NO to ATE (Amhara, Tegaru, Eritrean) Elites’ Style of Sovereignty for the Oromo; YES to Our Own Way!
By Fayyis Oromia*
The Abesha style of sovereignty is inherently dictatorial—whether it is the Amhara’s centralized authoritarianism, the Tigrayan imperial federalism, or the Eritrean separatist authoritarianism. In contrast, the Oromo approach is fundamentally democratic, allowing the people to choose freely among centralism, federalism, or separatism.
Within Oromo nationalist circles, it is understood that these three forms of sovereignty—represented by the Amhara (assimilationist), Tigrayan (imperial), and Eritrean (exclusionary) models—are not inherently wrong if they arise through a democratic process. Nevertheless, the most preferred vision remains the Oromic-led rainbow union, rooted in Oromummà.
We say NO to:
- the separated Oromia (Eritrean elites’ model),
- the federated but mutilated Oromia (Tegaru elites’ model), and
- the colonized and occupied Oromia (Amhara elites’ model).
We say YES to our own beneficial path of sovereignty—either by forging Orompia (an Oromic-led ethnic federation) or by fostering Oropia (an Oromic-led geo-federation).
Amhara elites seek to erase Oromia; Tegaru elites have already mutilated it from its historic expanse to today’s reduced size; and Eritrean elites aim to dismantle Oromia in particular, and Ethiopia in general, into fragments.
Read more: https://orompia.wordpress.com/2017/06/1 ... mos-way-2/