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This week has been sort of surreal as regular life in Addis
Abeba has played host to a number of stories that we
would not normally hear as a resident of the
capital.
The most important pieces of breaking news were about the
bombs that exploded on Monday, April 14, 2008, at
two of Ethiopia’s National Oil Company (NOC) gas
stations. The Gergi and Lem Hotel stations were hit
by explosives that killed a total of three people.
To add insult to injury, even before people had
fully absorbed the horror of the two explosions, Yod
Abyssinia, a popular Ethiopian restaurant located
next to Desalegn Hotel on Cape Verde Road, burnt to
the ground. Of course, the nature of the incidents
are completely different, the futility of the
destruction and the chaos that accompany such acts
that has made this whole scenario quite difficult
for me to grasp.
Bombings and the destruction of private property are not
things that we hear much about in our society and
within our communities because these horrendous
crimes can not be deemed to be justifiable in the
mind of any sane Ethiopian. The properties that were
damaged and destroyed as a result of the fire and
the bombs that went off are products of the sweat of
their owners. These businesses support families,
employ others who do the same, and also provide
services to the people of the area.
There is not a single businessman who deserves to be
attacked in such a manner; these attacks are
irreconcilable. Not only was there damage to
property and loss of precious life, but people will
now also be out of work for sometime, and they, in
turn, may not be able to uphold their financial
responsibilities and support whomever or whatever
they need to.
There is one thing that I have taken a strong sense of
pride in as a member of the Abesha community and
that is what we call in Amharic “Feriha Egzabiher”,
literally translated to mean the fear of God. I am
not now nor have I ever been devoutly religious, but
like many of my countrymen and women, whether or not
I attend a church or a mosque, I have instilled deep
within me this great fear of God that has set
certain boundaries and guidelines to the way I live
my life, I would expect the same of all Ethiopians.
It is this very fear that has not catapulted us into the
same catastrophes that Kenya and South Africa have
had to endure when hitting times of economic,
political and social crises. Even when we have faced
eminent starvation and economic collapse, we as a
people, despite being bitter, do not go and rob our
neighbours. We do not attack those who are better of
than the majority.
This fear should keep us from stealing, from coveting our
neighbour’s wealth, and most of all from being the
sort of suspected criminals who we see paraded on
our television sets on a regular basis.
But this no longer seems to be the case. Perhaps it is the
dire straits that people find themselves in these
days; or maybe it is the growing trend of the
incorporation of western ways and values as the
ultimate route that Ethiopians should travel,
whatever the reason. The fact remains that we, as a
people and as a nation, have reached the point of no
return where we have discarded our principles and
values, have degraded ourselves to the point of
throwing bombs in places that civilians are known to
frequent.
The straw that broke the camels back for me was the fire at
Yod Abyssinia. It happened as a result of an
electrical problem, and now one of the most popular
restaurants in town no longer exists, and the owners
find themselves having to rebuild from the ground
up. Whether through bombs, or faulty electric lines,
the crux of the matter here is that the neglect and
carelessness of one or a few have put to risk the
lives and livelihoods of many. The consequences are
no doubt fatal whichever way you look at them.
No matter what our qualms with the world or with the
peoples and systems that reside in it are, our
innate humanity should not allow us to be monsters
that resort to killing as a way of expressing
discontent. I am aghast that the mannerisms that we
find in our international newscasts and the carnage
that comes with them have found their way into what
I had thought was the last place on earth where the
fear of God actually still existed.
I am sorely disappointed in the actions of the few and hope
that the people affected by this situation will find
a means to get on with their lives and be fruitful. |
