Regime changes in the making in the African Horn

By Adan Makina
January 01 , 2008
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"A soldier without political knowledge is a virtual criminal."
Thomas Sankara, former President of Burkina Faso.

Somalia’s President, Colonel Abdullahi Yusuf Ahmed, the world’s oldest surviving liver transplant patient, is in a London hospital and is said to be in bad health while the administration of Prime Minister Meles Zenawi of Ethiopia is getting exceedingly nervous for fear that should president Yusuf expire, the entire occupation process will collapse and that his own government may well fall to pieces.

Ethiopian forces entered Somalia in December of 2006 to counter threats from the Union of Islamic Courts (UIC) and also at the invitation of Somalia’s fragile Transitional Federal Government (TFG). The UIC, a blend of 11 autonomous religious courts, routed the US funded warlords who held Somalia hostage since 1991. They brought six months of relative peace to Somalia in 2006 only to cave in at the invasion of Ethiopia.

Emerging information indicate that the Ethiopians were deceived by Yusuf in the initial master plan when he bragged to Meles in Addis Ababa that he had a well equipped force to fight along the Ethiopians to respond to the UIC Militia threat. Meles should not regret for he failed to read Yusuf’s unpredictable monodramatic leadership. Should Meles be ousted as the leader of Ethiopia, rest assured he will point fingers at Yusuf as the major cause of his downfall.

History is replete with Prophets and Messengers who brought divine scriptures and marvelous laws; it documents conquerors who left behind historical artifacts and golden mausoleums; it shades light on pioneers who shepherded the world from darkness to civilization through innovations; it has catalogued reprobates, philanderers, plunderers and barbarians in its dark pages as the worst the world has ever seen departing humiliated and crestfallen with nothing to their compliments except unmarked graves and paradoxical illustrations-the last category being where Somali warlords, Somali President, and Ethiopia’s Prime Minister belong.

Unfortunately, for the last sixteen years or so, the atmosphere in the Horn of Africa has been and is up till now, one immersed in implacable miasma and mendacity due to the emergence of a dozen avaricious, supercilious, coldhearted, clannish and discriminatory men who continue to hold close to a 100 million people hostage denying them the basic inalienable rights enshrined in their constitutions and that of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) adopted in 1948 by the General Assembly of the United Nations. This is an assembly of cold-blooded hard core criminals who reside in fortified dwellings in complete primordial pomposity; they are men who evade the use of legally binding rationalistic approaches to expand the rule of law; they thrust aside scholarly and philosophical thoughts without justification; they borrow blasphemous and outdated dogmas aimed at intoxicating the feeble minds of their war-weakened subjects. They dine on French gourmet, wine on expensive champagne, and walk on red carpets in broad daylight surrounded by a retinue of barefaced dignitaries with 21 gun salutes to their honor.

Satan, the greatest perpetrator and harbinger of all wars, through his deceitful tactics and unmatched vigor, has definitely emerged the exclusive beneficiary of the Horn’s protracted instability. Heads collide at his command by surreptitiously irritating; weakening and impairing psychomotor activities of feeble minds leaving their cerebral arteries dissolve in an ocean of spontaneity leading to an overall cave-in of the brain’s hardware in time initiating eternal irreversibility.

To make matters worse for Ethiopia, PM Zenawi has horns locked with the UN over the deteriorating political and humanitarian situation in Somalia. The UN claims things are getting worse in Somalia due to the presence of Ethiopian forces while Meles claims the situation has been exaggerated and blown out of proportion. How dare he deceive a world full of hovering satellites relaying messages from the galaxies light years away?
Paradoxically, the African Union (AU) which is party to the anarchy in Somalia because of her reluctance and failure to provide the essential logistics and required peacekeeping force to stabilize the country, sensing how the situation is getting out of control and seeing the nature of death and destruction caused by opposing sides, has, as if abiding by the old adage “better late than never”, recently, after much deliberation, issued this concise mythical statement, saying:”(We) call on the Somalis and the international community to explore new avenues, to muster the required political will and resources to bring to a definite end the conflict that has afflicted Somalia and its people” Somalis should not anticipate anything good from the AU as long it has its headquarters in Addis Ababa. Is this not the same organization that had been beating the drums of war when Ethiopian Forces were pouring into Somalia to kill and maim innocent peace loving civilians?

