Homecoming of the Pen-Tadaaqiis
“Waddadii caddayd cagta saartayee ku carraabiyoo…
kii ciil qabee cunto-gooni rabay ciidda ha galee...”
Hobboladda Waabari, quoted for satirical effect [here]
Wiisha Umshina Wam! (Zulu language) means bring me my machine-gun. It is the favourite song of Jacob Zuma, the new ANC chairman. It is also the song that inspired millions of ANC activist in those dark days of apartheid in South Africa. Late last year, Zuma subtly exploited it stage after stage; to instil patriotism into the heart of his ultra-radical supporters in the campaign for the party’s top post, until his crushing victory over the scholarly but uncharismatic Thabo Mbeki in Polokwane.
Now that the pen-Tadaaqiis are here in town as well, it is time to give them ‘their machine-guns’ and ‘AK-47’s’. Give it to them fast, so that they butcher innocent minors and mothers, and they put its dagger into the eyes of the ‘unruly’ elderly. So that they get the feel of the ‘gallantry’ of a real ‘Tadaaqi’! The ‘gun-wielding gentry’ they just joined. Bring them, so that their thirst for blood is quenched. Give them the money bags as well; it motivates them to be more efficient in their massacre! After all, they had been killing people in the world of pen and paper, and audio-visual for so long a time.
Yes, the pen-tadaaqiis- oh no, scratch the outdated prefix-and call them the Tadaaqis are here to roost. I saw it all when I was awaken from my early morning sleep by the sirens of the motorbikes, in front of the fleet of military and regional government cars that run to the dusty Jigjiga airfield to welcome the new arrivals from Minnesota. And people say they came with a one-way ticket. The knowledge that they will give me a break for a while, as they leave me cold alone in the ‘idle’ and ‘dull’ world of ‘cyber wrestling’ is comforting, at least to me. But again, who will step into the ‘big shoes’ they left behind, and take ‘the blue corner’; as I stroll with confidence to my familiar ‘red corner’.
If none turns out, I will have to polish my Somali, and get into the league of the vernaculars-of Farax’s et al. A mouth-watering prospect! I also have the option of declaring fuctus offficio- a legal jargon, to say I am no longer seized of the matter: of having any more ‘barrages of two-way recriminations’ with them! The latter could be an ill-advised premature celebration. So, it is perhaps better to say Au revouir (till we meet again) and not goodbye!
By the way, what is wrong with this American state of Minnesota? It is not for nothing that people here refer to it, as ‘the Dhobowein’ of the USA. In the last three years, Dhobowein district produced the highest number of ‘rural’ tadaaqii’s per square kilometre in the region. Minnesota, for its part, has exceeded this impressive record by becoming the single producer of all ‘Diaspora’ tadaaqiis. Again, it is not for nothing that the path-finder of this influx has that funny name-‘money’ in Arabic. Is it the word in the name that has precipitated the ‘country road, take me home’ 4x4 replay sprint? Or is it because life in Minnesota is even more dull and stressful, than in other western cities? How do I know? I am planning to try the DV this year just to go there and have a look!
The last time I spoke to these men, was when we exchanged unpleasant salvos over the net, few months back. Me, as self-appointed ‘defender’ of oppressed people, they as the ‘peace-loving’ lads with no government ties! ‘How dare do you label whoever opposes your ‘incitements’ of hate, as a ‘spy and collaborator?’ They said, then. Well, action speaks louder than words, isn’t it? I think I am now proven right as far as the connections I alleged to have existed with the powers in Jigjiga and Addis Ababa is concerned. But someone out there, could still argue, and why did that make them the ‘bad guys’ if they are invited by an impressed Somali People’s Democratic Party leadership? I would like to say, maybe nothing is wrong with that; but everything is wrong with a liar and a bigot. At least one such lie is exposed!
Speaking of leadership, the SPDP’s top brass is nothing more than a coterie of monstrous ‘kids’ of dubious background and double identities: the agnostic acting chairman, the self-doubter secretary who in his fervent quest to understand ‘who he is’, made adaptations to Descartes’ ‘I think, therefore I am’ to ‘ I loot, therefore I am’. Not to forget, the upcoming ‘new chairman’ in the offing, the ‘Obama’ of the barbarians: the blossoming Axmed-carab.
Why do I have to be angry after all? The guys’ departure will undoubtedly reduce the drops of acid that used to exasperate my ulcers every time I read their articles. It will also come as a big relief, I guess, to both hardware and software versions of Webster and Encarta dictionaries! Not that there is a shame in not being fluent in a language that is not yours-far from it; but that the attempt to disguise that critical gap is annoying. Otherwise, who is not bothering the dictionaries? No one!
Nonetheless, it is one thing when maestros go there to pick out bombastic words to bamboozle the hapless readership; only, to be later accused of committing the serious linguistic and academic crime known as: Terminological ‘orotundity’ for Intellectual ‘profundity’. In case I am making that same crime and is gunning for ‘grandiosity’ here- by confusing you; let me clarify what the words in bold mean. In simple example, they describe a situation where a friend of you, who majored in biology, tells you he is going to have an ‘aquatic abortion’- when he could have said “excuse me, I want to go to the men’s room”. The purpose of throwing about this clumsy jargon being to impress you!
It is quite another for neophytes, to try to cheat the entire expectant readers with poorly assembled and often incoherent long statements. With, wet-water like tautologies, of as I said before, ‘what is the colour of a white horse?’ And their soon to be released book ‘the unfortunate misfortune of the unlucky belated marriage of Ahmed’. Speaking of that marriage, it will happen soon! Call it instinct if you so wish! It was part of the motivation! The amount of misfortune and bad luck in that sentence reminds me of Alexandar Dumas’ les miserable.
On a slightly different note, I have always known that terminologies predetermine one’s thinking. It occurs to me the name ‘Egga’ that they chose for their website-egga.com, is fittingly reflective of the myopia in their planning horizon in life. They live for ‘now’, and not tomorrow. Now! They have to fill their bellies and now they have to get their posts! Thus, the breathless dash started from across the Atlantic!
But it is not going to be all rosy for them after the euphoric first weeks. The ‘home’ tadaaqiis are bitter and are afraid of the proliferation of sophisticated ‘Diaspora’ tadaaqiis? I know this. Soon, like the fate of the Nigerian Soccer team, which was blighted by internal division and factionalism between the lowly-paid boys from the home league, and the rich professionals from the sansiro, Santiago barnabeu, and Old Trafford stadiums; the swords will come out of their shields. Few might be lucky to survive, but most will ultimately pay in their life for their hasty decisions; in the ensuing bloodbath.
So, is it not fair of me to demand apologies from those of you who in those hectic days of ‘exchanges and arguments’, blamed me for character assassination and conjecturing up on people’s motives with ‘flimsy evidence’? I demand a formal apology, and I know the ‘doubters’ with a soft spot for the former pen-tadaaqiis; who are now fully dressed in battle Kaaki’s; will have difficulty in providing it ungrudgingly. Do not worry, I am asking for something you have in abundance. It is probably a welcome coincidence that I will not settle for anything less than your usual ‘elephant milk’ and ‘crocodile tears’. Be forewarned!
As for the more ‘polished’ cheerleader, the missing Garille, he will resurface soon-this time as a ‘peace-loving’ diplomat. You think this is yet another of my ‘unfounded’ predictions? Mark my words! And in case that ascendance to the heights of ‘senior executives and diplomatic corps’ meant I will not be hearing from these ‘friends’ anytime soon, let them send in their ‘interns’. Surely, with over eighty thousand-strong Somali community in the US Dhobowein, they are not in short supply. Next, please!
Friday, February 29, 2008
Wednesday, February 27, 2008
THE SOMALI NATION: TPLF"S SACRIFICIAL LAMB
“If you have an upper hand over an opponent, you must crash them totally, you must have no mercy, you must give them nothing to negotiate, no hope, and no room to manoeuvre.”
Sun Tze, Chinese war strategist
One can hardly flatter me for avant-gardism when I reiterate what is basically repeatedly stated by so many others: that Ethiopia is the main evil that is devouring the soul of Somali nation, currently. I would, therefore, not go into the nitty-gritty’s of this assertion lest the appetite might sicken and so die as in Shakespeare’s the twelfth night. However, I will use the name Tigray People’s Liberation front (TPLF) in lieu of Ethiopia for ethical reasons. The majority of Ethiopian people are equally victimized by the current regime; and it would be a great injustice if they were to be collectively blamed for the wrong-doings of Meles and his retinue of Tigrayans in power.
In this piece, I will try to give an overview of few facts that are at times flicked through with flippancy. Or more accurately, perhaps not given due attention as discussions converge on the historical rivalry between Ethiopia and Somalia.
First, let me ask these questions? When has TPLF’s meddling of Somalia’s politics started? How have its objectives towards Somalia shifted from 1991 onwards? What factors precipitated the latest full scale invasion and occupation? Has it all been part of the ‘mercenary’ assignment of Meles’s regime as part of the so-called ‘war on terror’? Or had there been domestic Ethiopian political agendas that catapulted such an adventure? I will provide the answers very briefly; albeit partially.
It was right after the conclusion of the Carta conference in Djibouti in 1993 that the first signs of a blatant TPLF scheming in Somalia surfaced. In a move that was clearly intended to intimidate the budding government-which by and large reflected the wishes of the Somali people-; the resort town of Sodere near Nazereth hosted a follow-up mini-conference of the most dreaded Somali warlords. TPLF’s reason for undermining the government of Abdiqasim Salat Hassen was ostensibly rooted to its apprehension of his ‘alleged’ clandestine relations to the defunct Al-Itihad Islamist group.
But in the eyes of many pundits and the Somali public, the real cause for this act of sabotage was TPLF’s fear of losing control over the ‘tiny’ neighbour; which it had managed like a private ‘fiefdom’ hitherto. TPLF military commanders in Ogaden had been sharing Somalia’s looted resources with warlords and had in turn been providing arms and ammunition to these ‘blood suckers’ to destabilise Somalia. The military has influenced the policy position of their masters in Addis Ababa; by providing faulty intelligence reports of the ‘threat’ from the east. The warlords might have also exploited Ethiopia’s usually jerky minority ‘rulers’, for the perpetuation of their reign of thuggery. By and large, it was a mutual co-operation; TPLF pulling the rug out from under ‘any government of not its making’ in Somalia; while the warlords wanted to ensure the flow of stolen riches to themselves and their cronies is not abated.
Since then, for 17 years, it was a familiar story of playing one warlord against the other. Why has that been easy and unnoticed? Because prominent Somali social and political elites were suffering from a ‘fatigue’ of wars and thought the turmoil will recede with time. Most thought the ‘inconveniences’ caused by warlords was a passing cloud.
Thus, whatever its motive, TPLF’s meddling in the internal affairs of Somalia has started well before the advent of the popular Islamic courts-who were the product of social anger against anarchy in Somalia. That is one point I set out to remind the readership.
It wasn’t because of the resurgence of Somali Islamist groups or fear of resultant cross-border security risks, which compelled Meles to launch the ultimate blitz. Contrary to many Somali’s lament, who decry Yusuf Indhacade’s vitriolic slogans and feeble bluffs, or the ‘immaturity’ of the courts leadership; TPLF’s military were in Baidoa well before the take over of Mogadishu by the Union of Islamic Courts. In fact, six months before the courts’ victory over the warlords, an adviser to the then Somali PM, Ali Ghedi, who I met on board an Ethiopian Airlines flight to Gode, told me that the Ethiopian military will ‘take’ the TFG to Mogadishu. He admitted that he was there to facilitate that operation.
Undeniably, Meles Zenawi’s war on Somalia has much to do with domestic political expediency than perceived national security threat from rise of Islamists in Somalia. In 2005, Meles, intoxicated by the ill-advised praises of former British PM-Tony Blair, decided to experiment with ‘electoral democracy’. In his insomniac sleepwalk, he fathomed that it would yield a handsome pay off, if by ceding few seats in the nominal parliament; the accolade and the aid from donors could be maintained or increased. That calculation was to be doomed to a fatal fiasco; as results of the elections turned out to be an overwhelming rejection of TPLF’s ethnic based policies and ‘Albanian communists’ style one party dictatorship. All satellite organisations of the EPRDF, lost ground as the big guns were trounced by angry populace.
Meles, in a last ditch gasp to save his lot, appeared on the national TV the same night from Adwa, where he went to vote, and announced the election results; without even bothering to wait for the verdict of his hobbyhorse: the National Election Board of Ethiopia-which certainly would have published results endorsed by him anyway. That haste and the incredulity in his eyes betrayed a man who was taken by surprise; not by the people’s verdict but the ‘inefficiency’ of his cadres whom he counted on to deliver the ‘victory’ on a silver plate. He declared that his party had ‘won by landslide’; and that rallies and demonstrations were banned for one month.
Just for the record, the National Electoral Board is headed by one Ato Kamal Badri, from the highly privileged Harari minority ethnic group, who is a man of many functions: the chairman of the electoral board, the chief justice, and the chairman of the constitutional review committee in the house of Federation. Interestingly, any aggrieved party in Ethiopia’s elections are supposed to rest their case with these three institutions in hierarchal order. To put it in simple language, if you have a problem with Kamal’s decision when he is in a tie and coat, you try your luck when he is in gown!
Western donors felt slapped at the face, after Meles ordered the shooting of 300 school children who protested the election theft by his party. Like a perennial river that burst its banks, the blood of innocent minors flooded the streets of Addis Ababa. Luckily for Meles, brute force saved the day for him. Terrified of the ramifications of this exposed ugly face of his, he was a man in desperate search for an escape route. Somalia once again came to his rescue; this time in the shape of a ‘marauding Taliban-style Jihadists’!
