Mereja.Forum

Someone is a visionary when that someone can see beyond the current or near future and craft one's plans and acts based on that way ahead of time. He/she is passionate about the longterm vision, doesn't want to waste much time or energy on the past, if any then take a note about it and move on.

A good leader is a visionary leader. This idea stroke my mind today after listening to PM Abiy Ahmed and Minister of Defense Dr. Abreha Belay quote HIM Haileselasie, saying he was the owner of the idea of building a dam over the Abay river, a big tributary of the Nile. He had the idea but not the money to realize that idea and has to contend himself with option of "if we can't build the dam ourselves due to lack of money and other resources, then the next generation will build it after having the required resources".

This is how a visionary thinks.

Reactionaries think, on the other hand, about the past or, if at all, about the present. Many of those so called liberators (leaders of Liberation Fronts) are stuck at reiterating the past and blaming a "culprit" that they themselves can't name. Everything is abstract, can't be substantiated or touched, if there is any that they can name, then that is also part of history. They promote fear over hope, they can't think outside of their closets. They lack ideas, which leads them to choose the path of reactionary over visionary.

They keep blaming Haileselassie, Menelik, Gobena, and many other historical figures and try to hide their laziness behind the names of these figures.

Today is a historical day in the context of Ethiopia, not only because the country managed to commence the generation of electricity from the much awaited Abay Dam, but also the names of the visionaries were raised high while those of the reactionaries were thrown into the dust bins of history.

If you aspire to be a leader anywhere, then start to be visionary and stop your laziness of reactionary mantra. Only then history will prove you right like it did with HIM Haile-Selassie.

የህዳሴ ግድብ ኃይል ማመንጨት ጀመረ! እንኳን ደስ አለን። ግድቡ ላስጀመሩት ለቀድሞ ጠቅላይ ሚኒስትራችን ክቡር አቶ መለስ ዜናዊ፣ ለታታሪው ኢንጂኔር ስመኘው በቀለ እንዲሁም ሁለንተናዊ ድጋፍ ለሰጠ የኢትዮጵያ ህዝብ ላቅ ያለ ምስጋና ይገባል!

Abraha Desta

When people react, it’s like that automatic mind, that caveman mind: a problem or a threat presents itself, and a reaction is driven by fear. Sometimes the leader gets it right, but sometimes the reactionary fix addresses it in the short term, and causes more problems down the road. No planning, just reacting – outside forces are driving the bus. Reactive leaders choose safety over purpose and their effectiveness is inconsistent at best.

In contrast:

In a creative mindset, there is purpose or vision that is led by passion, not fear. The leader deliberately decides ‘how’ and ‘if’ to respond, in a thoughtful way. Either of those responses is an action that moves the organization (or individual) towards its purpose.Continuing to act with a purpose propels their leadership effectiveness.

The two quotes have been taken from a page I stumbled myself into while searching more contributions over these two cardinally important human qualities.

Gad-Galo, ጥፋ ከዚህ ቦታ!

One of the recent well-known such a short-term fixes is the so called Qeerroo Revolution that many political actors of the day tried to hide behind and now acknowledged by many to have caused more damage than fixes to the problem at hand.

The Oromo liberationists have even put themselves in an awkward situation by their choice of so called Finciila Diddaa Gabrummaa (Revolt Against Slavery). No one is ready to use such a term anymore, no continuity of their efforts, just short-term and thoughtless use of expressions randomly.

The so called Fano-Revolution will also going to end in the same way, some sources have already indicated that some of the figures of the political scene have already started to distance themselves from such a blind political mob games.

One more recent case is reflected in the following short memory of my very young age.

It is about the so called አሀዳሪያን እና ጭቁን ሕዝቦች that the Derg regime used to divide the whole of Ethiopians into two categories, without any grey area in between. You are either አሀዳሪ or ጭቁን, which led to a condition that almost everybody started to suspect anyone around him/her.

