Page 154 - Fighting Against the Injustice of the State and Globalization

145
•
Beyond Nationalism
in creating and building a democratic multicultural society in the Horn of Africa.
Since all Oromo liberation organizations have not yet developed the capability to ef-
fectively change the condition of the Oromo, it is time for serious Oromo national-
ists and activists to critically ask themselves why infrastructure and organizational
deficits could not yet be removed with the development of Oromo nationalism. Most
Oromo leaders and intellectuals do not openly and honestly confront the Oromo or-
ganizational problem.They like to raise issues informally, and they do not take serious
social responsibility by openly and publicly debating serious policy and political issues.
There has never been any open and public policy debate among Oromo leaders and
intellectuals on the essence of the Oromo struggle and the future of Oromia. Hence,
it is no wonder that Oromo leaders and intellectuals have not yet solved the Oromo
organizational problem, a task which will require combining politics, research, and
policy formation.
The Oromo movement has two alternative options:The first one is to continue to
have a movement that is less participatory, more prone to negotiate with the enemies
of Oromos, and ready to impose its elitist decision on the Oromo people.The second
option is to develop a participatory Oromo movement in which the Oromo people,
political and intellectual leaders, cadres, and activists at every level play a decisive role
by mobilizing, organizing, and managing Oromo resources (including labor, money,
skills, knowledge, information) and implement the will of the Oromo people. The
Oromo movement has different centers that must be linked together both vertically
and horizontally. If the Oromo liberation organizations adopt the second option by
changing their old attitudes and approaches and promoting a grassroots movement,
they can play a central role in the Oromo movement by linking together diverse
Oromo movement centers through consensus building and democratic discourse. It is
also the responsibility of all Oromo activists and nationalists to change their attitudes
and approaches by returning to the Oromo democratic tradition in order to coordi-
nate and centralize the Oromo national struggle.If the Oromo movement is to be par-
ticipatory, it must mobilize all sectors of Oromo society, particularly women and
youth.Without effectively mobilizing these two key groups, the Oromo movement
cannot be participatory. Oromo democracy and its principles must lay the foundation
of this participatory mobilization. Further, Oromo nationalists can draw lessons from
the experiences of other movements, such as that of the African American struggle,
for their mobilization and organization efforts.
The Oromo movement can learn a lot from the experiences of the African Amer-
ican struggle. Different African American movement centers, associations, institutions,
and organizations mobilized different sectors of the society and coordinated their
struggle on local, regional, and national levels. Since African Americans had obtained
legal rights, they openly organized themselves and coordinated their struggle for
emancipation. But Oromo nationalists and activists and their organizations do not
have similar political opportunity because of the lack of the rule of law and basic rights
in Oromia and Ethiopia. Whereas African American leaders could openly mobilize
and organize their people, Oromo leaders are forced to do so clandestinely. In addi-
tion, the legacy of Ethiopian political slavery weakened Oromo political leadership
and crippled its organizational capacity.Although Oromos in the diaspora have polit-
ical opportunity and technological and financial means to overcome the legacy of po-
litical slavery, they spend their energy on trivial issues and remain less effective.
Conscious elements of the Oromo in the diaspora can gain substantial lessons from