Professorial Vulgarity: Togane’s Fascination with Scatology

[Abtigiis]

The encroachment of vulgarity into the seemingly civilized demesne of scholastic kingdom is a worrying development which is a vivid reminder of the gravity of our societies’ moral degradation. This needs to be confronted if we are serious about creating a tolerant, progressive and cultured Somali society. When a whole holder of a Ph.D behaves like a hot-tempered illiterate vagrant, it indeed, invokes the wise words of genuine Somali Poets of yore, who in state of profound melancholy, wondered who would cure a “sick medicine”!

 

With poems that surpass William Topaz McGonagall’s doggerel lines in their shoddy hilarity and chaotic cadence, Professor Mohamud Siad Togane has been soiling the names of various Somali politicians, personalities and clans for years with reckless intemperance. The lowbrow professor, who is evidently a hostage to archaic Victorian literature, enjoys penning poems larded with bombastic obscenities, severely lacking in substance but rich in flawed generalizations and sordid stereotypes. Because Togane is a victim of medieval syllabus, he is irascible and malevolent as the poets of ancient times. And his fascination with the scatological is for a purpose. It is to project the image of a liberated intellectual - fair and knowledgeable; a profound thinker, undeterred by social mores and antediluvian religious strictures. That is why Togane’s poems are invariably made of insults, lies, crudity, and hate.

 

Those who are charitable would say his poems are also funny and frank. I beg to differ. There is no fun in knowing Sheikh Sharif has red lips, or Mama Khadjia was bonked by a ********** man. There is nothing frank about Togane’s indictment of the ****** clan as fools or the Habar-Gidir as looters. This is a dangerous generalization that is unbecoming of any learned person. Only the naïve would take his repetitive “Donkey” allegory for the ****** clan as a selfless assault on his own clan, which he accuses of doing harm to Somalia’s Statehood. It can be a crafty camouflage intended to keep the real motive wonderfully unobtrusive beneath a false patina of ascribed scholarly neutrality and virtue. This way he can attain a reputation for blunt objectivity which he does not need to validate. The real motive can be to attack perceived rival ideas, individuals and clans, without suffering the reflexive charge of being a tribalist.

 

His immense hate for the ***** clan, which is the clan of his archenemy – “Afwayne” (former President Siyad Barre) is very palpable. A careful scrutiny of the textual constructions of his lines on Siyad Barre and the MOD (Mareehan-******-***********) elite betrays deep-seated animosity to these clans. His simulated love for Puntland serves the double purpose of escaping the charge of anti-*****, while also offering a poetic reward to the ********** for their anti-Siyad stance in the “revolution” days. Admittedly, this is a conjecture on my part, but a plausible inference. Pillorying own clan doesn’t absolve one from culpability for acerbic vitriol against other perceived rival clans. But even if he is indeed an equal opportunity basher of all clans, how does such an act help the reconstruction of Somalia? Or reconciliation of communities? Does he not appreciate the sensitivities around clan issues in Somalia? Or is he too noble, too brainy to care about such sensitivities?

 

Does he think to be foul is to be firm? Does he mistake insults for ideas? Are narrations of alleged carnal events the necessary details that must be told to give the insults against Galaydh, Siyad Barre, Buri Hamza, Abukar Arman, Sheikh Sharif and many others, some verisimilitude? Attacking these individuals or ridiculing their political ideology and personal character is fair game. But why talk about the phallus of these men, or what they do in their bedrooms, or their wives? Why attack Abukar Arman for his Arab roots? Where is the evidence Buri is a bandit? Why is Galaydh’s wife, an old Somali mother, a “*****”? Is Togane a personification of a Kangaroo court? Who gave him this libelous latitude? Or is he nursing an ingrained inferiority complexity, such that any visibility and attention is to be cherished at all cost, for self and others?

 

People are generally opinionated, but none as opinionated as false intellectuals. There is a veneer of sophistication and righteousness to the enormous self-centeredness they exhibit when analyzing all things from politics to exchange of pleasantries, reinforced by the apparent acquiescence of conned grassroots, who are primary victims of this fraudulent posturing. In this context, anyone who takes Togane as a bona fide poet, who proffers useful ideas and analysis, is clearly deceived.

 

Professor Togane is a false intellectual. His below-the-belt poems are neither funny nor frank. They do not add any value to Somali literature and art, over and above maligning personalities and communities. They are no work of academic literature, or educative fiction. They are mordant claims by a talented rabble-rouser, exaggerating his competence by tarnishing the good name of anyone he does not like with appalling disdain. And when talent comes along with a sense of being underrated and personal foibles such as gullibility, naivety and penchant for flamboyance, the ground is made ready for cynicism and misanthropy. Bring bitterness and clannish politicking into the whole equation and the misanthropy happens in a wholesale scale.

