Essential Steps for Somalia:

[Abu-Salman]

Society & Education

 

 

Most Historian as well as Anthropologist experts agree by now that Somalis, too, lost their moral framework and the associated hierarchy of authority through deliberate colonial policies entrenched by the corrupt politicians and the acculturated secular elite (for instance, local interpreters were given a more prominent status than traditional elders and the respected Ulimas or Sheiks by Italian Facists!).

 

Fortunately, a golden opportunity has now offered itself to lay healthier foundations through bold policies aimed directly at the root causes, ie the educational system.

 

One pressing necessity would be to attain Arabic litteracy as both a medium for accessing our rich Islamic scholarship and classics as well as attracting investors, by declaring it our official and educational langage (a status it already enjoys in many countries, including Djibouti with its increasing emphasis on adapted education).

 

Thus, the institution of the Arabic Script instead of the Roman one for Somali writing, combined with a total rethinking of our entire educational philosophy and curriculum would be a logical consequence.

 

In fact, most of us learn Arabic Script at our most tender age while reciting the Qur'aan daily through it; it is only natural therefore that the masses would gain unvaluable intrinsic motivation in attaining Arabic litteracy given our Islamic culture whereby Ahadiths or Prophetic traditions permeates every sphere of our routines, alongside Qur'aanic Aayaats and other Du'as or invocations.

 

While there is a consensus in the educational field that this kind of intrinsic motivation is key to learning, it also happens that Arabic is ideally suited for the phonic method of teaching reading with its regular spelling and phonology (a proven method already in widespread use accross the Islamic World as well as its diaspora).

 

That undeniable advantage would prevent the high illiteracy rates witnessed in the West, despite extensive ressources.

In fact, poor students litteracy is unvariably a major complaint from European Universities and employers, to cite but one example among many.

 

Some of the resulting confident students may then be acquainted with foreign langages at an age less propitious to acculturation, for those wishing to progress into fields where it is really needed (eg, Malay, German or Japanese may be more useful to engineering students whereas English would be necessary for the training of diplomats).

 

Finally, because of their self-imposed cultural inferiority complex, many African societies had dismal educational records, even under extensive foreign "cooperation, cooperazione or zusammenarbeit"; that makes all the more pressing our imperative to breakaway from this most nefarious colonial legacy (after all, almost every other country adopt its langage as its main educational base, eg Malay in Malaysia).

 

last but by not means least, we'd rather have a new generation thinking in Arabic than in English, as langages fundamentally influence one's thinking and paradigm, according to the abundant evidence from specialists...

 

 

Health & Environment

 

 

With Healthcare being a major concern both for locals as well as Diaspora Somalis contemplating to settle back home, strictly enforced regulations, training of cost-effective primary-care focused clinicians (in the model of Iran, Cuba or Chinese experience) as well as the concomitant establishment of State-subventioned "community pharmacies" for the delivery of essential generic medicines at affordable prices (this has just been institued in Djibouti) are also other priorities.

 

The recent sharp decrease im Maternal Mortality following, notably, the creation of Edna Aden's hargeysa Hospital on the basis of a cost-recovery system is here a source of inspiration (it however provides free emergency treatment of local indigents).

 

While private clinics providing secondary and tertiary healthcare could receive governmental assistance (in tandem with our natural international partners), the focus of our health policy should be prevention as to avoid spiralling, chronic deficits such as those prevalent in so-called "advanced countries", alongside disuasive and diligent enforcement of environmental rules (cheap manufacturing in Asia has much less demanding safety norms than those endorsed by the EU, with the still generalised use of toxic and cancerigen products, such as asbetos, in a various everyday products).

 

Again, it is as much as a matter of common sense as well as ethical responsability, that we should implement the strictest environmental legislation and enforce it unwaveringly, while dangerous substances should be banned altogether as already done by more responsible authorities (there was a retail chain threatening to open shop right at the border when the scottish local authorities disallowed promotional alcohol sales as a marketing strategy!).

 

Failing to do so will condemn us to bankrupcy as many Western countries are already experiencing astronomical debts, a worsening burden for the coming generations who will inherit a ravaged environment at the same time.

 

Simply put, ceding to lobbyies means defeating the very purpose of "Economic Growth & Modernisation" as countries such as China are now facing toxic water and air, droughts, environmental disasters and Hazards on a gigantic scale (in conjunction with more or less open unhuman segregation such as the caste system in India).

 

What is then the purpose of any unsustainable economic activity, especially in the light of our Islamic values?

 

Equally shared prosperity and sustainability are, in other words, what really matters...

 

 

Security & Self-sufficiency

 

 

With natural and vital resources such as water and arable land becoming rapidly the main medium-term security concern for governments, self-sufficiency and sustainability are the resulting promoted policies, albeit with varying degrees of urgency and sincerity.