I heard the story at a very young age and could have missed a part of it, but here is what you remember well. It happened deep in the countryside of Ethiopia and it is about a wise farmer at around the beginning of the Derg era. During one of the gatherings of the locals that wise man stands up and declares, folks please listen, if you are from the አሀዳሪ camp (land-owner) don't be so sad, your agony will be listened to with our Creator and you will going to see how you will be in fact saved from a calamity, while those who feel to have hurt you will be facing it infront of them. If you are from ጭቁን camp (the landless proletariat), then don't get over excited, for what you have been told to have been given, it will going to turn into your own nightmare. Don't be over joyous for having given the land, it will going to cost you.

No one wanted to listen, perhaps the wise man just tried to analyze the tenacity of such a policy and found it a short-sighted one, which will going to cost the country more than it will help.

Later it turned out that the ጭቁን class was categorized as the friends of the state while the አሀዳሪያን were declared the enemy of the state. While the former was asked to send almost all of its able children to the war front, the latter was turned back and told you are the enemy yourself.

This era was a prelude to a long period of time when many families in Ethiopia considered having a boy child could be equal to a curse. In the are where I grew up it became the part of the ritual to pray to god not to have a boy, all able men were recruited to the war front and the majority of them never returned safe.

The አሀዳሪያን were spared (after they were told you are the enemy of the state) and they used the time to send their children to the west and enabled them to get advanced education. Many Ethiopians you see around the western world and lived longer there, both in America and Western Europe, first wave of immigrants, if you like, are all the beneficiaries of this possibility (and policy). Now they are the better educated segment of the society and are in many different positions to influce the course of history of their country.

The children of the proletariat class are the ones who were left behind and later on going to end-up joining the so called Liberation Fronts as foot-soldiers, lacking adequate education and not sure about what to pursue and to leave.

Their role in the society is effectively worthless currently, they have segregated themselves to the class of delusional and inept part of the society.


That policy was a shortsighted and lacking any kind of vision, divisive and thereby left the country much weaker.

It is perhaps correct to redistribute the resources among all of the country's citizens, but not in a way that the Derg implemented it. It simply started to confiscate the possessions of the citizens and said it has to be given to others. Those owners were not just given by chance, I think, many of them worked for the state and contributed to its sustenance and the land was given to them for their services to the state as a compensation.

Many of them were the fathers and heroes of the land, who would be going to be declared enemy of the state and dispossessed in overnight, nothing could be more shortsighted than such a policy, in retrospect at least.

Now, they are back and making more and more influences in the course of the country's progress.

Menge is a refugee, as we know.

Here Saliah Sami is singing about self-confidence, which the reactionarists lack desperately. Those who live in fear will never come to achieve a self-confidence.

Ofitti Ammannee, by Saliha Sami.

Just look at this guy: he wants to negotiate about the past, which is an illusive idea by itself. You can't fetch the water that has already flown passt, says an Afan Oromo proverb.

If you liked it or not, you are defacto an Ethiopian, on top of that unity of the country is non-negotiatable, it is the baseline for everything else. It is an illusive idea to try to negotiate about the baseline. You can negotiate on how to share resources, power, services that the country is supposed to provide to its citizens fairly, but you can't go on and attack the baseline itself and quesiton its legitimacy, you are already putting yourself in an odd position by raising such a demand.

You can't demolish the house and then start to negotiate about the provisionings that the house is supposed to provide you with.

You can't also preempt the wishes of others in the common home, you just raise your own wish and then you will agree to meet at the middle way, but not ask people not to wish something before hand.

You have a political goal, the other stakeholders also have their goal, in this case even a primordial goal because it is about safeguarding the common home and you are demanding that they shouldn't raise such a demand. Are you clear about what you are saying?

This sounds to me very elementary concept, you wanted to oppose those you think are your political opponents but you are also supporting your own opponents by pushing the silent majority to the side of your own opponent. No wonder that you couldn't achieve any substantial change in over 50 years of acclaimed political activism.

Iskinder Nega didn't support the government all along but when it came to the issue of national unity and sovereignty he voiced his support from within a jail cells, because he understands that this is about a baseline. You want to negotiate about Ethiopian unity, infantile!