The armed wing of the Islamists, Al-shabab, has flexed its muscles and is in full swing gaining ground day after day. So far they have captured large swathes of land by claiming victory in areas previously occupied by the Ethiopians and forces of the TFG. Their latest victory is the capture of Galgaduud region.

Many important TFG figures have been executed by Al-shabab, others have gone into hiding, and others are holed up in Baidoa, while others have left the country either to seek asylum or join the opposition in Asmara, giving Isaiah Affewerki of Eritrea a big burst of political laughter from a far distance.

For now, Al-shabab is eyeing near victory as the Ethiopian forces in Somalia have been bogged down disgracefully and PM Meles Zenawi is contemplating a quick exit. Meles has sought to down play the death of his soldiers as if they are made of steel though the contents of refrigerated trucks and transport planes leaving Somalia for Ethiopia reveal the contrary. Thus, the Transitional Federal Government of Somalia and the TPLF regime of Ethiopia are both on the verge of collapse and that regime changes are in the making which may surprise many in the West and those nations with a stake in the Horn of Africa. For now, the fate of Somalia and Ethiopia will depend on how quickly Al-shabab of Somalia and the opposition in Ethiopia make gargantuan leaps into the international political arena. For PM Meles Zenawi, the closure of the precipitous border with Eritrea, the subsequent drought that has hit his homeland and the weakening state of the economy must be deeply worrying and a hard pill to swallow. While he denies the deteriorating humanitarian situation in Somalia, many wonder how he will respond to the unfolding devastation in his landlocked birthplace. Eritrean soldiers on the other side of the border have less to worry knowing they have an outlet to the sea. Despite sanctions, President Isaiah Affewerki of Eritrea will have to overcome all odds to ensure the survival of his people and stand up to Ethiopia over the disputed border.

Ironically, for Somalia, the recuperation and return of President Yusuf to the helm will pioneer nothing new to the political landscape but rather incite more violence for he is an inexperienced octogenarian whose desired goal is to revenge against entities and tribes opposed to his fiefdom. Should he expire and be succeeded by someone in this current TFG administration, presumably, the bloodshed will still continue unabated.

Ethiopia is fighting proxy wars almost everywhere in the Horn of Africa. Besides the conflicts in Somalia and the border dispute with Eritrea, factors that may bring down the current regime in Ethiopia include: the willingness of the opposition to open old wounds to counter the irregularities and rigging of the elections in 2005 by the ruling party under PM Meles Zenawi, international outcry at the detention without trial of opposition heavyweights, and the accelerated armed struggle of the liberation movements in several regions occupied by ethnic groups seeking to break away from the rest of Ethiopia.
The arrival of African Union peacekeepers will bring no change except renewed war, new humanitarian crises, and shoddy peace deals that will not hold long. The 1,500 Uganda People’s Defense Force has not been immune from attacks by Al-shabab and for now their movements in Mogadishu are restricted to a few defined areas. Leaders of Al-shabab had earlier warned that the Uganda Forces and any other alien army that sets camp in Somalia without their backing will be targeted and treated like any other occupying force.

Burundians who wrapped up refresher courses and interdisciplinary counterterrorism procedures continue to pour in to the Somali capital to replace the weakened and cruel Ethiopians who have failed to restore peace and order for a complete year. Captain Paddy Akunda, a spokesman for the AU and a member of the Uganda Armed Force had this to say upon the arrival of the Burundi dispatch:” One hundred peacekeepers from Burundi have just landed here”. In Bujumbura, Colonel Adolphe Manirakiza told Reuters that “the team went to prepare the ground for the rest of the troops”.

The ethnic composition of the Burundian Army and the way civil strife is dealt with between the majority Hutu and minority Tutsi pre-and-post independence may be a leaf to borrow for warring Somalis. The current President of Burundi, Pierre Nkurunziza, a Hutu, one of Africa’s youngest leaders, is a born-again Christian, was born in Ngozi province in 1964, trained as a sports teacher before plunging into politics to head the Force for the Defense of Democracy (FDD). His father, a former Member of Parliament, was killed in ethnic violence in 1972.