 

Indeed, protecting our soils from erosion and desertification or our aquifer deposits from overexploitation and the associated salinisation become a quintessential part of our struggle for security.

 

Naturally, labor intensive and local agriculture instead of the large-scale, mechanised one is part of the solution as it optimises efficiency and reduces pollution (agriculture is a major source of multiform pollution).

 

The Cuban urban, organic agriculture model is well worth consideration here; so too are other innovative policies intended to maximise production on limited superficies while dispensing with chemicals and unnecessary fuel usage.

 

Promoting a light, indigenous armament industry foir sel-defence purposes, such as the model followed by Sudan, is also important, while national military service would prove to be an excellent fitness-promoting way to foster cohesion, patriotism and inculcate desperately needed civic values, through civilian infrastructure building for instance...

 

 

 

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Any more suggestion for our beloved leaders fellow nomads?

[Abu-Salman]

With a general consensus on foundamental Educational reforms now established and partly implemented in Djibouti, one could notice our innumerable similitudes with the previous Somali acculturation to Italian culture or the magnification of everything British in our Woqooyi-galbeed or "Somaliland".

 

Could there be anything worse than acculturation to incompatible, foreign paradigms for an Islamic society?

 

To be fair, the following opinion (written in French) seems oblivious of the governement numerous initiatives, as the principal resistance against linguistic and educational change comes from the masses, while the switch from French to English is hardly the most natural or logical conclusion; yet, some quite relevant are underlined:

 

 

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POINT OF VIEW: What is the Use of French in Djibouti?, By Ahmed Ibrahim

 

 

 

At the Djibouti meeting of the Council of the COMESA Heads of State in 2006, an anecdote, otherwise humoristic have it not been for its official and particularly embarrassing aspect, was reported. Eyewitnesses indicated that on the eve of the meeting, the organizing committee and preparation was proud of a job well done as well as the diligence of its employees. Everything have been planned in detail: from the banner on the wall to the working documents, the badges bearing the name and functions of the participants raised on the front desks of Heads of State to the content of the pamphlets as well as the subjects of discussions, this was extraordinarily well done and well cared for an administration little known for its organizational quality. Unfortunately, everything was in French; apparently, nobody had thought about informing officials of the host country that Djibouti was the only member of COMESA, which uses French as the official language while the language of the organization was actually, to be sure, English. Who should be blamed for this embarrassing farce?

 

 

 

Should we blame these zealous officials who thought they can do the work, prepared for by their degrees of Master in Management and Administration issued by prestigious French universities, or the system of Djibouti and its leaders blinded by a retrograde loyalty to an ancient metropolis, which, moreover, has left the area almost thirty years ago? Djibouti is one of these aberrant entities of the modern world with regard to its language policy. This is an underdeveloped country where the majority of illiterate people use their own national languages different from the official one. It is a country located in an entirely English speaking region. In fact, the closest country using French as its official language is thousands of miles away and has less and less economic and cultural ties with Djibouti. The obvious question is therefore: what is the Use of French in Djibouti?

 

 

 

An observer of the situation in Djibouti would be shocked by the slackness and indifference of the leaders of Djibouti regarding the language policy of the country. He would have been outraged by this one-way, almost boundless admiration of a minority elite, dedicated to everything that is French: it thinks, lives and breathes in French, it surpasses itself in its flawless mimicry of French mannerism and uphold exclusively French education and diplomas that decorate walls and are worn as badges of honor and quality. Its routine is rythmed by the vagaries of a Parisian political system which fascinates it at the limits of immoderation; it devours daily and diligently French papers, the kind of "Le Monde" or "Liberation" etc. There is an unbridgeable rift between the reality of the average Djiboutian and the local elite who ruled the country from air conditioned offices. In addition to that, the Djiboutian administration is frozen as bequeathed by France in 1977. The only newspaper in the country, and a governmental one, is issued as in colonial times: in French. Let's remember also that the majority of the population is illiterate, and what is more does not understand French;the schooling system, for its part, remains a vestige of that left by France: French assured from nursery school to university; the administration, too, conducts its business in French, as in colonial times.

 

 

 

For example, a nomad woman from the area of Ali-Sabieh who wants to register the birth of his child must do so in French, although the latter and his family can not distinguish that language from Serbo-Croatian. Worse, the news agency and the government releases destined to its people are delivered in a language which the majority are utterly ignorant of: the official journal of the Republic as well as all the official records of the state are both written in French. the national radio and television have both French as their main and official language while national langages such as the Somali, Afar and Arabic are relegated to subordinate annexes. With the administration being French-speaking, websites and external facades of the country are first displayed in French. It is difficult to ignore the height of this aberration, reached when the country's leaders and other members of the government communicate with their people in a foreign language. In that respect and on many occasions, the prime minister of the country adress his citizens mainly in French, even when his audience are Goubeto nomads to whom French is as foreign as Mandarin. Ministers and officials regularly appear in television and radio news speaking in French, with translation into Somali, Afar and Arabic, while 90% of their audience and constituents are ignorant of that langage.

