By Abraasaa Dirree*
The problem with people who blab a lot is that they don’t have very good memories. They blab so much and boast so much, and huff and puff so much that they can’t possibly remember all the blabbing, boasting and puffing.
This is the predicament the anti-OMN Poster Boy finds himself in at the moment. Devoid of courage to address the real issues requiring structural explanations, he and few of his cohorts resorted to focus on events – who did what to whom. As a result, the calibrated attack on the OMN missed the opportunity to help us achieve more accurate, more insightful, and more empowering view of reality. He and his cohorts were wrong in essence and in substance. The planned “knockout punch” at the time of launch did not materialize. The recent hullabaloo is not getting any traction. So, the Poster Boy resorted to non-stop whining with complete and reckless abandon, because of the following reasons:
• First, according to the Poster Boy himself, his recommendation to further delay OMN’s launch date was rejected by the Organizing Committee. So, when the majority voted against his proposal, instead of accepting the simple administrative decision, he left the Committee. If he left on principled points, one would have reasoned with him. Good people often disagree and part their separate ways. That is not the case with the Poster Boy. His refusal to accept such a simple administrative decision means “my way or no way” attitude. This is nothing, but dictatorship and anti-democratic inclinations.
• Second, he claimed that he did a research about satellite providers, and considered the options and made recommendations to the Governing Body. So, the Governing Body, based on the best available information, decided on one of the options (not the one recommended by him). So, what is wrong with that? Why this is a big deal? Is this not how decisions are made?
• Third, the Poster Boy has been kvetching, without providing a scintilla of evidence, alleging that OMN’s money is being siphoned by an individual. I cannot conjure his motivations for such outlandish charges; however, one thing is certain; he is hell-bent on a mission to kill the OMN – nip it in the bud – commit an act of infanticide – through nonstop, persistent whining and planting the seed of doubt in the minds of the contributors. Why in this world would any Oromo wants to kill the OMN – the only Oromo centric national TV in this wide world? For whose benefit? I wonder why the Tigreans should waste their money on turncoats, when Oromos continue to self-destruct, time and again – thanks to the likes of the Poster Boy.
• Fourth, more importantly the Poster Boy is whining because according to him his good name was smeared by certain OMN supporters? When a reporter asked him, what recommendations he had for OMN, he blurted that they should stop besmirching his good name and that those like him who left the OMN should be allowed back. Hell no! OMN does not need him. He represents the views of the past, of hatred, of negativity, resulting in the national shame in which we find ourselves in today. That is the legacy of the Poster Boy’s generation. While our enemies are finding new ways and means to keep us down, the likes of the Poster Boy of this world are perfecting the propensity for Oromos to self-destruct. Such are the leeches that continue to suck oxygen from the Oromo national struggle, time and again.
To the OMN supporters, you would agree with me that organizational maturity does not happen overnight. From birth to a steady institutionalization stage takes time. So, organizations – profit or not-for-profit – do not mature in a day. As they say, “Rome was not built in a day.”
As you probably know, at the beginning, organizations are not up to speed on governance and administration issues. As well most processes are informal – ad hoc, chaotic and inconsistent. Governance is not properly in place, and change management is not yet created. Fear and uncertainty is high as organizational values and culture have not yet been established. As people coming to the organization with their own unique personalities, it takes a while for soft capabilities such as social skills, experience, creativity, social cohesion, social capital, values, motivation, habits and traditions to gel with institutional culture. So, OMN is no different. It’s going through organizational “teething” phase.
Ours is further complicated by lack of experience in running Oromo centred organizations. We have been conditioned to take orders and obey our masters, so we carry some baggage. This is the mentality of the oppressed, which manifests itself in different forms, such as lack of respect for one another, superiority complex, lack democratic traditions, lack of Oromo centric bureaucratic traditions, what have you, what have you.
Moreover, when it comes to Oromo affairs, all lay persons present themselves as experts on everything. They all want to direct the affairs of OMN, and how the journalists should carry out their work, etc, etc. We have to learn to trust the ability and capability of our learned men and women and that they are good enough to do the job required of them. After all, these are the crème de la crème of our best minds. Let us give the leadership the benefit of the doubt.
Whether one likes it or not, Jawar is the face of the OMN. Through the “I’m Oromo First” tour, he galvanized the entire Diaspora. He promised. He delivered. That is what leadership is all about. Most of us believed in him and trusted him, and those young men and women supporting him behind the scene. He is doing the right thing? Absolutely, yes! He is doing things right? I don’t know as I don’t work with him. Moreover, doing things right is managerial issues that can be corrected through rules, regulations and processes. Some of us saw this as a generational shift, while the Poster Boytypes want to impede the inevitable.
Regarding the assertion that certain inexperienced young men and women are running the show, I agree they are young and inexperienced. Let them do some screw-ups; they will learn and grow from it. In comparison, what did the experienced Poster Boy generation give us? How did I forget –Listserv?
My final point to the Poster Boy: if you think that you have the stature to measure up to Jawar (I meant figuratively, not literally), stop conniving, and go ahead and form your own media. And call it OMN. After all, bickering and splitting organizations is the hallmark of your generation.
I’m also astonished at how some of the amateurish and substandard Oromo radio and TV personalities, who should not have seen the light of day in terms of style and substance, also joined the fray with reckless and complete abandon. One does not have to be a rocket scientist to observe that this is the manifestation of jealousy in its absolute form. The OMN made them irrelevant, and by comparison, they look shoddy, crude and unprofessional.
Finally, here is my unsolicited and humble advice to the OMN leadership:
• The issues are all about human resources administration. So, you have already dealt with it, and if further action is required deal with it, as this is an internal organizational matter, we don’t want to know the details. Moreover, organizations don’t wash their dirty laundry in public.
• You have done enough explaining, once or twice is more than enough. You have already admitted to certain governance issues. So, fix it. There is no need to repeat the same points again and again. All you are doing is strengthening the hands of the Poster Boy. Again, we don’t need the details, and all we want to know is that you are in control of things and that you are taking care of business.
• You have to understand and accept the fact that those who don’t like OMN will never settle for a reasoned argument. So don’t waste your time in trying to win them over, as they have different agenda. That is exactly why the Poster Boy sounds like a man who believes the solution to inequality in a community with only one cow is to kill the animal and have none. This is why he and his cohorts concocted and foolishly injected religious and cultural dimensions hoping to get some traction by obfuscating the real issue. The good news is that we are not that gullible after all.
• You have to accept the fact that you cannot please everyone. So, ignore the innuendos, such as the one coming from the Poster Boy. After all, he is not a member of the Board. He is not a member of the Executive. He is not a staff member. He is just an attention seeker, who wants to remain relevant in Oromo affairs by “crying wolf, where there is no wolf.”
• Finally, I know that Oromos believe in what you do and some of us sincerely appreciate your dedication, commitment, sacrifice and perseverance.
Long live OMN!
Qeerroo Bilisummaa Oromoo