The coalescing forces of sanity, in the form of a religious group that rose above the clan fray in Somalia, came as a providential happening of immense importance to Meles. He seized that god-sent opportunity instantly, and sold it as an ominous augury of what is to befall the horn of Africa; should the west continue to demand ‘petulantly’, the delivery of the ‘luxuries’ of ‘unaffordable’ democracy.
Sullying the heroic sacrifices of many Ethiopians who stood for democracy, the west myopically sanctified his atrocities and hurriedly jumped to bed with the dictator. He found a willing sponsor in President Bush and was a man back in business. So, the war profiteering got a new momentum. After all, what will he lose if few thousand more of the ‘jobless’ Ethiopian youth- ‘dangerous vagrants’ he calls them- die; as far as most are not from the ‘people tested with fire’-the Tigre’s- who, proved to be ‘gold’.
That same objective of playing the ‘indispensable ally’ of the west is the driving cause for his continued occupation of Somalia; under numerous pretexts. But, it is also true that his commanders have found intermediate roles for themselves in the form of amassing the ‘loot’. Somalia is now a de facto open-access country; where Garret Hardin’s the tragedy of the commons theory aptly applies to. A resource owned by nobody or by everybody is bound to be overexploited or utilised sub-optimally in the teachings of natural resource economics. The result is fast depletion and disappearance of that scare resource. In Somalia, the resource at loss is much more than copper, oil or other minerals. It is its people and nationhood that is under present danger of extinction.
Feeling that is not enough, TPLF has also launched a massive campaign of ethnic cleaning and genocide against Ogaden civilians. (See Human Right Watch Report 2007, and independent reports from foreign media; the latest being the reputed Christian Science Monitor). No regime in Ethiopia had afflicted such pain and wanton destruction on the Somali nation ever. Not even the infamous of Derg regime! Somali’s are only aghast by what wrongs they might have done to this ungrateful group. Perhaps they supported evil; and this is their deserved payback. But they have slowly grasped the magnitude of TPLF’s pathological hatred towards the Somali nation. That is the good thing.
Let us link this to the bigger contemporary geo-political and ideological picture. Meles’ Somalia adventure will end when the west’s Islamophobia subsides, or when they came up with a paradigmatic shift on how to face up to the ‘over-hyped’ threat from Islam. I hope the shift in thinking in their handling of Pakistan is not a fluke. Musharaf is hard pressed to allow breathing space for democracy to flourish. I hope the west will prescribe the same medicine to Meles. I hope they will recognize that courting dictators will only increase the anger and ‘radicalisation’ of the subjects. For it is the grand law of physics, that “to every action, there is always an opposite action of equal measure.” Of late, some sound voices among the western tink-tank’s are remarking that supporting democratisation-not stifling it; is more effective, less costly, and more sustainable in curbing ‘Islamic fanaticism’. I tend to agree with this point; but not on their wider analysis and recommendations on the west Vs Islam saga.
The west’s obsession with Islam didn’t start with 911. At its roots, it is about imposing one’s perceived ‘superior’ values on reluctant and equally proud societies. Having succeeded to force ‘Anglo-Saxon’ values and culture-coined as the acceptable norm of a globalized human- down the throats of various populations; the Islamic world is the ‘untameable’ delinquent child for the pioneers of western civilization. A civilisation based on the tenets of liberal democracy, competition, individualism, and greed. For all its glitters, it lacks compassion, social responsibility, family cohesion, and spiritual guidance. Islam embodies all of these values; a reason why Muslims will not be subdued to forgo their happiness. Bush et al’s belief that with perseverance, Islamic ideology could be defeated; presumably because communism was vanquished in half-a-century, is flawed and its conclusions are based on wrong premise. Islam, unlike communism, is a religion and not an ideology.
Somali’s misery will end when that of the rest of the Muslim world ends. Somalia’s problem is also internal; but it is my considered judgement that the external interference is the most damaging and the decisive one. If we could demand our independence back now;-with all our defects-we can come out of the ashes stronger. That is why the legitimate struggle of the true sons of the soil in Somalia needs our admiration and support.
On the threat from the colossus from the west, my people have a fable for which they have a penchant. It is about the tortoise that was informed of predators’ decision to prey on its exposed flesh. Feeling powerless, it comforted itself with the hope that the Almighty Allah will intervene. The tortoise said in resignation: “they may decide so, but was Allah there?” the subtext being the almighty might have other plans for me. The fable has it that God covered it with the impregnable shell it has today as a shield.
The west and its attack dog TPLF might have carved out a meticulous plan of annihilation for the Somali nation, but Allah’s words are yet to come! And I am sure it will come soon. Allah might speak through our own action, not in miracles, and we need to believe in ourselves and unleash our fury on the occupation forces- the black colonizers. If his actions in Mogadisho are to go by, Meles has taken the advice of Sun Tze literally. It is up to the Somali’s to stop him.
It is richly sardonic that the up until now not-so-patriotic Tigre’s, are the loudest ‘defenders’ of ‘Ethiopia’s national interest’ with something akin to the zeal of a proselyte, and preach us on the history of Ethiopia not being ever colonized. Perhaps they wouldn’t feel the same pride in realizing that they were on the wrong side of ‘that history’, - as collaborators of foreign ‘invaders’ for most part. Much the same way the senile octogenarian Abdullahi Yusuf is now in Somalia. Invading another independent state, experiencing a lapse of nationhood, is the worst step to redeem their past misdeeds.
Last, I never got views on whether Ethiopians in general take pride; in the fact that they were also the only black colonizers who took part in the scramble for Africa as early as 1884. But I know most of them condemn the atavistic replay of that history in the 21st century in Somalia. May God help them to get rid off this tribal tyranny! After all, it is they who live with it at the end of the day!
Monday, February 25, 2008
Yaa midgaan ah? Kan jannada laga waaya
Waa yaab yaabkiisa iyo amakaag in Soomaalidu ay dhaqan kadhigato waxyaalo aanan loo baahneyn sida heybsooca dad ayaga la midab ah, la dhaqan ah, la af ah, la diin ah iyo weliba la deegaan ah. Dhaqamadani soo jireenka ah waxay sababeen in dad badani oo Soomaali ah laga sooco Soomaali inteeda kale ayadoo loo aaneynayo ficilo hore udhacay qarniyaal laga soo gudbay.
Dulligani iyo anshax xumidani na asiibay wuxuu noqday summad ama shaabad dadka lagu kalasooco sida xoolaha oo kale.
Xukunkani waxaa suulka ugu duugay odey dhaqameedyo cayaarayey doorka qaadi iyo qareen kuwaaso lahaa go'aano kama dambeys ah, oo innaba ha yaraatee, dhan kastoo loo eegaba, aan laga weecan karin, sababtayna inay soo marto marxalado kala duwan soona jiitanto muddo badan ilaa sabankani aynu joogno oo aysan jirin wax dawlad ahi oo is-hor-istaagta.
Waxaa la yiri, sida aynu ka dhuuxeyno sheekooyinka Soomaaliyeed ee taxanaxa ah ee soo jireenka ah: beri baa labo wiilo walaalo ah sahmiyey. Markay dhowr maalmood socdeen ayey lakulmeen ayagoo gaajeysan neef geela oo bakhtiyey. Labadiiba si fiican ayey uga dhergeen hilibkii bakhtiga. Saddex cisho kadib ayaa mid iska matajiyey. Waxay muddo maqnaadaanba, waxay kuso noqdeen deegaankoodi halkaaso ay uwarameen aabbihii dhalay. Odeygii wuxuu lacnaday (habaaray) kii aan iska matajin wuxuuna uduceeyay kii iska matajiyay. Ilaa iyo imminka, kii diiday inuu iska matajiyo waxaa loo yaqaan midgaan waana la takoora. Dabcan, waa qisadii horseeday 'laan dheere' iyo 'laan gaab' ee aynu faraha kula jirno ilaa iyo imminka.
Gabdhaha kasoo farcamay ninkani la habaaray weligood guur kama helayaan Soomaalida inteeda kale. Faraciisa dadku lama degaan, wax lama wadaagaan, wiilashiisuna kama guursan karaan Soomaalida kale. Bal aan isweydiine, cunto calool maku jiri kartaa muddo saddex maalmood ayadoon dheefshiidmin? Jawaabtu waa maya? Halkani waxaa kaaga muuqan in xukunkani ahaa mid jahli ah oon laga baaraan degin.
Aan idinka waramo qiso kaloo la yaab leh oo kadhacday Kismaanyo; qisadanoo hore uqoray nin aanu saaxiibo nahay tebinteedana aan aniga iska lahaa.
Nin Talyaani ah ayaa wuxuu Kismaanyo ku qabay gabadh 'nasab dhimman' ah oo qurux loo dhammeeyay. Ninkani ajaanib ahi marwadiisa aad iyo aad buu ujeclaa. Maalin maalmaha kamid ah ayuu lakulmay gabadh 'nasab' ah taasoo ku tiri:"ninyahaw wax makuu sheegaa". Markaasu ku yidhi "haa, soo daa sheekada". Waxay ku tiri, "ma ogtahay in saaxkaaga aabbaheeda yahay kabo tole". Markaasuu ugu jawaabay, "maya". "Haye,dee intaasi umbaan rabay inaan kuu sheego" intay tiri ayey isdhaqaajisay. Gabadhani nasab-kusheegga ah waxay rabtay in ay ninkani dhaafsiiso xaaskiisa oo ayadu ay dhaxasho.
Markuu ninkii Talyaaniga ahaa usoo socday gurigiisa, umbuu galay isla hadal. Waxaa cajabiyay hadalkii gabadha ee ahaa in soddogiisa yahay kabo tole. Goor dambe markuu gurigiisi yimid ayuu weydiiyay xaaskiisa bal inay uga waranto in wax farsamo ah aabbaheeda takhasus uleeyahay. Waxayna usheegtay sidiyo kale. Qaddar yar kadib, wuxuu ninkii Talyaaniga ahaa soo booqday soddogiisa oo uu ugu tegay coosh uu kabaha ku farsameyn jiray oo ay uyaaleen qalab duugoobay.
Dhowr bilood kadib wuxuu ninkii Talyaaniga ahaa aaday dalkiisi hooyo siiba Napoli oo lagu yaqaan tumaalnimada. Wuxuu duqii usoo gaday qalab casri ah oo lagu tolo kabaha si dhaqso ahna ugahaqabtirtay baahidii badnaa. Wuxuu shaqaaleeyay dhalin yaro badano meherad la'aan ahaa waxaana shakhsi ahaan soo galay dakhli aad uweyn.
Bal aynu usoo noqono waxan Soomaalida ay diin kadhigatay ee loo yaqaan heybsooca. Waxaa jira qabiilo waaweyno faro kutiris ah oo aan sidaasi udaneyn heybsooca waayo waxay leeyhiin habab kaloo ay uladhaqmaan dadkani dulman. Waxay u ogolaadaan inay sheegtaan kuna abtirsadaan qabiilka markaasi tirada badan. Kuwa la haybsooca hablahoodu waa la guursadaa laakiin raggoodu maguursadaan kuwa isku sheega nasab.
Ilaahey wuxuu Qur'aanka ku qeexay in bani'aadmiga simanyahay oon lakala sareyn. Dhammaan waxaa laga soo farcamay Nebi Aadan (CS). Wax kasta oo nool waxaa laga abuuray biyo. Marka maxay kudhacday in qoys qoys kale iskaweyneysiiyo. Sow ayaga ma aha kuwa noo sameeya ableyda, waranka, midida, looxa, kuusha, iyo iwm? Maxaa nagu kallifay in aynu takoorno dad naga qurux badan, naga xoog badan, naga itaal dheer? Goormeynu waantoobeynaa? Goormaan garasho yeelaneyna?
Dulligani iyo anshax xumidani na asiibay wuxuu noqday summad ama shaabad dadka lagu kalasooco sida xoolaha oo kale.
Xukunkani waxaa suulka ugu duugay odey dhaqameedyo cayaarayey doorka qaadi iyo qareen kuwaaso lahaa go'aano kama dambeys ah, oo innaba ha yaraatee, dhan kastoo loo eegaba, aan laga weecan karin, sababtayna inay soo marto marxalado kala duwan soona jiitanto muddo badan ilaa sabankani aynu joogno oo aysan jirin wax dawlad ahi oo is-hor-istaagta.
Waxaa la yiri, sida aynu ka dhuuxeyno sheekooyinka Soomaaliyeed ee taxanaxa ah ee soo jireenka ah: beri baa labo wiilo walaalo ah sahmiyey. Markay dhowr maalmood socdeen ayey lakulmeen ayagoo gaajeysan neef geela oo bakhtiyey. Labadiiba si fiican ayey uga dhergeen hilibkii bakhtiga. Saddex cisho kadib ayaa mid iska matajiyey. Waxay muddo maqnaadaanba, waxay kuso noqdeen deegaankoodi halkaaso ay uwarameen aabbihii dhalay. Odeygii wuxuu lacnaday (habaaray) kii aan iska matajin wuxuuna uduceeyay kii iska matajiyay. Ilaa iyo imminka, kii diiday inuu iska matajiyo waxaa loo yaqaan midgaan waana la takoora. Dabcan, waa qisadii horseeday 'laan dheere' iyo 'laan gaab' ee aynu faraha kula jirno ilaa iyo imminka.
Gabdhaha kasoo farcamay ninkani la habaaray weligood guur kama helayaan Soomaalida inteeda kale. Faraciisa dadku lama degaan, wax lama wadaagaan, wiilashiisuna kama guursan karaan Soomaalida kale. Bal aan isweydiine, cunto calool maku jiri kartaa muddo saddex maalmood ayadoon dheefshiidmin? Jawaabtu waa maya? Halkani waxaa kaaga muuqan in xukunkani ahaa mid jahli ah oon laga baaraan degin.
