Difference Between Oromo Organizations | Oromo Revolution part 2

2. Oromo Revolution

By Ibsaa Guutama*

The Oromo are people who have lived under fear and threat for over a century. That fear and submission to threats only have accelerated humiliation, abuse and death – and that has started reversing course after a long and slow awakening. Self-doubts, lack of political consciousness, treachery and enemy propaganda have contributed to the Oromo’s inability to revive from the first blow. But an era was reached whereby all oppressed peoples of the world rose against abusive systems. It was then that the Oromo struggle transcended the slow movement and burst into a revolution. The Oromo began asserting their identity, history, culture and language – no more accepting the dictate of their colonizers. They demanded Oromiyaa’s unconditional independence and the establishment of the Independent Republic of Oromiyaa. Though the final goal is yet to be reached, they were able to get rid of the old Nafxanyaa’s relation to the land with all its spells; they have made all to call them Oromo in the way they call themselves; they have revived their language to be a public language rather than remain in the hearth; they have got their country Oromiyaa on the map; they are able for their right to national self-determination, up to and including independence, be recognized by the colonizer. Afan Oromo has become the working and the school language, and many other benefits are recorded. The revolutionary struggle is continuing to reach the intended goal. Here,revolution means a situation where a harsh system is uprooted and replaced by a new one. The aim of the Oromo revolution is to uproot the colonial system, and create a situation whereby the Oromo gains independence; lives in freedom and equality as sovereign over its country; and lives in happiness and peace with its surrounding.

Oromo revolutionaries are no copycat of any system. They were inspired by their Gadaa heritage and so are Gadaa revolutionaries. They came forward during the period of the Pan-African movement with their Ethiopian schoolmates and matured to full blossom – internalizing what they had heard about Garvey, DuBois and Kwame Nkrumah as well as other revolutionary movements of the time and of centuries past. They were eagerly looking forward for the unity of African peoples, not the unity of the mentally enslaved African elites. They believed that people could talk about their roles in a larger society only if they could liberate themselves from subjugation. Towards that, the Oromo revolutionaries set their goal as an anti-colonial and an anti-subjugation of all sorts. It is only, they believed, as free people, that their nation can give their consent to any form of unity or peaceful coexistence with other peoples. This stand has gained momentum over the years, and no saboteur can turn it back. As a revolutionary entity, the Oromo national liberation movement is armed with Gadaa principles on human rights and democratic governance, and never retires without bringing fundamental positive changes to the Oromo life.

Oromiyaa is a reality that cannot be denied, distorted or dismantled anymore. The Habashaa and those who lobby to be embraced by their movement of Ethiopianization believe that all ethnic groups must be forcefully assimilated into their system. Already, there are several “assimilado” helping them towards this end. They abhor ethnic groups claiming nationhood. That is why Habashaa and their cohorts distort the meaning of the word “ethnic,” and reduce it to mean “gosa”(clan or tribe) in Afan Oromo. They do not have this term in their language, but borrowed it from Oromo. For Oromo, “gosa” means a sub-group of the nation Oromo – that has, over the years, formed some particular cohesiveness differentiating itself from other groups with whom they share the general national characteristics. For all, the national supreme law overrides all “gosa” laws and practices. Thus, Oromo is not “gosa”, but trunk for the several gosa’s that call themselves “Ilmaan Oromo” or Oromo. When we refer to an ethnic group (Lammii), it depicts common racial and national origin as well as linguistic or cultural heritage. Those characteristics could belong to a nation state or peoples that have volunteered to live in a multinational state. Oromiyaans can be of different ethnic groups that have voluntarily formed a union for purposes commonly cherished. Therefore, it is not necessary to reduce the multi-gosa Oromo nation to “gosa”, simply to deny it the right to be independent.

Hence, politicians who start with the wrong premise about Ethiopia and its colonies only distort the truth, and delay creating lasting understanding among peoples of the Ethiopian empire. In particular, when Oromo nationals start counselling Habashaa Princes on how to maintain the empire, the credibility of all they had lectured so far comes under question. Such overtures remind one only of Machiavelli’s advice to Florentine’s Prince – better to be “feared than respected.” Oromo Machiavellians have preferred a strong Habashaaruler against the freedom and independence of their own people. They do not see their abandoning the “Kaayyoo,” and the expression of wishes and aspirations of the people; they have left their followers in harm’s way. It seems a spell is put on them to regret their past and forced to reverse it.

