Pro-Ethiopian Unity and Oromo Nationalism

By Bakalcho Barii | July 23, 2013

Before I embark on who are behind the pro-unity forces in current Ethiopian empire political environment, let’s look at what the meaning of the word “Unity” means in its dictionary meaning. According to the Penguin English Dictionary “Unity” is defined as the state of being one or united in aims or interest. If we simply take the dictionary meaning of the term or phrase “Unity” in the current Ethiopian Empire political context, the difference between the Pro-Unity Ethiopian forces and the Oromo Nationalism is as wide as the distance between the planet earth and the outer space.

Pro-Ethiopian unity forces claim the current symbolic federalism in the Ethiopian Empire is brought by Wayyane junta to divide the once one and united Country for its own narrow political advantage. Therefore, according to these forces, post Wayyane government in that empire must be based on a unitary structure similar to the Emperor’s period. Many factions within the so called Pro-Unity Ethiopian forces are those who took part in the Ethiopian student movements of the 1960s, and made refugee by the Derg Junta during the red terror. The current rulers of the empire also belong to these groups with only one distinction between the former and the latter Pro-unity Ethiopian forces. The former ones, mainly Amahara speaking Abysinians , and the latter ones are Tigiringa speaking Abysinians. 

While the Amahra speaking Abysinians still dream of the Ethiopia, where the supremacy and domination of the Amahara culture and language thrive and develop at the expense of other Nations and Nationalities, their Tigiringa speaking cousins believe half-heartedly in administering the empire under the guise of federalism but a federalism where the supremacy and domination of the Tigiringa speaking group dominates every aspects life of their subjects in the south, including the Oromos. For any wise man or woman who critically observe the current Wayyane Junta, they not only want to dominate every aspects of the population in the south for few years but they dream of remaining at the top for decades or centuries until their homeland Tigray fully develop at the expense of their Southern subjects, including the Oromos.

On the other hand, the old Amahra guard that used to dominate the empire, which I call the pro-Unity Ethiopian forces dream of claiming the throne, which was once their property under the mask of Ethiopian unity. According to this group, under the successive Abyssinian rulers everything was rosy not only for them but for their subjects too. They even claim further that the current political predicament of the Ethiopian Empire is the work of foreign forces which want to see this old Christian nation did not want to exist. Not once, they ready to acknowledge that Ethiopia was an Empire which was created by committing cultural, economic, social, psychological and physical genocide on the Oromos and other people of the south. These groups, if given the chance not only want to continue the Imperial Ethiopian structure, but take the atrocities against the Oromo and people of the south on unprecedented scale.

On the contrary, the Oromos and the people of the south demand or want to see where they can have a say in their future co-existence with their Abysinian neighbors , which might include living in federation , con-federation or opting to have their own independent nation state.

Jawar Mohammed ‘s I am Oromo First & the Reactions of the Pro-Unity Ethiopian forces

The recent reaction and verbal abuse aimed at a young Oromo nationalist Jawar Mohammed made me remember what President Barack Obama said last week on the not guilty verdict for George Zimmerman on the basis of “Stand your ground” shooting and killing of the teenage Tray van Martin in Florida.

In his remark on this sensitive issue, Barack Obama said “there is no single Black Afro-American men and women who were not followed when they go to shopping in department stores”. From the reaction and cyber abuses that targeted Jawar Mohammed merely because he said “ I am an Oromo First, Ethiopian was imposed on me” is exactly what generations of Oromos have experienced under the successive Abysinain rulers, and are experiencing until now. It is such abuses and denial of self-identity that led many heroic Oromos to form the Oromo Liberation Front to confront this evil deed of the Ethiopian Empire.

G7 political movement under Breahnu Nega and its play card on attempting to break Oromo Nationalism.

As many of you might be aware, Breahnu Nega, a self-proclaimed saviour of the Ethiopian Empire once said the following after he received a reprieve from his life sentence for trying to overthrow the Wayyane Junta under the then Kinijit party in the 2005 election. He, Breahnu Nega once freed from TPLF cell and fled to North America declared “the majority of political prisoners in Ethiopia are Oromos and all of them claim or dream of establishing an Independent Republic of Oromia” and that is why I decided to join the pro-Unity Ethiopian parties, mainly to abort the inevitable liberation of Oromia from the Ethiopian Empire state. To achieve these goals, Breahnu Nega laid down the following strategies:

1. Approach and then infiltrate the Oromo Liberation Front using meetings, seminars under the guise of post-Ethiopia after Wayyane. He succeeded in this first plan and managed to get an invitation as a guest speaker on the either 2009/2010 (not sure with the exact year) Oromo Studies Association. Although, at the time of this invitation, many Oromo nationalists opposed, he used this platform in proclaiming his stand for Ethiopian Empire state that also includes Eritrea and his mantra of post-Wayyane government must be formed on the principles of “individual rights and one vote” no group(s) rights. 
2. After successfully using the OSA platform, Breahnu Nega conspired with some pro-Ethiopian Oromos within the OLF ranks to split the OLF into Pro-Ethiopian and pro-Independent forces. He, Breahnu Nega and his Abysinain and some Oromo collaborators even went further by splitting the evn the pro-Ethiopian Oromo groups. The Kemal group is an example. This tactic that used by Brehanu’s group is an old tactic of divide-and-rule that Abysinains copied from the British Empire’s play book.
3. Establish a strong diaspora media, which includes TV, different pro-Ethiopian unity websites and wage a psychological war on Oromo nationalism. For example, all pro-Ethiopian websites and ESAT TV and radio are established to attack Oromo nationalism. These attacks target not only on the essence of what is like being an Oromo and their movement but also denying all the crimes the successive Abysinians regimes committed against the Oromos. Therefore, by character assassinating Jawar Mohammed and labeling him with all evil on this world is like the saying “killing two birds with one stone” i.e target Jawar’s Oromummaa and then you targeting Oromo nationalism and its movement. source ( http://ayyaantuu.com/horn-of-africa-news/oromia/pro-ethiopian-unity-and-oromo-nationalism/ )