Emperor Haile Selassie 80 on Sunday

Press, Volume CXII, Issue 32975, 22 July 1972, Page 17

Emperor Haile Selassie 80 on Sunday

(N.Z.P. A.-Reuter —Copyright)

ADDIS ABABA, July 21.

Haile Selassie the First, Conquering Lion of the Tribe of Judah, Elect of God, Emperor of Ethiopia, celebrates his eightieth birthday on Sunday.

It will be a day of | ] great rejoicing through--] lout the empire with . I feasts, dancing, bonfires' land general revelry. In the capital, Addis Ababa,: I the day will begin with a]: 21-gun salute fired from the 1 Grand Palace at dawn, as the' Emperor, with Crown Prince Asfa Wossen and other mem-

bers of the Imperial Family, leave to attend special thanksgiving services in St George’s Cathedral. During the 42 years of his reign, Emperor Haile Selassie has sought to bring his countrymen into the twentieth-century. CROWNED IN 1930 | Less than a year after his (being crowned in 1930, he gave his country its first constitution (revised in 1955) protecting the rights of all | citizens. Later, he gave Ethiopia its first Parliament. He brought in foreign advisers, had legislation introduced revising the country’s financial structure, improved Ethiopia’s roads, and had factories and public-utility projects built. His great ambition was to bring education to his people. Despite bitter opposition from the nobility and from the Ethiopian Coptic Church, he began to build schools and brought teachers from abroad. AFRICAN TRIBUTE A measure of the respect which independent Africa holds for the Emperor was indicated at the summit conference in Rabat last month of the Organisation of African Unity. Heads of State of the organisations 41 - member nations decided unanimously that on July 23 a special plaque should be placed in Africa Hall in Addis Ababa to commemorate the Emperor’s eightieth birthday, “as a testimony of the love, appreciation and high esteem of the African peoples.”

Each of the member States will issue a special series of stamps in honour of the Emperor. In the Ethiopian capital are the headquarters of the Organisation of African Unity, and the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa, as well as the African offices of many of the United Nations specialised agencies. It was in Addis Ababa, on the Emperor’s initiative, that the Organisation of African Unity was founded in 1963.

When the United Nations Security Council decided to hold its first meeting in Africa earlier this year, it was natural that Addis Ababa should be chosen as the verfue. It is a matter of prestige, as well as national interest, for countries to have embassies in Addis Ababa and more than 75 nations are thus represented.

Recently, the Emperor has turned his attention more to African and international problems.

SUDAN SETTLEMENT He was instrumental in bringing North Sudan and South Sudan together last April, ending a civil war that had lasted 16 years, with a pact known as the Addis Ababa Peace Agreement. The Emperor also worked to end the Nigerian civil war and was responsible for the re-establishment of friendly relations between the Nigerian leader, General Yakubu Gowon, and the heads of the

four States, Tanzania, Zam-i [bia, the Ivory Coast and] [Gabon, which had recognised ; Biafra. YOUTH UNREST But Ethiopia is not exempt [from the unrest that is] [sweeping the youth of the 1 [world and there is a wide-

spread feeling of frustration in the country against the traditional w.ays in which the country is governed. The educated younger generation finds itself against a wall of entrenched conserva-

■ tism, and promotion solely on I merit is not the rule. I Although there are signs that the nation’s economy is slowly improving after a period of stagnation, young : men leaving university find ; it hard to get jobs. ! In the last 18 months, there ■ have been student strikes, sit-ins and other demonstrations against what the students consider the inadequacy

of the educational system and their exclusion from any part in determining curricula. OLD AND NEW Ethiopia is faced with the dilemma of reconciling old ideas with new. On the one hand there are the educated — perhaps 5 per cent of the population — calling for more progress. On the other hand, there is the great mass of the people, mostly illiterate peasants, clinging to their traditions and spurning all efforts at modernisation. Emperor Haile Selassie believes that the education and enlightenment of rural populations, mostly uneducated and illiterate, cannot be attained by any sudden radical changes which would disrupt their social organisation.