SOMALIA: AFRICA'S PROBLEM CHILD?, by Prof. Said

[NASSIR]

SOMALIA: AFRICA'S PROBLEM CHILD?

By: Prof. Said S.Samatar

 

March 29, 2005

 

 

Editors' note:

Following is part 1 of a 4 parts article that Professor Said Samatar wrote on Somalia's problems some years ago. The editors of Wardheernews believe that his characterization of Somalia's problems is more relevant today than any other time. This article will be posted in four parts. Professor Samatar makes a strong argument that Somalia is a problem child of Africa. It may as well be the problem child of the world.

 

 

Memory seduces the mind , naively believing as it does in the notion of the good old days, when in fact there never have been any such. Still, remembering Somalis (of whom there may not be many) surely must lament the loss of their nationhood along with their dignity and, consequently, their becoming the laughingstock of the world; for statelessness and anarchy have become the synonym of the word Somali.

 

Although the modern outlook ranks statelessness the most primitive state of human existence, who, one could reasonably ask, says a human community must exist in a state in order to have happiness and dignity? Still, the urge to belong to a national community, to have a state, a flag, a passport and a corner of the earth remains a universal longing, and those who lack these are invariably the object of universal scorn. Thus it may be that the yearning for respect and for collective self-esteem must prompt members of the Somali elite to remember the past, the idyllic yesterday when theirs was counted a nation among the community of nations.

 

To judge, though, by the mutually brutalizing behavior of this same elite in the preceding dozen years, run-away selfishness, blind, unthinking individualism and unbridled, galloping greed stand in the way of the dream for the restoration of the national state ever being realized. Practically each and everyone of the estimated five to seven million Somalis is, in his inflamed ambition, inflexibly bent on having the top job in the country, namely the presidency, and if he cannot have it, he will not hesitate to visit ruination on everyone, including immediate members of his own kin. Thus did Siad Barre used to boast: "When I am finally forced to relinquish power, there will be no nation left to govern." In other words, he had decided long beforehand that when the time of his final removal came, he would ensure the ruin of it all.

 

How truly and perfectly he lived up to his word! Thus did General Mohammed F. Aydiid add a new proverb to Somali lore: "Cadyahow ama ku cunay ama ku ciideeyey," "O, thou beautiful cut of meat (meaning the national state), either I will eat you all by myself or I will ensure to soil you in the dirt so that no other can have you." He died in the attempt of eating it all alone.

 

 

The winner, hands down, though, of the dubious distinction of unyielding greed must be the elder Ali Geedi Shadoor, a parliamentarian and a wily-deal-maker during the civilian administrations. (More of him shortly). On the eve of the 1969 election, General Abshir of the police force and General Barre of the military were called upon by the Abdirashiid-Igaal government to detail the police and military units that would oversee and enforce the rigging of the election. Rather than consent, Abshir felt decency-bound to refuse. He resigned honorably rather than soil his hands in the blood of fellow Somalis, since the stealing of the election must necessarily have involved the violent suppression of the cheated. Mr. Barre, on the other hand, went along with the shady scheme with alacrity and enthusiasm. (It may be pointed out in passing that the participation in this crime catapulted Siad Barre to the seizure and tenure of absolute power for twenty-two years, while Abshir's honest conscience and moral probity landed him in solitary confinement for ten solid years. Such are the baffling ways of the curmudgeon called Allah!)

 

 

In this election Shadoor's seat was in jeopardy because his opponent, belonging to a rival faction of Shadoor’s clan, was out to garner more votes. Conveniently, Mr. Barre lent a helping hand by eagerly providing a military unit commanded by Lieutenant Mohammed Shadoor, the son of the elder Shadoor. The opponent was detained under trumped-up charges during the election, and so he lost; whereupon the opponent's close kin felt outraged by this bold-faced fraud and plunged a knife in the lieutenant's stomach, stabbing him to death. A messenger was sent post haste to Mogadishu to bring Mr. Shadoor the news of his son's demise. The messenger arrived with a heavy heart, terrified of the legendarily irascible old man's reaction upon receipt of the unwelcome news. "Mr. Shadoor," the bearer of bad tidings is alleged to have said, "I have good news and I have bad."

