Transitional De Jure New Ethiopia As De Facto Great Oromia

By Fayyis Oromia*

Since the prompt response I gave to one Ethiopianist Oromo, who tried to persuade Oromo nationalists so that we accept Ethiopia and Ethiopiawinet (Ethiopian nationalism) at the cost of Oromia andOromummaa (Oromian nationalism), http://gadaa.com/oduu/20052/2013/05/31/why-not-greater-oromia-instead-of-ethiopia-a-response-to-dr-fikre-tolassas-open-letter/, I have received several protest and few support letters from some Oromo nationalists per e-mail. One of the reasons – raised by those who oppose the concept of Great Oromia, is that the goal of the federalist Oromo, i.e ‘democratic genuine federation of New Ethiopia,’ can not be the same as an integrative Great Oromia I suggested, but “it will be the continuation of the existing Ethiopian empire.” I personally do believe that Golden Oromia within the womb of a New Ethiopia, as planned by the federalists, is only a transitional solution on the way either to an indispensable ‘transformation of the New Ethiopia to de jure integrative Great Oromia’ or to inevitable birth of an independent Golden Oromia. But yet, the transitional de jure New Ethiopia can be considered as de facto Great Oromia, if the Oromo community from now on start to call it as such without waiting for permission and recognition from any sort of authority as well as if we really succeed in making Afan Oromo the working language of this future transitional true federation. In this short opinion, I will try to show how using Afan Oromo at this level of transitional federation can make de jure New Ethiopia be the same as de facto Great Oromia.

It is clear that only the Abyssinian elites and few culturally and linguistically Abyssinized elites from the other nations are against the future New Ethiopia/Great Oromia, also known as genuine “ethnic” federalism. This future de facto Great Oromia is actually the best compromise solution for all nations in the region in order to live together – the same as achieving both national autonomy and regional integration. The position of the Abyssinian elites regarding the New Ethiopia/Great Oromia and self-determination has made them to be unsuitable to cooperate with the elites of the other nations against the TPLF regime. The Abyssinian elites do promote unconditional unitary Ethiopia at the cost of national self-determination, which they also put as a precondition for the possible alliance to be forged between the Abyssinian democratic forces and the Oromian freedom fighters. Some Oromo nationalists tend to accept this precondition, only if the Abyssinian elites also may accept one Oromo’s precondition, i.e making Afan Oromo the only working language of the federation, instead of Amharinya. These Oromo nationalists seem to say: “let’s try to persuade the Abyssinian elites to accept Afan Oromo as the only working language in a common house, New Ethiopia/Great Oromia, as a test.” Will the Abyssinian elites then stay to be pro-Ethiopian unity and anti-ethnicity, even if Amharinya will be demoted to only a local language of the Amhara region, and if Afan Oromo will be promoted to be the only working language of the new Ethiopian federation? I am sure they will not! In case they will continue to be pro-Ethiopiawinetand pro-unity, also under this situation, as they seem to believe now, let’s then try this new version ofEthiopiawinet with only Afan Oromo, instead of with Amharinya.

After observing the imposition of Amharinya at the cost of Afan Oromo in the past more than one century, I just could not help, but think about the main mistake some of the empire leaders of Oromo origin like Ob. Qusee Dinagde and Ob. Gobena Daacee, who are adored by the Ethiopianists as the builders of the Ethiopian empire, did commit. That worst mistake was the fact that they accepted and allowed Amharinya to be the only national language of the empire they did forge, of course, at the cost of Afan Oromo. Being Oromo, if they could have managed to promote Afan Oromo as the national language of the Ethiopian empire, now the Oromo were not the ones, who should have fight for self-determination, but the others. The whole of Finfinne’s “high class society” and the other “modern” peoples in the empire would have spoken Afan Oromo as well as the whole Diaspora Ethiopians now would have spoken Afan Oromo, even all would have claimed Oromummaa (Oromo nationalism), but notAbeshanet (Abyssinian nationalism), to be an Ethiopian in this sense is almost equivalent to be an Oromo, not an Amhara as it is till now.