Obviously, Ethiopians will pack up and leave Somalia sooner or later. What to expect from the hypocritical and untested AU is not easy to prognosticate. Also, the position of the West towards the Horn of Africa is hard to decipher. The role of Ethiopia in Somalia and the policy of Somalia towards Ethiopia after Yusuf is gone will depend on the succeeding Somali administration. PM Meles’ regime will face stiff internal and external hostility when his forces return home, when his parliament debates the fate of soldiers missing in action (MIA), and when unaccounted for body bags emerge from the mortuaries. For Al-shabab, the flight of enemy number one (Ethiopia), the collapse of the TFG and the presence of a less hostile uninvited guest (AU Forces) should open a path for dialogue.

Adan Makina
E-Mail:amakina@kc.rr.com

Too many strategic exits with uncertain futures in the Horn of Africa

It is better to have a bad government-however brutal it may be-than be without one. Somalia may not be the first country in the world to experience two decades of devastatation caused by brutal wars culminating in the death of thousands if not millions of innocent civilians and the displacement of an equal number scattered the world over either as refugees or as internally displaced within its own borders compounded by disease, hunger, and poor sanitation. Of course, the world has been through many heinous wars most notably in Rwanda, Burundi, Kenya, Mozambique, Ivory Coast, Sierra Leone, Liberia, Kosovo, Bosnia, Sudan, Ethiopia and Eritrea, Angola, and the list could be endless. Most African wars have been described as 'tribal wars'-where one tribe or clan feels 'enough is enough'-and that time is ripe to take power by force from the clan that dominated politics for so long. In Europe, it is called 'ethnic wars'-where two races compete for dominance as happened after the break up of the former Yugoslavia that pitied Christians against Muslims or Serbs (Christians) against Bosniacs (Muslims).

Somalia is a sparsely populated country bordering the Red Sea and the Indian Ocean yet its roughly 10 million inhabitants are relatively poor besides the thousands who fled to Western Europe, North America, the Middle East, Australia and New Zealand. It is a Less Developed Country (LDC); it has incredibly low Natural Increase Rate (NIR); its Crude Birth Rate (CBR) is not something to worry about though its Crude Death Rate (CDR) and Infant Mortality Rate (IMR) are of concern for demographers, international Aid Agencies, and the World Bank. Four decades of misrule has left Somalia a laughing stork, yet, the abundance of natural resources it has could sustain not only her citizens, but many outside her borders. Despite having untapped oil and natural gas, unexploited minerals, and a wealth of fisheries and agricultural lands, the people of Somalia remain a burden to the world donor nations because, a succession of civil disorbedience and negative political practices have continually torn apart this homogeneous race in to enormous tribal segmentations and unparalleled clan rivalries.

For twenty-one years, many in the West saw the rule of President Mohamed Siyad Barre of Somalia as having dictatorial credentials while Somali tribes opposed to his rule felt marginalized despite having ripe grapes in their baskets. Poor governance coupled with tribal mindedness, illiterate governors, mismanagement of the economy, bad ideology like Communism and Socialism and other factors led to the sudden fall of a once powerful nation that was the envy of many in Africa-especially neighboring countries that had a long standing border dispute with Somalia. Today, the same countries that opted for the collapse of Somalia, have become the ears and eyes for a succession of merciless warlords and shadowy transitional governments which they direct at will because they are the providers of the bulk of arms and money needed to advance their modus operandi which include territorial dismemberments, tribal divisions, and unstoppable atrocities.

After sixteen years of bloodshed by anarchic warlords, an otiose Transitional Federal Government (TFG) was born in Nairobi, Kenya, in 2004, with the blessings of the international community. For almost a year, the TFG was unable to relocate to Somalia for fear of reprisals from the Union of Islamic Courts hereafter referred to as UIC. Born out of the amalgamation of eleven minor tribal courts, the UIC routed the West-funded warlords in a matter of months. Poor political strategies, ideological affiliation of some cadres with the dreaded Al-Qaeda, and religious rhetorics at the US, Kenya, and Ethiopia, did not go down well with the poweful forces of democracy and enforcers of 'World Order'.

