By Asafa Jalata, PhD
August 18, 2025

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Prologue: A Nation Without a State

In the year 2025, the Oromo nation—estimated at over 50 million people—remains the largest stateless nation in the world. Out of 193 United Nations member states, only 22 have populations larger than the Oromo people. Since 1990, 36 new countries have been born, and at least 10 more may soon emerge. Yet Oromia, a country rich in history, culture, and resources, is not among them.

This is not an accident of history. It is the result of a deliberate, century-long project of colonization, cultural erasure, and political domination. The battle between Ethiopianism—the ideology of empire—and Oromummaa—the vision of Oromo liberation—has raged for over 800 years. Today, that battle has reached a critical juncture.

This article argues that the Oromo people must fight for the rebirth of a sovereign and democratic Oromia state—not out of hatred, but out of the fundamental human right to self-determination, dignity, and survival.

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Part I: The Glory That Was—Pre-Colonial Oromia

Before the last decades of the 19th century, the Oromo people were sovereign, democratic, and free. They lived under the gadaa system, one of the most sophisticated indigenous democratic governance systems in human history.

The gadaa system featured:

· Periodic power transfer every eight years, preventing despotism.
· Separation of powers among executive, legislative, and judicial branches.
· Balanced opposition among five gadaa grades.
· Rule of law—no one was above the law, and all officials were selected based on merit, bravery, knowledge, and honesty.

Alongside gadaa, the siiqqee institution empowered Oromo women, functioning as a parallel system of checks and balances. Together, these institutions created a society that enjoyed peace, stability, and political sovereignty for centuries.

In the 16th century, the Oromo fought twelve butta (national liberation) wars between 1522 and 1618, recovering territories lost to Abyssinian expansion. As the first Oromo political manifesto, The Oromos, declares: “The sixteenth century’s so-called [Oromo] invasion was neither an invasion nor a migration. Instead, it was a national movement … with the specific goal of liberating themselves and their territories from colonial domination.”

By the mid-17th century, all Oromo branches lived under one gadaa government, later forming the Gadaa Republic of Oromia. Even after decentralization, various Oromo groups maintained alliances, federations, and confederations to defend their security and interests.

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Part II: The Colonial Terror—How Oromia Was Stolen

The alliance of European imperialism, Abyssinian colonialism, and an Ethiopianized Oromo collaborative class ended Oromo sovereignty in the late 19th century.

The Role of European Powers

European imperialists armed Abyssinian warlords to colonize Oromia. Around 1840, the British and French governments supplied firearms to Sahle Selassie, Menelik’s grandfather, “so that he could spread the seeds of civilization [i.e., Christianity] among the [Oromos].” Between 1855 and 1868, Emperor Tewodros launched genocidal campaigns against the Wallo and Yejju Oromos, imposing terrorism, mutilation, and mass killings. In 1868, surrounded by British forces, Tewodros massacred 1,000 Oromo captives before committing suicide.

Menelik’s Scramble for Oromia

Menelik II, armed by the French, Italians, and Russians, waged savage campaigns against the Oromo between 1868 and 1900. The bloodiest wars were against the Arsi Oromo, who resisted under their gadaa government. After six campaigns, Menelik colonized them in 1886. At Annole, thousands of Arsi Oromo men had their hands cut off, and thousands of women had their breasts mutilated by Menelik’s orders.

The Ethiopian army reduced the Oromo population from approximately 10 million to 5 million between 1868 and 1900—a genocide that history has largely ignored.

The Instruments of Colonial Domination

The Ethiopian colonial government established five major institutions in Oromia:

1. Katamas (Garrison Cities) — fortified settlements for political and military control.
2. Slavery — Oromos were enslaved, used as domestic workers, or exported through the Mediterranean and Atlantic.
3. The Balabat System — Oromo collaborators were given one-fourth of Oromo lands and Ethiopian titles in exchange for betraying their people.
4. The Nafxanya-Gabbar System — gun-carrying settlers (nafxanyas) exploited Oromo peasants (gabbars) as semi-slaves, extracting free labor, food, and tribute.
5. Colonial Landholding — the state claimed three-fourths of Oromo lands, distributing them to colonial officials, soldiers, priests, and spies.