Aan idinka waramo qiso kaloo la yaab leh oo kadhacday Kismaanyo; qisadanoo hore uqoray nin aanu saaxiibo nahay tebinteedana aan aniga iska lahaa.
Nin Talyaani ah ayaa wuxuu Kismaanyo ku qabay gabadh 'nasab dhimman' ah oo qurux loo dhammeeyay. Ninkani ajaanib ahi marwadiisa aad iyo aad buu ujeclaa. Maalin maalmaha kamid ah ayuu lakulmay gabadh 'nasab' ah taasoo ku tiri:"ninyahaw wax makuu sheegaa". Markaasu ku yidhi "haa, soo daa sheekada". Waxay ku tiri, "ma ogtahay in saaxkaaga aabbaheeda yahay kabo tole". Markaasuu ugu jawaabay, "maya". "Haye,dee intaasi umbaan rabay inaan kuu sheego" intay tiri ayey isdhaqaajisay. Gabadhani nasab-kusheegga ah waxay rabtay in ay ninkani dhaafsiiso xaaskiisa oo ayadu ay dhaxasho.
Markuu ninkii Talyaaniga ahaa usoo socday gurigiisa, umbuu galay isla hadal. Waxaa cajabiyay hadalkii gabadha ee ahaa in soddogiisa yahay kabo tole. Goor dambe markuu gurigiisi yimid ayuu weydiiyay xaaskiisa bal inay uga waranto in wax farsamo ah aabbaheeda takhasus uleeyahay. Waxayna usheegtay sidiyo kale. Qaddar yar kadib, wuxuu ninkii Talyaaniga ahaa soo booqday soddogiisa oo uu ugu tegay coosh uu kabaha ku farsameyn jiray oo ay uyaaleen qalab duugoobay.
Dhowr bilood kadib wuxuu ninkii Talyaaniga ahaa aaday dalkiisi hooyo siiba Napoli oo lagu yaqaan tumaalnimada. Wuxuu duqii usoo gaday qalab casri ah oo lagu tolo kabaha si dhaqso ahna ugahaqabtirtay baahidii badnaa. Wuxuu shaqaaleeyay dhalin yaro badano meherad la'aan ahaa waxaana shakhsi ahaan soo galay dakhli aad uweyn.
Bal aynu usoo noqono waxan Soomaalida ay diin kadhigatay ee loo yaqaan heybsooca. Waxaa jira qabiilo waaweyno faro kutiris ah oo aan sidaasi udaneyn heybsooca waayo waxay leeyhiin habab kaloo ay uladhaqmaan dadkani dulman. Waxay u ogolaadaan inay sheegtaan kuna abtirsadaan qabiilka markaasi tirada badan. Kuwa la haybsooca hablahoodu waa la guursadaa laakiin raggoodu maguursadaan kuwa isku sheega nasab.
Ilaahey wuxuu Qur'aanka ku qeexay in bani'aadmiga simanyahay oon lakala sareyn. Dhammaan waxaa laga soo farcamay Nebi Aadan (CS). Wax kasta oo nool waxaa laga abuuray biyo. Marka maxay kudhacday in qoys qoys kale iskaweyneysiiyo. Sow ayaga ma aha kuwa noo sameeya ableyda, waranka, midida, looxa, kuusha, iyo iwm? Maxaa nagu kallifay in aynu takoorno dad naga qurux badan, naga xoog badan, naga itaal dheer? Goormeynu waantoobeynaa? Goormaan garasho yeelaneyna?
Horta hala ogaado in Midgaanku yahay kan jannada laga waaya. Midgaanka waa kan colaada badan; waa kan aan xishoodka lahayn; waa seef laboodka; waa diradiraalaha aan harsan har iyo habeen; waa kan aan sadaqada bixin salaadiisuna ayan kaamil ahayn; waa weji macbuuska aan sariigta lahayn; ugu dambeyna waa kan ibliiska ku adeegto.
Qofka iimmankiisu dhammeyn waxaa lagu yaqaan isla weyni, kibir, qalqalooc,aammin darro, gooni-isutaag, anshax xumo, qoqobid iyo kalasooc, garasho yari, ibleysnimo, iyo ixtiraan la'aan. Waxaa hubaal ah in Soomaali badan sheegtaan inay yihiin Midgo sifa debedaha looga qaabilo.
Guntii iyo gebagebadii waxaa iga fariin ah: Soomaaliyey waa inaad ka towba keentaan dembiyadani xad dhaafka ah ee aad kagasheen walaalihiinan aan waxba galabsan, waaana inaad la imaataan sifooyiin wanaagsan oo raali geliya cid kastood heybsoocdaan una diyaar garowdaan sidii laysu guursan lahaa loona heli hal ummad oo kusota dariiqada toosane kuwajahan jannadii naloo ballanqaaday.
Thursday, February 21, 2008
Soomaali Galbeed Xoriyadeedu Wey Muuqataa
Hadda kahor waxaa layidhi dagaal-ooge Soomaaliyeedoo tun weyn ayaa booqasho ugu tegay Madaxweynihii hore ee Kiiniya Daniel Toroitich Arap Moi. Wuxuu ugu tegay gurigiisa loo yaqaan Kabarak ee kuyaal magaalada Nakuru ee dooxada Rift. Madaxdii iyo waxgaradkii qabiilweynaha Ogaadeen ee kudhaqan Kiiniya ayaa aad uga xumaaday qaabilaadda Madaxweynaha uu gurigiisa ku qaabilay nin dagaal-ooge ah. Haddaba, waxaa Madaxweynaha kasoo baxay sir aan horey loo maqal; wuxuuna odayaashii usoo martiyay ku yidhi: "Nimanyahaw waa adinka ii arka inaan idiingefaye bal idhageysta". Asagoo hadalkiisa halkii kasii ambaqaadaya ayaa wuxuu kuyidhi: "Hadda kahor ayaa anigoo ah Madaxweyne Kuxigeen, matalayana dawladda Kiiniya ayaa waxaan kaqeybgalay shir saddexgeesood ah oo ay wadajir iyo iskuduubni isaga kaashanayeen boqortooyada Itoobiya, dawladda Kiiniya, iyo Jamhuuriyadda Soomaaliya; shirkaaso lagu lafaguraayey sidii laysaga qaban lahaa qoyska Ogaadeen ee kubaahsan Itoobiya, Kiiniya, iyo Soomaaliya iyo sidii looga hortegi lahaa siyaasaddiisa ku saleysan xornimo udirirka. Haddaba maanta oon Madaxweynaha Kiiniya ahay, waad aragtaan halkaan idiingaarsiiyay".Haddaba xilligani uu Moi Madaxweyne Kuxigeenka ahaa, waxaa talada Kiiniya hayey odeygii la odhanjiray Mzee Jomo Kenyatta kaaso ummadda soomaaliyeed ee kudhaqan dhulka sabanadii hore loo yaqiin NFD udiidi jiray kana hor istaagi jiray nooc kastoo horumar ah: ha ahaato dhaqaale, waxbarasho, caafimaadka, iyo siyaasadda guud. Kenyatta door weyn ayuu kacayaaray dhabarjebinta qoyska Ogaadeen haddana Moi waa tegay oo waxaa xukunkii Kiiniya boobay ninka ay Kenyatta isku heybta yihiin ee loo yaqaan Mwai Kibaki.
Dhanka kale, xukuumadihii soo maray Soomaliya waxaan ka ahayn dawladdii militeri ee uu madaxda ka ahaa Maxamed Siyaad Barre, sidoodaba, Ogaadeenka way iska ilaaliin jireen. Xukuummadihii Cabdirashiid, tii ina Cigaal, iyo tii Cabdirisaaqba, Ogaadeen wuu ka oomanaa. Haddaba saddexdani xukuummadood midkood ayuu ahaa kii kaqeybgalay shirka Moi uu horey uga qeybgalay. Maxamed Siyaad Barre hooyadiisa waxay ahayd Ogaadeen baa layidhaahdaa taasaana ku kalliftay inuu abtiyaashiisa badbaadiyo iskuna dayo inuu ka xoreeyo geyiga Soomaali Galbeed xukuummadihii taxanaha ahaa ee Itoobiya. Dabcan, Siyaad Barre wuxuu muujiyay qiiro Soomaaliyeed oo lama ilaawaan ah. Inkastoo dagaalkii 1977-78 lagu jebiyay quwaddii Itoobiya ee lamagacbaxday "Libaaxi Afrika", farogelin shisheeye katimid Ruushanka, Kuuba, iyo Yemen, ayaa usaamixi weyday Maxamed Siyaad in ciidamadiisa kusii jiraan dagaalka. Dagaalkii 77-78, Kiiniya door weyn ayey ka cayaartay sidii ay ugargaari lahayd dawladdii Mengistu Haile Miriam. Inkastoo Moi mowqifkiisa siyaasadeed wax iska bedeleen sannadihii dambe, haddana waxaad ogaataa in Moi uu lawareegay xukunka Kiiniya sannadkii 1978 dabayaaqadiisi kadib markuu geeriyooday Kenyatta.
Magac waxba kuma jabna
Akhristow, magac waxba kuma jabna oo waa la bedeli karaa si sahlan. Waddanka hadda loo yaqaan Zimbabwe waxaa la odhan jiray Rhodesia, magaalomadaxdiisana waxaa loo yaqiin Salisbury waxaana loo rogay Harare kadib markuu Robert Mugabe noqday Madaxweynaha dalkaasi. Waxaa jidha dad badan oo Soomaaliyeed oo kagubanaya magaca Ogaden. Sida taariikha ay qeexeyso, Soomaali Galbeed waa ereyadii Maxamed Siyaad Barre, magacii hore ee Ogaden-na waxaa ubaxshay boqorkii utalinayey Itoobiya waagaas. Anigu aabbahay wuxuu dagaalkii labaad ee dunida kasoo dagaalamay dalka loo yaqiin Burma haddana jananada kataliya ubaxsheen Myanmar oo magaalomadaxdeedana la odhan jiray Rangoon haddana loo beddelay Yangon. Midowga Sofyeeti waxaa la odhan jiray Union of Soviet Socialist Republics ama USSR; dagaalkii qaboobaa kadib wuu burburay oo hadda waxaa magac u ah Russia. Ereyadii ahaa midow, sofyeeti, hantiwadaag, iyo jamhuuriya waa layska tuuray. Waxaa jidha dawlad kutaal galbeedka Afrika oo loo yaqaan Burkina Faso. Madaxweyne Thomas Sankara ayaa ubaxshey magacani laakiin awal hore waxaa ladhihi jidhay Upper Volta. Qofka haysta jinsiyadda Burkina Faso waxaa maanta loo yaqaan Burkinabe halka horey ulahaayeen magac kale.
Way xoroobi goor dhow
Shaki kuma jiro in Soomaali Galbeed ay xoroobi; shaki kuma jidho in ay iska xoori magacii uu ubaxshay boqorkii Itoobiya ee ahaa Ogaden; waxaana hubaal ah shakina kujirin in sinaan, caddaalad, iyo kala dambeyn la hanan doono. Tan maanta looga baahanyahay dhammaan umadda Soomaaliyeed meel kastoy joogtaba waa sidii loo garab istaagi lahaa walaalaheena dulman ee Soomaali Galbeed ee isugu jira qabiil iyo jilib kasta oo Soomaali ah. Soomaalida qaar ee aan siyaasadda iyo taariikhdooda udhuundaloolin ayaa waxay moodaan in geyigaasi loo qoondeeyay qoyska Ogaadeen keliya aysanna jirin cid kale oo ku abtirsata taasina waa huuhaa wax kama jiraan ah. Dhulkani waxaa laga helaya qoys kastoo Soomaali ahi inkastoo Ogaadenku ugu tiro badanyahay. Imisa dawladood oo Afrikaan ah baa kataliyaa qoysas laga tiro badanyahay? Waa buux. Aan ambaqaadno tusaale ahaan waddanka aynu deriska nahay ee Kiiniya. Qabiilika ugu tirada badan Kiiniya waxaa la yidhaahdaa Kikuyu goordhoweydna waxaa codkii Madaweynenimada kuguuleystay Raila Odinga oo kasoo jeedo qabiilka Luo; Arap Moi waa qabiilka Kalenjin ee aan saas utiro badneyn, muddo 24 sano ayuu Madaxweyne ahaa.
Akhristow, haddii Soomaali Galbeed xorowdo; lana helo dawlad lo dhanyahayo ogolna wax wadaqeybsi, waxaa hubaal ah in cid allaale ciddii cod badan hesho ay la wareegi xukunka. Haddii ummadda halkaasi deggan ay isguursadaan, kaba sii fiican oo wax la saluugaaba iska yaraan. Haddii axdiga qaranka noqdo mid waafaqsan danta guud ee ummadda kana tarjumta isu soo dhowaansho, madhici karto kala shaki iyo isqabqabsi.
Halganka ONLF
Waa kuwaajib qof kastoo damiir bani'aadminimo ay ku jirto in uu garab istaago jabhadda ONLF maadaama ay tahay tan maanta ugu tunka weyn. Horta waxaad ogaataan in marka xoriyadda loo dirirayo in khaladaad badan ay dhacayaan illeyn kan qoriga sita ma arko mana umuuqdaan wax sharci ah oo qabanaya ama uu kabaqaya waxaan ka ahayn kan jabhaddiisa oo ah mid aan baahsaneyn. Laakiin waa waajib in la cidhibtiraa jaajuska iyo dabadhilifka lashaqeeya guumeystaha waayo waa calooshiis ushaqeyste aan damqasho bani'aadminimo ayan inaba hayaraatee kujirin dhuuxiisa, damiirkiisa, iyo dhiigiisa intaba. Waxaa ammaan mudan geesiyaasha dhexda dhuujistay sidii ay isaga tuuri lahaayeen heeryada guumesytaha madow ee ku gabbanaya quwado shisheeye oy ehel ahaan wadaagaan xagga dhaqanka iyo diinta. Madaxda ONLF waa inay sii wadaan baraarujinta ummadda Soomaaliyeed; waa inay la jaanqaadaan hadba siyaasadaha addunka kajira dhan kastoy ujanjeeraanba; waa inayan ku gacanseydhin kuwa ayaga daneeya fikradaha ay usoo jeediyaan kana qaataan wixii markaasi manaafacaad kujidha; ugu dambeyntiina waa inayan had iyo jeer kacaajisin sidii ay walaalahooda kale uga heli lahaayeen dhaqaale joogta ah.
