Thursday, August 5, 2010

CIVILIZED POLITICS IS IMPERATIVE TO CONTEMPORARY SOCITIES

KOJVPF0C27
 
CIVILIZED POLITICS IS IMPERATIVE TO CONTEMPORARY SOCITIES
 
I read an article by Mr. Obang Metho, regarding an unknown personality with a pseudonym- Dr. Megalomanias, who uses an American journal (American Chronicle ) to seed hate and saw genocide in Ethiopia. I personally wrote to him several times thinking that he was a person of reason and thinking who needs to wish good, not only to Ethiopians but to all of mankind. It was an excellent, excellent article that gives perfect pills to almost all ills he wanted to happen in Ethiopia and to make Ethiopians be aware of such sinister motives of ill will and ill desire to our mutual existence from unknown source for unknown reasons. I say well done to Mr. Obang.
   
In line with this man’s unknown personality and his ill desires and plans that he dreams to happen and the political passage the ruling group is taking the country, some additional items may be good to recall so that one can connect and get a larger picture of who is who and who for what:
  
I will start from the time where TPLF came to power and what they have done and are still doing:
  
1.  The complete dismissal of centuries long Ethiopian history of existence as an old and independent proud country and limiting its age only to 100 years, in order to manipulate and deceive the southern people of Ethiopia and fell them in the trap to stir chaos and social turbulence, and to let the needed friend in arms get real estate out of Ethiopia, as a good will gesture of friendship, and the erratic and casual way of partitioning Ethiopia to benefit their future desires: getting greater share for them from around provinces and fomenting an ever ending ethnic conflicts.
            
2.  The campaign of TPLF and its entourages who accompanied it to Addis Ababa, to dismantle the statue of King Minelik II, as soon as they arrived at Addis Ababa. I will mention here what a person from Ghana said then. Are these new group of Ethiopians out of their minds? He questioned the wisdom of the then ruling groups collectively chose the name EPRDF and OLF who advocated and supported the elimination of the statue of Menilik from Piassa --Addis Ababa. He further said, their country is willing to buy the statue of Minilik, if they are willing to give it. In fact, he said any African country is willing to take this priceless statue-- it is one of the most valuable historical items that Africa at large and Ethiopia in particular have. How dare they wanted this to happen in their own country? Are not these new groups Ethiopians or other camouflaged look alike traitors of Ethiopia and Africa? He was outraged equally as the demonstrators in the street who opposed the idea of demolishing the statue of Minilik and shouting: NO! NO! to demolish the statue of Minilik..No! they shouted. The good thing though, was nothing happened on the statue and it still exists proudly.
                    
3.  From these long standing sinister desires and intended plans of actions and their all time absence from celebrations of Ethiopian national holidays—such as the Adwa—victory day, etc, one can extrapolate his/her thinking as to what the inner motives and their unknown personalities of the TPLF leaders are to Ethiopia, its existence and its people. Recently a friend of mine mentioned to me that he has never heard the prime minister saying the name Ethiopia except only when he wants to call EPRDF. It is also an open secret that he has never attended any commencement of Ethiopian schools and or colleges and universities unlike all leaders of other countries.
                  
4.  The constant barrage of hate and genocidal campaigns made by members of EPRDF, about the Amhara people across the country, including those who were members of a so called sub-section of EPRDF from the Amhara people lead by the then Tamirat Layne—defense minister and prime minister at one point but ended up in prison and exiled latter to America. They (including Tamirat ) savagely made a genocidal official campaign against their own race —the Amhara people vilifying them in the south and in Eritrea, whose consequences of those hate crimes were apparent immediately, both in the south and in Eritrea as well. Families were killed greasily, mothers were butchered and their unborn children were cut out from their mothers’ womb and slit their throats because they were fetuses of Amhara neighbors. Golden teeth were taken out and taken from individuals, because they were Ethiopians in Eritrea. The crimes committed on Ethiopia and Ethiopians were endless after the advent of these groups and it is not yet abating.
    