At present, for the Abyssinian elites to come to their senses and comprehend why we did say so, let’s look at the following fact in short. Most Abyssinian elites nowadays think they are pro-Ethiopiawinet and anti-“ethnicity,” and with that, they do think that they do have a moral upper-hand over the others, whom they accuse as promoters of ethnic politics. For them to develop another view, let’s demote Amharinya to the local language of only the Amhara region and promote Afan Oromo to be the only federal language. Until now, just based on the fact that Amharinya being the federal language, they used to talk aboutEthiopiawinet, which in essence means actually Amharanet (Amhara nationalism) for they know how the Amharanization process is still going on. If we change the role of the two languages, I am sure the Oromo nationals will start to value Ethiopiawinet, which will be equivalent to Oromummaa and they will denounce “ethnicity.” Then surely, the Abyssinian elites will start to defend themselves from the possible Oromonization and will denounce Ethiopiawinet with only Afan Oromo as the federal language, and they surely will be automatically pro-“ethnicity.” So, we can see how simple it is to be a moralist without understanding the mechanism behind all what we do believe.

The Oromo nationals in this sense just asked the Abyssinian elites to accept Afan Oromo as the only federal language for the sake of neutralizing the attempt of maintaining and talking about unitary Ethiopia with Amharinya as the only working language of the federation; it is clear that the Abyssinian elites are making the Amharanization process as something normal to be accepted and lived by all nations in the region. Of course, few of the Abyssinian elites demand that the public will decide on the issue, which language should be the future federal working language. But, to ask the public decision on the future federal working language, we first need to ask the public what type of sovereignty they want to foster. The future free nations have to either say YES or NO to the possible union. Why does not the democracy of the Abyssinian elites, which we heard in their rhetoric up to now, include this decision? Some of these Habesha elites accuse the Oromo elites as if we do have grudge against Meles and Minilik. The resentment of the Oromo elites against these two leaders is fact, but not only that; unfortunately, almost all the currently living Abyssinian elites want to perpetuate the same policy of Meles or Minilik with a pretext of Ethiopian unity, thus the opposition of the Oromo nationalists is against also such modern Melesites and Minilikites.

Furthermore, some Abyssinian elites do cry foul about a possible future Oromo hegemony just because of the fact that some Oromo elites are demanding Afan Oromo be the primary working language of the future genuine federal arrangement. Those Oromo elites, who make such a demand, are not actually the promoters of an Oromo hegemony, but just to show the Abyssinina elites how the reverse of the effort to dominate the Oromo further can be painful to the Abyssinian elites, the Oromo elites say: “if Abyssinian elites want unitary Ethiopia, then they should see also what it looks like to be under the theoretical future Oromo domination replacing their own domination.” In general, why do the Abyssinian elites talk and preach democracy whereas, at the same time, they do exclude the right of the public to decide on its destiny per referendum, i.e. people having national self-determination? If they have to think democratically as they usually claim to do, then they need to know that there is no half-baked democracy.

Some Oromo elites do argue that one of the main conflict factors in the empire is the language factor. If the Abyssinian elites do disagree with this premise, then let’s try it practically: just demote Amharinya to only the Amhara region and promote Afan Oromo to the only working language of the federation. Surely, the Oromo will then accept the unconditional unity with Ethiopiawinet, they will denounce “ethnicity,” and they may tend to reject the right of nations to self-determination. Hopefully, the Abyssinian elites will then be ready to influence all their relatives to learn Afan Oromo without any objection of such situation –Ethiopiawinet with only Afan Oromo as the federal working language. If so, then the Oromo elites will be very happy if the Abyssinian elites would not prefer to fight for their national self-determination, but only struggle for democracy, unity, justice, equality, peace and prosperity. Looking back to the past of the empire and trying to judge the present, all the elites of the nations in the empire do have their own interpretation of the history and status quo. Thus, preferable to any quarel on history is an orientation to the future and ask the question: what options regarding a solution for the language conflict do we have if we want to live together in the future possible New Ethiopia/Great Oromia? Here are five possibilities:

