Nice. And some want this country to be like Afghanistan where girls are denied school and the like.

Somalis have money - multi million dollar real estate and malls in Nairobi - now that Xamar is peaceful - I hope we stop investing in other countries.

But but but there is another thread like this: http://www.somaliaonline.com/community/showthread.php/17071-Duke-s-book-club

Oh God! He's a bad guy - clearly. There is an international effort to apprehend him through naming and shaming. And yet yet critics come out. Give it a rest.

Interesting. I think logistics is a big part of the problem rather than cost. They use expensive diesel generators right now and wind would be cheaper in the long run and without the need to build a national grid but getting everything together would be a nightmare.

Not sure why we must go with Arabic names if we don't go for Somali ones (minus those associated with Islam). You hear of someone called Axlaam - why not Chloe - it has about as much relevance as the former and easier to pronounce in the west.

You're right Djibouti doesn't have much going for it. Sadly the elites don't give a damn as long as they get their cad. Ultimately you have offer people a better alternative to sway them to your camp and the Republic of Somalia hasn't done that for most of its existence.

Thanks MMA. His assertion that there is no harm to 'guess that someone might be female' is false because he already knows me to be a male. See the following quotes to get an idea of the low character of this individual Mintid Farayar;797429 wrote: Like you said earlier, young lady, the end-of-year stats will show the truth. In less than a week though, the numbers (Berbera 220,000 vs Bossasso 40,000) seem to be supporting my analysis, not yours. ... elpunto wrote: ^Young lady? Now you're just being an a$$. I would call you a young lady but that would be demeaning to them Mintid Farayar wrote: Gentlemen, The Point does not need your Amen corner. Let the lady answer my question on her own elpunto wrote: This is about as simple as I can make it. This is it buddy. I'm not going to waste any more of my lunch time(or any other time) on someone who keeps refering to me as 'young lady'. Mintid Farayar wrote: Secondly, I no longer referred to you as 'young lady' since you protested so strongly but rather as 'lady'. If that's also a problem, please do let us know - and why http://www.somaliaonline.com/community/showthread.php/25964-Bossaso-Boom-in-livestock-trade-brings-in-cash.../page6?highlight=bosaso+livestock http://www.somaliaonline.com/community/showthread.php/25964-Bossaso-Boom-in-livestock-trade-brings-in-cash.../page7?highlight=bosaso+livestock

^LOL - clearly I threaten you. And thus the sad resort to sisterhood. It's not an insult to be a sister but then what you're insinuating isn't that. Pie in the sky for 20 plus years yet oil exploration and drilling is.... Give us 20 years and we'll acknowledge it if nothing happens. Talk about a wailer!

Sad individual who keeps referring to me as a sister. You're only debasing yourself with that pathetic kind of talk. I have reported you to the mods. Be forewarned. Oodweyne, I warned you in advance. This is not Duke or 'mad mule' Xiin - you're dealing with a sister far more practiced in debate double-speak. She knows the pirate oil is a mirage but will go around in circles equating that fairy tale with the one area Somaliland has yet to triumph - the issue of recognition. Never mind all the far more important indicators of state-formation and representative governance existent in Somaliland - that will be irrelevant in the argument thrown at you.

^Oodweyne - my dear chap - don't engage in the clannish zero sum game here. Plenty of failing regions have and continue to produce and export oil. But let's put it this way - if in 20 years nothing has happened to advance those oil plans one iota - I promise I won't put on the rosy tinted glasses that you have been carrying for the last 20.

^And so does the delusion!

^LOL - you're not termed MACNO YARE for no reason!

^Oh come now. Wouldn't the odds be always better in 1, 5 and 10 years time on oil production over Somaliland recognition?

He reminds me of Oody in his long windedness. But You gotta search out the good with everything. The next step is for all of us to promote and strive establishing all the elements of good governance i.e. peace, security, respect for human rights, democracy, inclusiveness, justice, rule of law and transparency in all of our countries. This should be done while we are still staying in our separate, though fraternal, statuses. Then should come open borders between our countries. For the three of us that are self-governing, that should prove to be straightforward. Including the other two might turn out to be a bit trickier. At any rate, the three sovereign states should not hesitate opening up their borders to each other as soon as good governance in our respective countries has gained solid roots. The benefits of open borders are endless. Open borders policy is a practical stopgap that could culminate into a full merger between states. While some form of political sovereignty would be retained, an open borders policy will mean nearly full economic and social integration in the countries that embrace it. It will facilitate free and unfettered movement of people and goods, unhindered commercial and investment opportunities, easier access to inter-state educational and health facilities and other advantages that are beneficial to all. Just about the only thing that citizens of one country cannot do in another is the right to vote in elections. If this stage of political, social and economic development is reached—and with time proven to be viable—in all the Somali entities or at least in the three presently self-governing ones, then forming a political union of them as a single State is a feat that would be clearly visible on the horizon.

^Pie in the sky oil exploration? Is that more your hope and wish? Funny you should talk about pie in the sky - Somaliland recognition anyone? I'll give you this is pie in the sky when you tell me so is the quest for recognition.

^Ditto. This provides a better explanation of the London Conference than piracy, terrorism and failed state which Somalia has exhibited for some time now.

Brit tabloids/papers like inay africanka dhulka ku jidaan.

