Op-Ed Archives – OROMIA TODAY

Op-Ed | Politics | ⏭

How Will Medemer Be Remembered?
By Kumaa Daadhii (PhD, Political History) Posted on2026-01-072026-01-07

Medemer will not be remembered by its promises but by its consequences. Branded as a "doctrine" of unity, Medemer instead presided over spectacle development confined to the capital, permanent war governance, economic unraveling, normalized brutality, and systematic evictions of central Oromia. The glitter of street lights masked structural collapse, while fear became an instrument of rule. History is likely to record Medemer not as "addition", but as "subtraction"—of lives, trust, justice, and peoples' unrealized potential.

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Op-Ed | Politics | ⏭

The Forgotten War in Wallaga: Why Atrocities in Western Oromia Remain Uncounted
By Yadessa Guma (PhD, Anthropology) Posted on2026-01-032026-01-02
1 Comment

While the world associates Ethiopia’s mass violence with the Tigray war, a longer and largely uncounted war has devastated western Oromia—especially Wallaga—since 2018. Displacement, repeated massacres, school closures, and the collapse of health services have become a grim norm, yet the true civilian death toll remains unknown. This article explains what we know, what we still do not know, why the suffering has been under-reported, and why an independent investigation by credible human rights bodies is now urgent.

Read More The Forgotten War in Wallaga: Why Atrocities in Western Oromia Remain Uncounted
Op-Ed | Politics

Gadaa on Trial: How Yonas Biru Turns Selective Ethnography into Political Prosecution
By Kumaa Daadhii (PhD, Political History) Posted on2025-12-242025-12-24
1 Comment

Yonas Biru’s “Gadaa is part apartheid” is not scholarship but a political prosecution dressed in citations. It announces a verdict (“Oromummaa is a lie”), then cherry-picks evidence to delegitimize Oromo identity claims, smear Oromo scholarship as extremism, and insinuate guilt-by-association with violence. The apartheid analogy is a sensational moral grenade, not a serious comparison. UNESCO’s recognition of Gadaa underscores its governance value, not Yonas Biru caricature.

Read More Gadaa on Trial: How Yonas Biru Turns Selective Ethnography into Political Prosecution
Op-Ed | Politics | ⏭

Injustice Always Produces Independence
By Kumaa Daadhii (PhD, Political History) Posted on2025-12-212025-12-20
1 Comment

Injustice is not a permanent condition; it is an unstable one. Where dignity, consent, and autonomy are denied, resistance does not fade—it evolves. Between those who fight injustice with clarity and those who preserve it through denial or opportunism lies a spectrum of hesitation that slows justice but cannot stop it. History is clear: stability is not imposed by force, but reached through courage, accountability, and self-determination.

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Op-Ed | Politics | ⏭

EZEMA’s Four “Core Problems of Ethiopia”: A Diagnosis Without Literacy of Ethiopian History
By Biqila Bariso (PhD, Physics; MSc, Cognitive Sci.) Posted on2025-12-132025-12-10
1 Comment

EZEMA claims Ethiopia faces four fundamental problems, but its diagnosis reveals profound political illiteracy. By blaming the EPRDF for an “ethnic problem” and proposing the absurd abolition of ethnic politics, EZEMA misreads Ethiopia’s history, structure, and lived realities. This article exposes why EZEMA’s worldview collapses under scrutiny — from sovereignty and rights to poverty and national narrative — and why Ethiopia’s future cannot be grounded in such conceptual blindness.

Read More EZEMA’s Four “Core Problems of Ethiopia”: A Diagnosis Without Literacy of Ethiopian History
Op-Ed | Politics | ⏭

The First Principles Violated: The Simple Truth Behind a Century of Ethiopian Instability
By Biqila Bariso (PhD, Physics; MSc, Cognitive Sci.) Posted on2025-12-112025-12-11

Politics remains the only profession where immense power requires no mastery of first principles, and nowhere is this more destructive than in Ethiopia. Identity is reshaped, consent bypassed, and self-determination denied—violations that predictably produce rebellion, collapse, and endless conflict. This article distills the political laws of stability Ethiopia keeps defying, and shows why stability, peace, and development will remain elusive until its leaders embrace these foundational truths. It ends with a postscript message to the Ethiopian National Dialogue Commission (ENDC), warning it against repeating the foundational violations at the root of Ethiopia’s instability.

