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| Last Updated: Apr 3, 2012 - 2:47:55 AM |
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Somalia is fighting for her survival
9 Jun 9, 2010 - 3:05:30 PM
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By: Abdullahi Dool
Somalia which is fighting for her survival needs its own people and many friends around the world. It has not been said without a reason: “It is prosperity that gives us friends, adversity that proves them.” That can only mean a true friend is not necessarily the one you see grinning in the time of plenty when everything is going in your favour. Fake friends see no reason to stick around after good times have dried up. They disappear into thin air at the first whiff of troubles.
A true friend is the one you gain in adversity or the one who is around when everything is going against you. It is a miracle by itself nowadays for Somalia to have friends or anyone who shows interests in the beleaguered nation. Nevertheless, Somalia may be down and with one too many woes but definitely not out. It is only a fool or a delusional enemy who thinks Somalia is finished and gone for good. Everything has an end and the long spell of crises Somalia had to endure will go away. We are here to stay. Surely our best days are yet to come.
Somalia may have been tested to the last wire. It may have touched the bottom. But, with the right stewardship, Somalia has the potential to emerge a lot better and wiser nation. There is always opportunity in adversity. There is also a lot of silver lining and useful thunder in our adversity which if read and harnessed correctly can benefit Somalia to the hilt. For starters, we have Diaspora communities around the globe from Seattle in Washington State in the U.S. to Auckland in New Zealand which we didn’t have at the start of the conflict.
Somalia too has gained many friends. There is no one more appreciated than a friend in adversity. There are also those who wish all our people to be shipped out of Somalia. Nevertheless, for a nation which has been tested so much, it is a miracle by itself to see a few new and old friends who have stuck with the nation through its darkest days.
The International Crisis Group (ICG) is an organisation which is gaining standing in the understanding and resolution of conflicts. However, in its 18 May 2010 report, Somalia’s Divided Islamists, the ICG assessment of the situation in Somalia was big on prognosis (symptoms) and little on resolution. It was like talking about the malady but little on medication. The ICG should not over diagnose the dry rot politics in Somalia. Clannism and extremism are not representative of our society. It is like trying to understand one’s personality through one’s headache.
Underneath clannism in Somalia is greed and ignorance and behind extremism is hopelessness. After all, extremism is alien to the very fabric of our society and a threat to our way of life. One of our most treasured nomadic heritages is the freedom Somalis take for granted. Freedom loving Somalis loath nothing more than oppression which comes with extremism and they will ever accept anyone who restricts their freedom or threatens their way of life.
The 18 May 2010 ICG report acknowledges that even the Islamists are not free from clan politics (constituencies). However, they are there because of the power vacuum and the absence of the leadership which can lead, unite, deliver and look after the nation. It must be understood that the scale of the violence in Somalia is based on hope versus hopelessness. The more hope that can be generated the lower the fever for extremism.
It doesn’t matter who is fighting over Somalia: there is no faction, which has the support of the Somali people. A mandate from the Somali people would be needed to fix and run Somalia. However, how much support the Somali public can give to a national leadership would depend on a number of factors.
If the key to Somalia’s crises is populous support then from populous support is generated political capital. Nonetheless, political capital is futile without ability because political capital needs to be spent effectively and prudently. Nevertheless, no amount of public support coupled with international goodwill can succeed without the right leadership which knows what it is doing. Nonetheless, ability on its own too would fall short if there is no integrity to back it up because after twenty years of mayhem, the last thing Somalia needs is a smart crook. That makes integrity and commitment also vital ingredients in the mix of virtues to resurrect Somalia.
However, ability, integrity and commitment alone are not enough. Somalia also needs a leadership which cares about the country and the people. Another vital ingredient which Somalia need is vision without which there can be direction. For that matter, Somalia needs the leadership with vision which has the capability to do the task and which can use political capital derived from populous support effectively.