But what they want to reverse has become history; Oromo has started a new chapter with a more dynamic and technologically advanced generation that speaks the political language of the day. They could have been more useful for the nation had they remained resource persons than trying to remain prime movers. By doing so, they only exposed their soft part that might discredit all the suffering they went through, presumably in good faith. Still, it will not be too late to change a strategy, break the spell, uphold Oromummaa and correct the damage. Starting from OPDO, many groups had served the empire state as loyal oppositions. Because they failedOromummaa as a group, we cannot say that all are anti-Oromummaa. Before them, many had tried to work loyally withHabashaa governments, but they all know how those ended up. There were those who returned to people’s camp and cleansed themselves by paying enviable sacrifices. Instead of learning from others’ experiences, some others have tried the hard way by going the long beaten road and are clearly failing. Let this be a lesson for all activists to reexamine Oromummaa if there is a way it could be served better. Seeking peace and reconciliation within oneself is also an Oromo tradition.

Oromo forebears have left to their descendants advanced political culture to be proud of. They knew that “Power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely” thousands of years before Lord Acton uttered it in 1887. They had limited the time an elected party could stay in power, and put several mechanisms to control abuses and corruptions by the powerful. They have also assigned roles to the elderly. It is failing to accept this principle that sent many Oromo politicians berserk to the extent of running away to check if the enemy could embrace them. But it was commonsense to guess that it will rather embarrass than embrace, if not earlier at later stage. The natural development of a societal system disrupted a century ago can be put back on track only with the revolutionary struggle, not by slow locomotion or wavering moves. Feet dragging and indetermination will only buy time for the colonizer, and contribute to its refining the oppressive system. The colonizer rejects Oromo activists’ proposal, not for their ideas, but for who they are. Let alone volunteers, aliens can never believe their own recruits would give up from heart own rights and dignity to work with them. Aliens never relax in their presence for they suspect Oromo have hidden agenda for settling past scores and sabotaging their ambitions. To get accepted as a formidable counterpart, one has first to have a backup to call up on.

The Oromo have to understand that their sacrifices will have no return unless they have a viable revolutionary organization and a base to defend in their own country. No matter what their objectives had been, patriots like Balayii Zallaqaa, Garasuu Dhukki, Oliiqaa Dingle and many others who made limits to movements of the enemy’s troops during the Fascist occupation, without having access to neighboring countries and means of information, can serve as examples of self-reliance. “If there is a will, there is a way;” with commitment and revolutionary stamina, all the material to defend one’s rights is available in own country. Organizational capability, determination and credibility could attract friends even from among those that were on the side of the enemy.

Revolutionaries are informed persons who listen, read and learn from own mistakes and achievements of others. They are selfless, generous individuals who give up their lives and all that/who are dear to them to save the nation. They are persons who will never abandon comrades in dire situations. The world has witnessed such patriotic individuals during the English, American, French, Russian and Chinese Revolutions, to mention a few. The Oromo national liberation movement is full of such heroic members who had already registered many achievements by their sacrifices. There is no shortage of them in Oromiyaa’s independence camp to continue the struggle till the finish. The world believes that there are no permanent friends or enemies, but permanent interests. That is what an Oromo activist has to learn and understand that the Oromo revolution is a process through which they encounter friends and foes keeping on changing sides. To win friends, depend not on chance, but on ones determined skillful performance and care for human elements among them.

The Oromo struggle is a protracted struggle that could take generations. Awareness of this will help tighten one’s belt for the long haul. In particular, those scattered all over the world have the obligation to keep in touch with their people and to nurture their own children with similar basic information about their heritage. That may require worldwide Oromo Survival Organization, an Oromo organization not infested with rats pretending to be concerned for the nation. In that way, there could always be concern for thriving ofOromummaa and the struggle. As the revolution advances, the enemy’s repression is going to be harsher. As a result, more Oromiyaans are going to suffer; more are going to be imprisoned, maimed with torture, killed and exiled. Many homes are going to get ruined, and communities dislocated. All victims need to be rescued. No one is more positioned than Oromo nationals across the seas to organize such a rescue on a permanent basis. Responding to intermittent provocations cannot be an answer; there must be a continuous flow of help and contact with the homeland. Here, too, the need for information is paramount.

