Better to Light a Candle than Curse the Darkness

I. In General

Much is going on in Ethiopia if just one
considers events taking place in these last two weeks.  As usual I stay glued to my set watching
Ethiopian news and documentation on ETV.

Even with my built-in reservations on
this state run TV, I still remain captivated by the ETV news and documentation
portraying dramatic change that is taking place in the new Ethiopian administration,
a reality that seems to elude the scrutiny of very many Diaspora Ethiopians.  It is tragic to read essays of people who
should know better still writing as if Meles Zenawi is alive and there is no
change taking place in the new Hailemariam Desalegn’s administration.  In saying thus, I am not blinded by may
own overwhelming desire to see Ethiopia progress in all aspects of human
endeavors and as a result only see pieces of my own imagination for the reality
out there in Ethiopia.

The arrest of high officials and prominent
businessmen, the visit of high level delegation from wealthy Arab States, the
trade delegation from Egypt of industrialists, Hailemariam’s State visit
to Kuwait, the business tours of World Bank and African Development Bank executives
to Addis Ababa et cetera are very serious and quite impressive events. But more
so for me, I observed very subtle but profound changes in the ETV presentation
of the Kilil TV programs, where the national image is now foremost superseding
Kilil identities. The national Ethiopian Flag is hoisted often by itself
prominently without the irritating in your-face “State” Flags and
symbols displayed in Kilil programs. These forms of promotion of the national
image of Ethiopia are not small steps, but major displays of the consolidation
of nationalist forces, which in a way validates and reinforces further Hailemariam
Desalegn’s statements of a few weeks ago on the shift of policy on the
Constitutional rights of Ethiopian Citizens’ freedom of movement and
freedom of choice of abode and work place of settlement.

As far as I am concerned such events are
excellent indicators of a solid starting point for a new government trying to
have some traction on such slippery and volatile political and economic
conditions left behind by Meles Zenawi. Nevertheless, my cup would have overflowed
with joy and admiration if the new Ethiopian Administration had released
Eskinder Nega, Andualem Aragie, and several other prominent Ethiopian
journalists and political leaders. As long as these courageous Ethiopians
continue to be in prison, their incarceration would continue to undermine all
political and economic positive efforts of the new Hailemariam administration.

One must take into account the possibility
that the Ethiopian Government is afraid of the impact of such courageous
Ethiopians on the population if it frees them. However, there are other less inhumane
solutions to such predicament than imprisonment on trumped-up charges. If such
is the case, in my desperation I suggest to the new Ethiopian leaders a more
humane way of solving the impasse by repudiating the criminal convictions of Eskinder
and Andualem and by ostracizing them into exile to countries outside of Ethiopia.
The ancient Greeks used to have a practice when an individual becomes too
powerful for the society even though such individual has not committed any
crime, they used to send such an individual in to exile to a foreign country. To
a limited extent our past rulers had used similar process, for example, Emperor
Haile Selassie exiled Yohannes Eyassu, the son of Lij Eyassu Mikael, for no
reason except for fear of possible challenge to his Throne. Yohannes Eyassu was
a patriot leader who fought the Italian occupiers for five years winning the
admiration and respect of tens of thousands of Ethiopian Patriots and ordinary
people while the Emperor went on exile to England. “A possible measure to
protect democracy would be to exile the man who was too influential, but
although a very common way to protect the city from rivalries, this was a harsh
measure that was only taken by the community as a whole.”* My only
interest is to get such good men out of Hellhole.

II.
Haste Makes Waste

There is much truth to the idiomatic
expression that haste makes waste. I witnessed two monumental changes taking
place in Ethiopia in 1974 and in 1991. Sadly in each of those changes I also
witnessed serious flaws that affected the course of the two regimes formed
after each social convulsion. In both monumental changes, there was hastiness
that blinded very many Ethiopians into supporting and enabling narcissistic
individuals to climb up types of political structures that lead directly into the
coming into form of tyrannical political strong men. How did such changes take
place in a traditional social and political structure? I had argued for years
that the problem started way back in time with the breakup of the traditional courtiers’
power to elect the kings and emperors of Ethiopia due to the infusion of
massive slavery into the system and the courtiers losing their grip on power.

