Wallagga against Arsi; Our enemy’s last attempt to weaken the Oromo liberation movement

Recently, as I scanned through some Facebook pages, I came across the unwise chattering of uneducated bunch, which led me to the writing of this article examining the relationship between tribe, region, race, ethnicity and nationality, and how these phenomena are linked to one another. In order to define the Wallagga domination preached by certain pro tribe advocate groups, I will try to differentiate the Oromo tribe from the artificial region such as “Wallaggaa“, constructed by the Habasha ruling classes, thereby try to see what constitutes the history of the said “dominating” region. To do so, it is important to ask whether or not “Wallagga” as a region involves the hierarchical and socially constructed valuation as opposed to “Arsi”, the Oromo tribe which is directly linked to all Oromo linage groups.

To analyze the “Wallagga” discrimination against the Arsi tribe, one must understand that such claim is the practice of inequality, which also means whatever the so called “Wallagga” REGION did or does must be resulted in unequal outcomes of income, education, health, etc. The problem with such claim however is that entities such as Wallagga and SHAWAA are a social construct, while ARSI or Maccaa are a biological phenomenon which links all Oromo family branches. Hence, Looking at the Wallagga discrimination against the Arsi tribe from this point of view makes the claim meaningless because Wallagga has nothing to do with Arsi and Maccaa physical differences such as skin color, ability or behavior. By giving Wallagga a definition, the complaining team, be it is an enemy or a friend, gave the region “Wallagga” a biological meaning, the same way plants, animals, and humans are given a sub classification as different spices.

The fact no one can deny is that the Oromo people were given different classifications which became a reality in the minds of certain shallow individuals as time went on and helped the enemy to justify it’s exploitation, domination, and violence against Oromo people. As such, that Wallagga and Shawaa do not exist as a biological category among the Oromos or humans in general. In fat, if we go back a little further and examine our genetic variation as Arsi or as Maccaa, we recognize that the same variation that exists among a family setting across time and place to exist among us, as people. While keeping in mind about the variations we have as individual Oromo family members who may see things differently, it is also very important to understand that trying to destroy our common ancestry, history, and cultural practices because of this fluid and self-asserted political views and sensitivity is nothing but stupid.

Today, the Amharic speaking people who call themselves “Amhara” are imposing a strong pressure upon the TPLF who is now considering Siyye Abraha’s original idea of abandoning the current form of federalism and go back to a unitary system. Most importantly, the group that calls itself the Oromo Democratic Front (ODF) is working very hard to change the Oromo political narrative by using the Arsi Wallagga divisive game or the unity of empire Ethiopia. When the Amharic speaking people stick together by using the littlest similarities such as linguistic, tradition and religious practices, we the Oromos who enjoy kinship, language, system and strong cultural attributes, must fight identities such as Shawaa and Wallagga imposed by our enemies in order to make sure that we don’t fall victims of our own making.

The Tibetans, the Bengalis, the Chines, the Japanese or the Koreans differ because of the classifications that they have adopted over time, even when they are considered to be the same race, the Asian race. Similarly, we the Oromos must remain the same as the Japanese do and enjoy the diverse cultural variation we have. Shaggoyyee, Hiyaasee, Tirrii, Dhiichisa, Ragadaa etc can be our cultural diversity. To avoid the confusion that the enemy is trying to create among us, we must understand that region and nationality always overlap because they are socially constructed, thus they are not biological. As such, Ethiopia, Shawaa, Wallagga, Baalee’s definitional boundaries are shaped by the tug and pull of state power, group interests, and other social forces such as religion and the cultures that came with these entries.

Although we are confusing REGION with LINAGE, our little variations and misunderstandings can be like a couple who sometimes have a hard time living together but who simply cannot live apart. No matter how we pronounce afaan Oromo or sound different, each variation we have plays an essential role in maintaining certain social order forward going. it is also true that Wallagga, Ethiopia and Shawaa travel on parallel tracks of Oromummaa because these entities do not recognize our commonality. They rather reject and stifle our freedom by imposing division that gives way for the Abyssinian domination. Hence, it is very important to distinguish the meaning of domination, racism , segregation, politics, tribalism and imposition, if we want to avoid serious problems in the future if not properly understood from the outset.

Those who claim that the so called WALLAGGA region has the privilege to discriminate against the Arsi tribe must understand that no Oromo region controls political and economic apparatus to discriminate any Oromo tribe or region at this moment or in the past. What is true is that we all tend to believe that hiding our inferiority complex and point our fingers at someone else thinking that will solve our inability to produce results. But where matters of such magnitude are ignored, they will eventually come back again. To avoid such misunderstandings, we need to be educated and start doing what is moral compelled by TRUTH not by envy and jealousy. It only educating oneself that can take ignorance out of us, hence, lets try to learn about who we are and what is socially constructed over the long period of time. The Abyssinians who were on the dominant position have tried to mold our minds that Shawaa or Wallagga are closer to their system and others such as Bartummaa, Boorana, Gujii, Walloo, Arsi aren’t. What is true is that individual Oromos have served the enemy and they come from all Oromo regions. Jaatanii Ali from Borana, Jaagamaa Keelloo, Xagayee G. Madihin from Ambo, Dawit Abdi and Tilahun Gasasa from Tulamaa, Baroo and Abdisaa Aga from western Macaa have served the Habasha systems in the past. Today, Junadin, Hasan Ali, Lamma Magarsaa, Abbaadullaa etc have and still serving the Tigre rule and they all have committed similar crimes that Gobana Dachee, Jagaamaa Keelloo, Qusee Dinagdee and Magarasaa (Abuna Phexiros) have committed. Hence, we should not foster hate among us by falsely propagating saying one region is favored over the other region or tribe. We must be free to rely on our own free conscience to learn and to understand things properly and avoid the looming crisis set up for us by our enemy agents.

Oromiyaan dhiiga fii dafqa Oromootiin walaboomti!