THE OROMO PEOPLE CANNOT DO ANYTHING ALONE: ORO-ETHIO OR ETHIO-ORO PLAGUE

December 06, 2014 | By Waaqee Ji'oo Garbii*

Preliminary remark  

This article examines the scourge ‘The Oromo People Cannot Do Anything Alone’ that often causes nausea in the Oromo national struggle for national self-determination. In doing this, I briefly begin by embarking on the ideology of some apolitical Oromo Christians and some non-Christian Oromos and even some Oromo politicians who promote the so called ‘Oro-Ethio’ or ‘Ethio-Oro’ political game. My purpose in writing this article is not to defile any individual or group or it is not to undermine the grievances of the oppressed Oromo people rather to discuss about and reflect on if the Oromo people really cannot liberate themselves from century lasting Abyssinian colonization. Therefore, I humbly ask the readers to freely argue for or counter argue the claims I made in this article.

Debate

There are some apolitical Oromo Christians who incline to recognize that the Oromo people are oppressed. However, they have venomous attitude towards the Oromo people national struggle for national self-determination. They often argue that the Oromo people cannot do anything alone; therefore, the Oromo should unite with the Amhara. By the way, there are also non-Christian Oromos who share the same idea with apolitical Oromo Christians at this point. There are some Muslim and Waaqeffataa Oromos who support this ideology. Obviously, there are also some Oromo politicians and elites who share the same idea. They tend to make the colonization history between the Oromo people and the Abyssinians smoother than it is. Indeed, this idea is a challenging obstacle to bring the Oromo human and natural resources together in order to strengthen the Oromo national struggle for national self-determination as to distinguish who is for the Oromo people’s freedom and who is against their freedom in this critical day when the Oromo people’s struggle for peace and democracy is on the crossroad. It alerts the people today to think about the problem that lies before them.

As a little yeast leaves the whole batch of dough (Galatians 5:9), the ideology of apolitical Oromo Christians and the prodigal Oromo that claim ‘the Oromo people cannot do anything alone’ can cause trouble in the Oromo national struggle for national self-determination. Of course, it never aborts the people’s struggle for the independent state they demand, but it can prolong the suffering of millions of the Oromo people. It is a vehicle of the stubborn and unapologetic hearts of the Abyssinian ruling elites who are still attempting to suppress the Oromo beyond measure. Then, what is the remedy? 

As I have said before, having unity with Amhara and other ethno-nationals in the Ethiopian Empire is not wrong. Be that as it may, it is good and important for the Oromo to know and decide with whom they unite, with what motives and in which conditions they unite, when and how they unite. History uncovers that the common motto of Abyssinian Amhara elites and Tigriyan led Ethiopian government is to continue to suppress Oromummaa. Obviously, this is the reason why they are fighting each other over Oromia which does not belong to them. Also, this is the sources of the current gravity of the Oromo people’s political and socio-economic grievances. Many scholars agree with this claim. For instance, Adhana (1998: 42-43) confirms that the legendary myth of the so called ‘Solomonic Dynasty’ in Ethiopian Empire building process was in the heart of Tigre and Amhara self-identification by which they consider themselves above all ethno-nationals in the Empire. However, in the late 19^th a dramatic change in ‘geo-political center and ethnic composition of power’ took place when both groups scrambled to colonize Oromia which does not belong to none of them. It is important to repeat what Asebe (2007: 22) explain about this shift. “…the group [Amhara and Tigre]…basic common interest lasted only until late 19^th century when the political gravity moved from Tigray- following the death of Tigrayan emperor, Yohannes IV in 1889- to Shoa. The event brought not only a shift in geo-political center but also changed the ‘ethnic composition’ of power holders- from Tigrayans to Amharas although the former continued as younger partners to the Amharas in the empire building process.”

