The Oromo people were colonized during the last quarter of the nineteenth century by a black African nation – Abyssinia – with the help of the European colonial powers of the day. During the same period, of course, the Somalis, Kenyans, Sudanese and others were colonized by European powers. The fact that the Oromo were colonized by another black African nation makes their case quite special.
For more than 100 years, the Oromo people has been at war with enemies sworn to its destruction. Oromo people has done and still is doing all kinds of struggle in order to eradicate all those injustices and to regain his own god given freedom, full right to live as human being and rebuild his own country Oromia. The Oromo’s paid a heavy price to build Ethiopia but when it comes to power and money they are the last to touch the desk and when it comes to the human-right and equality they are the first to be victim of the system. None of us on the earth choose to be born where we are born but once born, for example in my case, as an Oromo, there is no way I can change it. Unlike religion, behavior and attitudes towards nature, ethnic belongingness cannot be changed. That is why I cannot stop reminding at every chance I got the international community, TPLF elite and their puppet collaborators that as an Oromo, I am oppressed and I want my freedom and equality.
I am asking myself day to day, month to month and year to year why 50million of Oromo nation is languishing for so long time, so badly and inhumanly under minority rule ( previous one 25million and current TPLF rule 5 million) and while most of the Oromo’s are confronting our enemies with bare hands gallantly, why some of Oromo individuals and groups are working for our enemies TPLF junta. Like OPDO and individuals working in the embassies like ambassador Dina Mufti…etc and individuals in foreign business companies.???
Many Oromo intellectuals try to give diverse explanation to this humiliation namely:
- Effects of colonial injustices and oppression on both individuals and collectivities (Destruction, dependency or assimilation): In all spheres of life, discrimination, subjugation, repression and exploitation of all forms were applied. Everything possible was done to destroy Oromo identity – culture, language, custom, tradition, name and origin.
- Passivity of the Oromo’s sided with colonial state: One explanation for passivity is that precisely the power and pervasiveness of the colonial state has created deep fear, especially among people with family obligations, vulnerable employment and with moderate commitments to democratic freedoms. This group of citizens is aware of cases where colonial powers have affected other citizens who were involved in critical activities, causing job loss and broad suffering and are not willing to sacrifice their security and the welfare of their families.
- Ignorance: those peoples or groups who are not aware of the size, scope and activities of the colonial state. Their practical behavior speaks to the notion that ‘since I am not directly affected it must not exist’. Embedded in everyday life, making a living, enjoying leisure time, entertainment, sports, family and concerned only about household budgets. This mass is so embedded in their personal ‘micro-world’ that it considers the macro-economic and political issues raised by the colonial state as ‘distant’, outside of their experience or interest: ‘I don’t have time’, ‘I don’t know enough’, ‘It’s all ‘politics’. The widespread apoliticism of the public plays into its ignoring the monster that has grown in its midst.
My answer to this question is as follows. It is Stockholm syndrome, is a psychological phenomenon described in 1973 in which hostages express empathy and sympathy and have positive feelings toward their captors, sometimes to the point of defending and identifying with the captors. These feelings are generally considered irrational in light of the danger or risk endured by the victims, who essentially mistake a lack of abuse from their captors for an act of kindness. Stockholm syndrome can be seen as a form of traumatic bonding, which does not necessarily require a hostage scenario, but which describes “strong emotional ties that develop between two persons where one person intermittently harasses, beats, threatens, abuses, or intimidates the other. The FBI’s Hostage Barricade Database System shows that roughly eight percent of victims show evidence of Stockholm syndrome (FBI Law Enforcement Bulletin July 1999).
Today Oromo peoples (approximately 50 million) are kept hostage by Tigrian mafia organization called TPLF(Tigray people’s revolutionary Front). The new document reveals that the hostages are beside the standard atrocities like humiliation, torture, killings and harassment they are building underground diverse building for future civilized Tigray nations, namely (modern military equipment depo’s, fully organized hospitals, tunnels..;etc). The most horrific acts of this mafia groups TPLF junta are their act of wildness (killing of those peoples who builds the underground buildings to keep the facilities secret). Normally when your brothers, sisters, mothers, fathers and injustices against human being you have to raise up against those atrocities, but those Oromo organization of individuals who works for them is suffering from Stockholm syndrome (traumatic bonding). That explains also the historic background of the OPDO leaders they are all hostages. My message to the Oromo people, Write down every missed/disappeared family member of you. One day we will bring them to justice those mafia TPLF leaders or we will bring justice to them in front of those secret buildings.
The second topic of my concern is today about our struggle against colonialism with multi faces and stability of our future nations (post-colonial era):
Before I am going to enter the core issues: Let us look two African countries with fundamental characteristics Botswana and Somalia. Both have: (1) one large dominant ethnic group divided into clans; (2) both are sparsely populated in semi-arid conditions; (3) at independence, both depended on livestock for the livelihood of a majority of the population. While the Botswana leadership was collectively focused and had a vision of what it wanted to do with the country, the leadership in Somalia was divided against itself. As a result, Botswana learnt to harness its limited resources for generally agreed objectives. It learned to survive under the shadow of apartheid South Africa. And it learned to manage its diamond resources well when those resources started flowing in. Somalia, on the other hand had a divided leadership, some of whom wanted to build Greater Somalia by military means, while others simply wanted to get on with running the country they inherited from colonialism. As a result, the Somali leadership lacked focus and vision, and often fought itself through conspiracies and military coups. Somalia also went to war with its neighbors.
