Walk with me down memory lane. The time: 1968. In 30 months, one million dead. The setting: a dusty camp in Biafra where survivors waited and hoped for peace. The survivors: Refugees fleeing from the “Dance of Death.” My mentor: One of the refugee camp directors, whom I called “Teacher” out of respect.
“Martin Luther King has been killed,” Teacher said, with a pained voice and vacant eyes. I looked towards Teacher, wondering: “Who is Martin Luther King?” I was a 13-year-old refugee in the west African nation of Nigeria, a land then called Biafra. Martin Luther King. What did that name mean?
Eight out of ten Biafrans were refugees exiled from their own country. Two years earlier, Christian army officers had staged a bloody coup killing Muslim leaders. The Muslims felt the coup was a tribal mutiny of Christian Igbos against their beloved leaders. The aggrieved Muslims went on a killing rampage, chanting: “Igbo, Igbo, Igbo, you are no longer part of Nigeria!” In the days that followed, 50,000 Igbos were killed in street uprisings.
Killing was not new to us in Biafra. I was 13, but I knew much of killing. Widows and orphans were most of the refugees in our camp. They had survived the Igbo “Dance of Death” — a euphemism for the mass executions. One thousand men at gunpoint forced to dance a public dance. Seven hundred were then shot and buried en masse in shallow graves. When told to hurry up and return to his regular duty, one of the murderers said: “The graves are not yet full.”
A few days later, with only the clothes on our backs, we fled from this “Dance of Death.” That was six months before Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated. Teacher and I were eventually conscripted into the Biafran army and sent to the front, two years after our escape.
After the war, Teacher – who had taught me the name of Martin Luther King — was among the one million who had died. I — a child soldier – was one of the fifteen million who survived.
Africa is committing suicide: a two-decade war in Sudan, genocidal killings in Rwanda, scorched-earth conflicts in Ethiopia, Somalia, Uganda, and Liberia. The wars in modern Africa are the largest global-scale loss of life since the establishment of the Atlantic Slave trade, which uprooted and scattered Africa’s sons and daughters across the United States, Jamaica, and Brazil.
Africa’s wars are steering the continent toward a sea of self-destruction so deep that even the greatest horror writers are unable to fathom its depths. So, given our circumstances, Martin Luther King was a name unknown, a dead man among millions, with a message that never reached the shores of Biafra.
Neither did his message reach the ears of “The Black Scorpion,” Benjamin Adekunle, a tough Nigerian army commander, whose credo of ethnic cleansing knew nothing of Martin Luther King Jr.’s movement: “We shoot at everything that moves, and when our forces move into Igbo territory, we even shoot things that do not move.”
As we heed Martin Luther King Jr.’s call, and march together across the world stage, let us never forget that we who have witnessed and survived the injustice of such nonsensical wars are the torchbearers of his legacy of peace for our world, our nation, and our children.
(Transcribed from speech delivered by Philip Emeagwali on April 4, 2008 at Morehouse College in Atlanta, Georgia at the commemoration of the 40th anniversary of Martin Luther King Jr.’s assassination. The entire transcript and video are posted at emeagwali.com.)
ADDIS ABABA, ETHIOPIA – The former residence of the first post-imperial acting head of state of Ethiopia, General Aman Mikael Andom, was partially demolished on Tuesday, January 6, 2009, in an Addis Ababa City Road Authority (AACRA) expansion project.
General Aman Mikael Andom
The house, located in the western part of the city behind the Ministry of National Defense Hospital, partly lies in the space where China Road and Bridge Corporation (CRBC) is constructing a roundabout.
Fekade Hailu, head of AACRA, told Capital that demolition was carried out in accordance with the master plan and no objections had previously been raised.
“Though 1.5 million birr was offered to the current owner of the house, she is complaining it is not enough,” said Fekade.
Aman Mikael Andom (1924 -1974) was appointed head of state following the coup d’etat that deposed Emperor Haile Selasse on September 12, 1974, and served until his death in a shootout with his former supporters.
His official title was ‘Chairman of the Provisional Military Administrative Council’ (better known as the Derg), and he held the position in an acting capacity as the military regime had officially proclaimed Crown Prince Asfaw Wossen as “King Designate” (an act that would later be rescinded by the Derg, and which was never accepted by the prince as legitimate).
As commander of the Third Division, General Aman had been beating back the encroachments of the Somali army on the eastern border earning him the nickname “Desert Lion.” However, in 1964 the Emperor dismissed him when he began to advance inside Somalia in violation of his order and Aman afterwards served in the Ethiopian Senate in “political exile”.
History books indicate General Aman had contacts with the officers of the junta as early as February and March of 1974, but by July he was appointed chief of staff to the military junta. Three days after the junta removed the Emperor from his palace to imprisonment at the headquarters of the Fourth Division; this group appointed him their chairman and president of Ethiopia. At the same time, this group of soldiers assumed the name “Provisional Military Administrative Council” Derg.