As James McCann writes: “A key component of this process has been the movement of people out of … Abyssinia’s empire into the south [mainly Oromia], first as soldiers/settlers and then as landlords, administrators, and political entrepreneurs.”

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Part III: The Ethiopianized Oromo—Traitors or Victims?

One of the most painful chapters in Oromo history is the role of Oromo collaborators. Menelik used an Ethiopianized Oromo general, Gobana Daacee, to colonize his own people. Gobana, born into a Christian Oromo family, was forcibly Amharized. He preferred to speak Amharic and served Menelik as a military commander. Today, any Oromo who collaborates with the Ethiopian state is called Gobana—a traitor.

Mohammed Hassen explains: “He was born into a Christian Oromo family, where the policy of forced Amharization weighed heavily, permeating the whole atmosphere, affecting the family, their psychological attitudes and their whole manner of life.”

The Ethiopian state deliberately limited education for Oromos, creating a small, dependent elite disconnected from their cultural roots. Through assimilation, political marriage, religion, and divide-and-conquer policies, successive governments turned some Oromos into instruments of their own people’s oppression.

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Part IV: State Terrorism from Haile Selassie to Abiy Ahmed

Haile Selassie’s Era (1930–1974)

Following Menelik, Haile Selassie expanded settler colonialism, consolidating Habasha political and religious institutions, the balabat system, colonial education, and the landholding system. Most Oromo farmers became landless and impoverished, forced to produce food and commodities for their colonizers.

The Derg Regime (1974–1991)

Colonel Mengistu Haile Mariam intensified state terrorism. Mass shootings, castrations, burying alive, and rape became routine. According to Gunnar Hasselblatt:

“Men’s testicles were smashed between a hammer and an anvil. Three men tortured and maimed in this way are still living … When the Oromo movement could not be quenched by shooting or the smashing of skulls, [the government] came up with a new idea.”

The Oromo Relief Association noted that “the Oromo constitute the majority of the more than two million prisoners that glut Ethiopia’s jails today.”

The Tigrayan-Led Government (1991–2018)

The TPLF/EPRDF continued the same colonial policies. Thousands of Oromos were imprisoned, tortured, and killed for peaceful opposition. Amnesty International’s report, “Because I am Oromo,” documented that between 2011 and 2014, at least 5,000 Oromos were arrested for their political opinions.

In 2014, the government massacred over 78 university students in Ambo for protesting the so-called “master plan.” In 2016, during the Irreechaa celebration at Hora Arsadi, the army killed more than 700 Oromos and injured or imprisoned thousands.

The Abiy Ahmed Era (2018–Present)

Abiy Ahmed came to power on the shoulders of the Qeerroo/Qarree youth protest movement. But within months, he revealed himself as a continuation of the same system. He declared that the Qeerroo were “the number one potential threat to his power” and called them “an ungovernable pestilence that must be dealt with as soon as possible.”

He removed nationalist leaders, replaced them with loyalists, and intensified attacks on the Oromo Liberation Army (OLA). His government has:

· Imprisoned thousands of OLF and OFC leaders, including Dawud Ibssa.
· Massacred Karrayu Oromo gadaa leaders, including the Abbaa Gadaa.
· Burned houses and grain storage in rural areas.
· Committed rapes, extra-judicial executions, and arbitrary detentions.
· Instituted states of emergency, shutting down internet and phone connections.

As Milkessa M. Gemechu, a former member of the ODP, testified: “During a high-level central committee meeting … Abiy argued that the Qeerroo posed the ‘number one potential threat to his power.’ Many of us were shocked by this sharp reversal.”

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Part V: Ethiopianism vs. Oromummaa—The Ideological War

Ethiopianism is the ideology that justifies the Ethiopian Empire. It claims that:

· Ethiopia was never colonized due to Habasha bravery.
· Ethiopian boundaries are sacred and 3,000 years old.
· Habashas are superior to other Africans, with a “civilizing mission.”
· Oromos and others were “backward, pagan, and destructive.”

In reality, Ethiopia was created through an alliance with European imperialists and maintained by violence. Ethiopianism is a racist ideology that denies the colonization of the Oromo, erases Oromo history, and justifies domination.

