I would like to conclude my piece by reminding every Oromo person this is our time. Now is the time. Our brothers and sisters have risen up against all odds. They are ready to pay the ultimate sacrifices to make our dreams come true.

From self-centered leader to current Oromo movement

Seenaa G. Jimjimo | May 15, 2014

In nature, there are two types of people; those who take matters onto their hands and those who wait for others to bring matters to them. Each of us are built with what some call S1 (planner) and S2 (doer) personality. The planner is the part of us that sets the alarm clock at night with intent to wake up early in the morning to exercise. The doer is the part of us that in the morning either hits the snooze button 4 times, or gets up out of the bed to implement the planner’s plan. Early in the day the planner parts of our body is powerful and ready to execute the plan we set at night or days before. However, as the day progresses the doer parts of our body gets stronger, overshadowing the planner (S1) arrangement. In other words, rather than executing what S1 intends when we wake up in the morning the S2 part of our body tells our mind it is enough for today and we can continue tomorrow.  As S2 gets stronger, overshadowing the will of S1, the magnitude of our expectation, and dream, shrinks over time. These phenomena explain why we make so many plans in the morning and end up getting done only half or less of our plan. In my opinion the will of our leaders might be overshadowed by the weakness of S1 and/or S2.

When we shift to the current Oromo political predicament the strength or weakness of S1 and/or S2 might not be the only problem, rather something more substantial. We seem to have leaders with fancy titles, fancy jobs, fancy degrees but little or no action when it comes time to act. These types of people like to talk the talk but they don’t walk the walk. On the other hand, we have people that talk less but actually walk the walk. These types of people might not have the fancy jobs or big titles next to their names and definitely do not make big noises but they are the real does when it comes to action; these are our true heroes and heroines. In my opinion these are the people with proper balance of S1 and S2. To raise another point, people in general are followers. Just like other societies we (Oromo’s) are no different. We follow what the media tells us; run the way everyone runs, dress what everyone has already worn, and most importantly we act and do as we are told by our so called leaders. A leader can be anyone that is in charge of anything either self appointed, or elected by a group of people. Leaders are supposed to be visionaries, those who see the invisible. In order to be a true leader, one must be able to see what does not exist today and what seems impossible in most people’s mind in order to achieve what is possible tomorrow.

While at times we seem to have many good leaders, it is clear we lack great leaders that can take us to our final destination. We all know too well, a job such as revolution, freedom and liberation requires more than good leader. It requires a truly selfless individual that is willing not only to let others do the dirty job but also do it him/her self. The Oromo leaders of our time seem to lack one or more of what is required by nature to lead a nation to freedom and liberation. The fancy jobs, fancy titles, and big noise makers I referred to earlier are what I call leaders of our time. As a person that grew up listening to a rich oral history, it got me wondering if the 21^st century leaders can live up to the 20^th or 19^th century regular Oromo farmers. Only through that a dept personal analysis I will be making this statement below. I am not by any means referring to a single individual or group, rather a general statement. I must also say responses from my recent piece have most definitely emboldened me to say what I have been keeping inside me.

If there is one thing I would like to remind and let my fellow men and women know is that even when we choose to live our lives privately or secretly as some of us wish, the roles of the people we choose or we don’t choose affect us in too many ways. Whether we like it or not, we are affected by individuals that lead our community in one way or the other. Local and national leaders affect our lives in every possible way, from the food we consume, to education, and to the clothe we wear. As human beings our ambitions are many. Like most immigrants that traveled long distances to come to the New World in search of betterment, we Oromo’s are no different. While there are many Oromos that took the long path to reach the New World forced by Ethiopian imperialist regimes over past decades, there are many more that are scattered throughout the world in search of betterment, to find a better place for themselves and their families. As human beings, we like to lives good life, have nice houses, leave something meaningful behind so our kids might use them.

Let me transition back to my main point, the people I referred to earlier, those with big noise little action and no noise but much more action. Those people with little noise but big actions I call them silent voices. Silent voices are the blue collar manual workers that gave so much to the Oromo cause. Unlike the white collar workers they did not make 100k or did not have the knowledge to transcend to form coalition groups with other oppressed people. They fought and struggled alone for too many years and brought us to where we are today. On the other hand, you have the Oromo “elites”; those with fancy titles, fancy degrees, fancy jobs, and fancy nice cars. In most cases the Oromo elites includes Oromo politicians, religious and sometimes community leaders. Please understand we are indebted to any Oromo and non-Oromo individuals that contributed to Oromumma in any way or form. However, let me be clear I am referring to those with narrow minded, self-centered “want to be” leaders that cannot see past here and now, perhaps themselves.