From the first day of his presidency, the general found himself at odds with a majority of the Derg’s members over most major issues, including whether he was ‘chairman’ of the ruling military body or simply its ‘spokesman. Aman fought the majority of the Derg over three central issues: the size of the Derg, which he felt was too large and unwieldy; the policy to be taken towards the Eritrean Liberation Front (ELF); and over the punishment of the numerous aristocrats and former government officials in the Derg’s custody.
His refusal to sanction the execution of former high officials, including two former prime ministers and several royal family members and relatives, put his relations with the majority of the Derg on bitter footing.
As an Eritrean, General Aman found himself fiercely at odds with the Derg leadership. He wanted to negotiate a peaceful settlement; his opponents hoped to crush the ELF by military force. Aman went as far as making two personal visits to Eritrea giving speeches stating that the end of the Imperial Regime was also the end of old practices towards Eritrea, that a government dedicated to national unity and progress would restore peace and prosperity to Eritrea, and lastly that he would begin investigations concerning crimes that the army had perpetrated on Eritreans and punish the guilty.
However, at the same time the Derg had begun eliminating opponents within the military. The three significant units were the Imperial Bodyguard, the Air Force, and the Corp of Engineers; of the three, the most recalcitrant were the Engineers.
Eventually, soldiers loyal to the Derg stormed the Engineers’ camp, killing five, wounding several and detaining the rest.
General Aman died in a battle with troops sent to his home to arrest him. The actual cause of his death remains unclear, whether he was killed or committed suicide.
That same night, the political prisoners that the Derg had marked for execution were taken from Menelik prison, where they had been held, to the Akaki Central Prison where they were executed and buried in a mass grave.
Duguma Hunde, a prominent Ethiopian businessman who founded DH Geda Industrial Business Group, passed away of sudden natural causes, around midnight last Friday, January 09, 2008. Duguma was immediately taken to Tezena, a hospital near his house around Old Airport area, after he collapsed of stroke; he did not survive the incident, according to family members.
Duguma was born in a small village Kesht, Sedin Sodo Wereda, in Shewa, Oromia Regional State, in 1948. He came to Addis Abeba in 1964, and began his business career selling secondhand clothes while attending night school at Lideta Catholic Cathedral School. Over the years he grew into prominence in the Ethiopian business community.
DH GEDA is one of the fastest growing business enterprises in Ethiopia, involved in manufacturing, trading, real estate and import-export. Duguma established about nine companies active in various sectors. These include manufacturing plants for the production of paints, adhesives and printing inks, dry cell batteries, personal and household care products, blankets, wheat flour, corrugated iron sheets and profiles, acrylic dyeing and cotton bleaching. His companies have, in aggregate, created more than 750 permanent jobs.
Duguma was known among his friends as a sociable person. Getu Gelete, major shareholder and general manager of Get-As International, who knew him since childhood, described Duguma as “a hard working man who was resourceful to other businesspeople.”
Duguma was also a shareholder in about seven private banks and insurance companies, including the latest entrant to the industry, Oromia International Bank (OIB).
“He was a very humble person who could easily establish good relations with people around him” Worku Lema, chief executive officer of the OIB, told Fortune.
Married to Meselech Obisie in 1966, Duguma survived by his 10 children and 11 grandchildren. Funeral service is to be held at the Trinity Cathedral Chruch on January 11, 2009, at 12:00 noon.
You break into the Bank of England via computer,
then transfer the money electronically
just seconds before you set off the GoldenEye,
which erases any record of the transactions.
– Ingenious.
– Thank you, James.
But it still boils down to petty theft.
In the end, you’re just a bank robber.
Nothing more than a common thief.
This dialogue is from the James Bond movie ‘Golden Eye.’ It is based on a plot by the Russian mafia in collaboration with an ex British agent attempt to control a space based weapons system. The device named Goldeneye works by exploding a nuclear device in orbit. The electromagnetic pulse from the explosion will result in crippling ground based communication systems. It is a very powerful, theoretical but possible future weapon.
You would think anybody who gets hold of such weapon would have the world trembling at his feet. But lucky for us the criminal mind works in mysterious ways. What brought about this brooding is the report by Indian Ocean Newsletter titled ‘Dignitaries in Business.’
It is both an alarming and telling story. It is a story that requires us to question the meaning of sacrifice, commitment and certain amount of good faith. It forces us to examine the nature of the struggle against injustice and the role we all play to bring about change and progress.
Our country is one of the poorest in the world. Our economy is based on agriculture, accounting for almost half of GDP, 60% of exports, and 80% of total employment. Our industrial output is so negligible that it does not even deserve any mention. Thus when we discuss or speak of wealth and accumulation of it, it is a very insignificant amount we are dealing with.