Oromummaa, in contrast, is the nationalist ideology of the Oromo people. It:

· Places Oromo culture, history, and democracy at the center.
· Draws from the gadaa/siiqqee principles of equality, justice, and popular democracy.
· Promotes national self-determination and egalitarian democracy.
· Rejects the Ethiopian ethnic-racial hierarchy and settler colonialism.
· Aspires to build solidarity with all oppressed peoples globally.

As Molefi Kete Asante writes: “A critical Afrocentric awareness develops when the person changes to a conscious level of involvement in the struggle for their mind liberation.”

Oromummaa is that critical awareness for the Oromo people.

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Part VI: The Legal and Moral Justification for Oromo Sovereignty

International law and the U.N. Universal Declaration of Human Rights recognize the right to national self-determination. The U.N. acknowledges “the desire of every people to determine its destiny, free from dictatorship or control by others.”

Economist Amartya Sen lists five instrumental freedoms essential for human development:

1. Political freedom
2. Economic freedom
3. Social opportunities
4. Transparency guarantees
5. Protective security

Philosopher Martha Nussbaum similarly argues for ten fundamental capabilities, including life, bodily health, bodily integrity, senses and imagination, emotions, practical reason, affiliation, play, and control over one’s environment.

The Ethiopian colonial state has denied the Oromo people all of these freedoms and capabilities. The Oromo are systematically deprived of:

· The right to life and security.
· The right to education, health, and economic development.
· The right to political expression and organization.
· The right to their culture, language, and history.
· The right to own land and resources.
· The right to dignity and respect.

Therefore, the Oromo people are morally and legally justified in fighting for their sovereignty.

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Part VII: The Path Forward—Why the Struggle Must Continue

The Oromo national movement, led by the OLF and the OLA, has achieved the ideological victory of Oromummaa. The OLA is intensifying the guerrilla struggle to liberate Oromia. But the movement faces enormous challenges:

· The neo-nafxanya government has allied with Amhara regional forces, Fano terrorists, Somali forces, and Eritrean soldiers to crush the OLA.
· The government is massacring civilians, burning villages, and destroying livelihoods.
· Oromo youth are being killed, imprisoned, or forced to flee abroad.

What must be done?

1. Build National Organizational Capacity — integrate political and military activities to create a strong, unified movement.
2. Support the OLA — provide logistics, knowledge, human power, and financial resources.
3. Educate and Mobilize — spread Oromummaa ideology in Oromia and the diaspora.
4. Join the Struggle — Oromo youth must join the OLF and OLA rather than become mercenaries for the colonial state or flee abroad.
5. Build Civic Institutions — create schools, media, health systems, and economic cooperatives that serve the Oromo people.
6. Form Alliances — build solidarity with other oppressed nations in Ethiopia and globally.

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Conclusion: The Rebirth of Oromia Is Inevitable

The Oromo people have survived genocide, slavery, cultural destruction, and state terrorism for over a century. They have maintained their identity, their language, and their dream of freedom. The current generation stands on the shoulders of countless heroes who paid the ultimate price for Oromo liberation.

The Ethiopian Empire—whether under Menelik, Haile Selassie, Mengistu, the TPLF, or Abiy—has proven incapable of reforming itself. Ethiopianism is a dying ideology, and Oromummaa is the rising sun.

As Asafa Jalata concludes: “The Oromo people deserve popular sovereignty, statehood, egalitarian democracy, and membership in the U.N. to restore their human freedoms and build their capabilities to achieve security, peace, and sustainable development.”

The question is no longer whether Oromia will be free, but when—and at what cost. The Oromo people have paid enough. The time for freedom is now.

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“Might is right” in the capitalist world system. But the might of a united, determined, and conscious people is the mightiest of all.

This article is dedicated to all Oromo martyrs who gave their lives for the dream of a sovereign and democratic Oromia—and to the OLA fighters who continue the struggle today.

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References Available Upon Request

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About the Author: Dr. Asafa Jalata is a renowned Oromo scholar and sociologist whose work focuses on Oromo nationalism, the gadaa system, and the struggle for Oromo self-determination. This feature article was published on August 18, 2025.