We must re-invent ourselves as a people!

[Som@li]

Thanks Chimera, I agree the whole notion of re-inventing, BUT it is easier said than done, how do u reach there? How do you change the perception and ideas of a whole nation crippled by over 20 years of civil war, mistrust , famine? How do address problems locally?

 

Some mention education? But how about if people don't get the chance to get an education? It takes years, if not decades, for a nation to see things eye to eye, to synch people to a common goal, but I agree initial steps must be taken to mature people to reach there………

 

You can show a rosy future to Somali people if they work together, but the biggest hurdle is how do you convince them to get there, to trust each other, what steps should they take to reach that goal/target?

 

We are all aware, the potential and economic prosperity Somalia has, but how do you get there?

 

Why do Somalis still stick with clan, knowing its destructive force? Because , many Somalis gain/lose things in Somalia cuz of clan; Some clans are still treated as outcasts ,because they were not powerful enough to protect themselves, that is the way it was for centuries, where the few resources are water wells, a good pasturable land , or few government posts, etc as Somalia is extremely poor and corrupt country, everybody wants a share of the pie, for survival.

 

Few years ago in a one of the Somali restaurants in Dubai, I remember hearing some old Somali “respectable men", some educated!, discussing and comparing two guys who held different high position in Siyad Barre ‘s regime, They said, Hebel A was a good man, clever, he use to take care of his clan, give money, cars, positions etc,Wax badan buu ka qabsadey dawlada, Guuryno waa ka dhistay? While Hebel B was strict, He was not a good man at all, He was N@cas, Doqon, He never helped himself or his clan, they all agreed! Why, he was not stealing and misusing the public resources.

 

Seriously, this is a serious dilemma we all face, we appreciate , admire , and harbor crooks, while we disregard and shun honest nice people. We must change the status quo and face the truth head on.

 

We need awareness, campaign, and grass roots change, to a system based on no clan, where every Somalis, regardless of his clan can join, and inspire to. A movement that will revolutionize the whole country, It may start somewhere, but yes, masses will have their suspicion, and may not trust it initially, we need a movement.

 

Ta

Concerned Som@li

[Chimera]

Good post Som@li, let's be frank; its dumb old men with backward mindsets that are the real disturbers of our harmony. While your personal story set in Dubai is very sad, know that there are also far more common Somali characteristics based on trust, honesty and a sense of community transcending qabiil found amongst us. A cousin of mine in 2006 went to Shenzhen, China and was spotted by another Somali there, they immediately connected and embraced one another as brothers, helping eachother out and giving one another advice about the ins & outs of the country. Why is that do you think?

 

Surrounded by millions of Chinese they realized their own common kinship.

 

That's the spirit we want to capture and let free in our country, for we are a nation that only constitutes 0.3% out of a non-Somali global population of roughly 6.75+ billion people. Yes, re-inventing ourselves is going to be a long and painful process but no country on Earth that is currently flourishing achieved that status with ease. There were civil-wars far more brutal and cruel than anything the warlords could ever inflict upon Somalia, yet those countries bounced back. We can change without having to be forced by an all-powerful government by invoking common sense and hope for a better future.

 

Somalia in the 60s/70s had what was considered a "miracle economy" and was wealthier than South Korea and Malaysia, two modern Asian powerhouses. Today its a whole different story. War is not an answer, it never was and it never will be! Those back home(and some in the diaspora) have to shake off this sheepish mentality of; I'm going to support this warlord, deegaan or regional state based on my stubid qabiil. They can't complain when shit hits the fan and a famine/war breaks out due to the dumb policies of the entities they supported, for you only reap what you sow.

 

We have to be fair though, and give credit to the vast majority of our people back home that live honest lives and are trying to uplift those around them, and progress the country. The real problem is; the forces of Evil are simply better armed and funded than the forces of Good.

