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| The Chickens Have Come Home To Roost Again | ||||
| Dr. Mogus Degoyae Mochena 12/11/2002 |
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| If
there has ever been a picture that is worth a thousand words, this photograph
was it in my opinion. It could rank among the best in conveying its intended
visual message. It was the cover-page photograph of one of the 1984 Time magazine issues. I can’t remember the exact issue, but it might be one of the September ones. It came out just as Derg was celebrating its tenth year anniversary with fireworks in extravagant way. The agonizing image was seared into my memory forever. It sent chills down my spine, shook me to my core as it did millions of people all over the world. Over the past twenty years (almost), it has faded to the back of my memory, as the horrors of Rwanda, the destruction of Somalia and ethnic cleansing of Bosnia have layered themselves over the upper crusts of my cranial registry. Bur now, those forgotten haunting images of that infamous famine have resurfaced after browsing the Ethiopian news pages over the WEB in recent weeks.. |
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I will try to describe that
horrifying photograph from memory despite the fact that words are too
inadequate to describe it. (It would be nice if somebody could post that
photograph). And here is how I remember that awful photograph and events of
1984. The skeletal body could not support the weight of his skull, so he arched forward resting his forehead on his propped up knees. From the tip of his toes to the top of his head, his stark naked, emaciated body did not have any flesh on it. His buttocks were completely shriveled; his pelvic bones were jutting out from their joints; his rib cage was so bare that the bones could be counted one by one. His eyes, sank in their cavernous sockets, exuded a complete sense of resignation – resignation to die. The flies, around the eyes, were marauding like vultures over a carcass. He was too weak to flick them away. Such was the physique of an Ethiopian lad, starving to death. It was too painful to just look at it, and too hard to believe a human being could be reduced to mere bundles of bones like this. That photograph was so powerful in highlighting the agonies and nightmares of millions of Ethiopians that it moved the whole world into action. The homeless in the skid row of downtown Los Angeles felt morally obligated to raise money for the starving in Ethiopia. Children in kindergarten were saving their lunch money, and that in turn, became evening news. Everywhere, everybody became engaged in something or another to save Ethiopia: Bob Geldof in England organized a huge concert to raise millions of dollars; the American music superstars got together and released “We are the world, we are the children “ single. And the name Ethiopia became synonymous with famine. Not a country, rather a nightmare for millions Almost twenty years have passed since that last big famine of 1984. There have been many other intermittent famines of lesser magnitude. Famine is now a perennial phenomena in one or another part of this ancient but unlucky country. But this time a whopping 14 million, by some estimates, are in dire need of food. Once more, Ethiopia is going around with tin cans, begging for food. This once proud and ancient country has become a perpetual beggar in order to save the lives of millions of its citizens. The haunting images that wrenched our hearts are back again. On top of it all, to make matters worse, there is a daunting aids crisis. |
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| A harbinger
of the future Unless we Ethiopians get our act together, this latest catastrophe could be just a harbinger of many more to come. Here is why. Consider the population of Ethiopia. A generation ago it was twenty something million. Now it has grown to about sixty five million. In another generation, it is expected to double to over 120 million (unless family planning deters it). In order to just maintain the current standard of living, the lowest in the world, productivity must be doubled. If the present out of date mentality and politics continues, if we continue to waste our resources, if we do not spend our energies on productive and constructive activities, doubling productivity or having a sustainable family planning will be a tall order to accomplish. The task awaiting this generation of ours is huge, and God knows, if we will ever meet the challenges and amount to anything. We are so impotent that the rest of the world has to take care of us. If this sounds a bit far-fetched or alarmist, all you have to do is go to the streets of Addis Ababa and see for yourself how the number of beggars has more than tripled over the past two decades or so. Even the Meles government had to dump them outside Addis Ababa very recently because they have become too much of an eyesore. |
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Spectacular failure of
our generation Our inability to forge a workable nation out of our disparate backgrounds, heritage and regions is the root cause of the disgrace we have subjected our people to. We profess we love our country, but we have not been able to form a decent form of government. Instead a bacchanal from “Tella Bet” of Dire Dawa or Harrar maneuvers ruthlessly to the helm of power by devouring his fellow members of the junta and rules brutally for seventeen years. He spends close to 50% of the meager budget of this poor country on war efforts. Then comes a rag tag army of guerrilla fighters from their foxholes, backed with EPLF, march to power and rule with ease for more than a decade with cockamamie politics of ethnic federalism, myopic manipulations of power to enrich themselves and their party affiliated business, ruthless suppression of democratic aspirations and arrogant disregard for the rule of law. After a decade it dawns on them that they must reform themselves as if ten years of failed government is not enough. The opposition is so fractious that it has not amounted to anything in a decade. From the extremists that want to carve out a new nation to ethnic based parties to plethora of vociferous but ineffectual groups, they have all failed miserably as EPRDF rides roughshod over them. Civic organizations spring up and disappear overnight. Worse yet, this supposedly Christian (at least the majority of it) is awash with hatred and divisions along ethnic lines. The brain drain is among the worst in Africa according to recent articles. On top of it all, there is this never ending conflict with Eritrea, which consumed a staggering three billion US dollars in the most recent conflagration – not to mention the tens of thousands of lives that perished. (How many dams the three billion dollars could have built?) The net outcome of all this ineptitude, shortsightedness and inability to compromise is a disaster waiting to happen sooner or later; and that is what we have on hand. Now that the chickens have come home to roost, we have no choice but stoop down in disgrace begging for alms and goodwill of others. |
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| Now What? Two campaigns must be waged simultaneously. The first one is, of course, the urgent one – to save the lives of the starving millions. We must dig deep into our pockets to help our citizens, and ,even more, to assuage our own sense of guilt and helplessness. We must, however, avow in the name of the starving millions: “ never again do we have to do this”. Therefore let us give generously. As one author suggested, there are about 100,000 Ethiopians in the United States, and if each one of us could spare $100, that could amount to ten million dollars. The second one, an all out campaign, must be undertaken to bring about a lasting change so that no such disgrace repeats itself again. We have two stark choices – either remain as the scum of humanity or marshal all our forces to free our country from the bondage of selfish leaders and abject poverty. While it is not appropriate to get into thorough discussions at this moment as we have urgent matters to attend to, the question of finding a lasting solution is an indispensable one and needs to be addressed critically. This recurring nightmare must stop once and for all. The latter requires more than lip service, more than transient sense of outrage, more than just sheer shame, but a sense of guilt and responsibility for our own failure. The kind of government we have and our overall impotence at the hands of very few who usurped power with the almighty gun and rule with such arrogance, disrespect and ease is a reflection of what we are. Ethiopians are no saints and are beset with political and economic problems like any other people. What makes our situation so different is that we have not been able to minimize our differences for the common good of all of us to such a degree that we can’t even feed ourselves. We must vow not to shame this country anymore, vow not stand still until a lasting solution is administered to such a nightmare. We must vow to bring back the historical glory Ethiopia has always symbolized in Africa. Above all, let us examine our souls. The author Mogus Degoyae Mochena can be reached at degoyae@yahoo.com. The author gives permission for this article to be posted in any forum. |
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