Recording golden deeds on CDs, DVDs for generations to come

Today’s Executive column guest goes by the name of Ezra Ejigu. He was born and raised in Addis Ababa. He had successfully worked in a broad array of print and electronic media outlets of the country for nineteen solid years. He had spared no effort with the intention of realizing his dream and reaping the fruit of success. He has been conquering any challenges put before him.

Aside from working successfully as a deputy editor-in-chief of Kumneger and Fashion magazines, Ezra had worked as a journalist for Addis Lisan, Addis Admas, Ruhi and the Press newspapers. As time went by, he distanced himself from the journalism and opened his own organization called Tewodaj Media and Communication Center. He has been running his own business for fourteen years now.

In addition to publishing magazines named Network Marketing and Acapulco Bay, Ezra had a newspaper advertisement named Tewodaj.

At this moment in time, he is fully getting himself engaged in producing the biography of famous Ethiopians in audio and DVD. Above and beyond, he attaches significance to great Ethiopians who have contributed their share for their motherland unflaggingly working to cap their efforts with laurels.

The only thing that makes Ezra happy in life is digging for the history of famous Ethiopians whose great deeds have been behind closed curtains and familiarizing them with the general public. He does not want their contributions to stay in the dark. He is doing a great job at this moment.

The way how he got himself engaged in the profession never ceases to amaze anyone. The thing was, when he was a ninth grader, he was in the habit of collecting stamps, foreign coins and currencies. At that specific point, nothing made him happier than getting himself engaged in the aforementioned hobby.

With a view to materializing his dream, he was doing the whole lot with passion and great determination. When he was a fifth grader, he was dreaming of becoming a journalist though he did not know what was likely to happen down the road. He kept on struggling with life challenges despite life landed him in some problems. But his remarkable determination did not fade away for a fraction of a second.

As time went by, the miscellaneous materials Ezra had collected at different times as a hobby made him fall in love with the profession. He was determined to achieve his goal no matter what problem he encountered. With passion and hard work, he kept on struggling with the intention of making his dream become a reality. When he was an eighth grader, his interest kept on growing sustainably and passionately. He was looking ahead to a brighter future.

Slowly but surely, no matter how long the duration may be, Ezra set in motion recording a wide array of Television programs, news and other related aspects. In the course of time, for future usage, he embarked on collecting facts revolving around Ethiopian history.

Luckily, Ezra’s alter ego was in the habit of collecting old magazines, newspapers and videos from various sources at that time. Every so often, he was by Ezra’s side.

More to the point, Ezra was attracted by the biography of famous Ethiopian actors, authors and filmmakers. Whenever he listened to their stories, he was filled with infinite happiness at the blink of an eye. Every so often, he loves trying new things. But he hates to death chipping in customary ways.

When he was working at Fana Broadcasting Corporate, he had a crush on radio journalism. He was madly in love with the profession. During his stay there, the idea of doing something kept on coming in and out of his mind. Quite a lot of things were crossing his mind now and then. But he did not know how to make his dream become a reality except keeping on trying over and over again.

One fine day, the idea of producing the biography of a wide array of people popped into his mind. But he did not know how to put the new idea into effect. He could not get a clear picture of the idea at the drop of a pen. At a loss what to do, he simply kept on dilating on the matter. In due course, he took the case straight to his colleagues and took council together with them.

At that juncture, Ezra was presenting broad spectrum of entertaining program in Fana 90. This in turn helped him familiarize himself with quite a lot of books. As he did not like sitting idly, he went on reading several old newspapers at National Archives and Library of Ethiopia. He became such a bookworm. In this way, he every so often kept on expanding the horizons of his knowledge. Often, he was imagining a rosy future. He was thinking of a very

 bright future ahead of him.

As chance would have it, Ezra came across Biniyam Negesu, the founder of Dire Tube. His lucky stars were with him. After exchange of some ideas, they came to a decision to upload historically themed videos. The reaction of Ethiopians living in and out of Ethiopia was constructive and remarkable. Bit by bit, Tewodaj Media set in motion amplifying Ethiopian history.

But he did not know when and how he would start producing the biography of famous Ethiopians in audio. Day in and day out, he was having many sleepless nights. Startup capital was the other haunting factor which was constantly binding his hand and foot.

However, after he did a lot of thinking, he came up with a certain idea pertaining to the startup capital which helped him involve himself in the business. In the fullness of time, using as startup capital three thousand five hundred people he got to know due to work reasons, collected newspapers, magazines and his radio works, he kick started the campaign.

He produced the biography of Colonel Fekade Wakene, the trainer of Nelson Mandela. It was a thirty minute audio recording which was produced merely to pay homage to the Colonel.

With full zeal and zest, he partook in the business world by producing the biography of Teshome Gebremariam. He was his confidant. His production helped him super charge his energy at work. At the time when Ezra did research on the biography of Tsehafi Taezaz Aklilu Habte-Wold, the first Ethiopian attorney general who studied law in Canada and an international lawyer, Teshome was constantly standing by the side of Ezra. As Teshome knew Ethiopian history like the palm of his hand, he used to help Ezra find famous Ethiopians.

As ill luck would have it, one day, Teshome, the movable library, closed his eyes never to open them again. This time, when Ezra was at a loss what to do, he produced the biography of Teshome in remembrance of this great Ethiopian figure in audio and gave it to his family members.

The next move was producing the biography of Tsehafi Taezaz Aklilu Habte-Wold. In this work, Aklilu’s nephew and Teshome Gebremariam’s daughter, Wossen Teshome had supported him financially. The feedback was beyond imagination. Subsequently, Ezra produced the biography of Ababa Tesfaye in audio. During this work, Solomon Mulgeta and designer Sarah Mohammed had supported him financially. In this fashion, he kept on producing the biography of various Ethiopians.

By the same token, Ezra produced the biography of artist Tesfaye Gessesse. The artist’s son had played a major role in this regard. Once upon a time, Ezra came across the son of artist Tesfaye Gessesse at the National Theater and told him the fact that he was going to celebrate his dad’s 81st birthday. Then, they took council together and made a decision to do the biography of Tesfaye Gessesse in audio.

The next step was playing a part in producing the biography of Fidel Castro in audio amplifying the various contributions he had made to Ethiopia. After that he produced the biography of Tsehafi Taezaz Aklilu Habte-Wold in DVD which took four months to complete. Progressively, Ezra kept on producing the biography of different Ethiopians.

Similarly, targeting at familiarizing the biography of Ethiopians who have contributed to their country with foreigners living aboard, Ezra produced a documentary film focusing on the biography of Aklilu Habtewold under the title ‘The Giant Diplomat’ with English subtitles. The duration of the film was sixty minutes.

The Ethiopian Herald Sunday July 21, 2019

BY ADDISALEM MULAT