Page 82 - Fighting Against the Injustice of the State and Globalization

The Oromo National Movement
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development of written Afaan Oromoo. Among these, the works of Onesimos Nasib
and his Oromo language team came to constitute the basic literature of the Oromo
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The scholarly team that worked with Onesimos
language until the present day.”
Nasib included Aster Ganno,Lidya Dimboo,and Feben (Hirphee) Abba Magaal.These
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scholars translated biblical scriptures into the Oromo language.
These scholars, under the guidance of Onesimos Nasib, laid the foundation of
modern education in western Oromia by producing religious and secular books, de-
veloping the Oromo language, and opening schools, despite the opposition and re-
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pression they faced from the Ethiopian government and church.
Onesimos Nasib
and his team pioneered the development of Oromo literature in western Oromia.
Similarly, Sheik Bakri Sapalo initiated modern education in eastern Oromia, invented
an Oromo alphabet in 1956, and produced several works on Oromo history and cul-
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ture.
The brutality of Ethiopian colonialists did not allow such Oromo scholars to
develop literary culture in Oromo society. Onesimos Nasib was imprisoned and
banned from teaching Oromo children. Sheik Bakri Sapalo was put under house ar-
rest for ten years and later forced to flee to Somalia, where he died in a refugee camp
148
According to Mohammed Hassen,“What the two examples of Onesimos
in 1980.
Nasib and Shaykh Bakri Sapalo clearly show is that educated Oromo both Christians
and Muslims emphasized the importance of education for their people and the pro-
duction of literary material in their language. Onesimos Nasib and Shaykh Bakri
Sapalo are clear proof of the existence of Oromo national consciousness and of their
concern with the Oromo language.” 149 The literary works of Onesimos Nasib and his
team and that of Bakri Sapalo indicate the existence of the first phase of nationalist
cultural activities in Oromo society:“In the first phase, learned and culturally-minded
individuals such as teachers, students . . . and writers turned their attention to their
people’s language, history and culture, though without arousing in society at large any
great excitement about things national for the time being.” 150
Ethiopians face three dilemmas related to how to deal with Oromos. The first
dilemma is a historical one. Habasha and Oromo societies fought each other over ter-
ritory, land, water, religion, and civilization for almost four centuries without one
dominating the other and establishing permanent colonialism, because both of them
were at similar technological stages.As discussed earlier,this problem was solved by the
alliance of European imperialism with Ethiopian colonialism in the second half of the
nineteenth century. 151 Of course, this could not eliminate the potential threat of the
Oromos to Habasha power.The second dilemma is the minority Habashas’ attempt to
assimilate the Oromo numerical majority without risking a political problem.
Margery Perham clearly articulates the need for assimilating the Oromo majority into
Ethiopian society, when she says “that they are estimated to outnumber the Amharas
and the Tigrayans, and that they quite literally embrace half of the empire” and “there
seems every possibility at this date that a development [of Oromo nationalism] that
would be so disastrous to Ethiopia may be avoided.” 152 She suggests that the spread of
the Amhara language and Habasha culture amongst Oromo society as soon as possible
would prevent the emergence of disastrous Oromo nationalism. 153 Perham failed to
understand that Oromo cultural assimilation without structural assimilation (i.e., ac-
cess to state power and cultural and economic resources) could not prevent the emer-
gence of Oromo nationalism. 154 Global historical evidence demonstrates that those
ethnonational groups who are denied cultural and economic development and access
to state power develop a collective national consciousness to challenge the dominant