| Front Page |
Why We in Somalia, Would Not Allow Somaliland To Separate
By Osman Adam, Toronto, Canada
Mr Bashiir Buunye is one of my friends in the Somali Community from Mogadisho. In spite of being one of those self styled "doctors", Mr. Buunye is a well spoken, enlightened and amicable gentleman. In addition to his ostentatious nature, he likes to portray himself as a reasonable and open-minded person on the social and political issues confrontig the Somali Society in general. My friend Mr.Buunye abhors authoritarian rule and repressive regimes and explains this as his primary reason for fleeing Somalia even before the demise of Siyad Bare. He also claims to believe that a true and a just government is the one that represents the wishes of its citizens. Ever since we came to know each other a few years ago, Mr Buunye and I helped one another to make sense of what was going on in the part of the world we came from on one hand, and how to cope with the frustrations and apathy that dominate our lives in the diaspora, on the other.
Prior to the recent developments in the region especially in Somaliland, Mr Buunye appeared to have accepted the separation of Somaliland as a foregone conclusion. He saw it as a reality that no one could avert, no matter how the people of Somalia hate to see things turn that way. Instead he would entertain himself with the dream that one day reunification would be eminent once Somalia had sorted out its problems. These days, however, considering the weaknesses shown by the present administration in Somaliland in general and the lack of conserted effort to engage in a fullfledged campaign to persue deplomatic recognition in particular, the doctor suspects some shift in Somaliland’s position on the question of independence. As though reinvigorated by intuition, Mr Buunye finally sees the forming of the Somaliland he always harboured in his heart.
He reflects on the past and present roles that Somaliland plays in the making of Somalia. Here to share with you, I present a brief account of Mr Buunye's thoughts and observations on this interesting subject which may in turn, illuminate the feelings displayed and opinions held by most citizens of Somalia and the bases for their anxiety regarding the question of independent Somailand.
Well, without further ado, here goes "doctor-professor Buunye".
"I am annoyed and irritated by the inability of the people of the north to comprehend the reasons why we in the south would not allow them to separate. More than forty years ago, despite absence of enthusiasm on our part for political association with you, you, the people of Somaliland voluntarily and without coercion chose to relinquish your freedom and beloved country along with its fully functioning government institutions. You did this in the hope to secure a place in a yet to be realized state of Somalia. Obviously, you were seaking an asylum from non other than your ownselves.
The contention that this offer was made for the noble cause of bringing the fragments of the 'Somali Nation" under one flag, is as ludicrous as the notion that you forced your leaders at gun point to get you on the same bandwagon with Somalia regardless of the consequences such action had warranted. The wisdom to to surrender your modest abode for an imagined golden castle defies rational and intelligent thinking. This was a sad story and one that should have never happened. In fact it was plunder, not a deal that simply went bad. But a deal is a deal nonetheless. After all as they say ones lose is another's gain. The term QALDAAN concerned with your psychopathic character, sums up our assessment of the politically incorrect handling of your homecoming.
The background to your unprecedented and absurd show of nationalism was the complete absence of trust among the clans that make up your community on the question of whether you could survive and get along as an entity under a government of your own. In this regard, rather than face the challenges of nation buildingyou convinced yourselves collectively of the need to seek an outside power to manage your affairs, fortunately, without much hustle, you found Somalia to be the perfect candidate for the job. It met and fulfilled all the conditions and the qualifications you attached to the position, if there were any. Yes, how appropriate and logical. With Somalia you share the same language, practice the same faith and have a common culture. These were the most important reasons for you to justify your historic decision to unite with Somalia then, and are now cited as the bases for the argument to keep you in the union.
While this had solved the dilemma you had had with the the freedom and statehood that unexpectedly showed up at your door earlier than fitting, it also served the equally important and unintended purpose of ending the disagreements among the major clans in Somalia over the sharing of state powers in the post independence period. Moreover, the unconditional surrender of Somaliland to the full control of Somalia, created new opportunities for all our clans to share the booty and the power that came with the new political order, and in the process rendered any misgivings we may have had against each other foregiven and foregotten.
In addition to uniting our hearts and minds for the exploitation of Somaliland, the new political reality also averted an eminent civil strife that would have marked the end of the law and order in the south that existed under the UN Trusteeship, and the beginning of chaos and killing similar to what is happening there as I write. The civil war raging in Somalia at present was delayed, by your intervention and transported 30 years into the future. It was inevitable and natural to have happened at any way because of the incompatibility of state and clan culture unfortunately.
The alliance among our clans if you would call it that, started to crumble as early as in the eighties after you decided to to pull out the strings that held you in place. This was followed by the on going war in the south which broke out after you had finally terminated your status in the union as a buffer between rivals. Your absence from the political arena of Somalia is the principal reason of why there is no end to our civil war and it is precisely for that reason, among many others, why we would never allow you to prevail. In the present confusion and anarchy, the one area where our opinion intersect, in our otherwise divergent views on national issues today, is our unwavering opposition to independent and separate Somaliland. We might be on the throats of each other, but one thing you have to understand is the fact that we see eye to eye on the significance of your region to our existence, that our commitment to united Somalia is as strong as ever. Somaliland is not only a symbol of our national unity, it is the "other" by which we realize our purpose and common interest. I can not emphasize enough how much Somaliland unifies our aspirations for power and dominance. God forbid, I can not imagine the existence of a Somalia that does not include Somaliland.
In retrospect, I must, on behalf of my fellow citizens acknowledge the countless positive cultural, economic and political contributions that over the years, Somaliland had offered to the development of Somalia. It is paradoxical that without you, Somalia would have never come the long way it has, and because of you, Somalia had ceased to exist."
Osman Adam, Toronto, Canada
Home | Contact us | Links | Archives