 

If we take the example of a large Palace and use it as a symbol for the country of Somalia. If you have living in this palace; 10 doctors, 5 teachers, 12 merchants, a team of good-hearted Technocrat politicians, married couples with children, and lastly 2 corrupt militia-men with devasting military hardware. It's totally irrelevant that those 10 doctors would like to provide medical care, it's totally irrelevant that those 5 teachers would like to provide knowledge, it's totally irrelevant how far and wide those merchants would like to trade, it's totally irrelevant how many progressive laws those politicians would like to implement, and it's totally irrelevant that the married couples with kids would like to see their children grow up/play in a safe environment. For the Palace has been hi-jacked by two nutcases equipped with firepower.

 

In this scenario you have 2 corrupt individuals holding hostage the fate of 50, yet when we look at the civil-war we think its the other way around. This misconception plays into the hands of those that would like to keep us down for eternity.

[burahadeer]

The diaspora should start some kind movement for the long haul.We need to make workgroups,seminars,etc,basically connect with communities across oceans.Community centers must be poloticised to our benefit;step after will be cells in every neighborhood,aim being to reach out,re-educate,show wat's at stake & then ofcourse assemble committes dedicate leaders could come out.Yes the formation of a strong,educated,far sighted party.Somalia has the largest oil deposits in africa & infact around the world,could surpass that of saudi & iraq,natural gas & coal,livestock & agriland,rivers & savana;water is abundant underneath(rigs r abundant in peaceful regions);testament to our potential.This is not going to be a quick fix,rather could take 10yrs+.We have to start with the more educated,open minded diaspora;contact should always be with inside.More of us need to face reality & come to this forum.

NO TIME TO WASTE..

[Som@li]

People power is amazing ..Michel Martelly who was not a politician got 68% Haiti recent election, Somalis must wake up....

 

Som@li;709277 wrote:

 

PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti (AP) — Haiti's pop-star-turned-president-elect donned a conservative gray suit Tuesday for his first news conference since his upset victory as Haitians wondered how this charismatic musician with a bad-boy past would govern the country in crisis.

 

As he did on the campaign trail, 50-year-old Michel "Sweet Micky" Martelly avoided any specifics about how he would lead, but appeared as far as possible from his outrageous stage persona as he spoke of reconciliation with political opponents and improving the lives of people in the most desperate, star-crossed nation in the Western Hemisphere.

 

"I would like to say first that I have always had the desire to change my country," Martelly said. "I have a passion to change my country."

 

Many Haitians are wondering just what sort of change Martelly will bring to a country that is confronting problems on many fronts, including the stalled reconstruction from the January 2010 earthquake, a cholera outbreak, hundreds of thousands of homeless and more than half the population unemployed.

 

Asked during an interview about his priorities for his first three months in office, Martelly, who has never held office, dodged the question like a seasoned politician: "Our common sense tells us that in the 100-day period, we will barely have the time to build a small house."

 

Pressed for more, he did it again: "We are not going into specifics at this time," he said, citing a need to "surprise" people.

 

Martelly is best known for his wild antics as a popular performer playing "compas," Haiti's high-energy, slowed-down version of merengue. His shows — he started in the mid-1980s and reached the height of his career in the '90s — became legendary, for he was a bona fide provocateur. As the self-proclaimed "bad boy of compas," he donned diapers and dresses, mooned the audience, cursed his rivals and spouted obscenities.

 

But his outsider image apparently resonated with voters. Haiti's electoral council said late Monday that preliminary results showed that he captured nearly 68% of the vote in the March 20 runoff against Mirlande Manigat, a former senator and first lady.

 

Martelly had placed behind Manigat in the first round in November. The musician said there was no question why.

 

"There was a system eating at them, consuming them alive," he said of the voters. "The disgust that people felt with the certain situation has created the need for them to see things change."

 

Manigat wasn't ready to concede. The 70-year-old, Sorbonne-educated grandmother said her team was still looking into allegations of fraud. "You voted, and they stole your vote at the tabulation center," she said at a news conference.

 

The candidates were vying to succeed President Rene Preval, barred by the constitution from running for a third term. The new president must contend with a Senate and Chamber of Deputies controlled by Preval's party.

 

Haiti's electoral council said about 23% of the 4.7 million registered voters cast ballots. Serge Audate, an elections official, said about 15% of the tally sheets had problems suggesting possible fraud, including cases in which there were more votes cast than registered voters at some polling stations. Final results are to be announced April 16.

