THE INTERVIEW OF MR. DAWUD AND MR. LENCO WITH OMN, HOW FAIR WAS IT, DO WE LEARN SOMETHING?
By Dandii Haqaa | July 18, 2014
Before
coming with this piece of writing I have challenged myself for many
hours whether to make it or not. I have seen both interviews with Mr.
Lenco and Mr. Dawud with a mixed feeling of how the interviews
were handled. After debating with myself for long I came up with the
following comment, observation and opinion. I have tried my best, not to
be emotional as well us not to take side, rather suggest what can be
constructive for our common cause. I, similarly, request all readers to
give rational and unbiased comment, so that it will make all of us a
civilized citizens, who can understand our long term common interest.
1. Background:
I
do appreciate OMN for interviewing our true leaders, who have been the
backbone for the success of our people secured so far and who are
selfless in contributing their life regardless of the challenges we
still facing. I also appreciate the effort of Mr. Kediro, though OMN is
still a toddler and hence can make mistakes. But we have to ask critical
questions if the mistakes throughout the interviews are intentional or
lack of experience. I would take it as lack of exposure, but with so
much curiosity. It is the responsibility for all of us, the
stakeholders, to correct any mistake and go forward. So I would like to
ask the following three questions, before making my observation and
opinion:
- How fair were the interviews handled both by the interviewer and interviewees?
- Was there any lesson learned from the experience of the leaders to the level expected?
- Was Mr. Kadiro a biased or balanced interviewer?
2. My Observation:
A. How fair was the interviews handled both by the interviewer and interviewees?
I
tried to compare the interviews of Mr. Lenco and Mr. Dawud and I even
questioned myself, is that good to be arrogant sometime to be respected?
But it shouldn’t be. As per my observation while it was Mr. Lenco who
was not a bit fair toward Mr. Kediro, like saying “go and ask the dead
Meles”, it was Mr. Kediro who was not fair toward Mr. Dawud in many
occasions, while Mr. Dawud was very polite from the beginning to end.
For example, Kediro did not even give the chance for Mr. Dawud to
complete his statement for the question he asked, because of this, we
have missed many things that would have cleared the dust. Mr. Kediro,
seems didn’t balance the reality on the ground rather he was based on
rumours going on in Diaspora. For that matter some of Mr. Kediro’s
questions were not correct, if not corrected by Mr. Dawud. Like the
creation of QACA and OPDO. I haven’t seen the respect that Mr. Dawud
deserve from Kadiro even to the standard of an Oromo elder, let alone
Mr. Dawud who has done all what he can throughout his life and never
surrendered to enemy camp and personal benefit. I also expected from Mr.
Kediro that he would have asked Mr. Dawud, questions like, “what do you
demand from Oromo in and out, to double the success of OLF?” as I think
the majority Oromo don’t question the clear objective of OLF,
regardless of the failures. Most of the time, when Mr. Dawud gives full
explanation and Mr. Kadiro loses, Kadiro says “mee kana achuma haa
dhiifnu”. This is not good practice and it was annoying.
B. Was there any lesson learned from the experience of the leaders to the level expected?
Yes,
there are some lessons learned, but not to the level expected. As I
consider these interviews will be part of the history from a horse
mouth, it would have been handled with patience and respect. More
importantly it seems Mr. Kediro didn’t consider the consequence if the
likes of Mr. Dawud who have unwavering determination for true cause were
not there, what would have happened to OLF as an organization. Of
course we have not yet fully secured what our people are dying for and
it is not merely due to the chairmanship of Mr. Dawud, but our
collective failure as a society. In general, we learned some lesson from
both Mr. Lenco and Mr. Dawud, but to my understanding it was Mr.
Dawud’s response that gave more clarity and directive compare to that of
Mr. Lenco. Some may argue this, but it is my opinion.
C. Was Mr. Kadiro biased or balanced interviewer?
As
per my observation Mr. Kediro’s interview lacks some rationality and it
seems mostly biased for the reasons I have given above, but I will
forgive him for now, as I believe he is learning gradually. In the
meantime, I don’t know if this sort of interview conducted unknowingly
or by intention. Even sometimes I felt if the interviewer is supporting
other groups who don’t want OLF lead by Mr. Dawud and it simulates the
interviewer with those diasporas whose job is to complain all the day
without contributing a single dollar to the struggle let alone do things
to the extent of our leaders whether it is Mr. Dawud, Mr. Lenco, Mr.
Galasa or Mr. Kamal, regardless of their diverse views. By the way, it
is the public and the history that will judge which one of these leaders
have more committed and scarified for our true cause.
In the
meantime, it is also the history that judge which one of thess leaders
mostly hated by the enemy because of their determination. When I am
saying this, I am not denying that each of them has his own failure, but
we have to see the cumulative result. Once again we have to question
ourselves, what would have been the fate of OLF organization if the
likes of Mr. Dawud were not there, at least to survive it. What
individuals like Licho Bukura did by surrendering to the enemy? Do we
support such kind of acts? Do we really support those of our leaders who
say organizations like Ginbot 7 have very good intention for
self-determination of Oromo, while some of them are bluntly saying even
using our language will distract Ethiopia? I will leave the answer to
the readers.
I believe and still support OMN with all resources I
have from its establishment considering it is for all us without bias,
not supporting certain region, religion, party or social sect of Oromia.
I don’t wish any Oromo leader even OPDO to be interviewed the way Mr.
Dawud was handled. If things follow like this, it will create a big
problem that we haven’t seen before and it will only benefit the enemy.
So if necessary, it is good to apologize the viewers and correct any
mistake before it is too late. Dear all, please don’t make mistake by
thinking that I am personally satisfied for the success level OLF has
reached compare to what we all expect. But my point is, let’s give them
support that is needed and take the responsibility to fulfil our wish as
our leaders have given all what they could and it is our share that is
left, thereafter we can question.
3. The way forward:
When
we are handling such interview particularly from OMN, who supposed to
be fair to all Oromo, it needs to be very careful; as such kind of
issues are very delicate in its nature and can create destruction than
construction. We have to appreciate and glorify our leaders particularly
leaders, like Mr. Dawud, who have done all what they could without
compromising for their personal benefit from young age to old age. They
also need to be challenged for any failures happened, but in a very
respectful manner, so that we can learn from them. This will encourage
the young generation to follow the footstep of such a leader. It is also
undeniable that these kinds of leaders created the “qube” generation we
are boosting of today. Again I am not saying there is no failure.
Make
no mistake about the general truth that, if all Oromo as a society
would have been successful, few leaders from the society may not have
failed.
Once again, OMN has to be very careful while
handling such kind of political related interviews with any Oromo
leaders, as it can easily go out of control and aggravate division which
was the cancer for our unity so far. Please understand, I am not saying
our leaders shouldn’t be challenged, but I am saying they should be
handled in a proper manner. We should not repeat the mistakes happened
in the past, but learn from them, invite all talented Oromo future
leaders from across Oromia, across religion and region to debate and
shape our future. If we do that, we can understand each other better,
get more access to talented individuals, get clarity on our future goal,
minimise resource wastage and maximise efficiency, challenge the enemy
more, better understood and respected by international community and
dictate our terms that will give fair share for Oromians, whether we
want to live as part of Ethiopia in a true federal state or live as a
republic of Oromia.
July
18, 2014 (Al Jazeera) — A group of Ethiopian bloggers and journalists
held in jail for nearly three months have been charged with terrorism
for having links to an outlawed group and for planning attacks, a judge
said.