Currently our leaders are dealing with rapidly changing tactics of struggle(peaceful solution and militarily) namely
- Education, persuasion
- Legal politics: lobbying, lawsuits
- Demonstrations: show numbers or intensity of concern (marches, rallies, petitions)
- Economic pressure (Boycotts, selective buying)
- Confrontation, disruption, civil disobedience
- Property damage
- Military confrontation
In such kinds of condition as organization and leaders we have to be:
- Clever and creative enough to be competent,
- determined, wise and intelligent to keep our question or our goal moving forward,
- flexible and transparent for accepting critics and ideas of your people.
In today’s world, skills, industriousness, productivity, and competitiveness are the determinant factors of national greatness. Not even the possession of the nuclear bomb is enough to make a nation great without reference to the industriousness and creativity of its citizens.
The Oromo people have many natural and God gifted chances in order to be great nations and prevent crisis like Somalia, Libya and Syria. Let us look some facts:
- Nation of peace: we have God given gifts and character of solving all problems peacefully.
- Nation of heroes: Heroes are fighting the enemy and protecting the family and friends (so we are never kill each other).
- All province of Oromo’s are rich in natural resources, so there is no need of creating conflict among ourselves. Contrary, our unity is necessary to form powerful force in order to keep the greatness of our nation and utilize our resources adequately.
- Our peoples are wise, intelligent and nation of love, so we have a cocktail of problem approaching way of life
The worst and the destructive entity of our struggle and the obstacle of our unity are the dormant political organization and weak leaders. Their characteristics are non-productive, invisible in the public, non-creative and absence in the international arena of advocacy.
Weak leaders of Oromo organization especially living in diaspora: At this crucial moment when your mothers and fathers are humiliated in their home, when your brothers and sisters are hunted down like fox and gun down without any criminal activities, when millions of Oromo peoples are bleeding, when Oromo doctors and peasants are paying great sacrifices, when our peoples are crying for help you are doing nothing and calling yourself a leader it is shameful and disgracing. My proposition is as follows:
- stop making business in the name of our peoples blood
- stop laughing and playing cards on their graves
- Stop calling yourself leader of political organization and go work or study to learn how to help yourself in order to help further your people.
- If you remain to be leader come to the public, tell your history, show your action, organize your community and advocate in the international arena.
Safe yourself from historic national responsibility, you can choose between distractors or unifiers. If you are continuing as now with dormant and non-productive ways you will be remembered as distractors and if you are halting your distractive activities and start to work towards the most essential value of our time empowering our peoples struggle, you will be remembered as unifiers and hero.
Conclusion: To overcome the atrocities of our enemy, to eradicate the colonization, to expose the open and hidden genocide of TPLF junta, to regain our freedom and our country we have to redouble our duties:
- We have to elevate our support to OLF and Qeerroo movement in order to empower and strengthen them to crash our enemies. They are ready as always to build mechanized fighters and special commando’s to eliminate the barbaric act and state terrorism. I would like to salute Mr. Daawud Ibsa The chairman of OLF and his comrades for their sacrifices, determination and persistence in order to eradicate the colonial rule under very difficult and complex geopolitical situation, rare resources and time of uncertainty.
- Our intellectuals, if you are afraid to participate in the confrontational ways wake up to empower your nations in many ways. Namely, communication technology teaching of your people in order to create another form of knowledge to suffocate our enemies, inventing healthy and agricultural policies and technology in order to treat our peoples, soldiers and commandos.
- Diplomacy: Towards everybody we have to work day and night. To rich and poor countries, to powerful and powerless countries, to individual and groups, to international and local organizations , to colleges and universities we have to advocate and elevate Oromo nations and our goal.
- In my previous article on May 24, 2016 I have proposed: “Our leaders has pursued various strategies to solve all kinds of injustice peacefully with our enemies. But their reaction was/is humiliation, destruction and hopelessness. So i am proposing one day, one victory with enormous sacrifice. My proposition as follows, instead of dying a shameful death in the hands of TPLF militia’s, instead of end up in the torture chamber of TPLF, instead of end up building underground building in Tigray and assassination, instead of living unhuman and humiliating life in our birth place, instead of watching powerlessly gang rapes of our mothers, wives, and sister it is time to empower ourselves in order to enhance our freedom and regain our God-given right and true peace. So my proposition is we are around 50 million peoples, if we are determine to sacrifice ourselves with a big number in one day the remaining of Oromo’s are living free and safe. Today I will ask our political leaders and Qeerroo movement to organize this issue creatively and consciously together with WBO in order eradicate colonization and to finish ones and for all the TPLF atrocities against Oromo people and all oppressed nations. The co-ordination of this eradication process has to include the exposition of underground buildings complex in Tigray where our brothers and sisters were assassinated.
Dear brothers and sisters, we must find the resources and knowing how in ourselves if we are to succeed in our struggle in order to liberate our nation; otherwise, to paraphrase Shakespeare, “default would be not in our styles but in ourselves”.
Victory to the Oromo people!
Dr. B.K.DERESSA, Medical degree in internal medicine, specialized in Gastro-Hepatology diseases. University Hospital of Brussels-Belgium
