Whom are We Treasuring?

The year was 2003. A young sculptor came up with an idea of placing a statute for Emperor Theodros II, Ethiopia’s leader from 1855 to 1868, at a square named after him in the country’s capital, Addis Ababa. His proposal was accompanied by a full-scale design of the statute and the envisioned look of the square after completion. Mega Creative Arts Center, a company once involved in the production and presentation of art works, which used to own the nation’s first cinema around that square, supported the idea and began coordinating efforts to raise fund for the project.

The project got momentum after the city administration granted permission for the launch of the project. With preparations almost completed and the project was about to be commenced, though, an organization established to retrieve stolen treasures from Maqduella, the place where Theodros committed suicide after the British forces overpowered the Ethiopian troops, intervened, claiming it was the right authority to undertake the project. With this claim (and, maybe, with invisible, powerful hands on the background), the organization has managed to persuade the new provisional city government to suspend the previous permit and got a new one for itself. The organizers told the media that they would float an international tender for the design and erection of the statute. Until then, they erected the replica of the artillery named Sebastopol, which was locally built by Europeans held prisoner by the king at Gafat, a place sought to become an industrial center.

Fast forward to 2012. Sebastopol is still there. No statute for the emperor yet. Even the organization became defunct a while back.  Why? Nobody knows.

This poses a number of questions: Whom are we treasuring, the creation or the creator?  Was it this much difficult to erect a statute in Ethiopia where we have a load of artistic talents? Are we truly celebrating history? …

A visit to Central London, where the statue of General Robert Napier, dubbed “Lord of Maqduella” by his people makes one wonder, as Daniel Kibret puts it , “Who’s the real Lord of Maqduella?” The British   hailed him as one of their all-time greats, and we the Ethiopians, don’t even bother to put a symbol for our own in the nation’s capital. What a joke!!

Every time I pass around Theodros Square, and look at Sebastopol, I get this feeling that we are becoming ignorant about fact and history. Putting a statute for an arsenal which was shot only once and dismantled afterwards, over that of its mastermind, who was a true visionary,  is [for the lack of a better word] an insult of all insults.

I don’t think the problem is financial or technical. It’s just lack of good will. The people in charge of such works are either ignorant or unqualified to do their job. Historians don’t seem to bother about it. The media prefers to back down on the matter.

I am not going to prescribe a solution here, since the solution is right on the table. But I want to say this: Please let’s respect out history, let’s practice to honor our greats. Let’s not put the creation ahead of the creator.