You lack vision, you are only about the past and about fear mongering!

Gotaa adewa biraa faarefaadha
ደጃዝማች ገሜሳ /ገብረማርያም /ጋሪ (አባ ንጠቅ ገብሬ)
በኦሮሚያ ክልል ምዕራብ ሸዋ ውስጥ፣ በጅማ መንገድ ከቱሉ ቦሎ ከተማ አቅራቢያ በምትገኘው አገምጃ (ሰርቦ ኦዶ ኮሎ) በምትባል ቦታ ከታወቁት የሮቢ ጐሣ የባላባት ወገን የሀገር ሽማግሌ ከሆኑት ከአባታቸው አቶ ጐዳና እና ከእናታቸው ወ/ሮ ሌሎ ጉቴ በ1866 ዓ.ም ደጃዝማች ገብረማርያም ተወለዱ። በወቅቱ የተሠጣቸው ስም #ገሜሳ ነበር።የቤተሰቡ የመጨረሻ ወንድ ልጅና በወጣትነት እድሜቸው የተሟላ ስብዕና እና የቤተሰብ ፍቅር እንደነበራቸው ይነገራል።
የሕፃንነት እድሜያቸውን ያሣለፉት በትውልድ ቦታቸው ኦዳ ኮሎ መንደር ሲሆን ይህ መንደር በአካባቢው ላይ
በአገር ሽማግሌነት ፍትህ ይሰጡበት ነበር እየተባለ የሚነገርለት ትልቅ ዋርካ በመኖሩ የሚደረገውን ሁሉ እ ብላቴናው ገብረማርያም የሰዎችን እንቅስቃሴ ይከታተሉም ነበር።
በ1870 ዓ.ም ምኒልክ የግዛት ማስፋፊያ ዘመቻዎችን ተነድፈው ይንቀሣቀሱ የነበሩባቸው ዘመናት ነበሩ። በዚህም የተነሣ አካባቢው የምዕራብ ሸዋም ተወላጆች በምዕራብ ኢትዮጵያ የግዛት የማስፋፋቱን ተግባር ሊፈፅም ከመጣው ምኒልክ ጦር ጋር በወጣቱ ገብረማርያም የተመሩ የአከባቢው ወጣቶች ግጭት አቢያነሱም በበቂ ሁኔታ ወታደራዊ መሣሪያ የታጠቀ እና ልምድ ባላቸው መሪዎች የሚመራው የመንግሥት ጦር የአግምጃን አከባቢ በቀላሉ ተቆጣጠረ።
በዘመቻውም ወጣቱ ገብረማርያም ፊታውራሪ ዘመንፈስ ቅዱስ በሚባል የጦር መሪ ተይዘው ከአዲስ አበባ ከተማ አልፎ መሃል ሸዋ ቡልጋ አውራጃ ውስጥ ወደሚገኘው ወደ ኢቲሳ ተክለ ሃይማኖት ገደም ተወሰዱ። ይህ ቦታ ወጣቶች ለሚቀጥለው ኃላፊነት በታማኝነት እንዲበቁ ለማድረግ የሚቀረፁበት ሥፍራ ነበር።
በዚያም በማረካቸውና በአሳዳሪያቸው ዘመንፈስ ቅዱስ የቅርብ ተቆጣጣሪነት ከማንበብና መፃፍ ተጨማሪ
ጥልቀት ያለው የሃይማኖትና የኢትዮጵያ ታሪክ እውቀት
እንዲከታተሉ ተደረጉ። በወቅቱ ምርኮዎች የአዕምሮ ብልፅግና እንዲያገኙ የቤተ-መንግሥት ሥርዓት ያዝ ነበር።