So when we read the Indian Ocean Newsletter report it brings so many questions to the forefront that beg a logical and rational response from each one of us. The first and mother of all questions is why exactly do we fight against injustice? Is it because we value the right of a fellow human being to live free or do we think of a payoff at the end of the struggle? Are we ready to sacrifice all including our life and the lives of our neighbors and friends because of a deep seated belief in freedom and dignity or is it a means for future reward be it money or fame? Is the reward to see a peaceful and prosperous life with equality for all or is the reward measured on personal level alone? Is the real question of a protracted struggle, what is in it for me or what is in it for us?
The Newsletter seems to give us the answer in a very vivid way. We can see it; we can feel it and some of us are victimized by it. First and foremost are those of our brothers and sisters that gave the ultimate sacrifice for the cause. They were left behind in unmarked graves in the fields, valleys and deserts of so many battlefields. There are those whose lives were disrupted, those who lost parts of their body and those that were scared for life with a never-ending nightmare and mental anguish.
On the other hand what the Newsletter does is bring out in plain view the lie that is told in the name of our eternal heroes. The pomp and ceremony waving the flag, the building of massive statues, the constant proclamations mentioning the dead is nothing but a smoke screen to hide the shame and dishonor. Now it is all clear that there is nothing there except good old human greed camouflaged as commitment.
Where exactly does it say that thousands died so a few can accumulate obscene amount of wealth? Where exactly is the connection between commitment to equality and freedom and fattening one’s bank account? Was that what the struggle was about? Was all this death and destruction so a handful can eat three times a day, wear Armani suit, drive a Range Rover, build a thirty two bedroom mansion, bully a whole nation and have secret bank account in all four corners of the world?
What is so depressing is that all of the above minus the bullying part can be accomplished with lesser effort and with no sacrifice to others. We Ethiopians have shown that it is possible and doable. Our success is told and written in all six continents. We have business people in all wake of life with more money than all of Woyane put together, we have industry heads with responsibility for millions of dollars, we have scientists in the fields of nuclear research, energy innovation, we have Doctors heading some of the most prestigious medical hospitals and research centers, we have leaders in the new technology of computers and World Wide Web and University professors in some of the most acclaimed schools on earth. We have thousands of our people leading a quiet productive life contributing positively and enriching their neighborhood. We are a very resourceful people that left our homeland with our clothes on our back but managed to survive and thrive. We accomplished all this the old fashioned way; we earned it!
It is also incomprehensible that some think that they could get away with murder and theft. In this day and age where individuals are held accountable for their actions by international conventions and treaties, it is the height of folly to think that one is above the law. It is good to look back and see the feeble attempts by such notorious criminals as Ferdinand Marcos, Shah of Iran, Mobutu Se Se Seko, Augesto Pinochet and a few others that tried to hide their ill-gotten wealth with disastrous results to their children and relatives. Forensic accounting is a highly developed field. What is gotten today using illegal means will be taken away tomorrow-using legal means.
Those of us that are victims of these ordinary criminals have a responsibility to expose them in the eyes of public opinion and use the resources of a free society to accomplish our goal. There is a world wide international protest to demand the unconditional release of Judge Bertukan Mideksa and our brother Teddy Afro. Find out the closet site and participate. There is a petition drive to present to the new Congress the deteriorating Human Right condition in our homeland. Please sign the petition. There is the campaign by Ginbot7 to raise funds for political work at home, please give what you can. We do all this not because there is a financial reward but because it is the right thing to do.
So we say to those who use State power to rob and steal, at the end of the day ‘you are nothing but a common thief”
Addis Ababa, Ethiopia – Turkey is now planning to join the mining and energy development sector of Ethiopia after years of investing in the textile sector.
Last week, a Turkish business delegation led by Turkish Minister of Transport, Binali Yyidrym, visited the Ethiopian Ministry of Mines and Energy and held a meeting with senior officials of the ministry.
The delegation was briefed by Alemayehu Tegenu, Minister of MME, about the investment opportunities in the mining and energy sector. The Minister discussed with the delegation about the precious and industrial mineral resources and the immense hydro-power potential Ethiopia has.
Gold, marble, limestone, and small amounts of tantalum are among the major natural resources mined so far in Ethiopia. Of these minerals, gold, which provided US$12.5 million to the economy in 1996, and is expected to generate a total of 1.6 billion USD up to 2020, is among the most significant contributor to export earnings of the country.
In addition, several foreign companies have signed exploration of natural gas and product sharing agreement with the Ethiopian Ministry of Mines and Energy and are currently drilling wells in different parts of the country.
The Turkish delegation arrived in Addis Ababa on Tuesday to participate at the fifth Ethio-Turkish joint economic commission meeting.
Speaking at the meeting, Minister of Trade and Industry Grma Birru said the bilateral trade between the two countries had grown by 46 percent between 2000 and 2007 to $182 million.