Populous support is readily available when the right leadership comes along. After all, the Somali public desperately want Somalia to get better. The Somalis (in the country and Diaspora) would support any competent and genuinely national leadership which can use political capital to move things and to re-establish Somalia. However, Somalia is a nation deceived on one too many occasion and the Somali public shall only support when they see the leadership which can make things happen and which is not there to get what it can. Delivery with integrity would have to be seen to be believed before it is given tacit support.
Without doubt, the key to Somalia’s crisis is public support. Why no faction has public support is because the Somali people only see individuals who are hungry for power. They do not see anyone who cares enough about the people and the country. But caring alone is not enough to rebuild a nation. The road to hell is paved by goodwill. The country needs leadership which can take Somali nation out of its misery. However, nothing drives by itself and nothing comes by itself. We must collectively move the interests of our nation forward.
Those who care about Somalia can either over assess the symptoms of civil war in the country or genuinely come to the aid of the nation. It should be understood that mulling over the symptoms of conflict such as extremism will not solve anything. Nor would it ever fly the idea of putting in power one faction after another. International organisations can and should assist the Somali people to come up with the national leadership which can lead, reach out and resolve our crises. Unfortunately, Ould Abdalla who thankfully left the affairs of Somalia on 4 June 2010 was flogging a cart without the horse expecting it to move forward. His experiment was too much whistling in the wind. He should have known better. Ineptitude and incompetence are not the basis to rebuild any nation.
Without doubt, Somalia needs all its people who genuinely want the nation to stand on its feet. However, one of the biggest obstacles to solve anarchy and statelessness in Somalia has been the hijack of the endeavour to get Somalia better. International organisations such as the UN who wish to help should move in the right direction. They should help the Somali people find the leadership which can put the nation back on the path to recovery.
Somalia stands for a lot more than sub-clans, corruption, piracy, violence and the many more self-defeating man-made calamities. Organisations such as the ICG did not need to give so much credence to the notion of who is from what sub-clan. It is misleading to believe that everything in Somalia revolves around knowing one’s clan. I will tell the ICG what my sub clan is. My sub-clan is Somali! My clan is Somali and my nation is Somali! I have never met in any continent I have been anyone who talks about their clan or sub-clan. People everywhere ask and tell one another their nationality not the colour of their pants. The small talk of clan and sub-clan must end. We know how much we have fallen, but this is not a political direction we need to give to our nation. It should make no difference what clan or sub-clan a Somali is. What can make a difference is what a Somali contributes to his or her community or nation.
It is true that the world community wants Somalia to get better. But the right direction and the right help was lacking. The ICG is an organisation whose eminence is growing and if it moves in the right direction, it can play a pivotal role in mitigating global crises. They can for instance assist Somalia by helping end the hijack of the destiny of the Somali nation. Putting one faction after another in power is a concept which is going nowhere and because of this obsession, a lot of political capital has been squandered in Somalia.
We are aware that we are from a small nation of roughly ten million who could not look after our own. However, Somalia’s greatest political deficit has been the lack of the right leadership which can give a national political direction which can steer the nation out of its troubles. As if the basis to rebuild a stateless nation is ineptitude, incompetence and greed international organisations such as the UN crowned one faction after another as though rewarding them for the violence.
It is a mammoth task to dig Somalia out of the hole. And it was too much whistling in the wind putting one faction after another in power. Without doubt, the task to resurrect Somalia will take leadership with vision which can establish an effective government which the nation can rally behind. Somalia also needs to build a society which is based on one’s ability not one’s clan.
It should be up to the Somali people whom they would entrust the leadership which the Somali nation needs and awaits. Somalia shall need its able men and women to come to the aid of the nation and rally behind the cause to uplift the nation from oblivion. It is populous support given to a government which will blow away the cobwebs of civil war from Somalia. But only a competent leadership can transform public support into political capital which can be used effectively for the benefit of the nation. Somalia needs all the friends it can get. The Somali people too should fight for Somalia otherwise the country will be lost for good!
Abdullahi Dool
Hornheritage@aol.com
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