ከዚያ በኃላ ለረጅም አመታት ቤተሰቦቻቸው እና ዘመዶቻቸው በሕይወት እንደሌሉ አስበው ለአመታት እጅግ አዝነው ቢቆዩም የልጅነት ስማቸው ገሜሳ ጋሪን በገብረማርም ቀይረው ወደ ትውልድ መንደራቸው አገምጃ ተመለሱ። እናታቸው ወ/ሮ ሌሎ ጉቴ በዚህ ዕለት ጠፍቶ የነበረው ልጃቸው ስለተመለሰላቸው የአካባቢውን ማሕበረሰብ በታላቅ ደስታ እና ክብር ተቀብለው እንዳስተናገዷቸው ይነገራል።
ገብረማርያም የተወሠኑ ጊዜያት ያህል ከቤተሰቦቻቸው ጋር ካሣለፉ በኃላ ወደ መሐል ሸዋ በመመለስ ከዘመንፈስ ቅዱስ ጋር በመሆን የቤተ-ክህነት ትምህርታቸውን በሚገባ ተከታትለው ካጠናቀቁ በኃላ
ትውልዳቸው አገምጃ ከሆኑት ለባልቻ ሳፎ /አባ ነፍሶ/ እንዲያገለግሉ ተሠጡ። ባልቻ ሳፎ በወቅቱ የቤተ-መንግሥቱ ገንዘብ እና ግምጃ ቤት ሹም ስለነበሩ የቤተ-መንግሥቱን ሥርአት በማስተማር ታማኝና ብቁ ወታደር አድርገዋቸው። በ1888 ዓ.ም የአድዋ ጦርነት ሲታወጅ በ22 አመታቸው ከደጃዝማች ባልቻ አባነፍሶ ጦር ጋር ወደ አድዋ ዘመቱ። በአድዋ ጦርነት ላይም ከባልቻ ጐን ሆነው ታላቁን የጥቁር ሕዝቦች ሁሉ ድል የሆነውን ጦርነት በድል አጠናቀቁ።
ሃያ ሺ ያህል ወታደሮች ያሉበት የኤሮፓ/አውሮፓ/ ጦር በአፍሪካ ሠዎች ለመጀመሪያ ጊዜ ተሸነፈ። በኔ እምነት መሠረት በዘመናችን ታሪክ በውስጥ እንደ አድዋው ያለ ጦርነት የለም። በእልቂቱ በኩል 25ሺ ሰዎች በአንድ ቀን ጀምበር የሞቱበት እና የቆሰሉበት ነው። ፖለቲካና ታሪክ አበቃ። በአፍሪካ ውስጥ ታላቅ ኃይል መነሣቱ ታወቀ። የአፍሪካ ተወላጆች ታሪክ ተለወጠ። ጥቁሩ ዓለም በአውሮፓውያን ላይ ሲያምፅና ሲያሸንፍ የመጀመሪያው መሆኑ ነው። --አሁን የሁሉንም ፍላጐት አድዋ ዘጋው።
እንዲህ አይነት ውብ የሆኑ የአድዋን ድል ካስገኙ ጀግኖች ኢትዮጵያዊያን መካከል አንዱ የሆኑት ደጃዝማች ገሜሳ/ገብረማርያም/ ከጦርነቱ በኃላ ወደ ሐገር ግንባታውና ወደ ማስተዳደሩ ስራ ገቡ።
በምኒልክ ጦር በልጅነታቸው ከትውልድ መንደራቸው ተማርከው የሄዱት ገሜሳ በቤተ-መንግስት ስርዓት ተኮትኩተው ካደጉ በኃላ ለአቅመ አዳም ደርሠው ልክ በ22 አመታቸው በ1888 ዓ.ም የአድዋ ጦርነት ታወጀ። እርሣቸውም ለጋ ወጣት ስለነበሩ ከደጃዝማች ባልቻ አባነፍሶ ጦር ጋር ወደ አድዋ ዘመቱ። በአድዋ ጦርነት ላይም ከባልቻ ጐን ሆነው ታላቁን የጥቁር ሕዝቦች ሁሉ ድል የሆነውን ጦርነት በድል ካጠናቀቁ የዚህች ሀገር ታላላቀ ጀግኖች መካከል አንዱ ናቸው።