James Ibori, a Wickes cashier who went on to become the governor of a Nigerian state, has admitted fraud totalling nearly £50 million, said to be part of total embezzlement which could exceed 250 million US dollars. Ibori pleaded guilty at Southwark Crown Court to a series of charges linked to the theft of money from the Delta state and fraud involving state-owned shares in a mobile phone firm. He admitted one count of conspiracy to launder money, five of money laundering and one of obtaining a property transfer by deception over the theft of more than £25 million while he was governor of the region. Ibori also pleaded guilty to conspiracy to defraud, conspiracy to make false instruments, and one count of money laundering linked to a 37 million US dollar share fraud surrounding the sale of shares in Nigerian company V Mobile. Prosecutor Sasha Wass told the court Ibori had accepted he was involved in ''wide-scale theft, fraud and corruption when he was governor of Delta state''. Ibori allegedly used a false date of birth when he ran for the governorship of Delta state to conceal previous convictions as a criminal record would have excluded him from taking part in the election. Ms Wass went on: ''Mr Ibori tricked his way into public office. He had tricked the Nigerian authorities and the Nigerian voters. He was thus never the legitimate governor of Delta state.'' According to prosecutors he is 49, but according to the date of birth he used in Nigeria he would be 53. Speaking outside court, Detective Inspector Paul Whatmore said it is estimated that Ibori stole around 250 million US dollars from the Nigerian state. He said: ''The scale can only be described as huge. Vast sums of money which were used to fund his lavish lifestyle. ''The real harm in this case is the potential loss to people in some of the poorest regions in the world.'' Attempts will now be made to confiscate as much of the money as possible, so that it can be returned to the state government, Mr Whatmore said. Ibori, whose address in England was given as Primrose Hill in north London, was working as a cashier in a branch of a DIY store in Ruislip, Middlesex, when he moved to Nigeria and worked his way up through the political ranks to become a state governor in 1999. As governor of the state, he was racking up credit card bills of 200,000 US dollars per month on a luxury lifestyle, including running a fleet of armoured Range Rovers. He was trying to buy a plane for £20 million at the time he was arrested. Ibori will be sentenced at Southwark Crown Court on April 16 and 17. His wife Theresa Ibori, sister Christine Ibori-Idie, mistress Udoamaka Okoronkwo and London-based solicitor Bhadresh Gohil have all already been convicted of money-laundering. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/crime/9110265/DIY-worker-turned-Nigerian-governor-admits-50m-fraud.html

^The point was that prospecting for oil/gas isn't contingent on recognition or a corporation. If they want that to happen they have plenty of inducements to offer players in that arena. If you think that the murky finances of these entities can be easily ascertained and compared your handle shouldn't be the sage. For your information: Somaliland’s annual government budget is currently between 40 and 48 Million US$. Approximately 5 % goes to education, 3 % to health and 30 % to defence. Most of the revenue is created by the port of Berbera. (2010) http://pelastakaalapset-fi-bin.directo.fi/@Bin/4154d6177260f2255e72c6d504d23373/1330137376/application/pdf/270765/Somaliland%20CRSA%202010%20SUMMARY%20March%202011.pdf “Maamulka M**********a Miisaaniyadoodu Waa Dhawr Iyo Afarta Milyan, Teenuna Meelahaas Ayey Cago-Cagaynaysaa, Ma Naqaano Inagu Sida Lacag Loo Sameeyo, Sababta Oo Ah Waxa Caqliga Saliimka Ahi Garan Karaa Hadii Reer S/Land Loo Jabiyo Cashuurta Inay Dhaqaale Badan Soo Xarayn Lahaayeen” M. Da’ud (Somaliland official) http://www.haatuf.net/2009files/3355.html

I have started topics and contributed to topics by others. Have you contributed to topics started by others? Do you feel there is a dearth of good topics on SOL prompting you to start umpteen topics? Just wondering.

A/Y approved the 50-50 sharing with TFG. He didn't approve the particular company or its contracts. Tell the Hargeisa clan enclave to catch up with their neighbours.

^Not to such an extent as to lose focus on your own priorities. That was what I was getting at. Carafaat;794343 wrote: Indeed its a matter of perspective and from where I am sitting, Somalia is resturning and Somaliland is in the centre of the political debate irrelevent of its recongnition, real politics is played and clan politcs is history. Did you hear anyone mentioning clan sates? I'm not sure what all this means. I don't think Somaliland is at the centre of the political debate. Ngonge and others have shown why that is - and I agree with that. I don't know what you mean by clan politics and clan states. Clan politics will never disappear from the Somali scene for generations however it may be glossed over with political parties and the like. As to clan states - it doesn't matter. If a clan has come together - it should seek out others to engage with - to make viable economic regions that would be the base for governance. As long as everyone in that region has equal rights and is dealt with justly - it doesn't matter.

How is the status of Somaliland make it any different from PL? They managed to attract oil prospecting and drilling firms to agree on contracts without having a corporation etc. Might as well move on this issue quickly - all Somalis need non-aid revenues desperately.

STOIC;794333 wrote: You are right no one has monopoly to that heck just visit any SL site today and have a feel for the upsurge of Silanyo euphoria.Wardheer news editorial caught my attention with their bellyached importance on thwarting SL aspirations That is really taking your eye off the ball. I don't know why the focus should be on Somaliland. Somalis have a disease of looking/busying themselves with others to the detriment of their own business.