"Before telling either news," Shadoor interrupted impatiently, "I want to know whether the seat is secured."

"Yes," said the messenger, "The seat is secured. And that is the good news. "The bad news, though," he continued, "is that your son has been stabbed to death while protecting your seat." The old man jovially dismissed the trembling messenger with the rider:

"As long as the seat is secure, no problem. I cannot afford to lose the seat, but I can afford to lose the son, because I can always make another son." Can anyone imagine what kind of society it is that a father would casually and gladly sacrifice his son for a seat in parliament! The insane greed of it all must indeed be sobering to any Somali, if he/she thinks at all.

 

AN APOLOGY TO MESFIN WOLDE-MARIAM

 

To return to the business of memory, some thirty years ago, shortly after the Ethio-Somali war over the Ogad1nya , an Ethiopian scholar, Mesfin Wolde-Mariam, put out a work entitled: Somalia: the Problem Child of Africa. The title serves to indicate the savagery and incivility of the attack: among other intemperate vituperative flings, Somalis are lambasted as latter-day Hitlerians. Moved equally by an urge to justly set the record straight and by a nationalistic itch for my then beloved Somalia, I attempted a counterattack, which was published in a book on African boundary problems. I chided Mesfin for lapsing into an unedifying name-calling, a deplorable yelp that was unworthy of his established reputation as a scholar of considerable erudition, integrity and intellectual reach. The chiding may be worth reproducing:

 

 

That the Horn of Africa is in the grip of a deadly dilemma may be gauged from the fact that Ethiopia's latest official response to Somali grievance is... a shrill diatribe in which the Somali are berated, among other things, as "tough-minded criminals" and "obsess[ed] freaks." The alleged author of this sad tract is none other than Mesfin Wolde-Mariam, a man of considerable intelligence and erudition who had put out an earlier monograph on the Ethio-Somali conflict in 1964.

Though written from the Ethiopian standpoint at a time when the two countries had fought a nasty little war and were consequently trading mutual abuse and insults through the radio and press, the earlier work nevertheless commends itself for its tone of restraint and even, on occasion, bold and constructive ideas. One therefore wonders what impelled the previously temperate and reasonable Mesfin to produce the the ranting hysteria of the later pamphlet's date and place of publication: 1997 (Addis Ababa).

 

The Addis Ababa of that year was not a place for temperate or cool heads. It was then that a brutal military junta known as the Dergue, in a bid to foist its legitimacy on Ethiopia, unleashed the the

notorious "Red Terror" in which, according to Amnesty International, Ethiopians perished by the thousands. Although no section of society was spared during these frenzied massacres, it was the Ethiopian intelligentsia who particularly suffered, subjected as they were to repeated Stalinist-type purges. It is the good fortune of the

Horn that Mesfin survived, even if as a price for his survival he may have been forced to put his name to a compromising tract.

 

More than thirty years later and the sinking of Somalia into the dunes of the Horn, I write this expressly to apologize to Professor Mesfin whose judgement of the Somalis as a nation turned out to be remarkably prescient and to the point. Somalia did indeed prove to be the problem child of Africa. Professor Mesfin can take little comfort from this, though, for Ethiopia itself today, riven by ethnic conflict and regional antagonism, seems to be lurching heedlessly towards Somalia's fate.

 

Said Samatar

 

New Jersey

[Paragon]

CAAMIR, thank you brother.

 

Samatar has for long been expressing his views as boldly as possible-though in somewhat lonesome position that is distateful to many unthinking, blinded minds. Although I may not wholly agree with his views, I admire his bravery to speak against the so-called 'wadar' that is Somali. This is the unchallengable concept that exempts one from reasoning and reflecting.

