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Ethiopia is such a beautiful country.
It's a rare contrast of people and nature. I don't say this just as a
proud
Ethiopian, I would say this just as a logical loving global citizen. That
beauty has always been there, though from time to time disintegrating from
within. We are one proud people, partly due to our ignorance; partly due to the
remarkable legacy our forefathers left us. Unfortunately for over half a
century, we have been in a very dark era. Now what is certain is that, we are
at a crossroad once again. On one side there seems to be a tangible and
economically strong foundation to jump over our deeply rooted economic
problems. On the other, we seem to be disintegrating at an alarming rate.
Last year during my 18-month stay in Ethiopia, I had the
chance to travel to as many parts of the country as I could. I was able to
cover 6 out of the 9 regional states. What I learned the most is that, no
blanket statements define the problems. The possible solutions for one area are
not the solutions for the other. From South Omo Valley to Konso, from Raya to
Illibabur, from Harar to Dire to Afar. There are a lot of problems, all
with their own root causes. As a country, Ethiopia has a very long journey to
travel and I hope we will get there together.
When you are on the ground in Ethiopia absorbing everything
through your senses, you realize (at least this was my personal experience)
people's priorities and concerns vary tremendously from place to place. It
might be freedom and democracy in bigger cities, in others, it's about the
basic human needs, water and food.
The path to solving Ethiopia’s problems isn’t as simple as
those of us in the Diaspora make it sound to be. Ask the Ethiopians who live
and breath in its abyss. Ask a lot of the Ethiopian Diasporas who either travel
to the motherland frequently or have completely relocated there. Many of them
will tell you, the process of democratizing and developing will take time. We
need steady and stable forward motion. The need for a policy that is inclusive of
all Ethiopians home and abroad to get involved is a must. The fastest and
safest route will be when enough Ethiopians have a stake in the stability and
continuity of their country. Then, for their own self-interest they will fend
of external forces that do not have their best interest at heart.
So What Are The Solutions and
How Do We Get There?
The
short answer is slowly but surely, one step at a time. The challenge is
bringing millions to work together and develop a working relationship and
eventually build a trust bond among very different groups including those in
the Diaspora? Let us put everything on the table for discussion. The
winner-take all mentality and sacrificing our own fellow citizens to negotiate
from a position of strength is unacceptable.
What Should Our Step #1 Be?
For starters, you look up to your leaders to set an agenda,
to bring you together and lead their followers. Unfortunately right now, we
don't have that. Almost every year we hear about Gimgema and how this one is different than the previous one. Yet,
when it really comes down to it, it is a mere recycled previous memo of issues and
priorities discussed, with almost no one to be held accountable for their
shortcomings.
So, relieve many of the old guards from their duties and
replace them with younger and dynamic technocrats. The old guards have been in
power for so long there shouldn’t be much of new idea left that they haven’t
shared by now. Stop reshuffling them from one ministerial or advisory post to
the other. If that is meant to provide them with a source of income to support
them and their families, just give them a great retirement benefits and bid
them farewell with respect.
The country needs leaders who are not only able to react quickly
to current events, but are able to read the mood of the people they lead. The
current leaders’ old school mindset of resistance to change is incompetent and
stubbornly inflexible to address the problems people are continuing to raise. I
will give one specific example. When so many university students were killed by
security forces at the outset of the #OromoProtest against the Addis Ababa City
expansion plan, almost a year a go, Prime Minister Hailemariam Desalegn did not
even speak about it for days. Such tragic events require just and assertive
address from the proper authority timely. Unfortunately to our surprise, the
course of action the Prime Minister followed seemed as though ignoring the problem
would make it go away.
What is your step #1 action
point to address Ethiopia’s ongoing problems?
Soon
I will share what I believe step #2 should be. Until then, I will leave you
with the following two quotes from President Theodore Roosevelt and author Dean
Koontz respectively.
“No
one cares how much you know, until they know how much you care”
“Some
people think only intellect counts: knowing how to solve problems, knowing how
to get by, knowing how to identify an advantage and seize it. But the functions
of intellect are insufficient without courage, love, friendship, compassion,
and empathy.”
Having
a stake in Ethiopia’s well being is taking ownership of its problems.
#DanielEthiopia
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