When I Visited Addis Ababa It was the first time for me to visit Ethiopia, and particularly Addis Ababa, the capital of Africa. I was in the country to respond to an invitation of the Commission of the AfricanUnion in early December 2005. Beyond the commonly encountered cliché about the country, I found a country with very cheerful and welcoming people. Though I was disappointed about some aspects, I was generally impressed by what I saw, particularly the magnificent work being carried out by the pan-African organization. I got my first impression on board of the Ethiopian Airlines flight that took me from London Heathrow to Addis. As with my visit to Ethiopia, it was also my first experience of flying with “Ethiopian”. I knew that the 60-year-old “Ethiopian” is one of the best airlines in Africa and I was not disappointed. Everything was meticulously punctual and very organized. For the first time in my life, I heard the announcements being made in an African language – Amharic – before being made in a colonial language —English. Wherever I looked in the plane, the instructions are written in both Amharic and English, and sometimes in the former alone. I don’t understand this language but I was immensely proud about the fact that an African language is being given its due value in such a modern contraption. At the airport as well as in town, Amharic is written and spoken everywhere. More than eighty languages or dialects are spoken in Ethiopia. Amharic, Tigrigna and Oromigna are however the three main languages spoken, the first one being the most widely spoken language. I was made to understand that almost every Ethiopian understands this language. With the permission of my wife, I can also confess that I was moved by the extreme beauty of Ethiopian women. Ethiopia is truly a place that makes the black man proud, if only the politicians take heed of this. The country has its own timing system. Very logical, they start the clock from dawn in the morning; so that what is 7 am in the Western timing system that now dominates the world is 1 O’clock in Ethiopian time. This system is still popular in the country and almost everyone knows it and time themselves according to it. This clear-cut proof, amongst many others of course, that the black man did think, and invented ways of organising himself well before the coming of the Europeans is however under threat from European cultural influences. It may thus disappear if care is not taken. But what may withstand the Western influence for at least some time to come is the Ethiopian calendar—again different from the dominating Western one. Ethiopia uses what is known as the Julian calendar, which is seven years behind the Western (Gregorian) calendar, with New Year falling in the Western month of September. It consists of twelve months of thirty days each and a thirteenth month of five days only (six days in a leap year). Ethiopia is a veritable home to what Professor Ali Mazrui termed the “Triple Heritage” of Africa. Here you find in perfect harmony Orthodox Christianity (in the country before the coming of Western missionaries that accompanied the colonisers), Islam and Judaism as well as traditional beliefs. The number of Jews in Africa is very modest. In sub-Saharan Africa, with the exception of South Africa, the only concentration of Jews is in Ethiopia where they are called the “Falasha”, thought to be the lost tribe of Israel (Beta Israel). Most of the Falasha of Ethiopia were transferred to Israel in the 1980s in a massive airlift operation called “Operation Moses”. But once in Israel, their fate has been one of hostility by the white Jews, of misery, discrimination and exploitation. I was quite disappointed by the fact that the language of instruction in Ethiopian schools, colleges and universities is English rather than Amharic or any other Ethiopian language. Ethiopian languages are taught only as languages but lessons are not taught in them. This surprised me, even chocked me for at least two reasons. First, because Ethiopia was never colonized during the brutal European scramble for Africa, except for the five-year occupation (1936-1941) by fascist Italy under Mussolini during the Second World War. So if the rest of Africa is now using colonial languages – which should be re-examined anyway – because they were colonized, there is no reason why Ethiopia should follow suit. This is not only a matter of sovereignty and identity but also to show the world that the black man has a history and culture; has a language in which he is able to express himself in the same way as the European can in his language; that by borrowing and translating, this language can be used in sciences as well as in diplomacy and arts.
Posted on: Wed, 18 Sep 2013 07:47:54 +0000
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