Like Ethiopia, like Nigeria

There are many similarities between Ethiopia and Nigeria as observed during a recent visit.Like Ethiopia, like Nigeria Everywhere across Ethiopia our reporter visited recently, there were elements about everyday life to remind her of home and how so similar both countries are. Construction and ‘Keke’ everywhere The first noticeable signs of the new face of […]

There are many similarities between Ethiopia and Nigeria as observed during a recent visit.Like Ethiopia, like Nigeria
Everywhere across Ethiopia our reporter visited recently, there were elements about everyday life to remind her of home and how so similar both countries are.
Construction and ‘Keke’ everywhere
The first noticeable signs of the new face of Ethiopia upon arrival in its capital, Addis Ababa are the several advertisement signs of estate developers and buildings under construction. This is not unique to Addis alone but is spread around the rest of the country. For a Nigerian, especially one from Abuja, an instant smile immediate spreads across your face as you almost say aloud, ‘this is like Abuja.’
High-rise buildings, shopping malls/plazas lace different parts of the country as they do in Nigeria. Telecoms companies contend for attention with their numerous billboards awash with attractive offers and best deals.
Ethiopians are delighted about this change which they say started less than a decade ago but has had immense effect on them. This change has spread across almost every sector of the country from infrastructure to agriculture, and mining which are areas the government has opened to foreign investors with Nigeria’s business mogul, Aliko Dangote being one of its latest beneficiaries.
Although Nigeria still battles with mass transportation, commuters and even frequent visitors to the country comment that there is remarkable improvement in the sector compared to what it used to be. This is so much so that many of them have no need for private cars as they can depend on public transportation to commute. The almost zero absence of private cars was evident in cities our reporter visited including Adua, Mekelle, Yeha and Negash among others.
Like with Nigeria’s ‘Keke,’ tricycles called ‘tuk-tuk’ are a very dependable part of transportation in the country. Drivers there like their Nigerian counterparts enhance their tricycles with curtains, doors, music and posters to make them more attractive to prospective passengers. However, a fourth passenger never squeezes in with the driver, they told our reporter, as is the case in Nigeria.

Those rubber shoes!
‘Those rubber shoes!’ These were the first words that registered in the head of our reporter as she sighted three ‘Fulani’ herdsmen in Ethiopia’s northern city of Lalibella. They were also squatted in a similar position as herdsmen in Nigeria do.
The nomads of Ethiopia are generally from the Afar plain located on the east of Addis Ababa, the nation’s capital. The area is also located around the Dankali Depression.
Ethiopian herdsmen like their Nigerian counterparts roam through the mountains in search of green pastures for their herds which include camels, goats, sheep and cattle. As in Nigeria, their children also tag closely along with supplies, as the women sell cheese locally called ‘ayib,’ ‘ergo’ and ‘arera’ among other by-products from the animals, which are cousins to ‘wara’ and also ‘man shanu’ as they are called in Hausa language.
Seemingly shy and uninterested in the goings-on of the Nigerian tourists lurking around, they gradually opened up to petty conversations as they let our reporter take shots of them, though with some bit of reservation with the evident language barrier between both parties.
In this region, the wealth of a man is measured by the size of his herds as with nomads of Nigeria.
The Dankali Depression of the Great Rift Valley is one awash with slabs of salt pans and active volcanoes, thus providing alternative livelihoods for some of the Afar people who are not nomads.
Comparable to Nigeria’s crude blocks, and Ebonyi State’s many salt plains, the Afar people who work in the Depression during the dry season exploit the loose slabs of solid salt, supplying the ready-to-use commodity in the form of crude blocks.
Although they are generally Muslims and can marry up to four wives, our reporter was told that they still prefer to marry one wife with the girls married off even before teenagehood. There are also marriages between relations even if they are first cousins and preferably where it is between a man and the daughter of his father’s sister.
Most marriages take place on a night with a full moon before a person who can read the Quran.
In a Nigerian Fulani home, a guest is most likely to be entertained with ‘nono’ which is fresh milk extracted from a cow. It is so with Ethiopia’s nomads with the gesture also symbolising that host will provide the guest immediate protection.
Animal husbandry and beasts of burdens
Oxes, Donkeys and Camels are an integral part of pastoral life in Ethiopia as they are in Nigeria.  A common site during our reporter’s visit was of farmers trying to keep up with their ‘raging’ bulls heading in the direction of their farms.
Another was of young girls with donkeys straddled with kegs set on locally crafted metal carriers balanced on their saddles, heading in the opposite direction as the males went off to farm. Like in some rural and urban parts of Nigeria with water scarcity, they were headed to the public tap where they fetch water for domestic use, amidst hearty laughter and chit-chat.
An early morning view travelling further up north as with Nigeria, were of camels straddled with a similar metal carrier as the donkeys, but this time laden with bits and pieces of rocks for menial reconstructions at home. A caravan of least 20 camels had set out early in the morning with a rope connecting one to another by the nostril as they towed behind their owners to graze.
Of burial rites and customs
Driving through Mekelle to Yeha, the moment our reporter spotted what seemed like pall-bearers holding colourful umbrellas, with some others similarly dressed behind them; she immediately knew there was a funeral going on. This was so because it is the same scenario for funerals amongst the Efik people of Nigeria’s Cross River State when a dignitary is being buried. She lamented her inability to take a photograph of the scene but was compensated when she arrived in Yeha and witnessed more than she bargained for.
As with the Efiks, this funeral ceremony had pall-bearers holding colourfully embroidered umbrellas, a brilliantly-coloured drape over the casket. There were professional women mourners led by a chief mourner to whose chant they seemingly responded. Their wailings and gestures were reminiscent of funerals she had witnessed in Nigeria. This time she had her fill of photographs as she listened to explanations from the guide.
Negash’s steep drive like Obudu’s
Many tourists are yet to experience the excitement of adrenalin driving up the winding steep road up Obudu Mountain, Cross River State because they take the easy path via a cable car ride. For the Nigerian tourists visiting Northern Ethiopia there was no such cable ride through the mountain to Negash.
Ensuring that she was seated in the front of the 14 sitter-bus to have ample view of the breathless scenario it was a vantage point to see the scared faces of the other Nigerian tourists in the 21 sitter-bus as the driver navigated the winding road while ‘leisurely’ avoiding several on-coming fully-loaded luxurious busses.
Worthy of mention is that, not once during the almost 20-minute ride was there an accident scene. The reason, according to the guide: “as you see these little children grazing animals and walking this road, that’s how most of the drivers who ply this route started off. They know the road like the back of their hands which makes it easier for them to navigate. Also, drivers here are generally careful.”