One thing is increasingly clear: both the Oromo people and Amhara have been fighting against the TPLF led Ethiopian government since 1991. Be that as it may, it is pivotal to distinguish who is fighting against what, with whom and for what purpose. In addition it is important for the Oromo people to consider if they should co-operate with the colonizers in order to get back their own things from the hands of colonizers themselves. In my view, to cooperate with colonizers is irrational. How can the oppressed cooperate with his/her oppressor who wants him/her remain submissive? In other words, it is obvious that the Amharas unity with the oppressed Oromo people is not genuine; this can divide the power of the Oromo people’s struggle for freedom and benefit the Abyssinian fulfill their interest of strengthening Ethiopianizm. I don’t think the Amharas will let Oromo get back their own state Oromia just because the Oromo people united with them, unless they themselves continue to struggle for their freedom. Thus I would argue that even though it is full of ups and downs, even if it is challenging, painful and time-consuming, the Oromo people should stand on their own feet and continue their peaceful and uninterrupted struggle by using all peaceful possible means to end Abyssinian colonialism.

Moreover, in my view, there are some crucial points that the apolitical Oromo Christians and those who are in favor of the claim ‘the Oromo people should be united with the Amhara to fight against injustice in Oromia’ should consider. The Oromo people and the Amhara elites have history of being colonized and colonizer respectively. Since the 1991, the Amhara have been struggling to retake political and economic power of the Empire which was built by their

forefathers in order to continue suppressing the Oromo people as well as other ethno-nationals while the Oromo people have been in determined national struggle for national self-determination that will be proved by deconstruction of Abyssinia colonial system in Oromia. Consequently, the hostility between the Oromo and the Abyssinian elites is obvious. The Oromo people are struggling to end colonization while the Amhara elites are striving to prove subjugation of the Oromo people. The Oromo people are wailing and grinding teeth to end Abyssinian exploitation in Oromia. They are longing to see their children grow, be educated and serve their people without being persecuted by colonizers, while Abyssinian colonial elites are filling their insatiable pocket and enjoying fetish life with the resources exploited from Oromia. Obviously, it is very difficult to work together for two parties who have disputing interests particularly when the oppressor still wants to subdue the oppressed. I would thus argue that it is important to uproot and destroy colonial system peacefully and establish truth and reconciliation first. Otherwise, the talk about unity with colonizer while drinking from the cup of suffering offered by the colonizers themselves is the kind of trying to fetch water by sieve and fill a container.

It seems that the current horrific political situation in Oromia gives the Oromo people only two alternatives: either to accept all the challenges they are facing (namely grievances, political and cultural marginalization, human and natural resource exploitation, eviction from their ancestral lands, extra judiciary killings, and all the scourges caused by colonizers as blessings and to deciding to remain under colonial yoke and enjoying second class citizenship in their own country) or to continue an interrupted non-violent national struggle for national self-determination by and for themselves. The Oromo people are determined to end the Abyssinian colonial era in Oromia and they are paying unforgettable sacrifices. They are free human beings with independent will. The most courageous thing is that they are still struggeling for themselves to persue their will, that is freedom.

Today, majority of the Oromo people are struggling and perishing to emancipate Oromia from Abyssinian colonial rule while the Amhara strive to prove the deconstruction of Oromummaa and the reign of Ethiopianism over Oromia. In other words, the Oromo people are fighting against Abyssinian colonial system which is planted by the Amhara and watered by both Amhara and Tigre. This is an incompatible interest. How on earth can a colonizing nation stand together with a nation who is subject for its colonization in order to destroy its own colonial power? Jesus Christ taught His disciples a similar example in (Mark 3:25) if a house is divided against itself, that house cannot stand. Also, in (Matt 12:25) Jesus Christ taught that every kingdom divided against itself brought to destruction. If they stand in union, the Oromo people have enough power and resources to fight their own fighting against Abyssinian colonial system in Oromia and to prove their own liberation.

