A Transcendental Approach to the Need for Oromo Leadership – Part I
Dr. Muhammad Shamsaddin Megalommatis
August 31, 2008
I must beforehand state that I would not be able to suggest a similar article for all the oppressed nations of the world. There are nations that definitely need a leader to go ahead – with all the advantages and disadvantages that this entails.
And there are nations, relatively few in the world, that can produce thousands of leaders, without a main, central, imperial figure – with all the advantages and disadvantages that this entails. The Oromos belong to the latter category, and this involves a great deal of political activism and social voluntarism.
Because of the overwhelming integrity that average Oromos inherently have had (certainly not all at the same level or degree, but this matters little), the dynamics of extensive activism can be such that will definitely predefine the limits and the directions of existing or future leadership of the traditional Western form (political parties, liberation fronts, movements and associations evolving around one person or a small group of peremptorily risen gurus).
And this will truly be the transcendental approach to the existing need for Oromo leadership; instead of getting involved into endless discussions of the style "we did all we could", "no, you did nothing", "you are tribalists without future", "you want to impose political prevalence of one tribe when the others pay", "you are sectarian", "no, you got bribed in order to stay inactive", "you are wrong in willing to shape an alliance with those" "you are isolated from the rest" and a thousand of possibly true but utterly disastrous sentences like the aforementioned, the Oromos must reflect and emulate their traditions, culture, behavioural system, and historically attested identity.
Almost all the Oromos can be the leaders of the Struggle for Liberation of Oromia. Little matters whether finally some of them will be absent. In this series of articles, I will examine what and how the Oromos should act in order to trigger tremendous changes and momentous political developments that neither their vicious enemies, the racist ´Ethiopianist´ Amharas, nor any possible traditional Oromo leadership could ever outmaneuver, disregard, avert or avoid.
Weaknesses of the Traditional Political Leadership
Before proceeding systematically into methodological steps, one should stress a point:
Why is collective leadership, shared by thousands of Oromo political activists and social voluntarists, preferable to traditional political leadership?
I think one does not need much to underscore the importance of this seminal point. Traditional political leaderships involve leaders, and rely extensively on personal leadership. Personal leadership is the weakest point of a liberation struggle; this is not widely known. A person is easily exposed to influence, impact, pressure, demands, extortion, inducement, bribery and blackmail. A traditional leader is engaged in personal contacts, consultations and deliberations.
Consequently, one understands clearly that a traditional leader of a liberation front is exposed to the world of global power (involving mainly diplomacy, administration, military, and financial corporations); the liberation front´s objectives and deeds usually clash with interests of some parts of the world of global power, and then contacts are resumed in order to solve the issues.
In these contacts, the eventual liberation front leader is an extremely weak being compared with the professionals of the world of global power (be they a diplomat, a military, a Chief Financial Officer or a special envoy). Such is the difference that the few first attempts of enticement usually bring a wonderful result and the liberation front leader is then suitably ´bought up´.
There is more to it; the aforementioned eventuality is not immediately detected by the followers or the colleagues of the (already bought up) leader. He then proceeds smoothly (is even advised to do so by his ´buyers´ who now are called ´international support´) and in the span of a few months, he suddenly expresses a strange and unexpected suggestion; he may then influence all the rest or he may not. But even before that, the change is detected by the opponents of his earlier interlocutors. Who are they? Well, practically speaking, anyone belonging to another part of the world of global power. Do not view this situation necessarily limited within the frame of a well known concurrence in Africa, such as US – China, Europe – China, US – Europe; it can be an internal European or American group of power that is opposed to the one that first contacted and bought the liberation front leader.
What happens in this case is a counter-negotiation, a counter-blackmail, and a counter-bribery; with more money in his pockets (I am sorry, rather read Swiss bank accounts), the leader acts differently and accommodates himself in another country. With all the divisions that the new situation may create, as the world of global power has enough money for all; when colleagues separate from leaders there is always an enticement – counter-enticement issue involved.
Few leaders have today the strength of Che Guevara; people become smaller when the world of global power becomes stronger. Usual thoughts of today´s liberation front leaders, who have been bought up, are theoretical questions like the following:
Why being assassinated, when one can live a nice and comfortable life, have position, climb up to a world class respectability, and even hear acclaim and finally enjoy posthumous fame?
One could expand up to the level of an encyclopedia on this execrable issue that delineates the world corruption just ´minutes´ before an excruciating disaster sends all these illegal and inhuman interests to the Hell they deserve, but this is not the subject of this article.
From the aforementioned it becomes clear that collective leadership, established out of simple people who first situated the center of their activities in small independent cells of work before merging them, can avoid the entire chapter of enticement and blackmail attempted by the world of global power at the prejudice of personal leadership. Simple people, who worked in simple groups of volunteers and all together meet the representatives of the world of global power, automatically cancel the possibility of these shameful representatives to act in their customary way.
