BY JOSEPH SOBOKA
The play was staged on the grave of colonialism by scores of brave African leaders,Emperor Haile Selassie of Ethiopia was among the main actors. As the only independent country except Liberia at that time, Ethiopia has contributed much to the creation of the Organization of African Unity part of the dream of Pan Africanism. The seat of the Organization being Addis Ababa, the role played by Ethiopia to protect it and collaborating with member states for its development is a living witness. It remains eternally monumental in the history of the continent and the world at large.
Founded in 1963, it has grown to a higher level of African Union s as Intergovernmental Organization of 32 African states with the main aim of bringing the African nations together and resolves the critical issuesthat are beyond the capacity of any member state.Furthermore, the very purpose of the Organization of African Union (OAU) is to safeguard the interests and independence of all African states, encourage the continent’s development, and settle disputes among member states.
This article centers around the unfair verdict passed by some African intellectuals by crossing the red line. In reality, genuine intellectuals, worthy of the name are supposed to expose the lies of governments, to analyze actions according to their causes and motives and often hidden intentions.
Some of these so called African intellectuals seem to have lost none of their power or persuasiveness. It rather looks they are blindly acting driven by powers behind the screen without even grasping the objective reality of the war in Tigray.They should not have depended onhearsay. Intent only on pleasing the masters,these intellectuals without basing their argument oneye witness that their professional responsibility and ethics dictate, they condemned Ethiopia for the crime she has not committed.
With respect to the academic responsibilities of these intellectuals, there is still other equally disturbing situation which they are knowingly or unknowingly dangle in it.
For instance, in the Western world, at least, they have the power that comes from political liberty and from access to information on top of freedom of expression. For a privileged minority, Western democracy provides the leisure, the facilities, and the training to seek the truth lying hidden behind the veil of distortion and misrepresentation, ideology and class interest, through which the events of current history are presented to us. The responsibilities of intellectuals, then, are much deeper than responsibility of people, given the unique privileges that intellectuals enjoy. Yet, some of these African intellectuals, their suggestion to solve problem of the war in Tigray is sheer indication that they are denied the aforementioned academic pursuit during their training.
The formation of the African Union is primarily to safeguard the interests and independence of all African states. Yet, this being the main purpose of the Union, again the so called intellectuals must have acquainted themselves with them, which the writer greatly doubts. They looked away only to further their ulterior motives and at the same time to fulfill the duty they are sent for by the groups (the junta and some internationalcommunity) who least care for the national interest of Ethiopia and the stability in the horn of Africa at large.
They aspire that TPLF achieve its objective of destabilizing countries in the zone and pave the way for the some western countries and the United States to impose their desire of subjugation, economic slavery which amounts to indirect colonialism, the modern passage to amassing natural resources or raw materials by incapacitating Ethiopia to implement the long-desired high level industrial manufacturing using her own God given raw materials.Where do these African intellectuals under discussion stand in this respect? Why in the world should they meddle in the situation which they do not have full understanding? Do they qualify to be called the pride of the continent or the otherwise?
By all indications these individuals are not the pride at all and neither can they represent the genuine and well-reputed African intellectuals. They are not playing well their part in the drama and have failed to win the admiration of the audience. The continent and the world expect better performance from them. What’s to be done then?They should conduct self-evaluation and rise to the height of their professed academic and social standard.They should not base their argument on disinformation and project allegation to Ethiopia or make statement without proof of any kind.
As intriguing the situation is, while some non-African individuals, including the Canadian activist Doreen Nicole, condemn the atrocious activities of the terrorist TPLF.Funny enough these pseudo African intellectuals should have stood with Ethiopia, the emblem of African liberation from colonialism. Under no circumstance can they demand action to be taken on Ethiopia. From the way these intellectuals behave, one can conclude that they are pro colonialism, the very thing some western countries strive to achieve.
Let alone illiterate people, how can those who profess to be scholars support the terrorist group that target health facilities killing patients thereof? It is an outright blindness on the part of the identifies African intellectuals for not being able to see and condemn when the terrorist group push underage innocent children into the raging fire of the war defying the international law of war.
They do not obey any law under the sun.In fact, in their efforts to further prove their animosity, they kill and leave the bodies to be devoured by wild animals.They displace thousands of people, and destroy infrastructure and branch Banks wherever they find them.coupled with that, they slaughter humans and animals indiscriminately. They even burn farms in the desire to satisfy their insatiable cruelty and blood thirst like that of vicious wild animals. They get frenzied or violently excited when human blood flows like a river.
Some of the so called civilized international community, who claim standing for human rights, why are they not reacting when such immeasurable violation of human rights happen in Ethiopia? Are they not the ones who cry loudly, let alone human rights, for animal rights? Where lay their “untarnished advocacy”? This is the unbalanced judgment some African intellectuals pass on Ethiopia. It is surprising that what they are doing does not fit their professed intellectual stature.
In principle, intellectuals have virtues. Their virtues are qualities of mind and character that promote intellectual flourishing, critical thinking, and the pursuit of truth. They include intellectual responsibility, perseverance, and open-mindedness. The intellectuals in point, lack critical thinking and what they have done to Ethiopia does not indicate the pursuit of truth at all; they rather stand opposite to it.
Genuine intellectuals obviously have empathy – the capacity to understand or feel what another person is experiencing from within their frame of reference that is the capacity to place oneself in another’s position. These African intellectuals, without even going to the war area, remaining in their comfort zone, speculate or collect wrong data with the intension of mobilizing the international community against Ethiopia. One can conclude that, as intellectuals, they lack empathy, the measure of their stature.
They are not in a position to understand the misery inflicted onthe war victims by the terrorist junta. They do not wish to hear the truth from trusted sourcesbut gulp lies and disseminate it withoutevaluating its validity, to run their errand for the satisfaction of those who order them. It appears that they fail to make equitable or fair decisions. In this situation, they have not treated Ethiopia justly or honestly. They lack the consciousness of why the war in Ethiopia is as it is. For their information, what is happening in Tigray is an operation aimed at maintaining peace and order in that part of the country.Nothing more, nothing less.
The Ethiopian Herald September 23/2021