Guntii iyo gebagebadii, iftiin baa inoo bidhaamaya kaaso kusoo rogi doono Soomaali Galbeed ileyskii la rajeynaayey gu'yaal badan.
Akhristow, magac waxba kuma jabna oo waa la bedeli karaa si sahlan. Waddanka hadda loo yaqaan Zimbabwe waxaa la odhan jiray Rhodesia, magaalomadaxdiisana waxaa loo yaqiin Salisbury waxaana loo rogay Harare kadib markuu Robert Mugabe noqday Madaxweynaha dalkaasi. Waxaa jidha dad badan oo Soomaaliyeed oo kagubanaya magaca Ogaden. Sida taariikha ay qeexeyso, Soomaali Galbeed waa ereyadii Maxamed Siyaad Barre, magacii hore ee Ogaden-na waxaa ubaxshay boqorkii utalinayey Itoobiya waagaas. Anigu aabbahay wuxuu dagaalkii labaad ee dunida kasoo dagaalamay dalka loo yaqiin Burma haddana jananada kataliya ubaxsheen Myanmar oo magaalomadaxdeedana la odhan jiray Rangoon haddana loo beddelay Yangon. Midowga Sofyeeti waxaa la odhan jiray Union of Soviet Socialist Republics ama USSR; dagaalkii qaboobaa kadib wuu burburay oo hadda waxaa magac u ah Russia. Ereyadii ahaa midow, sofyeeti, hantiwadaag, iyo jamhuuriya waa layska tuuray. Waxaa jidha dawlad kutaal galbeedka Afrika oo loo yaqaan Burkina Faso. Madaxweyne Thomas Sankara ayaa ubaxshey magacani laakiin awal hore waxaa ladhihi jidhay Upper Volta. Qofka haysta jinsiyadda Burkina Faso waxaa maanta loo yaqaan Burkinabe halka horey ulahaayeen magac kale.
Way xoroobi goor dhow
Shaki kuma jiro in Soomaali Galbeed ay xoroobi; shaki kuma jidho in ay iska xoori magacii uu ubaxshay boqorkii Itoobiya ee ahaa Ogaden; waxaana hubaal ah shakina kujirin in sinaan, caddaalad, iyo kala dambeyn la hanan doono. Tan maanta looga baahanyahay dhammaan umadda Soomaaliyeed meel kastoy joogtaba waa sidii loo garab istaagi lahaa walaalaheena dulman ee Soomaali Galbeed ee isugu jira qabiil iyo jilib kasta oo Soomaali ah. Soomaalida qaar ee aan siyaasadda iyo taariikhdooda udhuundaloolin ayaa waxay moodaan in geyigaasi loo qoondeeyay qoyska Ogaadeen keliya aysanna jirin cid kale oo ku abtirsata taasina waa huuhaa wax kama jiraan ah. Dhulkani waxaa laga helaya qoys kastoo Soomaali ahi inkastoo Ogaadenku ugu tiro badanyahay. Imisa dawladood oo Afrikaan ah baa kataliyaa qoysas laga tiro badanyahay? Waa buux. Aan ambaqaadno tusaale ahaan waddanka aynu deriska nahay ee Kiiniya. Qabiilika ugu tirada badan Kiiniya waxaa la yidhaahdaa Kikuyu goordhoweydna waxaa codkii Madaweynenimada kuguuleystay Raila Odinga oo kasoo jeedo qabiilka Luo; Arap Moi waa qabiilka Kalenjin ee aan saas utiro badneyn, muddo 24 sano ayuu Madaxweyne ahaa.
Akhristow, haddii Soomaali Galbeed xorowdo; lana helo dawlad lo dhanyahayo ogolna wax wadaqeybsi, waxaa hubaal ah in cid allaale ciddii cod badan hesho ay la wareegi xukunka. Haddii ummadda halkaasi deggan ay isguursadaan, kaba sii fiican oo wax la saluugaaba iska yaraan. Haddii axdiga qaranka noqdo mid waafaqsan danta guud ee ummadda kana tarjumta isu soo dhowaansho, madhici karto kala shaki iyo isqabqabsi.
Halganka ONLF
Waa kuwaajib qof kastoo damiir bani'aadminimo ay ku jirto in uu garab istaago jabhadda ONLF maadaama ay tahay tan maanta ugu tunka weyn. Horta waxaad ogaataan in marka xoriyadda loo dirirayo in khaladaad badan ay dhacayaan illeyn kan qoriga sita ma arko mana umuuqdaan wax sharci ah oo qabanaya ama uu kabaqaya waxaan ka ahayn kan jabhaddiisa oo ah mid aan baahsaneyn. Laakiin waa waajib in la cidhibtiraa jaajuska iyo dabadhilifka lashaqeeya guumeystaha waayo waa calooshiis ushaqeyste aan damqasho bani'aadminimo ayan inaba hayaraatee kujirin dhuuxiisa, damiirkiisa, iyo dhiigiisa intaba. Waxaa ammaan mudan geesiyaasha dhexda dhuujistay sidii ay isaga tuuri lahaayeen heeryada guumesytaha madow ee ku gabbanaya quwado shisheeye oy ehel ahaan wadaagaan xagga dhaqanka iyo diinta. Madaxda ONLF waa inay sii wadaan baraarujinta ummadda Soomaaliyeed; waa inay la jaanqaadaan hadba siyaasadaha addunka kajira dhan kastoy ujanjeeraanba; waa inayan ku gacanseydhin kuwa ayaga daneeya fikradaha ay usoo jeediyaan kana qaataan wixii markaasi manaafacaad kujidha; ugu dambeyntiina waa inayan had iyo jeer kacaajisin sidii ay walaalahooda kale uga heli lahaayeen dhaqaale joogta ah.
Guntii iyo gebagebadii, iftiin baa inoo bidhaamaya kaaso kusoo rogi doono Soomaali Galbeed ileyskii la rajeynaayey gu'yaal badan.
Agony of a poet
The poet in this scene is an annonymous poor Somali who lived in an era of misrule when the economy dwindled; he felt indignation despite being potentially overloaded with wonderful characteristics; his closest confidants did little to meet his few demands; he was manhandled, hagridden, imprisoned for his opposing views, underfed, and perhaps isolated in a dungeon he brainstormed and lucubrated during the various rules Somalia had been through.
This man, perhaps of feeble age, beset by trials and tribulations in his own native land, neither fits the category the esteemed English writer and traveller, Sir Richard Burton, referred to as poetitos, poetaccios and poetasters nor that of a religious scholar whose hue and cry is directed at a mademoiselle he so deeply loves, but rather depicts a poet among a nation of poets who felt abandoned and rejected and thrown into confusion as can be seen from the enormity of suffering endured under a despicable administration practicing gross injustices and broad corruption.
This man, perhaps of feeble age, beset by trials and tribulations in his own native land, neither fits the category the esteemed English writer and traveller, Sir Richard Burton, referred to as poetitos, poetaccios and poetasters nor that of a religious scholar whose hue and cry is directed at a mademoiselle he so deeply loves, but rather depicts a poet among a nation of poets who felt abandoned and rejected and thrown into confusion as can be seen from the enormity of suffering endured under a despicable administration practicing gross injustices and broad corruption.
Guhaadka iga daa
Gudintaan qaatay yaan weli gawda kuhayaaye
Kumagooyin geedkaan larabay ee gumucda weynaaye
Gesinkii la iiqoray hadduusan genina dhaafeyn
hallaygato, hallayguumeysto ee gaar hallaysaaro
Googorad, garays, iyo guntiino gacanta ii saara
Golihii rag joogaba waa inaan ugooyaaye
Gabbal dhacay gebageba colaadeed intaan gaalib soo dhaafey
Gudcur dummay galal wada biyaha ee galawga yeedhaayo
Gurdan xoolaad meelaan lahayn intaan gararacleynaaye
Gu'gaan jiro garkayga gucumada kabaxay gacandha aad mooddo
Gurboodkii dhashay gadaashay waa kuwaa geeska iga taagan
Waa kuwaa garaadada garbaha loogu tolay ee gacanta seydhaaya
Waa kuwaa garuumada watee igu garaacaayo
Garbanaan gowraar cidla' ah intaan gaajo ku abaaday
Guri ba'ay oon garab lahayn intaan golongolheynaaye
Gacaladeydii gargaar iima gelin ee geyrka ma imaane
Guullaha garsoorka ahi goortuu gacanta ii buuxsho
Gelinkii geyarka ii galo ayaan garwaaqsiine
Guhaadka igadaa nin garaad yar yaa gaabsha weligiiseeeeee
Kumagooyin geedkaan larabay ee gumucda weynaaye
Gesinkii la iiqoray hadduusan genina dhaafeyn
hallaygato, hallayguumeysto ee gaar hallaysaaro
Googorad, garays, iyo guntiino gacanta ii saara
Golihii rag joogaba waa inaan ugooyaaye
Gabbal dhacay gebageba colaadeed intaan gaalib soo dhaafey
Gudcur dummay galal wada biyaha ee galawga yeedhaayo
Gurdan xoolaad meelaan lahayn intaan gararacleynaaye
Gu'gaan jiro garkayga gucumada kabaxay gacandha aad mooddo
Gurboodkii dhashay gadaashay waa kuwaa geeska iga taagan
Waa kuwaa garaadada garbaha loogu tolay ee gacanta seydhaaya
Waa kuwaa garuumada watee igu garaacaayo
Garbanaan gowraar cidla' ah intaan gaajo ku abaaday
Guri ba'ay oon garab lahayn intaan golongolheynaaye
Gacaladeydii gargaar iima gelin ee geyrka ma imaane
Guullaha garsoorka ahi goortuu gacanta ii buuxsho
Gelinkii geyarka ii galo ayaan garwaaqsiine
Guhaadka igadaa nin garaad yar yaa gaabsha weligiiseeeeee
Valentine Letters
Abdullahi Dahir Mooge
(moogedahas2008@yahoo.com)
Sick of politicking! I understand. Let us sit back and have some rare funny moments. If they are funny at all. I shouldn’t presume!
“When a man loves a woman
Down deep in his soul
She can bring such miseryyyy
If she is playin’ him for a fool
He is the last one to know
Lovin’eyes can never seeeeeee…”
That is Percy Sledge, not Saxardiid. Saxardiid is not a man who is to be fooled by any women. Wuu isu soo jeedaa! He never heard of Percy but even if he does, he will only despise him. His favorite song is Bashir Ali Hussien’s:
‘Jirjiroolo dumaroow Idinka Joogi waynoo
Idinka jiifi waynee Jihadeeden u cararraa
Jirjiroolo dumaroow Raga waxaad ku jebisaan
Adigaan ku jeceloo Kalgacayl aan jirin baad
Waligiin jilaysaan…’
So, when Duniyo, reer Xamar girl from xamarweryne sent him a reply to his previous letter, reading
‘Sharaf badanoow, Shaacirkaygoow
iila shaandhee Jacaylkaa Shoobloow
Shameerkiisa guuroow Shirkoow ii imaaw’
He didn’t understand all of it, but got the message right. Ku jantay bay tidhi soo ma aha, he quizzed and dictated to me what to write. ‘Qor’ he said, as I put pen to paper: (Abdi Tahliil)
‘baabullaha libaaxaan barqankii waraystaa
buuraha shabeeelkaan ila baadh i dhaahdaa
….bakaylaha sidiisaan bur caleenle seexdaa
….Gaaraa-bidhaankaan kugu baadi goobaa’
When I took that letter back to her- I can go to their house by virtue of my friendship to her elder brother; Iikar- She didn’t make out a word of it, so she asked me to translate. I did. But when she got the second letter from him, with a heart and big spear that pierced through it- she was furious. It contained: Jacayl lama moosi karo mindiyo dhiigluu Sitaa, halbawlaha kaa marsha. Why is he trying to kill me?what have I done to him? I don’t want to meet him anymore, I am scared. What is the knife for? Among the questions she uttered in shock. I explained again.
But the biggest laugh was reserved when I took back her ‘I am missing you dearly’ call to him. ‘…Aaaaah! Markaad iga maqnaatidee, aaaah, mugdigii meel xunaan maraayee(Asha Abdow).’ So, she thinks she can intimidate me with going with other boys in darkness! She must be joking. Huh! It is not my type. ‘Qor jawaabtayda’, he said.
‘Eleen doqoni qiiq kama kacdee
Daamankay meermeerisaa…’
There is no specific valentine day here, nor should one be, I think. Why would a particular day be fixed for love as if all the others are for work and hate! When, of course, you can laugh each day if you are lucky enough to play love intermediary!
Life here is tough but never, never dull !
Wednesday, February 20, 2008
Building 'Tolnimo', Invigorating 'Ficil'
BUILDING ‘TOLNIMO’, INVIGORATING ‘FICIL’
Abdullahi Dahir Moge
(moogedahas2008@yahoo.com)
Salka ugu shisheeyee NFD ku siman iyo
Saaca koonfureed ee saaciido taaliyo
Sinta bari galbeedkiyo subarrada waqooyiga
Umadda ku siman ee siqiir iyo kabiirba leh
Kala sooci maayo waa ii wada sokeeyoo
Somali baan ahay aan seeraari karinoo!
Sawdkaan aqaanaa Somali weeyoo
Sinjigayga dhalashadu Somali weeyoo
Samayskayga aadame Somali weeyoo
Sad waxaan la quutaa Somali weeyoo
Saaxiib waxaan nahay Somali weeyoo
Ruuxaan salaamaa Somali weeyoo
Cagta meeshaan saaraa Somali weeyoo
Go’goshaan ku seexdaa Somali weeyoo
Ma ogoli safaadkiyo kala Soocidoodoo
Somali baan ahey, sarrif kuma galaayoo!!
Poet Jaamac Kadiye Cilmi, the living legend, in ‘Somali Baan Ahay’
Garigoan. The main objective of this meeting is building ‘tolnimo’, and invigorating ‘ficil’, Ugaas Geele announced. He can be a bit boring, and verbose, but no one doubts his oratory skills. ‘Gentlemen, all protocols observed,’ he said, as an introductory greeting. And went on “as you are all well aware of, we are under siege, from iidoor,sheekash,jidwaaq,majeerteen,Aba-yonis,Gaadsan, to name but few, of our multiple enemies. These enemies have not sprung up out of the blue sky. They are all undergirded by a common goal and aspiration: to destroy us, to take our land. They had always nursed deep anathema and vendetta against us, perhaps for centuries. They think their time has arrived now that some senseless among us, i.e., the ONLF have picked a ‘vain’ war with Ethiopia.”
Ugaas Geele got emotional, as he got into the details. He was thinking inside: Cid walba kuwaasaa noo jabiyay. Even the ‘midgo’ are going to try their luck soon. The Reer Barre are already having ‘field days’ with us. What a shame! Time was when we chanted ‘Atoobiya aadanaw Nigus iyo arlada Absamaa la haan jirayee!’ These ‘mercenaries’ are standing on our way of reclaiming our rightful place, and lost glory.
‘Gentlemen, rest assured, we are the sleeping lion -a bit wounded maybe- but we will bounce back and take it from me, we will destroy them not one by one-but at one go- all of these patched up ‘insignificants’! However, not by the evident disarray among us! This has to end! ‘Dadku hoostuu iska wada og’yahay; wuu tashadaa’. But we are dispersed and are busy trapping one another.’ Then, he concluded his keynote speech with a dangerous premonition. ‘Idoor are pushing from the north, the Majeerteens have passed Warder. Abaskuul are at the outskirts of Cobole. ‘Xagee lagu socdaa, saw aduun xaalkii garanmaayno’. But those are not my headaches for now. They were always our ‘historical enemies’. What is unforgivable is what the ‘cockroach’ Sheekashs are doing to us, now. Should we be rubbished like this by a bunch of sanctimonious ex-clergy men? Ahey ah! Ungrateful dogs!’ Then, he gave the floor to Sheekh Mukhtar, to provide clarity on what the ‘diin’ says about people who behave like ‘Sheekashs’.
Sheekh Mukhtar is known for his mastery of the religion-inside out, so much so, the local women composed a short poem in praise of his flexibility and intuition. “Sheekhii baladka Sharciyadda ku baaxiyoow, adaan kugu soo baqdee, nacabka ha iigaga bixin.” His resourcefulness, in the subject matter of fasaq and nikaax, is legendary.
He sifted through few pages of a hand-written small ‘kitab’ and gave the verdict with ease. ’Waa yuhuud. It, therefore, follows Dhiigoogu waa xalaal. Because? They are the proverbial ungrateful rabble who had bitten the very hand that fed them.’ He wound up with, “the ‘diin’ calls for resolve; not to give the left cheek when you are slapped on the right.”
Goodness me! You think a devil comes down from the sky in radiance and amid thunder and lightening, these days? You are deadly wrong. It can be the down-at-heel impecunious guy next to you!
The diagnosis was undoubtedly made. Just because those, -the ‘useless’ ONLF- are fighting on our name, they think they can stab us at the back? The payback day will come soon; and make no mistake-we will repay them with an interest rate of 60%. The chant started with zeal. ‘Rasso will be conquered soon! Rasso is the New Jerusalem! Death to ‘Yuhuud and Sheekash!’ the ‘Dhaanto’ begun in earnest! Jecliyaayeey Imeey oo la jaara. Everybody was pleased. All the ‘lions’ have spoken.
Out of countenance, by what he just heard, a ‘donkey’ spoke quietly. “Why do we pick all these enemies? Who can prove they are working against us? And why not seek peace with our brethren? Might we have wronged some of them? Nin walaalkii day dayahayaa, dhuuman kari waayee! Why only think about land in geographical terms. This land of us can sustain 200 million people with ease. The United Kingdom, with the same size, had 60 million inhabitants of all decent. It is industrialized, beyond your imagination. The skies above us can expand our ‘territorial reach’; if we build skyscrapers. If we make peace with everybody, we can enlarge the land mass infinitely. We, as a community, can settle, graze our livestock on, or fetch water from Kenyan border to Djibouti. The issue of property rights, in one of the most sparsely populated lands on earth, should not have worried us, now. Why always see things from antagonistic perspective?’
The entire ‘lions’ roared, at once, at this’ coward’ man. Ugas Geele, was the harshest, “I can never miss oxymoron and bathos! Frankly, I can tell the bad bull in the flock by its horn. I knew you were short on ‘ficil’, -the moment I saw your big cumbersome lower lip. But never did I imagine you could go down to that low level! Now, leave our meeting and go to your adoring wife. Mas dil iyo naag la muran miidhan, iga dheh! You are only good enough for producing children. Heartless!” The man walked out silently. He was, clearly, a minority.
Rasso. Abdi Nuux, the coordinator of the fight against ‘the fascist Ogadens’ spoke quietly and composedly. ‘My people, these Ogadens are not human beings. They have an inflated view of themselves. They think they own all of us. They think we were created to serve them. The statistics are there for anybody to see. They barely account to 20% of the people in the region; yet they pull all the shots. Injustice!! Now, alxamdu lilaahi, we are in strong position. This organization of them, the ONLF, should better rename itself ‘the Front for the liberation of Ogaden and subjugation of Sheikash (FLOSS). Don’t listen to their manifestos. All they stand for is to oppress us and other people in the region. Wake up and stand up for your guard. ‘Yaa la xoreyn, inagaa la inoo socdaaye.’ He finished.
A young boy stood and announced the latest news on their enemy’s predicament. According to kildhi 6.com, he said, 12 ONLF members are captured by the heroic ‘Ethiopian Defense Forces’; and 20 of their reserves in the community are killed by Oromo tribesmen in Lagahida. Loud applause and cheer erupted, as participants of the meeting congratulated one another on this landmark victory. ‘Allahu akbar, sir maqabe alla u sahan ah’. The myth of the ‘Colossus’ disappearing into thin air before our own eyes! Rejoice oppressed people of the land! Rejoice! “eeboooow mahadaa…”
Mohamud, a Sheikash elder, a ‘donkey’ not a ‘lion’; raised his hand and offered a piece of sane advice. ‘It is true we have a dispute with these brothers of us. It is true we feel hard done by them. But is it fair of us to support an external enemy against them? And if the enemy succeeds in defeating them, what will be the pay off for us? I don’t agree with whatever is said here. I don’t believe there is a conspiracy by Ogaden’s to cleanse us. Their women are raped day in, day out. Their men are in jails, and many families are distraught. The ‘ones’ in regional power, you blame as the ‘torch-bearers of their domination’; are the very same people who had incarcerated thousands of ‘the bad people’ into the labyrinth of jails in the region. We should seek a peaceful means to resolve our difference. We are like ‘teeth and a tongue’; we can bite each other, sometimes nastily. But we are inseparable. Let us not hype hatred and malice.’
Abdi Nuux showed him the door. Hit the road; ay-yahoow, aan dhiiga laheyn. “We know you get remittances from your Ogaden brother-in-law in London”. Luckily, you are a minority, a useless minority. But don’t spoil our meeting; get out.’Dakane ii hiili kuma tidhaaye, ha I iloobin bay ku tidhaa, he reminded all. ‘We will never forget’. Primitive dogma!
By the way, our ‘cyber-lions’ alerted me to this latest of their tricks. We know they are peddling ‘cheap hypocritical sermons’ all over the websites. “All of a sudden, proselytes of virtue! Preachers of morality! It is a manifestation of how weak they are. They are getting a real battering.” Up in your ass! Bastards! Goormay Somali u baahdeen?
The next morning, when I met grandma Cibaado, and told her about the two meetings, she told me yet another chilling story-from her sea of wisdom. ‘Son, Our Somali people are like that. They are weird’. She said. ‘They like ‘lions’; yet lions kill their animals, kill themselves, and scare livestock away from pasture fields. It offers no help to mankind. But it is praised, and admired. A donkey provides a lot of support for humans: it is used for tilling land, transporting the sick to health facilities, carrying water and food, and doesn’t harm anyone. It is obedient at all times. Yet, our people despise it.’
The analogy was palpable. Men, who preach peace and harmony, are ‘donkeys’; ‘demagogues who incite hate, division, fear and murder are ‘lions’. That is my community, I now understood. Thanks to ayeeyo. Had she been from the ‘right’ part of the world, I wouldn’t have found such pride in reading Madeline Albright’s the Mighty and the Almighty. Her wisdom was enough to come up with 100 booker-prize winning blockbusters.
In the evening, when I went out to eat in a local ‘xabashi’ hotel, I saw both Ugas Geele and Abdi Nuux reporting to Colonel Mulugeta. First the former, and then the latter came with his report after about an hour of the other’s departure. I watched them from a dark corner, perplexed.
After they left, the Colonel sent out an urgent SMS to xildhibaan Alpha-Alpha of Gashamo. It read: Phase I: Commence ‘Operation Xodayo’ at 1900MT (military time). Enemy: ABR. Target: Secure all water ‘birkeds’. POWs negative. Expire all, Repeat! Expire. Contingency: contact Nigussie in Danot for back-up. Phase II: wait for advice. Mark: X-tremely confidential. Progress Report: every 30 minutes to Hotel-Alpha-Romeo-Alpha-Romeo HQ.
The xildhibaan sounded non-committal and worried. ‘But colonel, all HY clan elders don’t support this attack; I really have a problem. ‘Urgently dispatch their names. I will take care of them. I will talk to Deeq: district administrator.’ The colonel ordered.
Col. Mulugeta then clapped and waved for Tigist, the waitress, to come. Time for some debauchery after the hard work! “TG, more Beer, one for me, one for you; and you will join me tonight in my celebration. It is gonna be a long ‘lively’ night. Get ready.”
He stretched his hands above his shoulders to shake off the fatigue of the day, and triumphantly hymned: ‘Ya taa baa tuu, Sumale! ‘ (Hurrah! filthy Somali’s!).
I cried!
endnote:
[*] In Addition to being a couple, me, and Ruqiya, are also half-half’s so to speak. Like the Half-caste, in the Angolan war novel Mayombe, we are locked in this ensuing Manichean logic, of two ‘siblings’ organized around polarizing forms of political and social foci: son against mother, wife against husband, brother against sister, yesterday against today and is against isn’t. We are in ‘identity discomfort’, and creatures of insufficiency in a world of competing binaries: none of us pure enough! Mayombe suggests the way out of this impasse ought to be to find new parameters, new categories, new nomenclature, all neutral ‘miscegenated’-not of different races but of different tribes in this case- to resolve the unremitting ‘struggle within struggle’, or accommodate this personal but very deep nagging problematic.
Abdullahi Dahir Moge
(moogedahas2008@yahoo.com)
Salka ugu shisheeyee NFD ku siman iyo
Saaca koonfureed ee saaciido taaliyo
Sinta bari galbeedkiyo subarrada waqooyiga
Umadda ku siman ee siqiir iyo kabiirba leh
Kala sooci maayo waa ii wada sokeeyoo
Somali baan ahay aan seeraari karinoo!
Sawdkaan aqaanaa Somali weeyoo
Sinjigayga dhalashadu Somali weeyoo
Samayskayga aadame Somali weeyoo
Sad waxaan la quutaa Somali weeyoo
Saaxiib waxaan nahay Somali weeyoo
Ruuxaan salaamaa Somali weeyoo
Cagta meeshaan saaraa Somali weeyoo
Go’goshaan ku seexdaa Somali weeyoo
Ma ogoli safaadkiyo kala Soocidoodoo
Somali baan ahey, sarrif kuma galaayoo!!
Poet Jaamac Kadiye Cilmi, the living legend, in ‘Somali Baan Ahay’
Garigoan. The main objective of this meeting is building ‘tolnimo’, and invigorating ‘ficil’, Ugaas Geele announced. He can be a bit boring, and verbose, but no one doubts his oratory skills. ‘Gentlemen, all protocols observed,’ he said, as an introductory greeting. And went on “as you are all well aware of, we are under siege, from iidoor,sheekash,jidwaaq,majeerteen,Aba-yonis,Gaadsan, to name but few, of our multiple enemies. These enemies have not sprung up out of the blue sky. They are all undergirded by a common goal and aspiration: to destroy us, to take our land. They had always nursed deep anathema and vendetta against us, perhaps for centuries. They think their time has arrived now that some senseless among us, i.e., the ONLF have picked a ‘vain’ war with Ethiopia.”
Ugaas Geele got emotional, as he got into the details. He was thinking inside: Cid walba kuwaasaa noo jabiyay. Even the ‘midgo’ are going to try their luck soon. The Reer Barre are already having ‘field days’ with us. What a shame! Time was when we chanted ‘Atoobiya aadanaw Nigus iyo arlada Absamaa la haan jirayee!’ These ‘mercenaries’ are standing on our way of reclaiming our rightful place, and lost glory.
