Variables re-visited

Our country is only experiencing such natural calamities which kill hundreds and even thousands. I personally have witnessed only a couple of disasters on the scale of the recent (and ongoing) in my not inconsiderable years. One could give as an excuse for the nation lack of preparedness its inexperience of such tragic events.

It is known that the country used to the slow motion tragedy of drought induced famine and its emergency structures and systems reflect this fact.

Nations like Bangladesh , Iran and Indonesia have been repeatedly floods, earthquakes and tsunamis, respectively and have by force of precedence well established coping mechanisms.

As we don't need to be meteorologists to notice that the world's weather has gone haywire, Ethiopia and Ethiopians must steel themselves with foresight for future catastrophic events.

The regional aspect is a matter usually left to the states. So Governments should harness the natural resources for the purpose of fast development, without forgetting that it is through the entrepreneurs that such fields are ploughed. So the field to be ploughed must be accessible to all under favourable, attractive and non-bureaucratic conditions. Economic development is generally slowed down when there is improper and wasteful use of resources by Governments of developing nations. This is where proper capacity building is required.

Full employment requires conscious population planning, expansion of education, maintenance of reliable health care programme, meaningful capacity building and tight control of wealth. In implementing these programmes, the relation between governments and peoples varies from country to country and within a country from time to time.

But, hastening development should be managed in the interest of the larger section of society. Although some of the developing countries operate on the free economic mechanisms, development's (peoples') plight should not be left to the quandaries of these mechanisms alone or at the supply and demand curve. Decision makers should be aware of their responsibilities to intervene whenever errors occur on the understanding that such countries are still at the developing stages.

In the case of Ethiopia again, the intervention of the people and the State in the current Omo, Afar and Dire Dawa rescue operations, is a clear case in point; it was decisive and timely. But, in future, more should be done in advance to develop the lives of these people in times of tranquility, not to go after an Ethiopian saying “ Mushira Metual Berbere Kentsu “ On the other hand, some in the advanced societies of the world may be surprised to see, in connection with the flooding, the pastoral people of Omo in nudity in the 21 st century, a state of affairs the simplicity of which I personally adore. They would say that the Ethiopian Governments could have done a lot, after the liberation of the country from Fascist Italy's invasion that is in the last 65 years.

Nonetheless, all that gap or vacuum cannot be filled now by a government's effort alone; it is the responsibility of the whole generation. For all that, the present move is excellent; it should be positively taken as constructive. However, much is to be expected from the communication media. In the case of the Omo operation, interviews should have been professionally managed. It is good to leave to the people what they want to say rather than to give the impression that their appreciation of the rescue operation was dictated by the interviewers, themselves, ignoring the fact that these were inescapable rights and responsibilities of the State and the peoples.

On the other hand, corruption is one of the worst enemies of development. In this respect, if we take the case of contemporary Ethiopia , particularly, the anti-corruption policy which is in place, the anti-mob policy to arrest the pillage of property and the enforcement of road and traffic regulations to protect lives and properties among other things will help to hasten the development process. Thus, consciousness toward and awareness of the variables that characterize third world countries will help to broaden one's horizon of thinking and perspective of perception that have great influence on anybody's decision-making faculty.