Dear Sir or Madam

As the body in charge of co-ordinating the year-long celebrations of the new Ethiopian Millennium – declared by the African Union as "A unique African occasion" - which started on the 12^th September 2007, it would be remiss of our duty if we were not to respond to Kevin Myers’ tasteless and synthetic argument.   Written in the spirit of schadenfreude and couched in neo-nazist and neo-racist parlance, Kevin Myers’ "Africa is giving nothing to anyone – apart from AIDS" (Independent.ie 10^th July 2008) is a classic example of irresponsible journalism.    Hence showing literary mercy to a wayward journalist, who takes the mickey out of Africans and Ethiopians in particular, would be cruelty to our society.   Moreover,  what a fearful thing it is that in today’s globalised world where calamity of one sort or another has become a daily occurrence, there exist men like Kevin Myers who derive pleasure from the suffering of others.   In point of fact, it is attitudes such as Kevin Myers’ which are responsible for a tug of a war that is being observed in our part of the world between, on the one hand, those who believe all forms of aid to Africa must be disinterested aid, and those who come to places like Ethiopia with an axe to grind "on foot and financially" and "have stumped up the loot to charities to stop starvation in Ethiopia" on the other.

Kevin Myers’ implicit prescription for Africa’s socio-economic woes is as bloodcurdling as it is infantile: to place Africa under the suzerainty of foreign powers.

It must be noted from the outset that while Africans in general and Ethiopians in particular are most grateful for and appreciative of the timely generosity of all those who stood by us during our times of national calamities especially so in 1984, we simply refuse to recognise that their continued role of the good Samaritan would entitle them to either be the nanny or the policemen of Africa in general and Ethiopia in particular.    Kevin Myers seems to be living in a time capsule of his own for how else could he have failed to recognize that today’s Ethiopia – despite its enormous challenges -  is a galaxy away from the Ethiopia of 20 years ago – his point of reference.   For a start, the drought that we currently face is not of ‘biblical proportion’ and, therefore, falls well within the institutional capacity of our responsible Government.   Of even greater impact is the realisation that Kevin Myers seemed to have lost sight of the fact that unlike 20 years ago, the drought that we now face is neither caused nor compounded by man.

The prevailing condition in Ethiopia is there for any dispassionate observer to witness.   On the one hand, we see double-digit growth rate for five consecutive years and yet the blow-back effect of growth, coupled with the hike in the price of oil, is pushing prices on goods and services.   On the other hand, we witness our Government spearheading a national response to the drought in order to ward off death from drought of about 4.6 million people affected by drought.     While the reality on the ground is truly encouraging, it is a sickening form of paternalism, not to say a ghoulish sentiment, on the part of Kevin Meyers to ask the international community if helping an Ethiopian child survive a famine is deemed a virtue or vice.

That Kevin Meyers is academically challenged is highlighted by the fact that he states: "Africa, with its vast savannahs and its lush pastures, is giving almost nothing to anyone, apart from AIDS."   It’s a shame, is it not, that Kevin does not seem to realise  the roses that grace his living room are probably Ethiopian roses, the cheery tomatoes that he adds to his green salad are from Ethiopia,  the aromatic coffee served in Irish cafes is from Ethiopia, the succulent strawberries that he eats are probably picked in Ethiopia, the chocolates that he treats himself to are made from cocoa imported from the Ivory Coast or Ghana, the rows of jewellery that decorate the windows of Irish jewellers are made from South African gold and diamond, the leather jacket that he wears are most probably made in Morocco or Ethiopia, the fuel he fills his car with is either from Nigeria or Angola, etc.

It is worthy to note that the nation that Kevin goes out of his way to denigrate – Ethiopia - is a symbol of Africa’s anti-colonial struggle, a custodian of rich history and culture, a tangible example of unity in diversity as well as an epitome of tolerance and peaceful co-existence amongst various religions, most notably between Christians and Muslims.    But, make no mistake for Ethiopians, like their African brothers and sisters, are people who have refused to live in past laurels alone, but are making big strides in securing rapid economic development.   Make no mistake, too, that we are sick and tired of being bowl dependent and will leave no stone unturned to come out from nature induced cycle of drought and famine as Ireland did once upon a time.

As a nation which is very much on the cusp of a great socio-economic transformation, Ethiopia owes a great debt of gratitude to philanthropist Bill Gates for his continent-wide programme to rid the continent of malaria.   But when we are made to realise that Kevin Meyers’ crowing point is his staunch belief that malaria is "the most efficacious form of population-control now in operation" in Africa, we cannot stop being reminded of Hitler’s language against the Jews, Gypsies and all people of colour.   Or, are we, then, to conclude that Kevin Myers is the incarnation of Adolf Hitler?    Fortunately, however, we do not hold the view that Kevin Meyers represents the prevailing mood or psyche of the Irish society which by and large has been through national calamities of similar nature and have come out from the ambers of drought to be where they are today.   We, too, much to the chagrin of Kevin Myers and his likes, will come out from the cycle of drought with or without the help of people like him.  We in Ethiopia have vivid memories of the commitment and love that we received from the people and Government of Ireland during our trials and tribulations.   And that is why we have concluded that such puerile attitude could only be the affectations of Kevin and his likes.

We anticipate that the Irish common sense will prevail over this wayward man. 

Yours faithfully

The Secretariat

Ethiopian Millennium Festival National Council

The opinion stated in the articles submitted to EthiopiaFirst (EF) are those of the writers and not EF or the publisher of EF.