ቀጥሎም የአገር ግዛት ሚኒስትር ሆነው ተሹመው በከፍተኛ ኃላፊነት ሀገርን ከማስተዳደር በተጨማሪ ከ1927 ዓ.ም ጀምሮ የፋሽስት ኢጣሊያ ጦር ኢትዮጵያን ለመውረር ዝግጅት እና ትንኮሣ ስታደርግ ሕዝብን በማደራጀት በማንቃት እና ከውጭ ሀገር የመሣሪያ ግዢ በማድረግ በደቡብ ኢትዮጵያ በኩል የመጣውን የፋሽስት ወራሪን ከራስ ደስታ ዳምጠው ጋር በመሆን በክብረመንግሥት /አዶላ/፣ ዋደራ፣ ነገሌ ቦረና፣ ተፈሪ ኬላ፣ ይርጋለም፣ ዶሎ… የመሣሠሉትን ቦታዎች ከጠላት ለማስለቀቅ ብርቱ ተጋድሎ አድርገዋል።
ደጃዝማች ገብረማርያምም በደቡብ ውጊያ ላይ ከጣልያን ወታደሮች እና ለፋሽስት ካደሩ ባንዳዎች ጋር
ከባድ ጦር ገጥመው ቆሰሉ። በወቅቱ እንደ ራስ ደስታ ዳምጠው የመሣሠሉ ታላላቅ ሰዎችን በባንዳዎች ተሰቃይተው እንዲሞቱ ተድርገዋል። ይሁን እንጂ ደጃዝማች መቁሠላቸውን ምክንያት አድርገው ከጦርነቱ ሳያፈገፍጉ ተዋግተዋል።
በመጨረሻም ወደ ትውልድ መንደራቸው በመምጣት ከፋሽስት ኢጣሊያ እና ከባንዳዎች ጋር የመጨረሻቸው የሆነውን ጦርነት ከመፋለማቸው ቀድመው ይህንን ንግግር አደረጉ።
《 ዛሬ ሠርጌ ነው። ለውድ አገሬ ፈፅሜ ሕይወቴን አሣልፋለሁ። ከዚህ እልፍ አልልም። የመጨረሻ ትግሌ ዛሬ የሚጠናቀቅ ይመስለኛል። ሩጫዬን አበቃሁ። ጠላት እጄን አይጨብጥም። እንደማየው ጠላት ዙሪያችንን ከቦናል። በዛሬው ቀን በምናደርገው የሞት የሽረት ውጊያ ላይ ለመሣተፍ የማትችሉ ከአጠገቤ ለመለየት ትችላላችሁ። እኔ ቁስለኛው እግሬ ሊያራምደኝ አያስችለኝም። ውጊያው የጠነከረ መሆኑን ስታውቁ ባመቻችሁ መንገድ ሁሉ ሾልካችሁ እስከወደቃችሁ ድረስ በአገራችሁ ጉራንጉር በወንዞቻችሁ ሸለቆዎችና ዱር ግቡ። ሕያው እግዚአብሔር ይከተላችሁ። 》
ከዚህ ንግግር በኃላ ከመጀመሪያው ጀምረው በጦርነቱ ያልተለያቸውን የወንድማቸውን ልጅ ሻቃ በቀለ ወያ እና ቀኛዝማች በየነ ጉደታን መርቀው ካሠናበቱ በኃላ በተካሔደው ከፍተኛ ፍልምያ ባንዳና ጣልያንን ሲያንገበግቡት ውለው ከጠላት በተተኮስ ጥይት ተመተው ወደቁ። የኦሮሞው የቁርጥ ቀን ልጅ ክቡር ደጃዝማች ገሜሳ ጋሪ የካቲት 18 ቀን 1929 ዓ.ም ለሀገራቸውና ለሕዝባቸው ክብር ሕይወታቸውን ሠጥተዋል።
ጣልያን ከወጣች በኃላ በ1939 ዓ.ም ኃይለሥላሴም ቸርችል አደባባይ የሚገኘውን የፈረንሣይ እና የኢትዮጵያን ወዳጅነት ት/ቤት ሊሴ ገብረማርያም በማለት በሰማዕቱ አርበኛ በደጃዝማች ገብረማርያም ስም ሰየሙት።