Investments
Ethiopia mainly exports sesame and leather to Turkey while Turkey exports steel and steel products, electronics and other industrial products. The number of Turkish companies, particularly those dealing in textile and garments, investing in Ethiopia is increasing.
From January-June 2008 alone, some 19 Turkish companies with an aggregate capital of 3.79 billion birr (around $379 million) have received licenses to engage in business in Ethiopia.
Relations
Relations between Ethiopia and Turkey, which go as far back as 1557, was strengthened in the early 20th century and weakened in 1975 with the closing of the Ethiopian Embassy.
However, they strengthened in 2005 with the visit of Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan, which led to the reopening of the Ethiopian consulate in 2006; that same year, Turkish Airlines started flights to Addis Ababa.
The aim is to raise trade between the two nations, which is currently at 200 million USD, to 500 million US$ by 2011.
Last month, a Turkish businessman won a contract worth 90 million USD; this increased the average trade balance between the two counties from 200 million to 300.
The increase in the export of Ethiopian agricultural products, such as green lentils and hides is expected to scale up the trade relation between the two sides to reach the 500 million mark.
According to Yusuf Adeniz, Chairman of Ayka Addis textile and Investment Group, Ethiopia is in a position to capitalize on the knowledge sharing and investment support being given to it by Turkish businessmen, who would add value to the nation’s manufacturing sector, particularly textiles.
Ayka is currently constructing a textile company in the town of Alemgena – located on the outskirts of Addis Ababa – with an investment of over 100 million USD. Once operational, the company envisions increasing its current 800 employees to 10,000.
Textile player
Briefing members of the Ethiopian media who were visiting Istanbul last month, Adeniz noted that for Ethiopia to really become a global textile player, policies and procedures should be fine-tuned to help meet projections. According to the chairman, red tape, lengthy custom clearance and financing problems impede Ayka’s target export of $200 million annually.
According to the chairman, red tape, lengthy custom clearance and financing problems impede Ayka’s target export of $200 million annually.
Contrasting the incentives given for exports in Turkey, Adeniz pointed out the need for Ethiopia to re-examine the existing policies in regards to customs and financing and make adjustments to create an environment where textile export potentials could be tapped into.
Woyanne fascist regime’s head of the its invading army, General Gabre Yohannes Abate, known as “The Butcher of Mogadishu.” This monster has slaughtered 16,000 Somali civilians in the past 2 years, and made 2 million Somalis homeless. His troops beheaded religious clerics, gang raped Somali women, and engaged in numerous other unspeakable crimes against the people of Somalia.
MOGADISHU (AFP) — Ethiopian Woyanne troops abandoned two bases Monday night in the Yakshid district in the north of Mogadishu, according to local residents who flocked in their hundreds to see the empty camps.
Moderate Islamists who signed a deal with the transitional government immediately sent their forces into the area to ensure security in the capital.
“The Ethiopian Woyanne forces withdrew from key positions in northern Mogadishu overnight and our fighters took control of the areas in order to avoid a power vacuum,” added Sheikh Hassan Osman, an Islamist official.
Ethiopia Woyanne began withdrawing its forces from its war-wracked Horn of Africa neighbour at the beginning of January, pledging not to leave a security vacuum, but Tuesday’s was the first withdrawal from the vulnerable capital itself.
The Shebab have recently retaken much of the territory lost when Ethiopia Woyanne intervened in 2006 to bolster the weak transitional government.
The AU force is expected to eventually number 8,000 soldiers but currently comprises only 3,400 troops from Uganda and Burundi.
Farah Abdi Warsame, a resident said: “It is a happy day today to see the area for the first time in two years without the Ethiopian Woyanne forces. We hope the rest will leave the country.”
The United Nations top envoy to Somalia Ahmedou Ould-Abdallah urged hardline Islamists who had pegged their participitation in peace talks on the Ethiopian Woyanne withdrawal to end the fighting.
“Today the Ethiopians Woyannes have respected their commitment,” Ould-Abdallah said in a statement. [Liar. Woyannes fled with their tails between their legs.]
“The ball is now in the court of the Somalis, particularly those who said they were only fighting against the Ethiopian forces, to stop the senseless killings and violence.”
“Today Somalia needs and deserves an effective and representative government with wide-ranging participation, particularly from the new generation of young men and women who are not tainted by past violence, corruption or excessive clan loyalties,” said Ould-Abdallah.
Moderate Islamists had signed a deal with the transitional government for a gradual withdrawal of Ethiopian troops, a power-sharing and a ceasefire agreement under UN-mediated talks.
Clashes have continued between the hardline Shebab and government forces, who have a tenuous control of only the capital and the central town of Baidoa which hosts the parliament.
On Monday, at least 10 civilians died in and several wounded in clashes between government forces and rebels in Mogadishu.