Having said that, it is also important to do extensive research why some apolitical Oromo Christians and Muslims and Waaqeffataas including some Oromo politicians and elites argue that the Oromo people cannot do anything unless the Oromo unite with Amhara in the Oromo struggle. Is it because the Amhara ruling elites had been intensively working to destroy the Oromo people self-confidence that influenced those Oromos to assume that the Oromo have no enough knowledge or experiences, courage and potential to fight their own fighting’s in order to prove the independent state they demand? Why do they often see Oromia through Ethiopian eye glasses? Why do they lack trust in their own people and hesitate to work with their people while they aggressively work to divorce the Oromo people from Oromummaa and make them intermarry with Ethiopianism? Why do they choose ‘Oro-Ethio’ or ‘Ethio-Oro’ political model rather than putting their trust in the sovereignty of the great Oromo nation that can make people’s democratic republic of Oromia possible? Are these Oromo individuals or groups deliberately abandoning the Oromo people rights of self-determination just to fulfill their personal ambitions? Is the ideology of ‘Oromo cannot do anything alone’ the better way to liberate the Oromo people?

The Oromo people and the Abyssinians have challenging assignments in front of them that demands sacrifice. The demand needs full scale payment from both sides for their past histories as well as the existing reality that the oppressed Oromo are experiencing. The Oromo people should continue peaceful struggle to get their freedom. The Abyssinian elites should accept democratic culture and let the Oromo people free. Truly, it is not easy to reconcile these opposing interests. The Oromo people are fighting against Abyssinian colonial system, not against Abyssinian people. What I mean is that the Oromo people will not stand and see when their enemies abandon their rights and exploit their human and natural resources. As a matter of fact, anybody who attempts to destroy Oromummaa and reinforce Abyssinian supremacy in Oromia is maturing himself to be encountered by the Oromo people since the people will never ever go back from fighting for freedom, democracy and peace.

The prodigal Oromos who often argue that the Oromo people cannot do anything without standing in unison with the Amhara often say ‘the enemy of my enemy is my friend’. They use this popular saying when they attempt to preach the Oromo people that Amhara and the Tigre people are enemies to one another. Based on the horrific history of Abyssinian colonization in Oromia and based on the present persecution the Oromo people are experiencing, I would argue that the Oromo should not be deceived any more since both Amhara and Tigre are two sides of the same coin when it comes to suppressing, marginalizing, killing, dehumanizing the Oromo. In short, the Amhara elites and the ruling TPLF regime have similar agenda that is to suppress the Oromo people. Therefore, the apolitical Oromo Christians and the prodigal Oromos (the Oromo from any walk of life who serve the colonial interest) should know that the ‘friends of the Oromo enemies are the Oromo enemies’ in this context.

Interestingly, the majority of the Oromo people from all walks of life realized that collaborating with the Abyssinian colonial system is a great obstacle for the independent state they demand. In order to uproot such obstacle and to make it never hinder them again, the Oromo have been paying painful sacrifices to destroy the colonial system that encumbered on the shoulder of the oppressed people and that tends to prolong the suffering of Oromo children and women. In my view, there is no nation that I can trust more than the people to whom I belong to work with in order to defend the sovereignty of the nation.

Conclusion

Lasting solution for the political conflict between the Oromo and Amhara can happen only when the Amhara elites are able to recognize and accept the legitimate question of the Oromo people for national self-determination. To make this happen, the Oromo should have more sophisticated way to deal with the colonizers while they seek to preserve their Oromummaa. On top of that, the Oromo’s core objective of liberation should remain unspoiled by their enemies. Furthermore, they should be able to continue to live as distinct people alongside the flood of Abyssinian supremacy. They should have confidence on one another that they can do anything that proves their liberation from Abyssinian colonial bondage. This is the way they can break the arrows of the Abyssinian ruling elites that have been blotting with the blood of the Oromo heroes and heroines and blunt the swords of the colonizers that have been devouring the flesh of the Oromo students and intellectuals like that of Ambo city massacre in Oromia in 2014. History is on the Oromo’s side and it is up to them to dig into it for themselves.

Waaqayyo bless Oromia 

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*Waaqee Ji'oo Garbi, the writer of this article, is currently studying a dual masters degree program in Theology (MA) and in Society and Global Issues at the Norwegian School of Theology and can be reached at waktheophilaw@gmail.com