 

A better approach for us to adapt is that which takes on board opinions, whether supportive or critical of us, and then reflect on their validity or invalidity. And if valid make the necessary changes, but if not valid, let them be. Guarding ourselves against critical opinions has already led us to self-denial, hence our nationhood's destruction. Conflicting opinions always lead to societal progress. The conflict of opinion arises only when some among a society think rather than just follow.

 

Such are the baffling ways of the curmudgeon called Allah!

I object! This is close to blasphemy, may Allah forgive him. But I shouldn't use my objection to justify an unthinking over-protectiveness of 'somaliness'.

 

PS: Think!

[NASSIR]

Jamal-11, thanks brother. Prof.Said Samatar is a prolific and admirable author. His loftiness of endeavor in writing our root problems should be commended despite his shortcoming when it comes to touching contraversial religious tenets that are held in great respect, and the talk of which may cost him subservient position of respect. I therefore, follow the innate p oint of his views. It is amazing how his articles convey clairvoyant events. However, i agree that his boldness in conveying his views, regardless of their veracity, sound snobbish and at times self-ingratiating. I , therefore, put him one of highest concerned somalis we have in the diaspora.

 

When people reach at his level, they grow out of the clannish mind and start thinking of the salvation of our people from the shackless of culture and backward tradition that ruined their societal advancement.

[Som@li]

I object! This is close to blasphemy, may Allah forgive him. But I shouldn't use my objection to justify an unthinking over-protectiveness of 'somaliness'.

^^Is he a muslim First?

 

 

Profile

Said Samatar, Ph.D., History, 1973

Said Samatar returned to campus March 18-19, 1993, as part of the Alumni Scholar Forum. He met with the World History class and the History of Africa class and spoke with members of the history department. Also a guest of the Yoder Public Affairs Lecture Series, he delivered a speech titled, "What Path to Peace in Somalia?" He also spoke in convocation on "From Mogadishu to Goshen to Newark: The Sojourn of a Somali Professor."

 

Samatar is currently a professor of history at Rutgers University, Newark, N.J. Prior to this position, he worked at Eastern Kentucky University, Richmond, Ky.

 

A 1973 GC graduate with a degree in the history of Western civilization, Samatar completed his master's degree in East African history and received a graduate certificate in African studies. He received a doctorate in African history at Northwestern University, Evanston, Ill., in June 1979.

 

Samatar has published a number of books, including a series on Somalia; in addition, he has penned a variety of articles, professional papers and book reviews, and has served as managing editor of Horn of Africa since 1988. A member of the executive committee of the Somali Studies International Association since 1979, Samatar was also a consultant to "The Somali Experience" project and is a member of the African Studies Association. He is currently working on a project titled, "The Somali Collapse: Its Causes, Consequences and Context."

 

Samatar has participated in other notable professional activities. In 1992, he went to Somalia with ABC's "Night Line" with Ted Koppel as a consultant and interpreter as part of the Social Science Research Council Team's reassessment of the "Teaching and Study of the Humanities in Africa." Since 1983, Samatar has appeared on British Broadcasting Corp. shows for interviews regarding Africa, and has discussed Somalia on NBC, ABC, CBS as well as PBS' McNeil-Lehrer News Hour and Canadian Broadcasting Corp.'s radio and television news programs and CNN International. Samatar has been cited in Time, Newsweek, U.S. News & World Report, the New York Times and the Washington Post.

 

Comments:

"Very positive! having somaone authoritative both in experience and in training was very effective in communication with students and broader audiences."

 

"We had a very positive discussion with a departmental group. We talked about how our department can support and encourage more diversity on campus."

 

Source> Profile

[NGONGE]

I await reading the rest of the articles to make a judgment on the professor’s point. Reading this article alone does not give one much of an idea of the professor’s aim. The historical tales and anecdotes were interesting but, again, there were no great revelations there!

