{UAH} Pojim/WBK: Truly, Addis is the capital of Africa - Comment
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11:15 AM |
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Truly, Addis is the capital of Africa
It is always an opportune time to pay homage to the late Tajudeen Abdulraheem, the firebrand Nigerian who died a few years ago trying to reorder Africa.
Of course, reordering Africa is a tall order that must be contemplated with the longest view possible, but "Taju," he of the beard and the pipe, sure did try.
Once upon a meeting in Addis Ababa, he openly challenged the late prime minister, Meles Zenawi, to demonstrate in practical ways that Addis was indeed the capital of Africa.
In particular, Taju was unhappy with the difficulties placed in the ways of Africans trying to get into Ethiopia, who could be held at the airport for hours on end before being allowed into the country for a couple of days.
Some of the Africans so treated would be professionals going to meetings organised by the Organisation of African Unity, United Nations agencies or such other bodies, not stowaways, asylum seekers or vagrants.
Visibly embarrassed, Meles promised to look into the matter, and sure enough for a brief period visa requirements were eased somewhat. But that period was very brief indeed, and before anyone knew about it, the situation went back to square one, with the old inconveniences restored.
Now, unfortunately, Taju and Meles have left for the hereafter, and there is very little likelihood that they will be allowed to meet and discuss the issues they left behind this side of the tomb.
We are now on our own and must therefore devise our own means of taking up and resolving the matters that those two illustrious sons of African left unresolved. This assumes special significance when the Ethiopian government makes matters even worse than they previously were for fellow Africans.
For instance, I am reliably informed that international NGO staff who used to be allowed visas lasting a year are now restricted to a semester; those who used to operate on a semester now find themselves confined to a quarter; and those who used to have the quarter are now tethered to a month.
As a consequence of this, people have to fly in and out of Addis, going to their respective countries to process short-term visas, what with the attendant costs, worry and loss in man-hours. A senior lady I know, who works as a consultant with a UN-supported programme, for instance, has to go back to Cameroon every month to renew her visa.
Now, don't get me wrong. I know the Ethiopian authorities have their reasons for imposing these restrictions, seeing as their country lies in a particularly rough neighbourhood. There is practically nothing you can put beyond some nasty characters whose only education is in destruction. The need for vigilance and enhanced security cannot be gainsaid.
Yet we all live in the same thorny neighbourhood, and if we all imposed on our neighbours conditions that literally killed intercourse, it would be the end of integration and co-operation. A judicious mean has to be struck between legitimate security concerns and the need to circulate, reach out and interface. Otherwise we will have succeeded in jailing ourselves.
Addis Ababa has been the capital of Africa since 1963, and Africa has stood by side with Ethiopia, through all the good years, through all the bad years and all the in-between years. My work sent me to Addis a couple of times each year during the days of the Derg, and I can tell you it was past scary. Still Africa stayed.
It is time Ethiopia showed it values that solidarity. After all, I see no rush of starving Africans knocking on the gates of Ethiopia. Practically everyone who goes to the country has to fly. Job opportunities are known to be next to non-existent.
I understand the Kenyans, who enjoyed a more relaxed visa regime earlier, are feeling the brunt of the new dispensation. Were I Kenyan, knowing there is the Gigiri complex outside Nairobi, with huge potential to host the AU and the UN, I would have talked to my government about alternative arrangements. But I am not Kenyan, alas.
Get the point?
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