Read More The First Principles Violated: The Simple Truth Behind a Century of Ethiopian Instability
Article | Op-Ed | Politics | ⏭

Erasing Oromia: How a Fringe Party Exposed the Complacency and Paralysis of Oppressed Nations and Nationalities of the Ethiopian Empire
By Elemoo Qilxuu (MA, Political Science) and Olii Boran (PhD, Sociology) Posted on2025-12-072025-12-06

A fringe party’s audacious proposal to erase Oromia and other regions of the oppressed nations and nationalities has exposed a deeper crisis: the entrenched complacency and political paralysis of the majority. This is not merely the aggression of a fringe party attempting to erase Oromia and other regions; it is the predictable outcome of a majority conditioned to tolerate the intolerable. Ethiopia’s tragedy persists because boldness from the few meets silence from the many.

Read More Erasing Oromia: How a Fringe Party Exposed the Complacency and Paralysis of Oppressed Nations and Nationalities of the Ethiopian Empire
Op-Ed | Opinion | ⏭

Why Oromia’s Future Demands Clarity: Independence vs. “Democritizing Ethiopia”
By Yadessa Guma (PhD, Anthropology) Posted on2025-11-242025-11-24

This article examines the evolving debate over Oromo self-determination any time soon, contrasting the independence path with the argument for democratizing Ethiopia’s federation. Grounded in constitutional analysis, human rights reporting, security trends, and long-term governance patterns, it evaluates which option aligns with the lived realities in Oromia today. The evidence increasingly challenges assumptions about a reformable Ethiopian state, raising critical questions about whether a monitored Article 39 referendum is now the most credible way to resolve the Oromo self-determination question.

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Op-Ed | Politics | ⏭

When Power Fears Light: The Parable of an Empire Half-Blind
By Olii Boran (PhD, Sociology) Posted on2025-11-062025-11-03

Ethiopia’s empire survived not through shared prosperity but through a half-blind fear of equality. Like the parable of rulers who preferred to lose one eye just to blind their people twice over, it clung to domination instead of development, coercion instead of consent. A century of brilliance was wasted on internal siege rather than nation-building. Yet a different future is possible — one built on voluntary partnership, equal dignity, and the courage to imagine freedom beyond imperial habit.

Read More When Power Fears Light: The Parable of an Empire Half-Blind
Op-Ed | Politics | ⏭

Peaceful Divorce, Shared FutureHow voluntary sovereignty + economic interdependence could turn Ethiopia’s zero-sum politics into shared prosperity.
By Yadessa Guma (PhD, Anthropology) Posted on2025-11-042025-11-03
1 Comment

Ethiopia’s century-long attempt to centralize diverse nations has produced recurring conflict, mistrust, and economic stagnation. A peaceful, lawful divorce — followed by a rules-based common economic area — offers a path to turn zero-sum politics into shared prosperity. Article 39 provides the consent mechanism; AfCFTA/IGAD/COMESA/EAC offer ready economic scaffolding. If one flag cannot deliver peace and dignity, multiple flags cooperating through open markets and guaranteed corridors may finally do

Read More Peaceful Divorce, Shared FutureHow voluntary sovereignty + economic interdependence could turn Ethiopia’s zero-sum politics into shared prosperity.
Op-Ed | Politics | ⏭

When Dirre Dhawa Becomes a Claim — And Truth Becomes a Weapon
By Elemoo Qilxuu (MA, Political Science) Posted on2025-11-042025-11-04

A recent viral clip shows a young Somali man boldly claiming Dirre Dhawa as Somali land — a moment that might seem laughable if it didn’t reflect a deeper anxiety and the politics of manufactured bravado. His claim coincides with PM Abiy Ahmed’s sudden “truth-telling” about Dirre Dhawa’s constitutional limbo — a convenient revelation used to frame Ethiopia’s port hunger and revive irredentist narratives disguised as historical correction.