 

A lot of Martelly's support comes from the young and unemployed, who make up much of the country. Older, more educated voters often said they were turned off by his past antics. But he proved to be an adept campaigner, turning his lack of experience into an asset, just as he turned his lack of hair into a catchy campaign slogan — "the bald one."

 

Martelly's run for office gained little attention at first, overshadowed by the short-lived campaign of the better-known hip-hop star Wyclef Jean, who was declared ineligible to run.

 

Martelly, who usually dressed in bright pink short-sleeve shirts on the campaign trail, said his experience as a musician was good preparation for running for office, even if his past antics came back to haunt him.

 

"In music you want to please your fans," he told The Associated Press before the election. "But sometimes it's very controversial. ... In politics you have to be responsible."

 

During the campaign, he deftly depicted himself as a neophyte even though he has long been active in politics. He promised profound change for Haiti, vowing to provide free education in a country where more than half the children can't afford school and promising to create economic opportunity amid almost universal unemployment. But details were sometimes elusive.

 

"He said he will send all students to school," said Telson Elli, 23, an agronomy student at a university in downtown Port-au-Prince. "So I suppose he will have to raise taxes."

 

Nevertheless, the student said: "I'm very optimistic for Martelly. He has passion, which is a very important part of leadership. We want a president who is concrete, who takes action. And we sense that he is that sort of guy."

 

The son of an oil company executive, Martelly grew up in Carrefour, a section of Port-au-Prince that is now largely poor and run-down but was fairly middle class when he lived there. He attended a prestigious Catholic school in the capital and junior colleges in the United States, though he never graduated.

 

He worked as construction worker in Miami in the 1980s, a time when he says he occasionally smoked marijuana and crack. A few years later, Martelly found his calling — compas.

 

While news of his victory sent his supporters surging into the streets, there were skeptics as well.

 

Bardinal Daniel, a 37-year-old psychologist, said he was suspicious of Martelly's alleged links to people affiliated with Jean-Claude Duvalier, the former dictator who made a surprise return from exile in January.

 

"I don't know if he's violent, but with his people he could do all sorts of things," Daniel said. "Martelly isn't interested in inclusion. He conquered people with his music, and he got young voters that way."

 

Copyright 2011 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

[Som@li]

http://video.euronews.net/flv/new/cut/NS-110405_NWSU_100A0-hati_martelly_wins_martelly_supporters_cheering_E. flv" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen>

[Chimera]

Somali Marine fleet:

 

Trawler - $424,359

 

We need 10 of those = $4 243 590

 

Fish Freezing Vessel - $1,800,000

 

We need 2 of those = $3 600 000

 

The returns on such investments is enormous. The Tuna fish industry has the potential to bring in $6 billion annually.

 

Somali Agricultural Army:

 

Combines - $40 000

 

We need 10 of those to gather the bumper harvests = $400 000.

Farm Tractor - $20 000 - $30 000

 

We need 10 of those = $200 000 - $300 000.

 

Milk Cooling Tank - $2000

 

We need 100 of those to become a real heavyweight exporter of Milk = $200 000.

 

Silos - $10 000 / $15 000

 

The most important component of the post-Harvest period. It is estimated by the Somali Agricultural Technical Group that around 80 000 tons of food falls victim to bad storage facilities every year. That's a significant chunk of the Somali harvest that could be used for a less rainy day.

 

20 of those would be sufficient = $200 000 / $300 000.

 

1.7 million Coffee seeds = $426 000

 

Coffee plantations are a must for Somalia's fertile soil, which can grow anything. Its a mega-industry that keeps on growing, especially now that China is rising on the scene and its people are becoming more cosmopolitan with Cafe's popping up left and right. The figure I have used is from an initiative spearheaded by our Indonesian kin in Bali.

 

All of the above is roughly 15~ million dollars. The dream of creating a self-sufficient Somalia that is a heavy-weight exporter of agricultural products is absolutely within our reach.

 

To be continued.

