Saxardiid Posted April 12, 2004 more outcry! what shook these people to their core? I don't know. "oohinta orgiga ka wayn". :rolleyes: I M Lewis and Riyale group join hands to impair Somali Unity while the rest of us whimper in submission April 5, 2004 Markacadeey -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- An old nationalistic song which SYL members sung during the struggle for Independence recites: "Tulud geela oo dhacantaa toban-toban u laysaane ma dalkiinnnii o tagaybaa ninna dhagax u tuureeneh". This implies the current campaign by the secessionist group of Hargeisa administration coupled with foreign opportunists most of them British who try to play the colonial card to hammer the aspirations of Somali populace both in the north and the South. It appears that the secessionists are relentlessly raising their voices while the rest of us are inept whispering in despair (fadhi ku dirir). The role the Ethiopians have played in the mischievous trip of Mr Riyale deserve to be put in the limelight since the Addis-Ababa shepherds have been consulted before and after his visit to Britain. The rulers of Ethiopia believe in superstition they see Somali unity as bad omen for their survival-they are hell bent on recruiting the most notorious Somali criminals as their pawns in order to thwart any progress toward restoration of the Somali State, they blindly follow a hunch. Recently even Kenya which shared some of their concerns ridiculed their position and distanced away from the stereotypical nature of their decisions. The Ethiopians, the ICG, I M Lewis and others are working in tandem with Mr Riyale group only to cause as much harm as possible to the Somali unity and the well being of its people. It came to nobody's surprise that I M Lewis hastily produced his Mickey-Mouse article to the advocacy for the diplomatic recognition of Somaliland just few days after Mr Riyale's delegation left UK. Such a dubious undertaking on the part of Prof Lewis which has been concocted in the hotel Lobbies of London during the visit of Mr Riyale is doomed to fail, similarly all the newly assigned architects of deception and phoney image makers for the authorities of Hargeisa will have the same fate. I M Lewis's article is far from being a piece of work of a wise elderly intellectual, he went badly wrong in most of his assertions lacking facts and figures to support it, it carries therefore no credibility. Probably this is his latest quirks and foibles as the Professor gets older or maybe he is experiencing serious lapse of memory, whichever the case maybe, this campaign is the most dangerous adventure to misrepresent the Somali cause and falsify its history. Few stories cited in I M Lewis article prove to be self-defeating as he depicts the northerners as quislings of British colonialists, or perhaps as orphans of British Empire as Adna Ismail has conspicuously put it. He also depicted the struggle of Sayyid Mohamed Abdille Hassan as scar in the historic relationship between Britain and the people of northern Somalia, such a statement is tantamount to elegise the colonialism and condemn struggle for independence. This Somali hero and those who came after him like Timacadde, Barkhadcas, Farah Omaar and others who gave the British a bloody nose are considered felons in the eyes of Prof Lewis and his misguided friend Riyale as their aim to cash in from the misfortunes of the Somali people for a short term gain. Fortunately, History has recorded how the brave Somali people have defeated their aggressors and preserved their identity, culture and religion over the last 500 years and their national heroes are recorded in a golden page, these brilliant records in history cannot be altered by I M Lewis, President Riyale and their ilks. Prof I M Lewis admits quote: "Following the jihad, no missionary activity was permitted by the British, and the colonial office insisted that no action likely to disturb the Somalis should ever again be undertaken. This was of course in many ways a negative development. But it had the positive effect of making the Protectorate sympathetic to Somali interests." It may be clear to all of us that without the noble campaign of Sayyid MA Hassan our faith would have been seriously endangered. Apart from few exceptional remarks Prof I M Lewis article was a pure hogwash, it contained no practical elements as to believe this was a piece of work done by an anthropologist embedded in Somali society since 1955, moreover his instant panacea for Somali saga was astonishingly the secession itself of the northern province now called Somaliland. He asserts quote: "If as I hope Somaliland soon receives the international recognition to which it has long been entitled, I hope equally that this action will provide a new impetus to social reconstruction in Somalia" Interestingly his recent peace overtures suggest the way Nairobi conference was failing Somalis and that pressure has to bear upon the warlords who walked away from the conference to accept power sharing, By the same token he was hoping for the total collapse of the conference, which would raise his expectation that chances of Somaliland getting diplomatic recognition were several notches up. Let us sober people up and get down to the nitty-gritty, the recognition of Somaliland as separate entity can only come from the Somalis themselves, first and foremost those living in the Old British Somaliland protectorate in free and fair referendum (not in their totality as to avoid the dictation of one clan upon another but rather a proportional one), such an exercise should be supervised and endorsed by a Somali State, this is the only way the Act of union enshrined in the Somali constitution can be repealed. Neither Uncle Sam nor Uncle Tom would dare to take such an initiative, since it neither fits their geopolitical interests nor is worth opening the Pandora box of Africa, which will certainly lead to new waves of African dismemberment and relocation of their borders at a time the whole African continent is making serious efforts of integration; It is a wrong issue which came at a wrong time. Having said that, the authorities of Hargeisa knowing well the obstacles they face, are hiding their embarrassment for the recent visit to Britain and try to keep flapping about diplomatic recognition in order to secure their grip on the power, not to mention how they squander the scarce resources to pay their so called image makers and hoax masters. The Hargeisa administration ought to do more for the well being of their constituency and fight the endemic corruption that plagued their administration. They should create jobs and spend their scarce resources in the proper way rather than squandering for unattainable dreams and wasteful adventures. They should also concentrate for the betterment of their brothers and sisters in the south rather than being subservient of the Ethiopian rulers who pay no attention to their cause. Alas and alack,I don't expect them to heed to my advice since most of them are heartless mammon worshipers who do not pay attention to the common cause of their people, they are the likes of Mogadishu warlords in their moral standards, the visible difference though is they came by peaceful means albeit deception and badly rigged elections. My guess is these low moral standards in the Somali leadership will continue to haunt us for years to come even in the best possible scenario that a government of national unity is agreed upon and warlords are excluded from the highest positions. click for the full articale Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
