Govermentality: The Social Constructivism of Somali Pride

[Deeq A.]

 

The pompous locution of Somali Pride is a bizarre thought leaped into our minds I would argue. In other words, echoing arrogance and repeating the same phrases (Somali Pride) is an amusement to keep dying Somali men and women from knowing they are dying.

The true meaning of pride is to ‘’feel satisfied and pleasure because you have done something marvellous’’. I do not think that one could argue that the people of the Somali Republic and their subsequent governments (the civil and the military) did

something marvellous when it comes to governing system and social contract of the state.

I am not repudiating the individual pride of the Somali men and the brave Somali women ‘’feeling your own worth and respecting yourself’’, but as a nation Somali Pride is a collective state of euphoria that produces a lot of empty meaningless rhetoric ‘’we used to be the best once’’. Were we? In what comparison and in which way?

I am sorry if I hurt the feelings of some of you and went bit to far into this claim ‘’Somali Pride’’ – and I know a lie told often enough becomes the truth – we all need to realise that success doesn’t count unless earn it fair and square.

The widely fêted argument of ‘’No Somali is better off today ‘in political/ pride/ world respect/etc’ in respect of how the world viewed us before the collapse’’. This view is not as strong as one would have thought because of the acquisition of the huge amount of empirical sources on the ground, hence such an implicit approach cannot suit how heavily the Somali Republic depended on foreign aid since its formation in 1960.

There are evidences of all sorts of aid to the Somali Republic from 1960 – 2018. Wealthy donor states and international humanitarian organisations used to send food, medicine, and tents to the starving, diseased, and displaced millions of underprivileged Somalis same as the other least developed states.

It also became difficult for the Somalis to move away from the high level of dependence on foreign aid. The central government in Mogadishu relied too heavily on the support of the international community when it comes to security (Russia training and military equipment supply), humanitarian emergencies (World Bank and International NGOs), development assistance (Europe, America and Russia) and the full cover of the huge national budgetary shortfalls (see the national debt of Somalia).

If that is the case, arguing the collation of ‘’Somali Pride’’ and claiming ‘’No Somali is better off today’’ is baseless and I don’t think that is the case. I will rather argue that Somaliland’s overall peaceful nature, state-building, grassroots democracy, traditional reconciliatory, its hybridity of political order with least indirect foreign aid is praiseworthy. I will also argue that Somaliland is better off now than before. If one would ask how and why – empirically the sources are ready to elaborate elaborate bit further.

Mohamed Hagi Mohamoud