[Xoogsade]

NGONGE, What did you like to see addressed in the article that wasn't there?

 

PS: Taking the shortcut saxib, I haven't read a single line of the article lol.

[NGONGE]

^^^ I assumed this was going to be a political analysis of the Somali situation, saaxib. Like I said, since this is supposed to be one of four articles, maybe the other three are going to reveal the professor’s aim. If I were to judge him on this article alone, I’d say there is a lot of bitterness and disappointment (not to mention the frustration evident in his line “my then beloved Somaliaâ€). The rest of the story he’s weaving is very sketchy and, at times, pointless.

 

The way he narrates the story of Shadoor's election - a story that might be true; He’s a history professor after all – leaves a bad taste in one’s mouth and comes across as one of those oldwife tales! Surely someone of his undoubted talent need not resort to such shabby stories in order to make a long trodden and obvious point about the enduring decay of Somali society!

 

I find myself agreeing with J11’s contentions, though believe them to be a tad strong if they were made on the strength of this shabby and, frankly, pointless article alone.

[Xoogsade]

I got your point bro. Thanks.

[STOIC]

I read the profesor's article a while back!.I totally agreed with some of his assesment of the somali politics especially the inconsistency of the somali politicians.He came out as a realist to me at the end of his article but then i have to re-read the article one more time!.The article is elegantly packed into a tight wording that mercilessly convinces you to keep your euphoria in check!.I am waiting for the reaction of some SOL political section harridans since the professor touched on every segment of the somali clan!.

[Paragon]

I find myself agreeing with J11’s contentions, though believe them to be a tad strong if they were made on the strength of this shabby and, frankly, pointless article alone.

NGONGE, no sxb. I made the comment trying to encourage the acceptance of criticisms but not all those who bring them forth. I read other works of the prof., and have seen him attacked not his works. A topic of his is also in camel milk forum, I think you have seen it too.

[xiinfaniin]

Originally posted by CAAMIR:

Such are the baffling ways of the curmudgeon called Allah!

And alas, his writings mesmerized and captivated some imprudent minds! And the hasty praises are, indeed, unceasingly showering on thee!

 

In these unsettling times I find my-self retreating to the secured-bunkers of my faith. But yet again I risk joining that unholy club of unthinking, and blinded class!

 

أتيت حدود الله مذ أنت ياÙعا

وشبت Ùما ينهاك الشيب الهازم

[STOIC]

The abandonment of reason and an appeal to initiation of attack is the characteristic of your above post (Xinfanin).Is it fair to relinquish all the claims(considering that you have read the entire article) that the profesor raised about the somali politics just because his writting contained impiously irrelevant quote toward what we held sacred?

[xiinfaniin]

Originally posted by STOIC:

Is it fair to relinquish all the claims(considering that you have read the entire article) that the profesor raised about the somali politics just because his writting contained impiously irrelevant quote toward what we held sacred?

STOIC,

 

The answer of your question would’ve been a big NO, had the good professor had a point! A purely selective historical narrative from which he deduced that Somalis lack the restrains that are normal to civilized human beings, and through which he highlighted their (Somalis that is) beast-like political savagery is not worthy of the praises that it has been so hastily awarded, I thought.

 

When I couple his ‘pointless’ article with his sarcastic reference to the One I so submissively worship (I suspect you as well), I can’t help but wonder if we all cheer and clap for the empty looms of the secular mind!

[STOIC]

Human nature is not the genes which prescribes it, rather it is the epigenetic rule of inherited regularities of cognitive development which arises as a result of competing ego-in the case of the profesor's secularism!.

[rudy-Diiriye]

i believe this reverse! africa is somalis problem!

 

imagine if somalia was in a different contenient!! not africa where we are abandoned!!

 

i say gimme a break africa!! we helped when u needed us! but when when we needed u, u dissappeared!! execpt 4 few!! what a shame!!

:confused: :eek: