አይበገሬው”/Aybegerew/Invictus) Ahmed for his singularly decisive role in the construction and completion of the GERD. But for his unflagging vision, unrelenting diligence, indefatigable follow up, unshakeable faith and perseverance and never-ending resourcefulness, the GERD would not have been completed as fast as it did.
Never have so many owed to so much to one man.
Ethiopians for millennia dreamed an impossible dream: To build the greatest dam in the African continent on their Abai River. For centuries, they faced and fought formidable and ruthless enemies and suffered unbearable sorrow.
Their suffering and sorrow was turned into hope and great expectation when Abiy Ahmed made the GERD his quest: “To build the GERD and reach the unreachable star. To follow that star, no matter how hopeless, no matter how far.”
Abiy Ahmed “fought for the GERD, a heavenly cause, without question or pause.”
Abiy Ahmed was one man, “scorned and covered with scars.” But he strove with his “last ounce of courage and reached the unreachable star,” the GERD.
PM Abiy is a man of his words, a man of action. He walks the talk. He under promises and over delivers.
For those who ask why I support PM Abiy Ahmed, my answer is simple.
My support for PM Abiy is principled. He is the only man I know who breathes Ethiopia, loves Ethiopia, thinks Ethiopia, talks Ethiopia, walks Ethiopia, sleeps Ethiopia, dreams Ethiopia, imagines the New Ethiopia, prays for Ethiopia and lives for Ethiopia.
Abiy Ahmed is the only man I know who carries Ethiopia in his body, mind, spirit and soul 24/7/365, and for whom MAKING ETHIOPIA GREAT AGAIN is a labor of love.
It takes one to know one.
Thanks PM Abiy “አይበገሬው/Invictus” Ahmed.
My GERD-size thanks to you for MAKING ETHIOPIA GREAT AGAIN!
This is my Special Inaugural Ode (commemorative poem) on the commissioning of the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD) on September 9, 2025.
The other GERD Odes (July 12, 2020, and August 11, 2022) are available in pdf format here:
Click to access Ode-to-GERD-Pt-1-and-2.pdf
GERD: One big step for Ethiopian prosperity, one gigantic leap for African progress and energy security!
The GERD HAS MADE ETHIOPIA GREAT AGAIN!
******************************************************************************************************
GERD: Let There Be Light on Ethiopia!
And God said, ‘Let there be light,’ and there was light.” (Gen, 1.1)
“The name of the second river is the Gihon (Abai);
It winds through the entire land of Cush.” (Gen. 2:13)
For millennia, darkness enveloped the land of Cush Ethiopia
Today, light shines bright from the GERD to make Ethiopia Africa’s cornucopia.
“Darkness upon darkness,” for millennia
GERD became Allah’s Blessing/Light on Ethiopia.
GERD is the handiwork of God’s creation
Who used the Ethiopian people to bring it to full completion.
GERD was the cherished dream of mighty Ethiopian kings and queens
A glorious dream finally made real by the Nobel Laureate for Peace.
Ethiopians built the GERD with their blood, sweat and tears
They toiled day and night and finished it in fourteen years.
GERD is Ethiopia’s renaissance and rebirth
Behold in awe Mankind, Ethiopia’s rise from the bosom of the Earth.
When the world turned its back on the GERD and denied us pittance
We tightened our belts and did it Our Way, with audacity and defiance.
“Your old men will dream dreams, your young men will see visions.” (Joel 2:28)
Ethiopia’s young men and women built the GERD to last for generations.
GERD shall usher Ethiopia’s Age of Light and Prosperity
Powered by limitless renewable hydroelectricity.
GERD is God’s gift to Ethiopia and its neighbors
To our Sudanese, Egyptian and Horn of Africa sisters and brothers.
GERD is proof of God’s plan for Ethiopia
To save the Horn of Africa from becoming a dystopia.
Darkness cannot drive out darkness, there must be light
GERD will shine on Ethiopia and end a thousand years of night.
Let the GERD shine and strengthen our unity
Let the GERD light our way to the Promised Land of Prosperity.
Let the GERD on Abai wash away our underdevelopment and poverty
And make Ethiopia a beacon of African prosperity.
Wrote the great pan-Africanist Kwame Nkrumah, Ethiopia, mother of the “unfailing waters of the Nile shall rise,
GERD now shines bright in “Ethiopia, Africa’s hopes and destiny, the land of the wise.”
Sudanese and Egyptian brothers and sisters, let us make the GERD our shared source of light
Let’s open our hearts and minds and shake hands, there is absolutely no need for us to quarrel or fight.
GERD taught us all a grand lesson: Ethiopians united
Can never be conquered, subjugated or defeated.
GERD shall shine from the peaks of Ras Dashen
Over to the Red Sea and the Indian Ocean.
Let Allah give us “light in our hearts, light in our tongues and light in our sight”
Let Allah bless our GERD to give us everlasting light upon light.
Let the GERD Light shine eternally upon Ethiopia, the Land of Cush
May God save Ethiopia from poverty, conflict and anguish.
May Allah bless our GERD and grant us peace, progress and prosperity
May God preserve and strengthen our humanity, unity, security and sovereignty.
Let’s GERD and MAKE ETHIOPIA GREAT AGAIN!
******************************************************************
September 9, 2025, a Day of Thanksgiving
First and foremost, on September 9, 2025, I thank and exalt the Almighty who made the completion of the GERD possible despite the centuries-long intrigues, machinations, conspiracies and dirty tricks of nations great and small to thwart and even physically destroy the dam and keep Ethiopia in eternal darkness. They all failed.
I believe GERD is a fulfillment of God’s Promise at the time of Creation. “Let there be light on the Land of the River Ghion, the Land of Cush.”
I thank, congratulate and joyously join the great people of Ethiopia who singlehandedly built the GERD with their blood, sweat, tears.
I thank with special appreciation the project contractor Sallini Impregilio/WeBuild for its historic contributions to Ethiopia’s economic development.
I thank with great indebtedness the tens of thousands of Ethiopian and foreign engineers, technicians and construction workers, those workers who lost their lives during construction, the the soldiers and airmen who stood sentry 24/7/365 protecting the ground and airspace over the GERD, the federal and local officials who facilitated the GERD and the people of Benishangul-Gumuz Region of Ethiopia.
Scripture rightly teaches, “A prophet is not without honor, but in his own country, and among his own kin, and in his own house.”
But I honor PM Abiy (“አይበገሬው”/Aybegerew/Invictus) Ahmed for his singularly decisive role in the construction and completion of the GERD. But for his unflagging vision, unrelenting diligence, indefatigable follow up, unshakeable faith and perseverance and never-ending resourcefulness, the GERD would not have been completed as fast as it did.
Never have so many owed to so much to one man.
Ethiopians for millennia dreamed an impossible dream: To build the greatest dam in the African continent on their Abai River. For centuries, they faced and fought formidable and ruthless enemies and suffered unbearable sorrow.
Their suffering and sorrow was turned into hope and great expectation when Abiy Ahmed made the GERD his quest: “To build the GERD and reach the unreachable star. To follow that star, no matter how hopeless, no matter how far.”
Abiy Ahmed “fought for the GERD, a heavenly cause, without question or pause.”
Abiy Ahmed was one man, “scorned and covered with scars.” But he strove with his “last ounce of courage and reached the unreachable star,” the GERD.
PM Abiy is a man of his words, a man of action. He walks the talk. He under promises and over delivers.
For those who ask why I support PM Abiy Ahmed, my answer is simple.
My support for PM Abiy is principled. He is the only man I know who breathes Ethiopia, loves Ethiopia, thinks Ethiopia, talks Ethiopia, walks Ethiopia, sleeps Ethiopia, dreams Ethiopia, imagines the New Ethiopia, prays for Ethiopia and lives for Ethiopia.
Abiy Ahmed is the only man I know who carries Ethiopia in his body, mind, spirit and soul 24/7/365, and for whom MAKING ETHIOPIA GREAT AGAIN is a labor of love.
It takes one to know one.
Thanks PM Abiy “አይበገሬው/Invictus” Ahmed.
My GERD-size thanks to you for MAKING ETHIOPIA GREAT AGAIN!
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