Developed countries, to ensure the sustainability of their selfish development, designed schemes to achieve the objectives of economic superiority for them and impoverishment of the poor countries. The playgrounds for the political game are the under developed countries chiefly those in sub-Sahara of which Ethiopia is the one. It is the indirect revival of the ideas of the actual colonialism that totally brought Africans down on their knees and subhuman level in addition to ransacking their natural resources that sure made the colonizers wealthy beyond human measure. After independence, a new style of colonization, neocolonialism has been in effect and since then under the guise of humanitarian assistance and loans, with strong chains attached to them, it has fully bloomed. The donors and lending agencies exercise absolute control over how,particularly, the money they lend is allocated and appropriated; the beneficiaries have a little say in that respect. They are rather dictated to comply with the interests of the lending countries despite how they would have liked to use its activities.
The point at hand is that Ethiopia, because of her determination to fight poverty is now targeted by the lords of poverty who are bent on impoverishing her. These lords, in truth, are not really concerned about the wellbeing of TPLF or the Tigriyan people; their biggest worry is Ethiopia as a sovereign nation. They are well aware of the fact that if she is once set on the development track, there will not be a stop to it and that their ambition to create neocolonialism in the horn of Africa will shatter into pieces.The picture they try to portray about the war and the whole situation in northern Ethiopia is a mere fabrication to misguide international community to know objective reality there.
Unfortunately,instead they have rekindled the fire of pan Africanism, their most dreaded movement ever. The modern pan Africanism unlike the former one is a strong struggle against modern economic subjugation and an unfavorable influence of the lords of poverty on the so called the beneficiary countries. Graham Hancock in his book presents the issue as the power, prestige and corruption of the international aid business. This is nothing other than a perversion of the act of human generosity. To put it is as simple as it is, human generosity should pull the countries out of poverty, yet, nothing of that sort is visible in any of targeted sub- Sahara countries. In spite of the propagated assistance, these countries still struggle with poverty, yet, the assistance keeps flowing in. The chains these countries are in are so strong that they cannot detach themselves from poverty and keep swimming in it. Thus, they always stretch out their begging hands seeking humanitarian assistance or money loan. This is what neocolonialism is all about. Having chained the country to their interest in this manner, they use the leaders any way they like and the poor governments that have fallen under the yoke are nothing but stooges.
In this respect, the existing democratically elected Ethiopian leader cannot accept such servitude; he believes in the reciprocity of actions in intergovernmental relationship. Every element of cooperation that Ethiopia establishes with any country, be it economic or technical, she believes that it should be mutual. It is a kind of give and take relation but not one imposing on the other. Paternalism is what Ethiopia cannot tolerate since she knows what is good and advantageous for herself and pursues it without being dictated by any external power.As a matter of fact, Tutelage is most abhorred by Ethiopia since she has the capacity to manage her own national affairs successfully without seeking any help.
Some western countries initiated by the United States, do all they can to discourage Ethiopia from pursuing her policy of self-reliance in her development endeavors.It is advisable that countries form healthy cooperation for the benefit both parties. No country can last long without the intervention of a friendly country in both difficult and peaceful times; one bearing the burden of the other without ulterior motive, what the west and the United States are doing – bread with one hand and a knife with the other.For instance giving a pair of shoes with a wrong size, yet, for the recipient to use the shoes, the right way is to remake the shoes and make size right. At this point, the US is forcing the right feet into the wrong size. In other words, it is as harsh as cutting the feet to fit the shoes. The assistance the west and the United States make is always earmarked and the recipient country allocates the fund for the purpose that is of no use for it. The situation is bizarre and unacceptable.
At this intensive moment of crisis, this is what the international community is doing to Ethiopia; they are working day and night to twist the arm our leader to accept their vicious plan of making him a stooge. After putting him under their control, they make him an assistant to perform the unpleasant duties that can incur blame to the government and the country as a whole.
If the government refuses to comply, they stage a coup d’état and topple it and replace it with another that obediently fulfills their objectives.To do that they fabricate unfounded news to spread panic through people to take unnecessary measures to escape or run away from the danger that does not exist.
For instance, the Economic Commission for Africa in Addis Aaba just recently made a funny movie that shows the state of terrorism for whichthe citizens of the West and the United States should evacuate immediately as they could be exposed to a life-threatening situation (according to their wishful thinking). They might have recruited Holy wood film directors in the making of such a worthless action movie to misguide the international community. The other comical and shameful fabrication of the American Embassy is that Addis Ababa is under siege and the junta is fast approaching the city, and it is high time her nationals immediately evacuated and other nationals should also follow suite. Furthermore, the warnings of various natures made by the United States or Biden Administration and the West tirelessly labor to damage the image of Ethiopia and as a result to isolate her and in the process force her to succumb to their malicious schemes of slavery.
All these summed up vividly becomes the larger of picture neocolonialism. Apparently, anything contrary to this, provokes immediate political reaction from the United States of America. As a matter of fact, neocolonialism in the name of assistance, the marriage of corporate interest and donor aid the alliance for food security and nutrition should seriously be taken into consideration.But these are all reasons put forward in an attempt to hide the real reason. Ostensibly, aiming to end hunger in recipient nations of Africa, the marriage has been seen to facilitate ‘land-grabbing’ amid creation of ‘agricultural corridors’. Namely, subsistence farmers appear to be dispossessed in favor of the agribusiness needs of corporate partners. Here, the reality is that neocolonialism is a semblance of tiger in goat’s skin in the name of assistance such as food and financial aid and loans that devours the resources of poor African countries.
When it comes to export, the West and the United States encourage African countries to focus on crop export like coffee in the case of Ethiopia.An alliance is made between the haves and have-nots and it is backed by donors whose aid lubricates African governments’ acquiescence to land ‘releases’ their target. It looks magic spell done in which governments agree or accept silently or without protest of any form the deal made by the alliance. As a result, donor support toward agribusiness interests is publicly legitimized in terms of the UN sustainable development goals.
This is the very insidious economic trap that Ethiopia stands up to. She tends to move away from the core of neocolonialism, the move many other African nations are showing interest in. After all it is a common interest to us Africans as a whole.
BY JOSEPH SOBOKA
THE ETHIOPIAN HERALD DECEMBER 1/2021