Oromiyaa is a country that lost its independence. It is only the arrogant and the naïve who dreams to keep it dependent. Peace and reconciliation are known to be among the cornerstones of Gadaa’sadmired principles. But, only free peoples can negotiate on any form of understanding in that region. It is people, whose nationhood is accepted unequivocally by all parties, who can sit down as equals and discuss how to live in peace and tranquility as good neighbors or in any manner it wills. Short of that, there is no political or moral justification for Oromiyaa to continue subjugated by people they consider aliens. All concerned must know that, let alone legitimately occupying Oromiyaa, there is no legitimate Habashaa government for the empire. The present one is an imposter that imposed itself with the barrel of the gun and that maintains itself with it. Each people of the empire believes that it is a sovereign within its territory. It is only the peoples who feel the pain of their rule that can tell the status of their sovereigns, not one earmarked for them by others. Therefore, to brand those who struggle for their Waaq-given rights as terrorists, blessing the one who rules over all peoples with terror is an error of judgement or blind support for one’s interests, right or wrong.

To justify their continued occupation of Oromiyaa, its colonizers are trying to win sympathy of other nations from the point of Habashaa’ssecurity, the old reference of a Christian island in the pagan and Muslim sea, and population settlement history. There will be no right-minded nation that decides to sacrifice Oromiyaa’s security for that ofHabashaa colonizers for a non-existing threat. In reality, Oromiyaa poses no danger to anyone. Rather, it is the colonizer that is trying to endanger the Oromo hiding under concocted victimization. Already, several aspect of the Gadaa system, which includes the political, social and economic makeup of the nation, is extinct. Those were remarkable heritages of world civilization. Periodical reports of dependable international human rights organizations are witnesses to the current abuses. In this century, in Habashaa-land (Abyssinia), there are significant numbers of Muslims and followers of other faiths. It is no more the ancient land of the imaginary “Prester John;” it is now a multi-religious mainland – no more an island. No difference with other parts, in that aspect. There is no indigenous exclusively Christian or Muslim country in the Ethiopian empire. It is a pity to see some entertaining such an obsolete idea.

Therefore, Oromiyaa, the land of many believers, should not be singled out as a possible ground for extremism. All religions could have fundamentalists, and every nation has the responsibility to keep lid on its own. The Gadaa political culture is known for direct clashes when a dire situation of self-defense and when freedom are trampled upon. Terrorism of any sort against human beings and the natural environment is “safuu” or taboo. As for history, the Oromo love their heritage which is the foundation of Oromummaa, but want to live in the present, not in the past thousands of years. If that line of argument is to be pursued, the Oromo are among the first settlers from the Mediterranean to the Equator with all presently Kushitic, Nilotic, Omotic and Bantu-speaking folks. It is only laughable to hear complaints about the origin of the Oromo from recent arrivals. They have tried to distort history because they had the power, the means and the exposure to hoodwink the world. Now, with all having access to information, their thinking and teachings had been laid bare, and were all lies and so obsolete. To check their level of understanding, one may listen to the chatterboxes, but to give attention for such inconsequential bubbling is a waste of time.

The Oromo are resourceful, numerous in numbers, reach in natural endowments and are lovers of peaceful and healthy environment. They had been lagging behind in political consciousness because of historical reasons. At present, things are changing however slow they might be. What is required is to regain their lost sovereignty as a nation and dignity as human beings. Their choices are two: one is to pay all that it may cost and free themselves from the alien domination and subjugation, or continue living considered as subhumans and looked down upon by Hagos and Tsexaargaachewu. It is only placenta passed for a baby, not the baby that picks the second choice, as the Oromo adage goes. The Oromo revolution is for the first choice – empowering the Oromo to make the correct choice by their own free will – without fear or threat from any quarter. Nothing could make a people happier than to achieve the right and freedom to choose from alternatives. It requires selfless revolutionaries to reach that goal, the kaayyoo for which millions have fallen. Nowadays, the terms “revolution,” “kaayyoo” and “Oromummaa” are shunned by many Oromo activists for they demand self-assertion, determination and commitment of the highest standard for the nation’s cause. A revolution gives no room for wavering and changing position at every turn. It requires determination to bring about fundamental changes in attitude and practice.

Honor and glory for the fallen heroines and heroes; liberty equality and freedom for the living, and nagaa and araaraa for the Ayyaanaa of our fore parents!