 

 

 

It is thus in these circumstances that we ought to reiterate our main question: how is the French useful in Djibouti? Before answering, let us first consider the economic and cultural situation of our country. Djibouti is an Muslim, Arab country with Somali, Afar and Arabic cultures. Our moeurs, our social framework and thoughts are the product of an anchor in a region that shares nothing with a European, Western and Christian France, located at our antipodes. French conveys and imposes a way of being and a lifestyle totally alien to us. Moreover, a Djibouti isnpired by a Parisian newspaper is disconnected from the one who takes his cues from the sermon of the Imam at the local mosque or a discussion with a nomad from the Grand Bara. Films, news and programs from the Djiboutian television convey in general exogenous lifestyles and ways of thinking. It is therefore unequivocally clear that the answer to the question could only be that from a cultural point of view, the French langage in Djibouti is anachronistic and a relic of the colonial era that do more harm and injury than benefits to the Djiboutian social fabric.

 

 

 

Therefore, let's reiterate the question of what is the use of French in Djibouti. Once more, before answering this question, let's focus on the economic and developmental ambitions of Djibouti. Firstly, our country has set itself the goal of becoming the Singapore of the Horn of Africa; this is commendable and welcome. To achieve this, our greatest asset are the port and airport of Djibouti, managed by companies based in the Arabian Gulf with English as their main working language, followed by Arabic; moreover, our first client and supplier is the Ethiopian giant, who, for his part, uses English as well as Amharic. Yet, our potential customers and economic zone include Somalia, Sudan, Kenya, Uganda, Rwanda-Burundi and the Arab countries; all this world has in common the use of English and nobody in this region use French. Therefore, it is clear that in order to trade and exchange in this English-speaking environment while being credible as an economic partner, we will have to think and write like them and communicate with them in the language of international business.

 

 

 

The surprising question that arises in the next part of this discussion is who will perform this task when the educational system as well as the functioning of the state of Djibouti are based on a language more useful to impress on the Champs Elysée in Paris than to explain to a shopkeeper in Kampala, Nairobi and Hargeisa that Djibouti is an excellent option for their business. Thus, it is long overdue that our country becomes adults and get rid of this typical complex of Africans colonized by France. In the light of the facts documented in this discussion, no one doubts that French is more a handicap than an asset in Djibouti. It is a net disadvantage to the development of the country and it has crippled its regional integration. Culturally, it is also a danger as far as it contributes to the linguistic creolization of the country and the marginalization of the masses who for one reason or another does not work in French; likewise, it cuts the administration off the people it serves.

 

 

 

Therefore Djibouti must develop a comprehensive project to reform the state and education so that the country can take the path of linguistic and cultural revival. The road has once be taken by Algeria and Rwanda is in the process of following it today. Thought should be given about promoting Arabic, Somali and Afar as official languages, with English as workplace and education language. French should thus be relegated to the status of a tertiary language, just like Spanish and Chinese.

[Abu-Salman]

Seeking foreign ideologies with blatant incoherencies has imposed untold suffering on the masses accross continents, on even greater scales than within the societies that helped propagate them.

 

Any concrete propositions from our Sol regulars on how to attain that Authentically Islamic Society, whose social cohesion and self-sufficiency is maintained with the highest Ethical standards and self-imposed Frugality?

[BOB]

Abu-Salman

 

Good article and a great read...I like the fact that we openly ACCEPT that western ideoligies FAILED us and we also realize that the colonialists set us up for this to happen, they poisoned and currupted the shining lights of the land and in the end left us with polluted minds that were brainwashed beyond belief and I was heart broken when an old uncle of mine told me that SYL were as corrupt as any warlord we’ve had over the years.

 

 

^^^but before that…how can we get rid of these latest warlords who use and abuse the Sharia and above all who drag the pious name of Islam to the gutter?

 

Subhannah-Allah...to say I am angry at these latest clowns is understatement…their intention is ONLY to bring back the bloody xabashida and then as usual they will run faster than road runner.

 

Waxaa calool xumo iyo nasiib darro ah in waddan dhan laga waayo shaqsi daacad ah Subahan-Allah…how can that be possible? Maxaa loo waayay qof aan qabiil iyo qurun aan wadan oo saafi ah? Surely we must have at least one person who cares about the poor, the old, the women, the orpahned children…some one who KNOWS the benefit of being ONE rather than countless clans oo aan xitta waraabaha iska dhicn karin…iskaba daa amxaaro iyo cadoow kale.

 

 

once again great read my brother...Thanks.

 

 

Peace, Love & Unity.