What we Oromo’s can learn from the South Sudan People’s liberation struggle
By Bakalcho Barii | July 29, 2013
Over one point five millions South Sudanese died in the long and
protracted civil war with their Northern Arab rulers and millions more
were displaced and made refugee around the globe before they finally
freed themselves as an independent nation in July of 2011, and stood
tall among the one hundred and ninety six independent nations of the
world.
One might argue that South Sudanese achieved their independence with all
round supports rendered to them by Western countries, particularly the
United States and Britain. Many would also argue that Britain provided
them material, diplomatic and other needed logistics to compensate for
their wrong doing by merging the Southern Sudanese, who have little or
no connections with their Northern counter parts during their occupation
of the Sudan.
On the other hand, many regional and international political observers
of the region argue that the United States, provided an all-round
support to the Southern Sudanese liberation movements to get un-feted
access to the huge oil wealth discovered in the south plus to weaken the
Northern Arabs, who for a long time harboured Islamist extremisms
(Osama Bin Laden used to have a base in Northern Sudan in the 90s), and
to weaken the anti-Israel Palestinians Organizations such as Hamas and
other pan-Arab movements, who were supported and trained by the Northern
Arab Sudanese.
On the contrary, the three regional powers, namely Egypt, Ethiopia and
Eritrea supported both South Sudan Liberation Organization and the
central Sudanese state for their own strategic goals. For example, the
Egyptians supported their then central Sudanese state for fear of
dealing alone or with little support in any future deals with the
sources of the Nile river countries of the region. The Ethiopians and
the Eritreans, on the other hand, gave tacit support to the South
Sudanese movements while maintaining some form of good relationship with
the North to weaken and eliminate their opponents both in the South and
Northern Sudan.
However, the discovery of oil and the geo-politics of the region alone
did not bolstered the South Sudanese liberation movements, but their
unity, determinations and sustained guerrilla war under the umbrella
organization of the South Sudan Liberation Organization changed the
power shift in their favour and gain sympathy and support from the
International community.
Here, what is incredibly important for the people of the South of the
Ethiopian empire, including the Oromo’s is, despite their many tribal
differences (more than fifty six tribes exist in current South Sudan),
the South Sudanese put these differences aside and fought as one people
against their common enemy, the Northern Sudanese Arabs, who viewed
them as sub-human.
We could also mention the case of the Eritrean’s liberation struggle
against Ethiopian colonialism, where the Central Tigre speaking
Christians stood together with their northern Muslims, the Kunama, and
the Afar speaking groups in the South, all of them together viewed
Ethiopian colonialism as their strategic enemy that must be defeated and
became an independent nation in 1993 by a popular referendum.
As Oromo’s, it is high time to learn from the experiences of the South
Sudanese and many nations, and put their minor differences aside for the
common good of their nation and confront and defeat the common enemy,
the Abyssinian colonialism, which is doing anything to undermine and
destroy the Oromo people and its natural resources.
The Southern Sudanese armed struggle was headed by those who served in
the then Central Sudanese army, who attempted to change their people’s
livelihood and acceptance as a citizen within one Sudan but realized
that such change or acceptance will never happen within the
socio-political, economic and power structure on which the former Sudan
was established. The realization of this reality convinced the likes of
John Garang and many high and low ranking military officers in the
national army to defect and establish a guerrilla army to fight the
injustices against their people. Though, at the out-set scattered and
uncoordinated due to tribal fault-lines that exists among the many South
Sudanese, it did not take them long to come to a conclusion that their
common enemy can only be defeated in union than alone.
There were tens of thousands of intelligent Oromo military officers and
civil servants in the Ethiopian empire state, who attempted to tackle
the state sanctioned injustices against their nation by successive
Abyssinian regimes hoping the Ethiopian empire, will democratize and
treats its subjects in the South and the Oromo’s as citizens. The
peaceful demands of these Oromo intellectuals and military officers for
the equal treatments of their people within the empire made them
traitors and enemy of the state, and as a consequence were sent to the
gallows.
The fate of many brave and innocent Oromo’s who served the empire with
much distinction and dedications were to suffer in the hands of the
Abyssinians, who felt threatened by these Oromo’s, their only crime
being raising the mistreatment and exploitation of their people. Here,
we can mention a few such as, the likes of Mamo Mezemer (who many claim
the birth father of Oromo struggle), General Tadesse Biru, who until the
Abysinians discovered his Oromo blood and imprisoned him and finally
killed, Haile Fida and Senai Liki, who were the intellectual power house
of their generations, and many more perished in the hands of Abyssinian
rulers.
The Oromo struggle for liberation is at critical juncture. The empire is
on its last leg and last breadth. As a result, there are many voices
from within and external forces whispering to our ears to abandon our
God given rights to be free but rather opt to remain within the
Ethiopian empire state. These forces even go as far as trying to
convince us that remaining within the union is more beneficial to
Oromo’s than separation. When asked how? These forces can not
substantiate how living within the Ethiopian empire state favours the
Oromo’s. Ethiopian empire is and has been the living hell for Oromo’s
over the last on hundred years. Abyssinians never cared or care for the
rights of the Oromo’s and the southern peoples but rather they care how
much they can exploit their resources.
My message to my Oromo compatriots and those who advocate union with an
empire (internal and external), is this; there is no single empire in
the history of nations that was democratized and lived in peace with its
subjects. The opposite is true in human history, meaning when the
subjects were free, the empire itself was also set free from its own
shackles.
Oromo’s have to look to their neighbours, which includes the likes of
South Sudan, Eritrea and Djibouti as an example. Eritrea and Djibouti
with different nationalities have had opted for independence rather than
living with the Ethiopian empire.
For example, the population of Djibouti is closer to half a million and
that of Eritrea is four million. The Oromo people, on the other hand,
coupled with abundant natural resources and with the population size of
over 40 million with common history, geography, language, culture,
deserve to be free from their Abyssinian colonizers and live in peace
with all its neighbours and practice their democratic Gada system to
govern themselves.
In conclusion, like the Southern Sudanese inside and in the diasporas
who spoke the freedom of their nation with one voice to the
International Community, and to their enemies, Oromo’s inside Oromia and
in the diasporas must speak loudly with one voice more than ever and
demand the total independence of Oromia and the freedom of their people.
Always remember that famous quotes “Power Never Gives up by its own
Will but need to be confronted with determination and defeated”.
Finally, Jawar Mohammed, a regional political analyst recently put it in the following way in his recent radio interview, quote “writing
or having beautiful political programme will not liberate oneself or a
nation but standing together in unity and deeds and speaking with one
clear and loud voice to one’s enemy will strengthen and transform a
nation’s struggle for peace, democracy and justices”” in that part of East Africa, where Oromia belongs.
May Waqa Bless those who died for the diginity, respect and freedom the Oromo Nation.
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