‘Gentlemen, rest assured, we are the sleeping lion -a bit wounded maybe- but we will bounce back and take it from me, we will destroy them not one by one-but at one go- all of these patched up ‘insignificants’! However, not by the evident disarray among us! This has to end! ‘Dadku hoostuu iska wada og’yahay; wuu tashadaa’. But we are dispersed and are busy trapping one another.’ Then, he concluded his keynote speech with a dangerous premonition. ‘Idoor are pushing from the north, the Majeerteens have passed Warder. Abaskuul are at the outskirts of Cobole. ‘Xagee lagu socdaa, saw aduun xaalkii garanmaayno’. But those are not my headaches for now. They were always our ‘historical enemies’. What is unforgivable is what the ‘cockroach’ Sheekashs are doing to us, now. Should we be rubbished like this by a bunch of sanctimonious ex-clergy men? Ahey ah! Ungrateful dogs!’ Then, he gave the floor to Sheekh Mukhtar, to provide clarity on what the ‘diin’ says about people who behave like ‘Sheekashs’.
Sheekh Mukhtar is known for his mastery of the religion-inside out, so much so, the local women composed a short poem in praise of his flexibility and intuition. “Sheekhii baladka Sharciyadda ku baaxiyoow, adaan kugu soo baqdee, nacabka ha iigaga bixin.” His resourcefulness, in the subject matter of fasaq and nikaax, is legendary.
He sifted through few pages of a hand-written small ‘kitab’ and gave the verdict with ease. ’Waa yuhuud. It, therefore, follows Dhiigoogu waa xalaal. Because? They are the proverbial ungrateful rabble who had bitten the very hand that fed them.’ He wound up with, “the ‘diin’ calls for resolve; not to give the left cheek when you are slapped on the right.”
Goodness me! You think a devil comes down from the sky in radiance and amid thunder and lightening, these days? You are deadly wrong. It can be the down-at-heel impecunious guy next to you!
The diagnosis was undoubtedly made. Just because those, -the ‘useless’ ONLF- are fighting on our name, they think they can stab us at the back? The payback day will come soon; and make no mistake-we will repay them with an interest rate of 60%. The chant started with zeal. ‘Rasso will be conquered soon! Rasso is the New Jerusalem! Death to ‘Yuhuud and Sheekash!’ the ‘Dhaanto’ begun in earnest! Jecliyaayeey Imeey oo la jaara. Everybody was pleased. All the ‘lions’ have spoken.
Out of countenance, by what he just heard, a ‘donkey’ spoke quietly. “Why do we pick all these enemies? Who can prove they are working against us? And why not seek peace with our brethren? Might we have wronged some of them? Nin walaalkii day dayahayaa, dhuuman kari waayee! Why only think about land in geographical terms. This land of us can sustain 200 million people with ease. The United Kingdom, with the same size, had 60 million inhabitants of all decent. It is industrialized, beyond your imagination. The skies above us can expand our ‘territorial reach’; if we build skyscrapers. If we make peace with everybody, we can enlarge the land mass infinitely. We, as a community, can settle, graze our livestock on, or fetch water from Kenyan border to Djibouti. The issue of property rights, in one of the most sparsely populated lands on earth, should not have worried us, now. Why always see things from antagonistic perspective?’
The entire ‘lions’ roared, at once, at this’ coward’ man. Ugas Geele, was the harshest, “I can never miss oxymoron and bathos! Frankly, I can tell the bad bull in the flock by its horn. I knew you were short on ‘ficil’, -the moment I saw your big cumbersome lower lip. But never did I imagine you could go down to that low level! Now, leave our meeting and go to your adoring wife. Mas dil iyo naag la muran miidhan, iga dheh! You are only good enough for producing children. Heartless!” The man walked out silently. He was, clearly, a minority.
Rasso. Abdi Nuux, the coordinator of the fight against ‘the fascist Ogadens’ spoke quietly and composedly. ‘My people, these Ogadens are not human beings. They have an inflated view of themselves. They think they own all of us. They think we were created to serve them. The statistics are there for anybody to see. They barely account to 20% of the people in the region; yet they pull all the shots. Injustice!! Now, alxamdu lilaahi, we are in strong position. This organization of them, the ONLF, should better rename itself ‘the Front for the liberation of Ogaden and subjugation of Sheikash (FLOSS). Don’t listen to their manifestos. All they stand for is to oppress us and other people in the region. Wake up and stand up for your guard. ‘Yaa la xoreyn, inagaa la inoo socdaaye.’ He finished.
A young boy stood and announced the latest news on their enemy’s predicament. According to kildhi 6.com, he said, 12 ONLF members are captured by the heroic ‘Ethiopian Defense Forces’; and 20 of their reserves in the community are killed by Oromo tribesmen in Lagahida. Loud applause and cheer erupted, as participants of the meeting congratulated one another on this landmark victory. ‘Allahu akbar, sir maqabe alla u sahan ah’. The myth of the ‘Colossus’ disappearing into thin air before our own eyes! Rejoice oppressed people of the land! Rejoice! “eeboooow mahadaa…”
Mohamud, a Sheikash elder, a ‘donkey’ not a ‘lion’; raised his hand and offered a piece of sane advice. ‘It is true we have a dispute with these brothers of us. It is true we feel hard done by them. But is it fair of us to support an external enemy against them? And if the enemy succeeds in defeating them, what will be the pay off for us? I don’t agree with whatever is said here. I don’t believe there is a conspiracy by Ogaden’s to cleanse us. Their women are raped day in, day out. Their men are in jails, and many families are distraught. The ‘ones’ in regional power, you blame as the ‘torch-bearers of their domination’; are the very same people who had incarcerated thousands of ‘the bad people’ into the labyrinth of jails in the region. We should seek a peaceful means to resolve our difference. We are like ‘teeth and a tongue’; we can bite each other, sometimes nastily. But we are inseparable. Let us not hype hatred and malice.’
Abdi Nuux showed him the door. Hit the road; ay-yahoow, aan dhiiga laheyn. “We know you get remittances from your Ogaden brother-in-law in London”. Luckily, you are a minority, a useless minority. But don’t spoil our meeting; get out.’Dakane ii hiili kuma tidhaaye, ha I iloobin bay ku tidhaa, he reminded all. ‘We will never forget’. Primitive dogma!
By the way, our ‘cyber-lions’ alerted me to this latest of their tricks. We know they are peddling ‘cheap hypocritical sermons’ all over the websites. “All of a sudden, proselytes of virtue! Preachers of morality! It is a manifestation of how weak they are. They are getting a real battering.” Up in your ass! Bastards! Goormay Somali u baahdeen?
The next morning, when I met grandma Cibaado, and told her about the two meetings, she told me yet another chilling story-from her sea of wisdom. ‘Son, Our Somali people are like that. They are weird’. She said. ‘They like ‘lions’; yet lions kill their animals, kill themselves, and scare livestock away from pasture fields. It offers no help to mankind. But it is praised, and admired. A donkey provides a lot of support for humans: it is used for tilling land, transporting the sick to health facilities, carrying water and food, and doesn’t harm anyone. It is obedient at all times. Yet, our people despise it.’
The analogy was palpable. Men, who preach peace and harmony, are ‘donkeys’; ‘demagogues who incite hate, division, fear and murder are ‘lions’. That is my community, I now understood. Thanks to ayeeyo. Had she been from the ‘right’ part of the world, I wouldn’t have found such pride in reading Madeline Albright’s the Mighty and the Almighty. Her wisdom was enough to come up with 100 booker-prize winning blockbusters.
In the evening, when I went out to eat in a local ‘xabashi’ hotel, I saw both Ugas Geele and Abdi Nuux reporting to Colonel Mulugeta. First the former, and then the latter came with his report after about an hour of the other’s departure. I watched them from a dark corner, perplexed.
After they left, the Colonel sent out an urgent SMS to xildhibaan Alpha-Alpha of Gashamo. It read: Phase I: Commence ‘Operation Xodayo’ at 1900MT (military time). Enemy: ABR. Target: Secure all water ‘birkeds’. POWs negative. Expire all, Repeat! Expire. Contingency: contact Nigussie in Danot for back-up. Phase II: wait for advice. Mark: X-tremely confidential. Progress Report: every 30 minutes to Hotel-Alpha-Romeo-Alpha-Romeo HQ.
The xildhibaan sounded non-committal and worried. ‘But colonel, all HY clan elders don’t support this attack; I really have a problem. ‘Urgently dispatch their names. I will take care of them. I will talk to Deeq: district administrator.’ The colonel ordered.
Col. Mulugeta then clapped and waved for Tigist, the waitress, to come. Time for some debauchery after the hard work! “TG, more Beer, one for me, one for you; and you will join me tonight in my celebration. It is gonna be a long ‘lively’ night. Get ready.”
He stretched his hands above his shoulders to shake off the fatigue of the day, and triumphantly hymned: ‘Ya taa baa tuu, Sumale! ‘ (Hurrah! filthy Somali’s!).
I cried!
endnote:
[*] In Addition to being a couple, me, and Ruqiya, are also half-half’s so to speak. Like the Half-caste, in the Angolan war novel Mayombe, we are locked in this ensuing Manichean logic, of two ‘siblings’ organized around polarizing forms of political and social foci: son against mother, wife against husband, brother against sister, yesterday against today and is against isn’t. We are in ‘identity discomfort’, and creatures of insufficiency in a world of competing binaries: none of us pure enough! Mayombe suggests the way out of this impasse ought to be to find new parameters, new categories, new nomenclature, all neutral ‘miscegenated’-not of different races but of different tribes in this case- to resolve the unremitting ‘struggle within struggle’, or accommodate this personal but very deep nagging problematic.
Tuesday, February 19, 2008
Sentencing men of deception
The vulture, described as the most patient bird, is a big strange looking Aves known to scavenge through all types of carcases regardless of type, taste, and shape. It's strong wings and majestic body is designed to lift it to greater heights. On the other hand, the hyena, pretty much visible in African jungles, is a scavenger in the real sense and has almost the same qualitities as the vulture. Hyenas survive on what has been left behind by the big cats: Lions, leopards, and cheetahs. Ironically,
both have voracious appetite, are wild and hardly domesticated by humans though they may be seen in major zoos of the world for scientific research and tourism displays. The hyena has been mentioned alot in African myths as a cunning, greedy, selfish, dirty, impatient, repugnant, and indisciplined animal with behaviors not found in other carnivores, herbivores, and omnivores.
Despite differences in genera, the two play great roles cleaning the environment of abandoned dead animals that would have been a health hazard-an assignment that would have been impossible for us to undertake as we are without doubt in the midst of overburdening environmental degradations caused by our own calculated actions.
Likewise, our own Somali warlords, scavengers in their own right, fleeced Somali economy of all valuables including private and public assets ranging from homes, farm implements, industrial machineries, military hardware, gold bullions, mines, and the bulk of human population regarded as an asset to a nation's survival and well being.
The warlords' indiscriminate shelling of dense areas occupied by the enemy and the heralding of wanton shadowy governments of their own creations based on mobocracy was one geared towards the shepherding of a path for the absolute advacement of an unphilosophically selfish modus vivendi aimed at annihilating human material assets and moral strength so that fellow tribesmen and loyal henchmen would scavenge the leftovers to boost their overall dwindling economies not for the present but for posterity.
Thus, such criminal acts, though seemingly pleasing to the warlords, whether prolonged, delayed, or intermittent, had been in the past and present, because of their predatory and rapacious dimensions, described as heinous or vulturous in every human language, living or extinct. Their stubborn and deliberate ostracization of unarmed clans and their application of dictatorially hoggish modus operandi instilled inquietude, confusion, and fragmentation such that whoever got trapped in their territories was left with no other alternative but to submit to their whimsical inventions otherwise the consequences would have been detrimentally discombobulating.
As fate would have it, the vulturous and heinous warlords who terrorized Somalia, were, in the cause of action, subdued, confined, or incapacitated in mysterious circumstances by a more viperish, violent, and spitefully hostile antagonist who wished Somalia better prospects.
So, there is a conflict of interest between the Union of Islamic Courts which is credited with routing the detested warlords and the Transitional Federal Government that gave them convenient sanctuaries for convalescence and rewarded them with parliamentary and ministerial posts.
To add insult to injury, what is causing Somali tempers to flare up, is the intervention of the Ethiopian Army in Somalia at the invitation of the TFG that lacks the support of its own people. Ethioipia, a poor African country bordering Somalia, has in the past, fought Somalia several times over the disputed Somali region known as the Ogaden that it annexed in 1957 at the general consent of the European powers who obliged to the Ethiopian Emperor's notion of being surrounded by an ocean of pagans-a reference to Muslim Somali and Omotic-speaking Oromo.
According to popular Somali opinion, with the exception of some whose thoughts and attitudes are influenced by their leanings towards the TFG due to tribal affiliations, fear of sequestration, and conjectural consideration, judging by the deplorable monstrous cruelty of the forces of the TFG and the Ethiopian Army and their outrageous use of force against innocent unarmed civilians and contrary to the six months of relative peace enjoyed when the ICU was in power in 2006, while borrowing a leaf from what the world media has written about this chronic issue, it has been determined without a shadow of doubt that tranquility will flourish in Somalia after the complete withdrawal of Ethiopia's liberticidal troops and the disarmament of the TFG.
Somalis view the TFG as an otiose foreign element unable to appease its citizens; they see it as one imposed on them; and perceive it as lacking the general hallmarks of an all-inclusive government.
In our final judgement, the warlords, who at first fitted the description of the vulture and the hyena, will, in the meantime, be regarded as an endangered species for being persona non grata from the Somali political scene.