In my opinion, a self-centered leader that gives only if something in return for her/him is why we continue to shrink in our movement. A movement will not go anywhere unless the action of the leaders speaks for itself, inclusive to most people, fair and balanced to most member, and open to opponents (those with common end goal but may not share your views). For example, in my short active life I had with Oromo community and organizations these types of leaderships seem to be the current trend. In most Oromo organizations you see two types of people. You either have a group people that set outside and complain about what the insiders are doing or not doing, and those who likes to think they know it all. The first types of people like to complain why Mr. X was president of the community and Mr. X forgot to call me for last meeting, and therefore I don’t feel welcomed in that community i.e. Also, these types of people will say Mr. X is from blah blah region/religion so maybe he/she does not or should not represent me.

On the other hand, you have second types of people that want to control everything or think they know it all. Again, these groups of people can be political leaders, community leader, religious leader or media leader. Rather than being inclusive and listen to the public, they like to enforce their views and beliefs on the public. Leader with these types of mentality will try change the reality to much their views. In 2008, Hillary Clinton she said the Bush administration changes the reality on the ground to fit their policy; I change my police to fit the reality on the ground. Now you decide the right way is. My point is not that we should or should not change our stand on issues as time progresses, but it is rather what those realities are. We should reflect our position based on the greater good for the public. If an individual chooses to be a public servant, he or she has an obligation to put greater good ahead of self interest, at least according to theory. I understand we are human and we put ourselves and our needs ahead of others but we must remember that is when we begin the path to failure.

Whether it is our family or friends we should not condole a wrong idea, especially as a leader. If our duties are to be peace makers between two groups, we should set aside our opinion and look at the matter from a neutral perspective. If our job is to cast the news, as a reporter we should do our duties to the best of our knowledge so our viewers get the best information possible. In today’s time and age, media is one of the most powerful weapons. It is a weapon that can build and destroy an empire. It breaks my heart when news outlets such as VOA which has been in existence for many decades, fail to give us authentic reports. Like most of you that come from Oromia we grow up listening to VOA for most of our lives. I can tell you today almost two decades later those memories are still fresh in my mind. However, now when I listen to VOA with a much matured mindset, I realized much of reported Oromo news is from the Amharic version. Why is that? Is it that they cannot attain the necessary information in Afaan Oromo or is it they have not made an attempt? That is the question only VOA team can answer.  Similar issues apply to other Oromo news outlets as well. In too many occasions I have noticed Oromo news outlets use a direct translation from the Ethiopian government or habesha news outlets to describe the issue/report without taking an objective view. Lack of proper or correct terminology most definitely will convey the wrong information.

The authenticity of information is as equally important as the quality of the information any reporter brings to the audience. As an Oromo we have a unique culture and unique way of communicating. There is no need to use other language, especially an oppressor translated language to reflect our views. To give you another example, often times I am disappointed in Oromo movies and short dramas. Why do they seem to copy the Amharic version when talking about Oromo dilemma or issue? Does Oromo language lack the quality to stand on its own or be as funny, humorous or informative as the Amharic? I am not in any way against modernization. We ought to be modernized but we must keep in mind, when movies or news are reported they should be in the most authentic manner to convey the best message. It is not only fun and important to develop the Oromo language, it gives the new generation, and particularly the Diaspora Oromo’s how the true authentic Afaan Oromo is spoken.

Lastly, I would like to conclude my piece by reminding every Oromo person this is our time. Now is the time. Our brothers and sisters have risen up against all odds. They are ready to pay the ultimate sacrifices to make our dreams come true. I always believed what Malcolm X said, “Freedom by any means necessary”.  If you care for Oromia and if you believe in freedom and justice, I ask you to stand with Oromo students. As much as we might think we are different, we share one blood, we have a common goal. You may not like someone or an organization but that should not be the reason you should wait behind. It is time for every Oromo, even lost Oromo’s, who think they are Ethiopian to join the movement to stand for freedom and justice. I ask every Oromo to leave behind petty ideas and self-centered views to mobilize our people. Let us keep pushing the limit until we realize our dreams. As saying goes, to be good leader you must know when to follow. Fight alone if you have to, but if you can, fight as community. In the end, we rise and fall together. As an Oromo if you do not agree how someone or certain groups push our cause, I ask you either to join them to correct their mistakes or stay out of their path. This is neither the time nor the place to start negative criticism of each other. I hope this piece didn’t come as one. Let us be the leaning shoulder for each other. Remember, if you do not work hard to realize your own dream, you will end up working hard to make someone else’s dream come true. No one will make our dreams come true, only we can.