Let´s study a hypothetical, yet possible case. If 10 representatives of a union of activists´ groups meet with one or two French or English diplomats, what sort of colonial tactics can be attempted? They will reject the bribe offered (if the offer is ever expressed) and thus they will effectively interrupt the shameful negotiations. The representatives of the world of global power will be in total despair because they will have no means to influence this union of activists´ groups as the personal contact and the evil exercise of enticement and blackmail practices would prove to be impossible. The representatives of the world of global power become powerless if they cannot isolate one person out of an entire group or union of groups. With the 10 representatives rejecting the bribe, the representatives of the world of global power would not know whom to contact and how to influence this headless union groups. They would have to interfere in more expensive, painful or uncomfortable ways; their bias would be then revealed more easily.
There is more to it; before reaching the level of being convoked by some representatives of the world of global power, the union of activists´ groups will have already done tremendous work which would be absolutely disproportional to the fainéant and indolent pseudo-leaders of the traditional political leadership. Absolutely colossal work can be done, and will have been done even before the level of the establishment of the union of activists´ groups; the essential and background work must be done first, and will have to be done by the activists´ groups and isolated cells. Never forget, the representatives of the world of global power very often ask their puppets precisely this: to stay inactive. This helps tremendously their agendas at times.
This has very prejudicial side-effects. If one considers the work that needs to be done and the work that has been done by all the existing Oromo liberation fronts, one realizes automatically why Oromia has not yet been liberated. The detrimental comparison (certainly less than 1%) is due to the fact that the indolent leaders render the entire Oromo Nation indolent as well. Why bother if you think that a leader and an organization will manage it altogether? Relax! Contemplate the wonderful lines of the Oromia mountains´ peaks in the horizon, and expect the liberation to fall from the sky!
On the contrary, if you know that the liberation of your country is simply your own affair – and none else´s – then you are bound to act, ceaselessly, passionately and whole-heartedly. And who is the Oromo who would not give everything to see the black – red – white flag in the UN General Assembly?
Identification of the Oromo Nation in 2008
Before going ahead with the necessary fields of Oromo grassroots revolutionary cells and groups of work, we have to make a clear-cut demarcation of who can be members of such a group. In fact, only Oromos, either in Oromia or the Diaspora, can be members in these cells. Who can be considered as Oromo native in 2008?
Every person whose origin involves an Oromo father and/or mother, every person who speaks Afaan Oromo as native language, and every person who in addition to the aforementioned conditions is totally committed to the Struggle for the National Liberation and Independence of Oromia is an Oromo. Abiding by Gadaa social and behavioural values, rules and activities is imperative, and if for any possible reasons some Oromos may have partly or totally forgotten, neglected or abandoned Gadaa, related training and education must be offered to them – which is one more concern for the activists´ groups.
In addition to the aforementioned compulsory and incontrovertible conditions of Oromoness, one should provide for the integration within the Oromo society of all the people married with Oromos, and of their children, as long as they abide by the second and the third of the previous three conditions. Abiding by Gadaa values, rules and activities is always imperative, and related training and education must be offered to them as well.
Furthermore, for people exposed to and victimized by racist policies of assimilation, carried out by Oromos´ enemies who targeted the diachronic existence of the Kushitic Oromo Nation, there must be a provision. As result of the criminal anti-Oromo policies imposed tyrannically over the span of the last ca. 130 years, several Oromo natives lost their Afaan Oromo linguistic skills and even their identity. They should undergo – if this is explicitly demanded by them – an intensive course of Oromo identity rehabilitation which will also be a matter of concern and endeavour for the activists´ groups. They will have to learn Afaan Oromo, integrate themselves within exclusively Oromo social and professional context, and adhere to one of the two traditional Oromo religions, Waaqeffannaa or Islam. Not only a concern for their Oromization must be shared, but a vivid effort of de-Amharanization must be applied (upon their request), and their rejection of any element of the terrorist, racist theory of ´Ethiopianism´ must be total and absolute. Abiding by Gadaa values, rules and activities is imperative for them too, and related training and education must be offered to them. Under these conditions, and following their 18 to 24 months long training, they could be considered Oromos, and then participate in the Oromoo activists´ cells and groups of volunteers.
Finally, a provision must be made for the eventual Waaqeffannaa proselytes, and all those who may find in Waaqeffannaa a system of beliefs and practices that suits their mindsets and visions best, under condition of learning Afaan Oromo, and permanently ascribing themselves to Oromo social values, rules and activities (Gadaa).
Before focusing on the ways to establish Oromo cells of political activists and social volunteers, we must analyze a critical point; the lack of independence for the entire nation is not the result of mere coincidence. Real, criminal enemies have existed and are currently active against the Oromo Nation. No success will ever mark a socio-political project if foe identification is neglected or undermined. This will be extensively discussed the second part of this article.
Note
Picture: Oromo is this; and this is not Afar, Ogaden, Tigray, Amhara or anything else. Traditional dance during a great socio-religious event, an Oromo Inauguration Ceremony (Eebba), as recorded in the Negelle Metamaa Settlement - in occupied Oromia. From the wonderful collection of Oromia Times in: http://www.flickr.com/photos/oromiatimes/179615090/
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