On the other hand, the UIC, in reward for its relentless pursuit of peace and prosperity for the people of Somalia, is hereby declared the winner of an imaginative peace prize to that effect. The Ethiopian forces and the TFG, having distorted their images and having absconded their responsibilities, and judging by their premeditated, horrendous, and suicidal acts against the peace-loving people of Ethiopia and Somalia and humanity in general and having seen the crimes of startling frequency willfully perpetrated and committed in their names; herein adduced before me in this court, having referenced the theory of transmigration of souls; on this day of February 19, 2008; after much deliberations with my inner soul and mind, and undeterred by human seduction, favors, and false pretenses, in lieu of the jurors exhaustive deliberations, I, Honorable Judge of the Supreme Court of the Horn of Africa, author and owner of this essay, by the power conferred on me by human intellect, hereby, without the least hesitation and with absolute decree, by the single stroke of the judicial pen, and through the application and execution of fair justice, cause my right hand to brand them, unmitigatingly, vulture and hyena respectively; labels they will so carry until their eternal judgements and upon their subsequent return to planet earth; the duo, herein referred to as masters of deception, will, without substitution, have the qualities of the afore-mentioned animals and permanently live among fauna of like caliber without change of shape or form whatsoever such that the hermaphrodite shall remain hermaphrodite and the egg-laying shall lay eggs of equal size and shape.
Under no circumstances may the contents of this judgement be altered or overturned, quashed or fabricated or edited for clarity in any manner or form by any type of appeals court of the Horn of Africa nor will it be subjected to a court review nor will leave of reprieve be granted to any court attorney for a retrial as by law established.
Despite differences in genera, the two play great roles cleaning the environment of abandoned dead animals that would have been a health hazard-an assignment that would have been impossible for us to undertake as we are without doubt in the midst of overburdening environmental degradations caused by our own calculated actions.
Likewise, our own Somali warlords, scavengers in their own right, fleeced Somali economy of all valuables including private and public assets ranging from homes, farm implements, industrial machineries, military hardware, gold bullions, mines, and the bulk of human population regarded as an asset to a nation's survival and well being.
The warlords' indiscriminate shelling of dense areas occupied by the enemy and the heralding of wanton shadowy governments of their own creations based on mobocracy was one geared towards the shepherding of a path for the absolute advacement of an unphilosophically selfish modus vivendi aimed at annihilating human material assets and moral strength so that fellow tribesmen and loyal henchmen would scavenge the leftovers to boost their overall dwindling economies not for the present but for posterity.
Thus, such criminal acts, though seemingly pleasing to the warlords, whether prolonged, delayed, or intermittent, had been in the past and present, because of their predatory and rapacious dimensions, described as heinous or vulturous in every human language, living or extinct. Their stubborn and deliberate ostracization of unarmed clans and their application of dictatorially hoggish modus operandi instilled inquietude, confusion, and fragmentation such that whoever got trapped in their territories was left with no other alternative but to submit to their whimsical inventions otherwise the consequences would have been detrimentally discombobulating.
As fate would have it, the vulturous and heinous warlords who terrorized Somalia, were, in the cause of action, subdued, confined, or incapacitated in mysterious circumstances by a more viperish, violent, and spitefully hostile antagonist who wished Somalia better prospects.
So, there is a conflict of interest between the Union of Islamic Courts which is credited with routing the detested warlords and the Transitional Federal Government that gave them convenient sanctuaries for convalescence and rewarded them with parliamentary and ministerial posts.
To add insult to injury, what is causing Somali tempers to flare up, is the intervention of the Ethiopian Army in Somalia at the invitation of the TFG that lacks the support of its own people. Ethioipia, a poor African country bordering Somalia, has in the past, fought Somalia several times over the disputed Somali region known as the Ogaden that it annexed in 1957 at the general consent of the European powers who obliged to the Ethiopian Emperor's notion of being surrounded by an ocean of pagans-a reference to Muslim Somali and Omotic-speaking Oromo.
According to popular Somali opinion, with the exception of some whose thoughts and attitudes are influenced by their leanings towards the TFG due to tribal affiliations, fear of sequestration, and conjectural consideration, judging by the deplorable monstrous cruelty of the forces of the TFG and the Ethiopian Army and their outrageous use of force against innocent unarmed civilians and contrary to the six months of relative peace enjoyed when the ICU was in power in 2006, while borrowing a leaf from what the world media has written about this chronic issue, it has been determined without a shadow of doubt that tranquility will flourish in Somalia after the complete withdrawal of Ethiopia's liberticidal troops and the disarmament of the TFG.
Somalis view the TFG as an otiose foreign element unable to appease its citizens; they see it as one imposed on them; and perceive it as lacking the general hallmarks of an all-inclusive government.
In our final judgement, the warlords, who at first fitted the description of the vulture and the hyena, will, in the meantime, be regarded as an endangered species for being persona non grata from the Somali political scene.
On the other hand, the UIC, in reward for its relentless pursuit of peace and prosperity for the people of Somalia, is hereby declared the winner of an imaginative peace prize to that effect. The Ethiopian forces and the TFG, having distorted their images and having absconded their responsibilities, and judging by their premeditated, horrendous, and suicidal acts against the peace-loving people of Ethiopia and Somalia and humanity in general and having seen the crimes of startling frequency willfully perpetrated and committed in their names; herein adduced before me in this court, having referenced the theory of transmigration of souls; on this day of February 19, 2008; after much deliberations with my inner soul and mind, and undeterred by human seduction, favors, and false pretenses, in lieu of the jurors exhaustive deliberations, I, Honorable Judge of the Supreme Court of the Horn of Africa, author and owner of this essay, by the power conferred on me by human intellect, hereby, without the least hesitation and with absolute decree, by the single stroke of the judicial pen, and through the application and execution of fair justice, cause my right hand to brand them, unmitigatingly, vulture and hyena respectively; labels they will so carry until their eternal judgements and upon their subsequent return to planet earth; the duo, herein referred to as masters of deception, will, without substitution, have the qualities of the afore-mentioned animals and permanently live among fauna of like caliber without change of shape or form whatsoever such that the hermaphrodite shall remain hermaphrodite and the egg-laying shall lay eggs of equal size and shape.
Under no circumstances may the contents of this judgement be altered or overturned, quashed or fabricated or edited for clarity in any manner or form by any type of appeals court of the Horn of Africa nor will it be subjected to a court review nor will leave of reprieve be granted to any court attorney for a retrial as by law established.
Saturday, February 16, 2008
Who is to blame for Somalia's destruction?
Let's explore Somalia's past to expunge deeply and deduce some hints as to the cause of the 17 years of indiscriminate killings, displacements, failed reconciliation conferences, deliberately imposed imperialism and occupation, warlordism, plunder, and exodus of our people from their land.
It is common for humans to point fingers at others for their predicaments and failures. Was Somalia's failure as a state engineered by foreign powers and malodorously cantankerous Somali individuals whose aim was to impose hegemony and create discord for selfish gains? If that is what you believe, then, it is my strongest conviction that you are wrong beyond reasonable doubt.
When a nation disobeys Almighty Allah by employing immorality to speed up its immaterial selfish aims and objectives, then, the resultant expectations as admonished in the Glorious Qur'an and scriptures that preceeded it, is divine destruction that does not differentiate the pious from the sinner.
"If ALLAH were to hasten to people the evil they defy Him to pronounce upon them, as they hasten in asking for good, their doom would have been determined already. But we leave those in rebellion, who do not look to the encounter with Us, in their insolence, wandering blindly on". Qur'an. Surat Yunus: 11
Somalis have acrimoniously copied the evil doings of the people of Ad, Thamud, Iram, Aikat etc. to an extent sermons from mosque pulpits fell on deaf ears as majority became engrossed in UnIslamic acts and Satanical contracts that continuously pilfered through all sectors of society.
How often have you reflected the negative practices of our nomads selling milk in the streets of our major towns and villages? One thing I've noted is that the steatopygous pastoral Somali girl or woman whose day started at dawn to venture out to the milk selling business strolls backbreaking kilometers loaded with heavy milk containers with one thing in mind: to lure and cheat town dwelling customers with contaminated milk diluted with water or powdered milk. The deceits they applied were so intricately rehearsed to the detriment of the unsuspecting customer and herself. With two milk containers by her sides, the unsuspecting customer is given pure milk from a container reserved for tasting while the ultimate transaction implies a separate container with diluted milk. These loquacious milk sellers were known to swear until they exhausted their energies. Unfumigated Bibitos and unhygeinic restaurants played a great role selling diluted milk.
The most destructive business ventures that brought Somalia to her heals could be found among shops and butcheries that manipulated the scale and the balance. Butchers sold meat with tremendous speed and drive because lack of refrigeration meant disaster for their business undertakings as meat is known to perish within hours without preservation. Deceitfully selling ligaments, tendons, glands, and bones instead of steak left customers utterly disgusted and outrageous. The speed at how they dislodged the weight before it came to the right position and the removal of some vital parts from the balance meant customers were getting leap service. Another debilitating anecdote was how produce farmers sold their products.
Sesame sellers splashed water on to sesame seeds so they could generate more weight and cash money for their products when sold in the market in retail or wholesale. Sesame seeds are visibly lighter and absorp water profusely. Grains sellers employed scoops with bulging bases for purchases whereas when selling the scoops had upward punched bottoms.
The proliferation of prostitution conglomerates in the city of Mogadishu saw sprouting of brothels flourish in all suburbs with girls as young as fifteen becoming targets for officials and business magnates stashed with cash meant to lure them. Government officials emptied state coffers through malpractices; military officers hoarded provisions meant for their juniors, promotions were not based on merit but on favoritisms and tribal affiliations; foreigners played seek and hide games in attempts to fulfill their sexual desires; qaad sessions bloomed with middle-aged women known as xusul baruur acting as go-betweens or playing the pimping mistress roles; the consumption of marijuana and alcohol became unregulated and uninterrupted; for women to attract men they resorted to outfits known as iga-dhex-arag or see-me-through while others went about their businesses in western styles including skirts, trousers, T-shirts and shorts, they wore make ups, heads were uncovered; barbers welcomed all sexes in their evil haircut adventures; cinema-goers watched explicit movies while video dens played pornographic contents even for school children and lastly but not least smaller tribes felt the excruciating pain of stratification and marginalization.
Mosques became abandoned leaving religious leaders speechless. The dice had been cast and Somalia's predominantly Muslim nation was headed for destruction with the formation of guerilla movements up north where its leaders were devising ways of overthrowing the corrupt government.
Despite trouncing the junta that ruled Somalia for twenty-one years, leaders of the guerilla movements who were themselves driven by revenge further plunged the already morally corrupt nation in to tribal divisions leading to the genocide of defenseless civilians including women and children. The strong stuck to their guns, academia left the country enmasse, and the leaders of Ethiopia jostled for influence and occupation.
In conclusion, having unearthed some of Somalia's past wrongdoings, I beseech the reader to dissuade pointing fingers at others and kindly reflect the propensity of immorality that was Somalia before its initial collapse.
It is common for humans to point fingers at others for their predicaments and failures. Was Somalia's failure as a state engineered by foreign powers and malodorously cantankerous Somali individuals whose aim was to impose hegemony and create discord for selfish gains? If that is what you believe, then, it is my strongest conviction that you are wrong beyond reasonable doubt.
When a nation disobeys Almighty Allah by employing immorality to speed up its immaterial selfish aims and objectives, then, the resultant expectations as admonished in the Glorious Qur'an and scriptures that preceeded it, is divine destruction that does not differentiate the pious from the sinner.
"If ALLAH were to hasten to people the evil they defy Him to pronounce upon them, as they hasten in asking for good, their doom would have been determined already. But we leave those in rebellion, who do not look to the encounter with Us, in their insolence, wandering blindly on". Qur'an. Surat Yunus: 11
Somalis have acrimoniously copied the evil doings of the people of Ad, Thamud, Iram, Aikat etc. to an extent sermons from mosque pulpits fell on deaf ears as majority became engrossed in UnIslamic acts and Satanical contracts that continuously pilfered through all sectors of society.
How often have you reflected the negative practices of our nomads selling milk in the streets of our major towns and villages? One thing I've noted is that the steatopygous pastoral Somali girl or woman whose day started at dawn to venture out to the milk selling business strolls backbreaking kilometers loaded with heavy milk containers with one thing in mind: to lure and cheat town dwelling customers with contaminated milk diluted with water or powdered milk. The deceits they applied were so intricately rehearsed to the detriment of the unsuspecting customer and herself. With two milk containers by her sides, the unsuspecting customer is given pure milk from a container reserved for tasting while the ultimate transaction implies a separate container with diluted milk. These loquacious milk sellers were known to swear until they exhausted their energies. Unfumigated Bibitos and unhygeinic restaurants played a great role selling diluted milk.
The most destructive business ventures that brought Somalia to her heals could be found among shops and butcheries that manipulated the scale and the balance. Butchers sold meat with tremendous speed and drive because lack of refrigeration meant disaster for their business undertakings as meat is known to perish within hours without preservation. Deceitfully selling ligaments, tendons, glands, and bones instead of steak left customers utterly disgusted and outrageous. The speed at how they dislodged the weight before it came to the right position and the removal of some vital parts from the balance meant customers were getting leap service. Another debilitating anecdote was how produce farmers sold their products.
Sesame sellers splashed water on to sesame seeds so they could generate more weight and cash money for their products when sold in the market in retail or wholesale. Sesame seeds are visibly lighter and absorp water profusely. Grains sellers employed scoops with bulging bases for purchases whereas when selling the scoops had upward punched bottoms.