1) union of free nations based on self-determination, all nations having their own languages in their respective national areas and using English as a common language;

2) union in New Ethiopia/Great Oromia with Afan Oromo as the only federal working language;

3) Ethiopian union/Great Oromia with five major languages (Afan Oromo, Amharinya, Af Somaal, Tigrinya and English) as the federal working languages;

4) union with two major languages (Afan Oromo and Amharinya) as the federal languages; and

5) union with Amharinya as the only federal language (similar to the status quo, which should be changed by any means as far as the Oromo are concerned)

When we look at the reality on the ground, the pro-democracy Abyssinian elites seem to prefer the fourth option. Even such Abyssinian elites started to see the fact that the fifth option is the already failed project. Several Oromo elites do suggest the first option of free nations as the best solution. But, if the Abyssinian elites do reject self-determination of nations and persist on having unconditional Ethiopian unity, then let them test the second option so that they can understand what it means to be called “an Ethiopian” in such a condition, which actually means in reality an Oromian, in contrast to the status quo, where an Ethiopian means an Abyssinian. Thus, the New Ethiopia with Afan Oromo as the working federal language, despite the possible competition with Amharinya, is the same as de facto Great Oromia because of the fact that Oromummaa will be the main content of the union. If the Abyssinian elites reject the second option, it is then expected from them to have an empathy for the Oromo elites, who are rejecting the fifth option, instead of vilifying such Oromo elites as “exclusionists,” as they do repeatedly accuse. Why should the Oromo elites be considered as exclusionists for the sake of demanding this role exchange of the two languages, whereas the Abyssinian elites are seen as inclusive, even though they are propagating the exclusive fifth option? To avoid such a language conflict, then of course, it is also possible to opt for the third option in order to be more inclusive and integrative.

Now, it is natural for us to ask, why did the TPLF promote Amharinya at the cost of Afan Oromo in the last 22 years. The answer is clear: the TPLF wants that the conflict between the two BIG nations will continue, so that it can rule further easily. It is the fact on the ground that the historical conflict between the Amhara and the Oromo is highly exploited by the Woyane in order to hinder a possible public uprising in unison against their rule. Just because of the language privilege they had, the Amhara elites are still seen as oppressive by almost all oppressed nations in the empire, including by the Oromo, even though the Amharas, nowadays, are as oppressed and exploited as the other nations under the current ruling regime. The TPLF could have solved this language conflict between Amharinya and Afan Oromo by making either both of them the working languages of the federation or by limiting both of them to their respective states and making only English as the working language of the federation.

For choosing certain language as an instrument of communication between different autonomous nations, we need to consider its economical expediency and its international usage. Till now, all the nations in the Ethiopian empire were obliged to learn Amharinya as the national language, because of the domination by the Abyssinians, who promoted Amharinya to the only federal language and who still tend to endorse it. Actually, what is clear is the reason why they do this preference; it is simply for political domination and economical advantage. Here is one example to be taken in to consideration: the Amhara elites usually try to promote unconditional unitary Ethiopia just because of the fact that they know what an advantage they do have as far as Amharinya is the working language of the empire, i.e. the melting of all nations in the empire towards being Ethiopians, which is equivalent to their identities change into being Amharas. This process of assimilating people behind the mask of Ethiopiawinet is the main intention behind their manic craving for a unitary Ethiopian state. Accordingly, they do oppose the suggested future genuine “ethnic” federation just for it undermines their language domination, and for it hinders the melting process.

