Somalia President seeks solutions in proper names

[Deeq A.]

Who owns Somalia is not determined by proper names

Onomastic interest: President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington.

Mogadishu (Commentary ) — At the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud yesterday propounded a theory about who owns Somalia. His theory promotes the view that non-Somalis are behind religious extremism associated with groups such as Al-Shabaab.

“Somalia belongs to the Muslim, but it belongs to the Somali Muslims, not every Muslim. We need to to tell our people that Abu Salah, Abu Ubaidah, Abu Qahtan have nothing to do with Somalia. This is a land for Jama, Alasow and Qawdhan” said President Mohamud. It is an attempt to pin failures of Somali political class on the Arab nation.

The history of the Somali civil war and the subsequent state collapse provides ample evidence against the national ownership theory President Mohamud had presented. Displacement, dispossession and reliance upon clan militias preceded militant extremism. In fact, political extremism resulted in the political problems with which Somalis are grappling.

The irony is that Somalia President, like his his late father, has a non-Somali name, if there is such thing as culturally rooted and acceptable Somali proper names.

What are the opportunities for identifying which problems need utmost attention of Somalia federal leaders? The subtle argument of President Mohamud is that a foreign ideology is being foisted upon Somalis. What is clear is that President Mohamud has concocted an implausible theory to divert attention from political problems that he sees an advantage over his political adversaries.

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