[Centurion]

One thing that is making me very optimistic about our future, is the growing sense of Somalinimo amongst young somalis (particularly in the Diaspora), something which can only bode well for our hopes to see a functional nation in our lifetimes.

 

We are an extremely long way away from realising peace in our country, let alone prosperity. Prosperity is something that for now will need to be placed on the back burner. It will insha'llah soon follow peace because as Chimera has mentioned, we have much and more in terms of economic and social potential:

We have a manageable population size, many of whom (if we can get them back to their country that is) will have a Western education, we are in a geographically strategic position, possess Africa's longest coast line , we have potential for a booming tourism sector, we are gifted with significant amounts of mineral resources (incl. oil), and have an innovative and extremely entrepeneurial business community within the country and in the Diaspora.

What we are lacking is not so much desire for peace, but IDEAS for peace.

We need to be working towards political solutions for our Gordian knot: Clannism

 

It was during Siad Barre's reign that clan affiliation really came to prominence as the political currency, in those days it was very much about individual clans vying for power and economic advantage (particularly towards the end of his time in power)- an atmosphere that lead to obscene levels of corruption, nepotism and paved the way for the atricious acts of violence that riddled his downfall and the bloody chaos that followed.

 

In the 20 years this civil war has been raging on for, clannism has firmly established itself as our preferred tool of perpetual self-torment. It has lead to an endemic atmosphere of distrust amongs the older generations, and foiled all attempts to rescue us from our stagnation (as demonstrated by nearly 20 years of failed peace initiatives and feeble attempts at inclusive governments). It has made it impossible for our "politicians" to work together for a common good (something which involves empathy, compromise and acceptance of authority- concepts incompatible with clannism) in order to reach a political solution that can lead to even a semblance of peace and unity. It has also opened the back door for unhinged (don't mind the pun!) groups like the Al-Shabaab.

 

Clannism is not something we can rid ourselves of; we will never be able to completely remove it from our politics- it is too deeply rooted an aspect of of our society. The only thing we can do and should be doing, is coming up with ways to marginalise its influence on government, in medieval Europe it was the seperation of church and state, its about time that in 21st century Somalia we see seperation of clan and state.

 

We need to nurture this growing sense of Somalinimo in our youth, and hopefully it will bear fruit and result in something along the line of the Arab awakening we are witnessing at the moment; a popular uprising lead by our younger generations to kick start genuine attempts at reconciliation and the creation of a constitution which severely contrains the impact of clannism.

 

These are the pre-requisites for peace and prosperity, and the kind of Somalia Chimera and the rest of us dream about.

[Somalina]

Chimera, I thought you might like this.

 

 

[Somalina]

 

 

 

 

Great vision by Eng Hashim Abdalla

[Chimera]

Very interesting post brother Centurion, welkom terug! I will give a more suitable reply when I find the time Insha-allah!

 

Somalina, that's more like it. Though its highly unlikely Engineer Hashim has the resources to realise that project, the Somali people however as a whole can achieve similar and far greater projects if only "progressing" was as popular as the things that hold us back.

 

"Horumar" should be our national motto, that is if we cared about the younger generations currently growing up, or given birth to.

[Alpha Blondy]

There is nothing to re-invent. change is inevitable. adam embrace change, stop lulling over the glorious past.

[Mohammed]

Alpha Blondy;713803 wrote:

There is nothing to re-invent. change is inevitable. adam embrace change, stop lulling over the glorious past.

What a negative attitude

[Centurion]

Dank je wel Adam!

It is good also to see you active again, dont pay any heed to the short-sighted comments that some aim at you and your unfailingly interesting and engaging contributions to SOL- most of them have much less to offer.

[genius pauper.]

^^^ chimera,well said at most. but least you forget, we can attract no visitor at all, and by far, a tourist, many feel 'western'. so, at any cost ,what come may, somali should be left the way it is, and some time in the future something will happen, that will transform 'ourdreams' into realized goals.

hopefully, i dont expect anyone will ask me what that something is.

p.s. somalis are what we can define not.

[Nina Fox]

Inspiring and amazing post btw. We can achieve greatness if only we could denounce our clans and work towards the betterment of our country.