Then, the question to be asked by the other nations now is: can the pro-democracy Abyssinian forces choose to settle for using the language of all nations at their respective national areas or should they be compelled to accept this right of other nations as an alternative to the conservative Abyssinian elites’ refusal of recognizing such a union based on self-determination? I know that the Woyane will accept even separations of nations to build their own independent states as soon as they sense the possible loss of power in the Finfinne palace. To compel the Abyssinian forces to accept a union based on the national self-determination, we just have to demote Amharinya to be used only in Amhara region and promote Afan Oromo to be the federal language, as I put it above. Through this measure of role-exchange between the two languages, they will see that Ethiopiawinet will not be equivalent toAmharanet (as it is now), but it will be the same to Oromummaa. In such a scenario of Oromummaa being equivalent to Ethiopiawinet, the Oromo elites will definitely start to be pro-Ethiopiawinet as well as against “ethnicity”, and then the Abyssinian elites will surely begin to defend their identity by opting for self-determination of the Abyssinian people, so that they will start to support “ethnicity” and rejectEthiopiawinet with the content of Oromummaa. This way, the Abyssinian elites can comprehend what it means to struggle for a national independence with or without a regional union.

The ongoing attempt of the Abyssinian elites to make both Afan Oromo and Amharinya the working federal languages of the future New Ethiopia is disadvantageous for the other smaller nations in the empire. The Abyssinian elites opted to this alternative just to make Amharinya again the working language of all regions, including Oromia, the option they do not have now. As far as the Oromo are concerned, Afan Oromo being the federal working language is not bad so long Amharinya will not be imposed on Oromia, but Amharinya should be the working language of only Amhara region and, of course, it can be that of the federation besides Afan Oromo. For the other nations in the empire, this may mean to learn four languages, instead of the present only three. But, I do argue that these nations need to learn only two languages: their own mother tongue and an international language – English. Why should their children be obliged to learn Afan Oromo as well as Amharinya and be stressed with such additional useless languages, whereas the Amhara children learn only Amharinya and English, being free from such stress. So, my suggestion is that all children from all nations in the future new union should have the privilege given to the Amhara children: learn only their respective national language and English as an international language.

If the Abyssinian elites come to their sense and accept the common ground for all nations – the future New Ethiopia/Great Oromia, it would have been very easy to forge an effective alliance of the Abyssinian democratic forces and the Oromo freedom fighters against the dictatorial TPLF regime. Just to clear the confusion produced by the hitherto articles on similar topics, the other names used for the genuine “ethnic” federalism are: multi-national federation; new federal democratic Ethiopia; de jure New Ethiopia = de facto Great Oromia; language-based federalism; internal self-determination; national autonomy with regional union; self-rule and shared-rule; national self determination with multi-national democracy; unity with liberty; union of autonomous nations; United States of Ethiopia; autonomous nations in federated Ethiopia; national autonomy in an integrated region (e.g. autonomous Oromia in an integrated Ethiopia) etc. In short, the best instrument to compel the Abyssinian elites so that they can accept and respect the compromise solution – New Ethiopia/Great Oromia, and to make them recognize the right of nations to self-determination is to demote Amharinya to a local language and promote Afan Oromo to the federal language.

Last but not least, such de jure New Ethiopia/de facto Great Oromia, being the known objective of the federalist Oromo nationals, I tend to accept it only as a transitional solution for the political status after getting rid of the present Abyssinian empire. This anticipated New Ethiopia is the transition to either de jure, not only de facto, integrative Great Oromia, in case all the future free nations of the current empire will agree and accept the name change from Ethiopia to Oromia, or else the birth of an independent Golden Oromia is inevitable. I think such an integrative Great Oromia, where freedom of citizens and nations will be respected, where democracy will be the rule of the political game, where Afan Oromo will be the primary working language of the union, and where Odaa, as the symbol of the Gadaa democracy as well as the sign of victory, will be the central part of the future federation’s flag, can be the very good alternative solution to the noble cause of an independent Golden Oromia. May Rabbi/Waaqa help us all accept the future de jure New Ethiopia/de facto Great Oromia as a transitional solution towards either an independent Golden Oromia or an integrative de jure Great Oromia.

Galatooma!

* Fayyis Oromia can be reached at foromia@yahoo.com.

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