In our/my own time, Emperor Haile Selassie, despite
the fact of his outstanding effort in the modernization of Ethiopia, contributed
“inadvertently” to the political turmoil that caused his own
downfall and the overthrow of the aristocracy and the atrocities that followed.
By creating the modern school system he created a cocoon of elites who had no
true connection with the society and thereby he destroyed the remnant of the
traditional power structure. The prolific writer and astute observer of Ethiopian
life, Professor Messay Kebede,** in books and articles
has exhaustively expounded similar points. Emperor Haile Selassie, in addition
to the modern education system, also created a national military undermining
the traditional military structure of separate armies headed by Rases and
provincial governors. Thus both the student movement of the 1960s and the
military rebellion of the 1970s were anti-traditional forms of change. Especially
the student leaders brought in untested alien concepts that are still creating
havoc to our Ethiopian ethos even after forty years.

The artificial cocoon atmosphere created by
the modern school system was a disaster. Parents that usually are responsible to
guide the moral and social skill development of their children were afraid of
their modern-school-attendee-children who were incased in the cocoon of
artificial modern schools. There was no real connection between such students
and society who grew up in no man’s land to be come
Marxist/Leninist revolutionaries. The current dissonance in between Ethiopians
is one clear result of such artificial cocoon mentality that persisted and is
inherited by generations of students down to the current generation of
Ethiopians. In fact such now old former students that we find currently in all
kinds of political organizations are holding us all hostages with their pseudo
Marxist/Leninist organizations and shallow rhetoric and manipulation. Because
of such generational alienations, I believe a number of Ethiopians in the
Diaspora are paralyzed with fear from working out their own individual
political and economic reality.  For
Ethiopians in the Diaspora, the best way to help Ethiopia is to be successful
in one’s own life any where in the World.

III.
Better Light a Candle…

It is never late for any one of us to start
out fresh in life fixing past misdeeds, wrongs that we made et cetera. The
title of this article is a Chinese/Korean proverb on pragmatism. At times, I
feel that it is not even age-appropriate to dive into the discussion of such
obvious lack of practicality in living one’s own life successfully. For
far too long it seems to me that a number of Ethiopians in the Diaspora have
been entertaining unrealistic political ambition that they could effect
political change by debating in hotel halls and demonstrating in major western
capitals. At times I find positions of some of the leaders of such political
organizations quite childish, for they aspire to overthrow the Ethiopian
Government through mass organization conducted from foreign capitals. This type
of thinking is absurd and stupid, for it has not worked at anytime in our
recent history.

It is far better to think small and start helping
out the many destitute Ethiopians right here in the West than to dream of
becoming leaders of a new Ethiopian government in the distance.  At any rate political alliance cannot be
of much substance if it is just a result of meetings in hotel auditoriums. The
way to build a solid political base anywhere is to run locally placed social
institutions, such as clinics, schools, self help cooperatives et cetera for
fellow Ethiopians. In my decades of exile here in the United States, I have not
witnessed anyone (including myself) establishing scholarship fund for Ethiopian
students here where we have our lives. It seems to me that we talk and write
well, but when it comes to practical helpful work, we are no where to be found.
True, the building and establishment of a good number of churches and civic
centers for Ethiopians by Ethiopians is quite commendable activities, but it
very limited taking into account how much more we are capable of doing..

It is important that Diaspora Ethiopians create
first a strong network of interdependency before focusing on playing political
power game against the current Government leadership in Ethiopia. Some
individuals in the Diaspora have expressed in very strongly worded statements
that they will not settle for any change in Ethiopia except a revolutionary
one. There is tremendous risk of social breakdown and the disintegration of
Ethiopia to gamble with revolutionary changes, for revolutions are
unpredictable and the social upheaval can easily get out of control or reach
critical mass that it becomes totally volatile and unstable.  Compromise is an effective key to harmonious
social life and the bedrock of the democratic process and its basic form of
government.