5.  The constant use of terms from the dictionary of the Rwanda genocide perpetrators by the prime minister of Ethiopia, though looked to intimidate the Ethiopians but deep in his thinking and desire not caring the consequences and even wishing to happen at the end, if they happen to lose power. He recalls these genocidal words instantly as reflex actions, which show his cognitive motives and genocidal social desires-- an ever seen type of power thirsty groups that hold power with sheer force from the Burrell of guns in modern Ethiopian history who have complete detest for Ethiopia and its history, whose only philosophy of existence is that of a donkey which says “ let no grass grow if I will die”. A good political leader is not this type—instead a person who is impartial and has an immense love and affections to his/her people, not to hurt a single one of them at any cost ,but instead defends the rights, safety and security of every citizen. The one that says the opposite of what the donkey says—“ let me do the right thing until I die—including resigning and or handing power to society on time, during times of continuous social ills, so that my people see the new place of love, prosperity, happiness and peaceful coexistence after ”
          
It is therefore a civic duty and responsibility to all Ethiopians to be aware of and be wise to know what is truth and lasting to generations to come and what is ephemeral and deceiving that lasts only to a one person’s power time.
       
Americans say this: “Freedom is accompanied with constant vigilance”. They are absolutely correct. Ethiopians should also know this and they should not be always passengers of a political merry go round which always cycles the same way and traces same places in the same time intervals. Know that Ethiopians are not children to be mocked at and tricked and deceived by any other sinister motives of domestic or alien sources, which at first looked sugar minted and coated for our senses, but inside deadly venoms to the fabrics of our society and its mutual coexistence to future generations. It is also important to know that the world is converging towards oneness and all problems are almost common and global to humanity than to ethnic types and local. Therefore the idea of going apart by an obsolete primitive social parameter of ethnicity will not have place in contemporary societies, except only in those who are uncivilized and destined to butcher each other until they come to their senses and attain a modern social developments as others.
         
These things therefore require constant teachings. It is from the Bible that questions this: why bad people rule? Answer: because good people keep silent. But at the same time it is a fact of numeric and dynamics of social stability that the majority in any society are good people and therefore if the majority do not keep silent, then for sure the very few bad minorities will disappear—not physically but their ideas, and good things grow and prosper.
          
As a break through to solve at least problems and reasons why people cannot come to terms for the collective good of contemporary generations and huge benefits of life, prosperity and peaceful coexistence as a strong people to future generations, let all of us agree to abolish identifying an individual by ethnicity and let us stop creating political parties based on ethnic tags. Because ethnicity will be used by bad people as a measure of everything that is social, economic and political, and therefore it will be a barometer of coexistence, either of peaceful at times and or genocidal at another. This had been the case in history of human existence and we witnessed it recently across the globe in societies who stack in medieval times of socio-political behaviors.
              
I have a practical example to tell for this. I have two friends who were best friends in Ethiopia and worked together shared same office for years and came to study here to the same university. But I found out they do not talk to each other anymore now here in America—because of the political temperature measured by ethnic barometer where they happened to belong to different ethnic groups. I pose a question to all of you to think, imagine and reflect for a moment —if learnt people with highest degree cannot communicate peacefully and understand the falsity and fallacy of ethnic politics and its far reaching devastating social consequences and indicate and explain to their fellow illiterate and naïve citizens who in most cases are convinced by emotions than by reason , the contradictions and dangers of ethnicity and political fire plays with it, then we are in deep trouble not only now but for centuries to come and we are lost. That is the political state in which Ethiopians inside and abroad are forced to accept and forced to live with—danger—danger--danger-..
         
Even the most trusted heavenly social rock of unison and symbol of peaceful coexistence—Christianity is not safe from this dangerous venom of ethnicity and local thinking. God does not have ethnic origin, is not sexist and is not by any means local. There are as many churches in America as the number of different types of ethnic groups and local thinkers—sad to see and sad to present ourselves to the modern world of the 21st century—where ethnicity and local thinking in most civilized countries are primitive identifying social parameters.
          
The disciples of Jesus once asked him how others can identify them that they are his followers and he replied to them; “they will identify you only by your unity, desire and display of love towards each and every one of you”. But we have hope in all these mess -- the Ethiopian people have refused to accept and do what the sinister groups are devising for them and forcing them to do.
         
I commend such a timely work!
           
Sincerely,
              
Dejenie A. Lakew, Ph.D.