The proliferation of prostitution conglomerates in the city of Mogadishu saw sprouting of brothels flourish in all suburbs with girls as young as fifteen becoming targets for officials and business magnates stashed with cash meant to lure them. Government officials emptied state coffers through malpractices; military officers hoarded provisions meant for their juniors, promotions were not based on merit but on favoritisms and tribal affiliations; foreigners played seek and hide games in attempts to fulfill their sexual desires; qaad sessions bloomed with middle-aged women known as xusul baruur acting as go-betweens or playing the pimping mistress roles; the consumption of marijuana and alcohol became unregulated and uninterrupted; for women to attract men they resorted to outfits known as iga-dhex-arag or see-me-through while others went about their businesses in western styles including skirts, trousers, T-shirts and shorts, they wore make ups, heads were uncovered; barbers welcomed all sexes in their evil haircut adventures; cinema-goers watched explicit movies while video dens played pornographic contents even for school children and lastly but not least smaller tribes felt the excruciating pain of stratification and marginalization.
Mosques became abandoned leaving religious leaders speechless. The dice had been cast and Somalia's predominantly Muslim nation was headed for destruction with the formation of guerilla movements up north where its leaders were devising ways of overthrowing the corrupt government.
Despite trouncing the junta that ruled Somalia for twenty-one years, leaders of the guerilla movements who were themselves driven by revenge further plunged the already morally corrupt nation in to tribal divisions leading to the genocide of defenseless civilians including women and children. The strong stuck to their guns, academia left the country enmasse, and the leaders of Ethiopia jostled for influence and occupation.
In conclusion, having unearthed some of Somalia's past wrongdoings, I beseech the reader to dissuade pointing fingers at others and kindly reflect the propensity of immorality that was Somalia before its initial collapse.
Monday, February 11, 2008
Somalia: Land of Aroma and the invention of new diseases
When it rains in the west, what you get is not the scent of downpour, but the putrid and neauseating smell of petrochemicals, hazardous wastes, and noxious emissions from cars and factories whereas in Somalia what you inhale is nature's true scent as the fecundating winds meticulously and trasncedentally disperse heavenly aroma known in Somali as saxansaxo-a nourishing element that resuscitates living organisms. That is why the Pharaohs referred Somalia to as the "Land of Aroma" not because of the abundance of Myrrh or Frankinsence but because of the diverse creatures and animal kingdom that emit entertaining aroma acceptable to every living thing that inhabit it. In Somalia, before the advent of modern machinery and before the eruption of the civil war in 1990, the scent of rain could be felt from a far because nature remained in complete obeisance to the environment regardless of geography and landscape. Unfortunately, cantankerous warlords and the Mafiosi, in the absence of law and order, discovered ways of dumping nuclear wastes along the coastlines and in to the interior of the country thus increasing child mortality rates, depriving the soil of its vital nutrients, and wrecking havoc to all kinds of life. Besides the deaths of the many who perished as a result of the civil skirmishes, the introduction of dangerous drugs like Qaad (catha edulis), Marijuana, and Speed, added up to the diminished rate of human population.
Evidences of tongue and lung cancers that had been alien to Somalia, disastrously evolved at alarming rates among healthy populations leading to the destruction of the hale and healthy.
The greatest disaster to have afflicted Somalis before the civil war, was, as medically and historically noted: rain failure, tuberculosis, malaria, typhoid and other water borne diseases.
Perhaps, Diabetes, which has become a major killer in the world today, may have been existent in Somalia before times, which is why the nation's Diaspora, having adopted modern lavish lifestyles common in the West, despite not having recorded medical history, are showing signs of increased risks as evidenced by the number of new patients arriving at the offices of private physicians and general hospitals.
Perhaps, Diabetes, which has become a major killer in the world today, may have been existent in Somalia before times, which is why the nation's Diaspora, having adopted modern lavish lifestyles common in the West, despite not having recorded medical history, are showing signs of increased risks as evidenced by the number of new patients arriving at the offices of private physicians and general hospitals.
Another modern discovery in the sciences of diseases is HIV/AIDS which is unrestrained in Somalia because of the absence of a central government and the lack of vital statistics.
The few agencies and organizations in the country find it difficult to determine the extent of the spread of HIV/AIDS which is reportedly widespread among Africans because of the lack of education and dissemination of information as regards prevention and abstinence. Strict adherance to Islamic principles evident in the olden days, may have been, if I'm not wrong, replaced by exposure to sexuality and sexual orientation and the easy access to pornographic videos available on the world wide web, adult magazines, and other sectors of the media.
The few agencies and organizations in the country find it difficult to determine the extent of the spread of HIV/AIDS which is reportedly widespread among Africans because of the lack of education and dissemination of information as regards prevention and abstinence. Strict adherance to Islamic principles evident in the olden days, may have been, if I'm not wrong, replaced by exposure to sexuality and sexual orientation and the easy access to pornographic videos available on the world wide web, adult magazines, and other sectors of the media.
Ironically, the defeat of the callous warlords by the Islamic Courts Unions in 2006 saw the introduction of strict Islamic Sheria which spearheaded the closure of pornographic video dens and brothels, the destruction of marijuana fields and beer consignments, and the abrupt halting of Qaad delivery originating in Ethiopia and Kenya by land and air only to reemerge after the routing of the ICU by the combined efforts of the Ethiopian Army and the forces of the Transitional Federal Government.
The regrouping of the ICU forces and the creation of Al-shabab-a consortium of young fighters united to free Somalia from Ethiopian occupation, has created the greatest humanitarian disaster in Africa-a disaster that has displaced almost a quarter of the population of the city of Mogadishu of two million.
Indeed, the fighting has been so intense that streets became littered with corpses that remained uncollected for some time almost spiralling an epidemic hazard. Uncollected refuse and lack of a functioning sewerage system add insult to injury.
Indeed, the fighting has been so intense that streets became littered with corpses that remained uncollected for some time almost spiralling an epidemic hazard. Uncollected refuse and lack of a functioning sewerage system add insult to injury.
In conclusion, children continue to die of malnutrition in concentration camps while the elderly succumb to dehydration and starvation-a clear indication that new diseases are emerging without control.
Therefore, the destruction of Somalia's fauna and flora, the flight of foreign medical organizations and relief agencies, the dumping of nuclear, biological, and chemical wastes and the prolongation of the civil war, will in the long run, turn Somalia in to a land that has never before witnessed any form of aroma.
Saturday, February 9, 2008
Impact of Colonialism and imperialism on Africa
The white figure in the picture towering above traditional Somali elders and loyal askaris (soldiers), is Sir Evelyn Bering, representative of the British Monarchy, dispalying his prowess in the land of 
the brave and mighty (Somalia). The British Monarchy had representatives in almost three-quarter of the globe. With the help of loyal subjects it subdued, a swift, strong and disciplined Navy, and devastating gun powder, much of the land they captured remained under occupation until the dawn of the 19th Century. With the exception of Abyssinia (currently Ethiopia) which was under Italian occupation for a mere five years, and Liberia which was founded by Americo-Liberians, the rest of Africa suffered brutally at the hands of the European powers who divided the continent among themselves after the 1884 convention in Brussels known as the "Scramble for Africa" chaired by King Leopold II of Belgium. King Leopold II, the man who hatched the plan to have Africa civilized through plunder, got a share of parts of Central Africa most notably the Congo where millions of Congolese died as a result of forced labor. To date, Congo remains an unstable state due to the inherited colonial and imperial legacy imposed on it.
In East Africa, even mountains became properties of Kings and Queens, thus remaining out-of-bounds to Africans until the proclammation of independence in 60s. Africa, which had never known demarcation of borders before, experienced atrocious dismemberment and dislodgement to the extent families became separated while hostile tribes were forcefully made to share land. Africans had to abide by the newly introduced laws; they had to pledge allegience to their foreign masters by working strenuously to the best of their ability to ensure the survival and well being of Europe's economy. Gold hoarded in Africa decorated European crowns; maids from Africa set up the tables for pompous ceremonies; African power tilled the land; freely-acquired African steel was used to construct bridges, dockyards and ships; Europe was almost entirely dependent on Africans and Africa until such a time the European continent came to be known as the super power of the world.
Having achieved their aims and objectives as regards material wealth, political irredentism, and territorial gains, European powers embarked on a plan to evangelize the continent that had long enjoyed religious freedom and social stability. Religious persecution had never been known in Africa before, yet, the Europeans who had teared each other apart for centuries, found it incumbent upon them to proselytize the savage continent through the use of spiritually-guided missionaries who would construct massive churches and religious institutions using free African labor again. The Middle East which had long headquartered and cherished Christianity since its inception, saw itself lose its rightful place in Christianity after Beirut, Baghdad, Damascus, and Palestine became centers for Islamic propagation and revivalism. The fall of Constantinople and Alexandria to Islam dealt a devastating blow to Christian Europe. Thus, Christian Europe's interest in having strong foundations in Africa increased among its member states. Despite strong Islamic presence along the African coastline from Zeila in Somalia to Beira in Mozambique, Europeans saw it right to intrude the interior of the continent where they would have less resistance. With the invention of modern fighting machines coupled with better training and increased manpower, they were able to overcome resistance from Africans and their poorly equipped warriors. Ruling African chieftains resorted to corruption by accepting small gifts like beads, polished curios, and mirrors while in return Europeans hoarded ivory, leopard skins, and in the initial road to agriculturalization and industrialization, the worst struck with the advent of slavery and slave trade when Africans were crammbled onto crowded ships like goats being led to the market ushering in an era when Europe witnessed the best surplus economy that granted it economical wealth to emerging generations. Harsh weather conditions, rough terrains, and diseases at first impeded their attempts to reach their destinations. However, their desired goal of establishing permanent settlements bore fruit and up to this day Africa remains a bastion of European colonization, imperialism, and religiosity with many of those ugly traces evidently visible in almost every African country. A case in point is the commitment of African nations to European values such that many are referred to as Commonwealth, Francophone and Anglophone nations.
Having won the battle in all aspects, Europe continues to hoard African academics and intellectuals through the indirect implementation of what has become known as the "brain drain" where the brightest minds are lured to the west by being offered better jobs, grants, accessible facilities, and other ammenities which would have been impossible in their home countries. This brainwashing mentality metted on poor Africans has added to Africa's blight. Thus, the few who remain at home continue to succumb to illiteracy, infectious diseases, poor economy, and dictatorship while being held hostage by the absence of accountability, equality, justice and gross human rights practices.
the brave and mighty (Somalia). The British Monarchy had representatives in almost three-quarter of the globe. With the help of loyal subjects it subdued, a swift, strong and disciplined Navy, and devastating gun powder, much of the land they captured remained under occupation until the dawn of the 19th Century. With the exception of Abyssinia (currently Ethiopia) which was under Italian occupation for a mere five years, and Liberia which was founded by Americo-Liberians, the rest of Africa suffered brutally at the hands of the European powers who divided the continent among themselves after the 1884 convention in Brussels known as the "Scramble for Africa" chaired by King Leopold II of Belgium. King Leopold II, the man who hatched the plan to have Africa civilized through plunder, got a share of parts of Central Africa most notably the Congo where millions of Congolese died as a result of forced labor. To date, Congo remains an unstable state due to the inherited colonial and imperial legacy imposed on it.In East Africa, even mountains became properties of Kings and Queens, thus remaining out-of-bounds to Africans until the proclammation of independence in 60s. Africa, which had never known demarcation of borders before, experienced atrocious dismemberment and dislodgement to the extent families became separated while hostile tribes were forcefully made to share land. Africans had to abide by the newly introduced laws; they had to pledge allegience to their foreign masters by working strenuously to the best of their ability to ensure the survival and well being of Europe's economy. Gold hoarded in Africa decorated European crowns; maids from Africa set up the tables for pompous ceremonies; African power tilled the land; freely-acquired African steel was used to construct bridges, dockyards and ships; Europe was almost entirely dependent on Africans and Africa until such a time the European continent came to be known as the super power of the world.
Having achieved their aims and objectives as regards material wealth, political irredentism, and territorial gains, European powers embarked on a plan to evangelize the continent that had long enjoyed religious freedom and social stability. Religious persecution had never been known in Africa before, yet, the Europeans who had teared each other apart for centuries, found it incumbent upon them to proselytize the savage continent through the use of spiritually-guided missionaries who would construct massive churches and religious institutions using free African labor again. The Middle East which had long headquartered and cherished Christianity since its inception, saw itself lose its rightful place in Christianity after Beirut, Baghdad, Damascus, and Palestine became centers for Islamic propagation and revivalism. The fall of Constantinople and Alexandria to Islam dealt a devastating blow to Christian Europe. Thus, Christian Europe's interest in having strong foundations in Africa increased among its member states. Despite strong Islamic presence along the African coastline from Zeila in Somalia to Beira in Mozambique, Europeans saw it right to intrude the interior of the continent where they would have less resistance. With the invention of modern fighting machines coupled with better training and increased manpower, they were able to overcome resistance from Africans and their poorly equipped warriors. Ruling African chieftains resorted to corruption by accepting small gifts like beads, polished curios, and mirrors while in return Europeans hoarded ivory, leopard skins, and in the initial road to agriculturalization and industrialization, the worst struck with the advent of slavery and slave trade when Africans were crammbled onto crowded ships like goats being led to the market ushering in an era when Europe witnessed the best surplus economy that granted it economical wealth to emerging generations. Harsh weather conditions, rough terrains, and diseases at first impeded their attempts to reach their destinations. However, their desired goal of establishing permanent settlements bore fruit and up to this day Africa remains a bastion of European colonization, imperialism, and religiosity with many of those ugly traces evidently visible in almost every African country. A case in point is the commitment of African nations to European values such that many are referred to as Commonwealth, Francophone and Anglophone nations.
Having won the battle in all aspects, Europe continues to hoard African academics and intellectuals through the indirect implementation of what has become known as the "brain drain" where the brightest minds are lured to the west by being offered better jobs, grants, accessible facilities, and other ammenities which would have been impossible in their home countries. This brainwashing mentality metted on poor Africans has added to Africa's blight. Thus, the few who remain at home continue to succumb to illiteracy, infectious diseases, poor economy, and dictatorship while being held hostage by the absence of accountability, equality, justice and gross human rights practices.
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