Re: "Ethiopia an embarrassment to Africa"
By: Assefa Abebe
December 20 -2002
Dear Ben:
I read Idang Alibi's article in the Daily Trust of Nov. 28 - 2002, entitled "Ethiopia, an Embarrassment to Africa." It was a vicious article, and I am very much disenchanted to see why a fellow African became so mean-spirited and threw a heap of accusations, and prejudiced hostility, as if hunger is the making of Ethiopian people. No one I know of who likes hunger, and enjoys watching their loved ones go to bed empty stomach. No one prefers to see their livestock their only commodity which they rely on, perish due to lack of drinking water, and grazing pasture. Continuous lack of rain that created extensive damage to crops, loss of human lives, animals, and the environment is beyond the country's reach of control.
Ethiopia didn't commit any thing wrong to Nigeria, to deserve the type of disparaging and abusive criticism he was spewing out of his mouth, as if they are not humans as Nigerians. Although Alibi tried to make a mockery of the Bible regarding the visit of the Queen of Sheba to King Solomon in Jerusalem (2 Chronicles, 9 ), as well as the seven good years and the seven lean years (Genesis 41 ), Ethiopians are very much proud of their historical legacy, their accomplishments, and the events mentioned in the Bible referring to them.
Mr. Alibi seemed to suffer from amnesia, to forget so soon the contributions Ethiopia played, and provided to the people of Nigeria during the Biafran War of the mid 1960s. When Nigeria was in chaos during that time, its leader found no one to trust, and no one to fall back on in that part of the country, which is always seems to be true any where else in the world during internal power struggle.
The Nigerian leadership out of several African nations chose only Ethiopia for her sincerity, dependability, and credibility to come to his assistance in time of needs.
Ethiopia stretched her hands out to the challenge and demonstrated in action the affection and kindness she bestowed on African brothers and sisters. During the Biafran War between general Gowon and his opponent colonel Ojuku, Ethiopia used her own resources and manpower to provide logistical support for the safety and security of the Nigerian leader, his family, and his high cabinet government officials, who made it possible to unify Nigeria the country they have today. Without Ethiopian help, I doubt if Nigeria would ever have pulled herself out of the quagmire she found herself in.
Having lived at Debre Zeit in the 60s, I saw what the late Emperor Haile Selassie did to help Nigeria. He ordered transport plane from the then Imperial Ethiopian Air Force, fully equipped with all communication gears, including an air force pilot, and air force mechanics to be sent for general Gowon's use. Ethiopian generosity didn't cease, but continued until the early 70s, when the war ended in favor of general Gowan.
In addition to that, Ethiopia granted scholarship fund to Nigerian students to come to Ethiopian Air Force and learn how to fly, at the expense of Ethiopian student's educational budget. Ethiopians always loved Nigerians, that was one of the reasons why she put her Air Force Personnel, and plane at harms way. She never looked down on them and insulted them for taking away her meager resources, that other wise would have been used to educate her own pilots. Right after graduation, Ethiopian Air Force personnel didn't want the Nigerians to return home in the middle of the war, for fear that they might become the victim of the war.
Being poor and being seen on television screen is not an embarrassment to Africa. What is really embarrassing to Africa, and to the rest of the world in this modern age is having to see why Nigerian State issued a religious decree called "FATWA," to kill a journalist who made an innocent statement in Nigeria's This Day daily newspaper saying, " the Prophet Mohammad would have approved of the Miss World Pageant and might have married one of its beauty queens." I couldn't comprehend why riot has to break out between Christians and Muslims over this complimentary statement, and caused the death of over 200 people. That is truly barbarism in its lowest form, and an embarrassment to Africa, and not poverty.
I would like to remind Alibi the wise saying, "a friend in need is a friend indeed." When his country needed Ethiopia, she was there for them, and it is about time for the Nigerians to reciprocate in kind. He owes Ethiopia an apology from the bottom of his heart, for his arrogance and bigotry insulting her, simply for being poor.
If Alibi were really concerned about Ethiopia's fate he could have used the power of his check book to assist, rather than using the power of his pen to degrade her for something beyond her control.
Thank you for your time and attention.
Sincerely,
Assefa Abebe
Iowa, USA
[Opinions in this article are solely that of the writer.]