 

Togane thinks yelling obscenities and throwing vituperative homilies will contribute to correcting the social and political ills of Somalia. Watching him speak on video (Youtube) is a sheer spectacle. Every now and then, he falsely clears the throat, shifts in the seat, cranes the neck, continuously adjusting a fading jacket affectively, all to trim into a votary of wisdom and knowledge from Benadir, but sadly regurgitating the clannish typecasts of the past, and dishing out insults and laments as solutions to Somalia’s malady.* The "messianic complex" which typifies this conceited thinking yet one founded on so mistaken a premise cannot be missed. You can easily discern the streak of confusion and backwardness in Togane’s utterances. Make no mistake about it, beyond its leaping charades, Togane’s narcissistic poetry amounts to the same old clannish poetic duels re-issued. It does not help Somalia’s rebirth. The onus is on Somali intellectuals to expose Togane’s profane prose masqueraded as poetry. But more urgently, we need to warn the youth from normalizing, through imitation, influence or conformity, to vile language and abrasive discourse.

 

Togane should forget about writing poems and focus on where his comparative advantage lies, which is to write a dictionary of insults and curses.

 

 

http://www.wardheernews.com/Articles_12/April/Muktar/20_Professorial_Vulgarity_Toganes_Fascination_with_Scatology.html

 

Mukhtar M. Omer

WardheerNews Contributor

[Somalia]

I think the author has a problem with who he praises rather than what he says.

 

He's an old man, not a lot of people read his work but even if it is bad, let it be. He's one of a kind, he thinks differently and this is probably the kind of reaction he wants. He is being given more exposure.

[Carafaat]

I dont think anyone takes Togane serieuz, I dont even think he takes himself serieuz when talking about Somali and Clan issue's. But one rather see him as a comedian with self mockery (calling his own clan Hutu's), who down playes the 'clan factor' in Somali society by trivializing, ridiculing and by pure vulgarisation of clans.

 

Maybe I am wrong but I think we should not take the whole 'clan' talks serieuz, nor personal and take it light. And what better way one achieve that then through playing with stereo types, mockery and ridiculization.

[xiinfaniin]

Welcome back Professor Abtigiis

 

P.S. Is it an obscured observation on my part, or did you decide to post your intellectual camping on Wardheernews, instead of the SOL, the forum that gave you a platform to sharpen your teeth in a manner no any other forum could ?

[Blessed]

He was stubidhly funny until he started bashing old women. Not a fan of dumar caaye anigu, I'd have them fools lashed and skinned.

[Qaranki]

Abtigiis;766070 wrote:

A poet is allowed to ridicule alleged obscenities and perceived inclinations of some social groups.

.

[Abtigiis]

:D lool @qaranka. Islaamahaa sodoha ah baa la fuulaa kuma jirto ridicule'ka. Plus Togane is a false poet! Si gabay ah oo "maxaa gabadha adoon loo siiyey oo kale ah hadii loo dhigo waa caadi, laakin hebla waa dhi.lo iyo hebel naagtiisu waa b.i.t.ch meesha kuma jirto. Adigoo waliba serious ah.

 

Midda kale wax koox gole ku wada jirto ku kaftanto iyo waxa mashraxyada lala tagayo waa kala laba.

 

Xinny, not at all. I am on leave and when so I find it hard to sit infront of a computer. Niman badan oo meeshaad joogto ka yimid na way nala joogaan oo wada wareegno. I will return to work on Tuesday and I long for our hot exchanges.

[Xaaji Xunjuf]

Abtigis muxu Prof Togane ula yaaba isba Wa Professor mar mar Siyasada ka dhex baadha Luga dhexdooda wuxu ka helu leeyahay:D.

[xiinfaniin]

Abtigiis;821117 wrote:

 

Xinny, not at all. I am on leave and when so I find it hard to sit infront of a computer. Niman badan oo meeshaad joogto ka yimid na way nala joogaan oo wada wareegno. I will return to work on Tuesday and I long for our hot exchanges.

^^Khayr markaa, waaban yaabay ninyahow .

 

War kuwaa xaggayga ka yimid xaggee ku aragtay ninyahow . Fiiri kuwa badan meelaha igu mara, oo raba inay yiraahdaan waabaan xiin shaah la cabnay een kaa saxee ila tasho

 

Insha Allaah soo noqo raggu mar mar ha isku tuurtuuree

 

Waxaan damcay inaan iraahdo:

 

Faduul gabaygu iigama tagiyo faanka socodkiise

Meel ay ka fiigeen ayyaan sidii fiqi istaagaaye'e

Aan fasiro murtida fiican waad iga filayseene'e

Farriintaa turkiga nooga timid faaladdeed helaye

.....

 

Fadxi baa inoo soo socdee farax ku noolaada

[Abtigiis]

Xaaji Xunjuf;821118 wrote:

Abtigis muxu Prof Togane ula yaaba isba Wa Professor mar mar Siyasada ka dhex baadha Luga dhexdooda wuxu ka helu leeyahay:D.

Somalilanders'ka la isuma kaayo maqlo. Gabadh aan idhi Mahiga ayaa lagu xantaa ayaa mashruuc la igu weeraro laga dhigtay. Caawa meel aan fadhiyey gaalo cad baa arintaa hadal haysay oo aan aniga aheyn.

 

Inta aanu SOL saaxiibada ku nahay mooye meel kale hadal xun ama qaloocan kama idhaa. Qofkaad ku tidhaa ninkaasaa waxaas yidhi waa beentaa unbuu ku odhan, sabatoo ah waan la igu aqoon basar xumadaas. "la iguma sheegin" bay haweenku odhan jireen!