By Dr. Deressa
As the Oromo people resisted Ethiopian invasions, they confronted both Ethiopian soldiers and traitors, for example during Menilik (like Gobena), during Haile Selassie (feudal corrupted individuals with militia’s), during Derg era (derg military and traitors so called cadre) and now days- during Tigrai kingdom (OPDO’s militias and Opportunistic individuals). Through all political systems the power was/is in the hand of Habesha’s (Amhara and Tigrians) but the face of it on the local level is often Oromo’s. Despite these seeming contradictions, it remains insufficient to speak of Oromo responses to the imposition of colonial rule.
The most pathetic person in the world is someone who has sight but no vision. If I paint a wild horse, you might not see the horse but surely you will see the wildness. This paper discusses:
- why Oromo visionaries fail to see or understand the programmed killer mind of our enemies from time to time and still fulfilling enemy plan (destroying Oromo people unity, creating confusions and cultivating traitors).
- Oromo people need curative vision but not palliative ones.
Oromo people have a long standing of fighting for freedom. Our goal is to liberate our people from slavery and build the social justice where people are not be discriminated against, nor their welfare and well-being constrained or prejudiced on the basis of gender, sexuality, religion, political affiliations, age, race, belief, disability, location, social class or socioeconomic circumstances.
Oromo people had and have a brilliant philosophers, thinkers, writers, orators, artist, organizers and athlete. But all those talents serves the so called Ethiopian destructive institution and criminal leaders instead of serving his own nation (Oromo people). All those knowledge’s went to serve and shape the permanent killer of our nation (Oromo people). Again now days there are many Oromo intellectuals and individuals are running and working hard like previous one to shape the collapsing empire by destroying Oromo people unity, by creating paralyzed organization and creating confusion between our people.
But the truth is Oromo people are peace loving people, serving and keeping peace at all costs and praying for constant peace. So the anti-peace groups are our century long enemies so called Ethiopian destructive institution and brutal leaders of Ethiopian government. The Oromo people were killed mercilessly, detained unlawfully, evicted from their land, robbed economically, forced to learn another language and humiliated because of their identity. My question is why we Oromo people fail to get vision to shape our self in order to beat our enemy? in order to strength our unity? in order to empower ourselves economically and intellectually? in order to raise awareness of our people to know the exact homework of our enemy? in order to avoid confusion between our people?
Throughout the centuries there were men who took first steps down new roads armed with nothing but their own vision. Their goals differed, but they all had this in common: that the step was first, the road new, the vision unborrowed, and the response they received hatred. The great creators, the thinkers, the artists, the scientists, the inventors stood alone against the men of their time. Every great new thought was opposed. Every great new invention was denounced. The first motor was considered foolish. The airplane was considered impossible. The power loom was considered vicious. Anesthesia was considered sinful. But the men of unborrowed vision went ahead. They fought, they suffered and they paid. But they won.
Visionary leaders are uncommon, but they share many characteristics. The qualities of visionary leaders include openness, imagination, persistence and conviction.
There are relatively few people that are universally regarded as visionaries. These might include individuals such as Steve Jobs, Thomas Edison, Albert Einstein, the Wright Brothers among others. While universally acclaimed, they are often disregarded as super-talented genius, outliers that live outside of the range of normal human experience.
What visionary leaders do, however, is to build an accurate conceptual model of the future based on their keen understanding of the present. And then successful visionary leaders bring that model into reality, creating the future.
Thus, the visionary leaders key ability is not their prophetic sight, but rather the gift to predict accurately from the present into the future. When accurate prediction is combined with executive ability to carry out the vision, visionaries literally creates the future. While there is some difference between predicting and influencing the future, possessing the former skill is helpful (and the first step) to developing the later skill.
Visionary leaders have the quality of strong conviction. Once a visionary has a worthwhile vision, they must have strong conviction if the vision stands a chance at being brought into reality. Certain visions are extraordinarily difficult to carry out and thus require an extraordinary strong belief in the vision and the visionary’s ability to carry it out.
Visionary leaders must possess the quality or attribute of persistence. Unabashed persistence allows the visionary to push through all difficulties, including the opposition of others, bad fortune, insufficient resources, or dead-ends.
In the end, the difference between a successful and unsuccessful visionary often comes down to drive and persistence.
In medical terminology curative means a kind of treatment provided to a patient with an intent to improve symptoms and cure the patient’s medical problem while palliative means a care for people who have serious illnesses in order to improve their quality of life without any curative treatment options.
We very often discuss the plans of our leading organization OLF, their policies but have we ever bothered ourselves with the discussion of the progress plans, policies followed by our organization of jump to form content less so called OLF factions.
Politics is the art of looking for trouble, diagnosing it incorrectly and applying the wrong remedy. Politicians and diapers should be changed frequently and all for the same reason. Politicians are the same all over. They promise to build a bridge even where there is no river and they blame the opposition for their troubles.
If a politician murders his mother, the first response of the press or of his opponents will likely be not that it was a terrible thing to do, but rather that in a statement made six years before he had gone on record as being opposed to matricide.
So my questions for those so called OLF factions where is your vision to enhance our struggle for freedom? Where is your creativity to weaken our enemy? Where is your awareness programme for our people to prevent from enemy and traitors? Where is your intellectual capacity to promote our case on world stage? Where is your organization power to strength our unity? Where is your physical and psychological support for our hero’s (WBO)?
Or are you politicians with full of promises without content? are you trouble makers? or is your opposition guilty for your emptiness and failure?
In order to become the master of your people, somebody has to serve first his people with honesty, devotion, creativity and persistence. But my brothers so called OLF factions they made a big mistake by destroying our unity, weaken our Golden organization OLF, so called leaders were hospitalized in palliative center and leading our people to palliative care.
But my people needs leaders with devotion and persistence, my people needs leaders with capacity to organize, leaders with creative knowledge and curative vision.
Facing your mistakes is hard to do, but it’s important to forgive yourself for messing up. You made a mistake; big deal, we all make mistakes. Make forgiveness a part of your daily routine, and when the big blunders come along, always be looking for ways you can make things better instead of dwelling on it. The longer you wait to tell who it affects, the longer it can take to fix whatever needs fixing.
I have nothing to offer but blood, toil, tears and sweat. We have before us an ordeal of the most grievous kind. We have before us many, many long centuries of struggle and of suffering. You ask, what is our policy? I can say: It is to wage war, by sea, land and air, with all our might and with all the strength that God can give us; to wage war against a monstrous tyranny, never surpassed in the dark, lamentable catalogue of human crime. That is our policy. You ask, what is our aim? I can answer in one word: It is victory, victory at all costs, victory in spite of all terror, victory, however long and hard the road may be.