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FIRST THINGS FIRST: CHANGE THE PERSON IN THE MIRROR
By
Mezgebe Gebrekiristos
An old adage has it “One can’t see the
forest for the trees.” This saying suggests that someone can be
focused on small details, and fail to understand the bigger
picture. At face value, being detail-oriented may not seem that
bad. But, if one completely fails to see the whole in lieu of the
small details, no significant job can be accomplished in its
proper time. This is more so when one is running a country as
large as Ethiopia. In the Ethiopian context, the notion of minutia
is pervasive and it is dragging us all--backwards. It has become
the norm of political opposition to sabotage the interests of the
country as a whole for any personal reason. A case in point is the
current negative campaign about the upcoming millennium by certain
groups in the Diaspora.
Tina Turner, in her 1993 song (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z_ujfZBiduw)
entitled “What’s Love Got to Do with It,” wondered how to
reconcile her love for a man and with that of her broken heart. We
equally ponder the hypothesized relationship between the Ethiopian
millennium and opposing the EPRDF. One thing is clear, however,
the Ethiopian government has invited all Ethiopian citizens and
others of Ethiopian origin to come to Ethiopia Millennium
celebration and use it as a stepping stone to promote the image of
the country—thereby to eradicate the abject poverty once and
fore all. This should come as good news to everybody who champions
the cause of the poor farmers and other segments of the society.
However, such good news is proven hard to come by, mainly, from
the Diaspora opposition.
One can not help but ask the obvious
question, what do these so-called opposition groups want and wish
for Ethiopia? Isolation and destitution? The latter may sound an
outlandish question, but based on the evidence on the ground, the
answer is unequivocally yes.
For the purpose of a smoke screen, they would shower us
with numerous “feel good” answers in response to the former
but their actions tell us otherwise. For instance, they warned us
that if we dare go to Ethiopia for the Millennium celebration, the
Ethiopian-ness in us will—somehow-- diminish to a record low.
But they offer no credible explanation for the high possibility of
bad credit report that might come as result of visiting our
country, Ethiopia. They don’t have one!
Furthermore, they have been lobbying in the
United States Congress to pass a bill that would literally suspend
any assistance our country might get from the US to fight its
number one enemy: poverty. And, they wonder why Ethiopia is
registering astonishing economic growth—not once but many years
in a row—despite their efforts to bring the opposite. Of course,
they tried to dismiss the fact as part and parcel of their face
saving saga and called it an “economy without the beef.” For
most ordinary Ethiopians, however, the beef is palpable and they
do not need an approval from disingenuous individuals who
abandoned them for a better life in the Western Countries in the
first place. Luckily, Ethiopians can discern the differences
between a wolf in a sheep’s skin and a genuine one.
Again, these confused individuals may portray
their misguided philosophy—you cut the throat of the country and
all of a sudden you are on your way to the Arat
killo palace—under the disguise of spreading democracy. One
thing is crystal clear here: they will never leave a single stone
unturned until they are reinstated into their throne. According to
their ideology, the end always justifies the means.
As I chronicled in my previous articles,
criticizing one’s government is a very crucial right of
responsible citizens but should not be mistaken for opposing
one’s country. Unfortunately for Ethiopia, most opposition
groups tend to oppose their country’s welfare in order to
achieve their political goal. Their simplistic philosophy sees,
“Destroying the image of Ethiopia is tantamount to defeating the
ruling party,” and they put emphasis on the former for the
latter to be materialized. As absurd it may sound, it is hailed as
a noble and just cause by certain people in the Diaspora. Needless
to say, our affairs –good or bad ones--are directly tied to the
very existence of our country. In the absence of a forest, one can
not talk about trees, and vice versa.
In the end, the problem of the Diaspora seems
to have emanated from the lack of self-evaluation. These Diaspora
elements spend so much time to change others but they miserably
fail to align themselves with the reality on the ground. I say to
these individuals, it is high time for them to look at the person
in the mirror and ask what he/she has been doing all along and
start a self-reconciliation right there on the spot. They should
take care of first things first. May be then, they will have a say
on others. They should examine themselves before they point their
fingers at others, and refrain at least from becoming an
impediment in the development of our country. After all, though
not by design, when one points one’s finger at others, the rest
of the fingers point at oneself.
If need be, the author could be reached at
emaa_go@yahoo.com
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