Read More When Dirre Dhawa Becomes a Claim — And Truth Becomes a Weapon
Culture | Op-Ed | ⏭

Irreechaa as Ritual Repair: How Oromo Thanksgiving Supports National Healing—And Why It Draws Contestation
By Yadessa Guma (PhD, Anthropology) Posted on2025-10-122025-10-12

Irreechaa—the Oromo thanksgiving held at sacred waters like Hora Arsadii (Bishoftu) and Hora Finfinnee—does far more than mark seasonal change. Read through the lens of colonial/historical trauma and its inter-generational transmission, Irreechaa functions as cultural therapy: a cyclical, collective practice that restores dignity, cohesion, and hope after generations of political marginalization. The same symbolic power makes it a lightning rod for control and contestation by state security forces and rival national projects seeking to limit Oromo visibility in shared civic space.

Read More Irreechaa as Ritual Repair: How Oromo Thanksgiving Supports National Healing—And Why It Draws Contestation
Op-Ed | ⏭

When A Foreign Scholar Trips Over Authoritarian PoliticsA Red Alert on Foreign Commentaries about Ethiopia’s National Dialogue and Unity
By Roobaa Hawaas (MA, Psychology) Posted on2025-10-102025-10-10

A recent 'The Conversation' article by a foreign scholar lauds Ethiopia’s new dam and National Dialogue as signs of national unity. Yet beneath its polished tone lies a troubling detachment from Ethiopia’s lived realities. When foreign scholars echo autocratic narratives, they lend legitimacy to repression. Academic distance must not become moral distance — especially in a land scarred by stormy landscapes and rifted terrains of conflict, exclusion, and historical injustice.

Read More When A Foreign Scholar Trips Over Authoritarian PoliticsA Red Alert on Foreign Commentaries about Ethiopia’s National Dialogue and Unity
Op-Ed | ⏭

The Compendium of Ignorance: Anatomy of Amhara Pseudo-Elite Stereotypes Against the Oromo
By Elemoo Qilxuu Posted on2025-10-092025-10-09

Ignorance, when disguised as intellect, has long shaped Ethiopia’s moral decay. This compendium exposes how Amhara pseudo-elites turned mockery of Oromo language, names, and heritage into a badge of honour. Through evidence, reflection, and irony, it reveals that ignorance is not mere absence of knowledge — it is the arrogance that resists enlightenment.

Read More The Compendium of Ignorance: Anatomy of Amhara Pseudo-Elite Stereotypes Against the Oromo
Culture | Op-Ed | Politics | ⏭

Much Ado About Irreechaa in Finfinnee: Roots, Identity, and the Future of Coexistence
By Leemman Leeqaa Posted on2025-10-012025-09-29

The festival of Irreechaa in Finfinnee is not an invasion but a return to roots. It embodies the Oromo people’s right to celebrate their culture in their own capital. Ethiopia’s unity will endure only if built on equality and mutual respect, not cultural supremacy or denial of history.

Read More Much Ado About Irreechaa in Finfinnee: Roots, Identity, and the Future of Coexistence
Article | Op-Ed

A Reactor in a Tinderbox: Why Ethiopia’s Nuclear Ambition Demands Global Scrutiny
By Biqila Bariso (PhD, Physics; MSc, Cognitive Sci.) Posted on2025-09-282025-09-28
1 Comment

Ethiopia’s push for nuclear power station is less about energy need than regime vanity, pursued by a leader who weaponize conflict, neglect citizens, and disregard safety. With a record of atrocities, proxy wars, and environmental neglect, entrusting such a volatile state with nuclear materials risks catastrophe not just for Ethiopia, but for the entire region.

Read More A Reactor in a Tinderbox: Why Ethiopia’s Nuclear Ambition Demands Global Scrutiny

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