IV. Why
I am Optimistic

I have solid reasons for my optimism about
the future of Ethiopia. I believe Hailemariam Desalign is moving cautiously and
constructively shaping Ethiopia as a democratic country. Just two days ago the
Auditor General of the Federal Government presented his Report and there was an
open discussion in Parliament.  In watching
the House debates as reported on ETV, it is the first time I felt the presence
of a real government wherein the executive is being put to task by
parliamentary representatives. The House Representatives were confronting head
long the many Ministries that have not properly accounted for budgetary millions
of birr, which included such powerful Ministries such as the Ministry of Defense,
the Ministry of Foreign Affairs et cetera. The Speaker of the House of
Representatives, Aba Dula Gemeda, expressed that the outcome of such failure of
proper accounting will result in none approval of budgetary allocations of
funds to those Ministries that failed to make proper accounting. I was very
much reminded of the yearly confrontations between Congress and President Obama
on the American Government Budget. Such bold parliamentary activities were
unthinkable a year ago.

It seems to me that the Ethiopian Government
is heading in the right direction at this point in time. I do not expect the
current Ethiopian Government to remedy or fix all of the errors of the last twenty
years all at once. It is important that the new Ethiopian government need be
taking baby-steps to gain some foothold in the complex structure of the
government and its functionaries left behind by Meles Zenawi. Take for instance
the Constitution, we all know that it is seriously
flawed. However, one cannot start fixing the several errors by throwing out that
Constitution right away, to do so would be to lose the minimum base of law and
order and minimal rights. I have read in essays and chats people urging the
people in leadership to abrogate the Constitution. I too have written
repeatedly on such topic, but I prefer now the establishment of a commission
first to pinpoint the many flaws of the Constitution and open a forum to the
public for debate and discourse. It will be an astute political move by
Hailemariam to start such political ball rolling.

This open criticism and identification of
lack of proper accounting by the Auditor General, and where the Ethiopian
public is fully informed has the added advantage of raising the expectations of
the population for much higher standard of governance. Such development in
itself is the manifest softening of the political stranglehold of the EPRDF. All
good social, political, and economic changes require changes in the mental
strength of the Ethiopian people. I just hope that such ray of light of
democracy will not be short lived and that the Ethiopian Government will not
plunge back into byzantine labyrinth of intrigues and arbitrary arrests and
detentions and lawlessness in general. 

Conclusion

Recently a very successful and very generous
friend of mine told me that I have wasted my life in the West, meaning that I
should have stayed back in Ethiopia where I could have contributed greatly to
the success of our beloved nation. I can imagine how much pain it must have
caused him to tell me to my face how far I have failed in my primary duty. I
know that comment comes from a person who has great expectations of my
“talent” and who otherwise heaps accolades on me and yet burning
with positive concern for a brother that seems not to make much headway in
wealth or in political life. True, my fifteen years of academic fellowship and
teaching of college students, or writing numerous articles et cetera would not
tilt the scale against a single year of serving in Ethiopia. Thus, I swear to
myself that I will always be truthful to my Ethiopia/people and not carry any
other hidden agenda than the single agenda to see Ethiopia realize its true
potential in great glory, and no matter how unpopular my views may be at any
particular time. I apologize to all of my close friends and in general to all
who knew of me for not living up to their expectations.

Individuals of the young Ethiopian generation,
such as Aman who asked of me to write a book after
reading my recent article that he identified as “tebta
mar,” are cause enough for me to continue my writing and sharing my
ideas. “I read your piece with great interest
and calm. I think you need to be congratulated on this watershed piece that put
our current predicament into its proper context. I call it ‘tebta mar.’ I recommend you expand this writing of
yours into a book, so we the current generation and the future ones have
something concrete to refer to.”  [emphasis mine]

In my earlier essay I invited fellow
Ethiopians to enter into some form of discourse on the subject of the current political
situation in Ethiopia. From some of the postings and also responses, I am able
to gleam that there are some who are willing to enter into constructive discourse,
while there are others who seem to be trapped in the past unable to see changes
and new possibilities in the current Ethiopian Leader Hailemariam
Desalegn. I do not see why we have to be hasty in
condemning this leader or dismissive in our judgment at a time like this where
caution is most appropriate.  I am
open to changing my mined, but would like to keep a positive and open mind in
trying to convince my fellow Ethiopians in the Diaspora and those at home that
we need to engage the current Ethiopian Leaders positively. Let us continue our
discourse. God Bless Us All.

Endnotes: