By Samuel Estefanous
Everybody has got a guilty pleasure she/he isn’t particularly proud of. Until recently mine was excessive fondness of late night shows. I was so much into it that I used to go as far back as the 70s and watch Johnny Carson from archives. I don’t even want to talk about David Letterman. I guess we all liked him here in Ethiopia courtesy MBC Satellite TV before the dawn of YouTube. You know the David Letterman Seifu Fantahun imitates down to the choice of wardrobe.
In one of his memorable episodes Letterman was brutally roasting Lindsay Lohan right after she was released from rehab until she beat him flat down with a simple whimpering tearful statement that she was the happiest when she is working and that her addiction was a fatal disease to be joked about the way Letterman was doing.
Letterman broke out of character and delivered one of his incisive trade mark punch lines. Assuming a paternal role he said to her something which has made me respect him even more “I know more than any other body that in such circumstances first we put out the fire and then we take care of the faulty wiring”.
That is what we need to do here-we need to put out the fire before trying to fix the faulty wiring.
1-Securing the Territorial Integrity of the Country
Growing up, time after time we were taught and told that at the height of the war of succession between Dejach Teferi and Lij Iyasu the latter wouldn’t join forces with ‘the eternal enemies of Ethiopia’ just to kick the Dejach out of the palace. As the direct descendant of the late Emperor, by God he was the rightful heir to the throne of Menelik II and he wouldn’t be the first one if he had actually collaborated with ‘enemies of the state’. But he wouldn’t. He had reasoned Ethiopia was way too much important than Dejach Teferi and the ‘treacherous and conniving’ Shoa nobility.
His characterization of the Shoa nobility was surely misplaced and suffered from provincial prejudices of the time but his reasoning about Ethiopia was impeccable. Besides, to this day some folks have difficulty weaning off the Shoa thing though nowadays for the most part the slighting is healthy and postulated in jocular terms. Even Ato Meles had suffered from the ‘debilitating malaise’ all his adult life. Who would forget what he had told Dr.Negasso relative to the reserved demure of Girma Birru? After praising his minister of Economic Development and Cooperation in the presence of the President he had noted in parenthesis ‘what a pity Girma has got that distinct Shoan supercilious character streak’.
At any rate every country has got local prejudices. When Londoners speak of Camden one would assume they are referring to a county in Timbuktu though Camden folks are Londoners alright. Making regional preferences to a certain degree is healthy and natural, actually trying to mold a texture less, monotonous robotics like patriotism defies history and social dynamism. Thus, I truly believe that there is indeed unity in diversity and it isn’t a contradiction in terms either.
What I find toxic and untoward is pressing narrow nationalism down the throat of an unwilling populace employing all sorts of coercion and blackmailing in pursuit of one’s own private interests at the expense of the territorial integrity of the Nation. Case in point is after half a century of non-stop ‘ethnic proselytization’ on the scale of religious fervor, “the Oromos of Ethiopia” have spewed it. I mean literally spewed it and embraced the broader Ethiopian identity with ease, the radicalized youth not excepted. What a pity now some activists are trying to lock them out demanding ‘proof of loyalty’ casting doubt on their sincerity grounding the mistrust on unseemly factors like ‘Oromo irredentism’.
Guess why? Because the FDRE government is seeking a breathing window into the open wide sea and the Premier happens to be predominantly of Oromo stock. For crying out loud it is something which has drawn out Dr. Yacob from his hibernation to boldly declare that ‘now the government is talking my language!’ How come it keeps eluding us that we have got a converging interest in keeping the Nation adrift before trying to fix or replace the faulty wiring?
Before 2018, most of us were bashing EPRDF left and right but however much I hated the system I never withheld my gratitude to the Front for keeping law and order as well as for keeping the Nation ‘in one piece’ though not at peace.
The other day I heard two diaspora veterans passing time indulging in Ethiopian politics by trading insults. That isn’t news. It has become the new normal. What amused me was the one going around knocking on all podcast links demanding a forum for rebuttal. He contended that his reputation was soiled by his opponent who had called him ‘a Jaware-one sharing certain views with Jawar Mohammed’. The alleged perpetrator was having the last laugh. It reminded me of a once hilarious war of words between WWF and WWE. You know between the World Wrestling Federation and the World Wildlife Fund. The latter has successfully reclaimed the exclusive intellectual right to the acronym since and the former is rebranded as WWE. I believe it was TIME magazine which had run the news under a funny title ‘Whom are you calling WWF, huh?’ We sure could do better than going to such comical extent to disassociate ourselves from the views of another fellow compatriot.
The odd thing is by all accounts the one who had good sense was the very one who assumes he is insulted by the association. In simple terms he had contended that we need to keep the Boat that is Ethiopia adrift and steady before cheering on militant groups to Addis blindly and on impulse. Okay one can disagree with the idea but how come airing such an opinion becomes sacrilegious? I swear to God I was flabbergasted. I knew what was at stake-the fear of being summarily labeled and ejected from the Diaspora politics which doesn’t allow a wee bit of freedom of thought and persuasion.
2-Combating Institutional Corruption
After denying the existence of institutional corruption which has been slowly but surely creeping to the level of state capture, recently the Premier has redefined the narratives. He has acknowledged the prevalence of corruption at the ‘highest level’ and the finding has resulted in marginalizing a good number of government and party officials at top echelons.
In all fairness I wouldn’t try to gloss over the courage it takes to go public with the findings. Ato Hailemariam’s government was enfeebled because as the reigning Premier he had lacked the gut to say names. Courtesy of Berhan Tsigab’s book, later in time we have come to learn that he did tell the Council of EPRDF that all major corruption networks were traced back ‘to this hall’. He should have declared that to the larger Ethiopian public.
I wouldn’t deny myself the courage to pay respect where and when it is due just because I have got some scores to settle with the government which has reduced folks to second class citizenship destined to eke out miserable living around the periphery. Even when I know the little gains are liable to be reversed as witnessed by the temporary revoking of the license of Media and Communication Center (The Reporter) I wouldn’t withdraw the support just because the measure isn’t taken by a Party of my choice. (Incidentally I haven’t been able to reasonably process the measures the government has taken. If it knew what is best to it, the FDRE government would realize that MCC publications are mediums that comfort the multitude impressing on a good number of us the fact that all isn’t bleak and not lost and that the Nation could be redeemed).
Institutional corruption squeezes a Nation dry till it bleeds to its eventual death. Corruption has become a veritable threat to National security. Businessmen do ‘palm oiling’ as a matter of ‘standard operating procedure’-to borrow a manufacturing industry term. Young professionals are easily drawn into the vortex of the whirlpool and lose their civic duties and good conscience just like that. When corruption is designated as a threat to national security we are talking about saving a generation as well, not just resources. That is why the Office is designated as Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission.
For the good of the Nation I believe every little achievement the government is securing in the combat against corruption should be encouraged lest it should be hijacked for political purposes. A few years ago the City government of Addis has ‘audited’ buildings in Addis and found quite a few Orphan high rises with no title deeds and owners. Addis folks were too confused to make any sense of it. Orphan High Rises in the third major diplomatic hub of the World? In part that is the reason why eventually the Front was choked on its greed and expired; the sad thing was in the process it almost sent the country reeling to its ultimate dismemberment.
To be continued
God Bless.
The writer can be reached at : estefanoussamuel@yahoo.com
Editor’s Note: Views in the article do not necessarily reflect the views of borkena.com
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