The President of the TFG, Abdullahi Yusuf Ahmed, a former Army Colonel, was and is too inexperienced to tackle the Somali political debackle-a mess he was party to even prior to the collapse of Siyad Barre's Junta. Since his inauguration as President of Somalia, life has gone from the better to worse for the people of Somalia especially after the incursion of the Ethiopian Army in to Somali soil where the level of violence has doubled since. Many of his previous supporters have joined the ranks of the newly-founded reliberation movements fighting to oust him and repel the Ethiopian occupation. Hussein Farah Aideed, a former U.S. Marines Sergeant and son of General Farah Aideed-the man behind the re-enactment of Hollywood's acclaimed movie "Black Hawk Down"-was the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Interior for the TFG before joining the rebel Asmara Group hosted in Eritrea. The former Speaker of the TFG and a group of rebel Parliamentarians thought to constitute a good forty, are also thought to have established base there. Unfortunately, these former members of the TFG, are guests for President Afewerki who is at loggerheads with the regime in Addis Ababa-a regime headed by his maternal cousin, Prime Minister Meles Zenawi of Ethiopia.

Eritrean rebels fought Ethiopia for over thirty years before reclaiming their soverignty in the early ninties. Since reclaiming independence from Ethiopia, Eritrea has fought Yemen over tiny Islands in the Red Sea; almost a million died in a bloody war with Ethiopia over disputed territories; it has made incursions in to Djibouti territory over the last few weeks; and lastly but not least, it is engaged in the Somali turmoil unrestrained.

Ironically, President Afewerki is not only host to the Somali Asmara rebel group, but to a variety of liberation movements fighting to break away from Ethiopia most notably the Ogaden National Liberation Front, the Oromo Liberation Front, and a group that represents the Amhara-an ancient tribe that ruled Ethiopia for centuries before the emergence of Colonel Mengistu Haile Miriam in a bloody coup in the mid-seventies. Known for his terror brigade that annihilated millions of innocent Ethiopians and the atrocious and forceful relocation of enemy tribes to environmentally hostile lands, Colonel Mengistu murdered the "Star of Christianity"-His Royal Highness, Emperor Haile Selasie, an Amhara and had him buried in his grandiose palace where his footstool lay. The remains of the Emperor have been reburied in a golden mausoleum in the heart of Addis Ababa by the current regime of Meles to appease the aggrieved Amhara. An ardent supporter of Communism, Mengistu went to war with Somalia in 1977-78 over the disputed Ethiopia-occupied Ogaden region claimed by Somalia. With reinforcements from the former U.S.S.R, Cuba, Yemen, and other Eastern European countries that constituted the Warsaw Pact Forces, Somalia's unaided army withdrew from the vast territories it had earlier reclaimed or captured from Ethiopia. Somalia's withdrawal gave rise to the creation of the current TFG President of Somalia, Abdullahi Yusuf Ahmed, and to Meles Zenawi, the sitting PM of Ethiopia, who found safe havens at the clash of these two antagonistic forces. Yusuf crossed border to Ethiopia after his failed coup attempt against strongman Siyad Barre while Meles and Afewerki sought refuge in Somalia where they were hosted by Siyad Barre.

Somalia's TFG is in a dilemma as it has never ruled a portion of the country with the exception of the City of Baidoa that serves as its headquarter. Smaller than the Vatican, the City of Baidoa has of late become a target for the well-armed guerilla forces of Al-shabab-the armed-wing of the resistance movement against the TFG and the Ethiopian occupation. Parliamentary members of the TFG have voiced their deepest concerns at the increasing level of violence gripping the city and the rampant increase of Al-shabab incursions in to the heavily fortified city guarded by the Ethiopian and TFG forces. Thus, many of these parliamentarians may pretty soon be left with no other alternative but to seek refuge either in Kenya, Eritrea, or Ethiopia where their safety can be guaranteed until the violence subsides.

Meles Zenawi, Ethiopia's Prime Minister and mastermind of the Somali occupation, feels his Somali project is a fiasco and that he is contemplating a strategic exit sooner or later. Likewise, he is to exit Ethiopia's political scene as his re-run for the his nation's Premiership is almost impossible because it would contradict Ethiopia's constitution and also anger the opposition who are bitter at his previous political mismanagement and adulteration of the laws of the land that he swore to uphold when he came to power. Unless he opts to use force to cling to power and quell civil disturbances, the Ethiopian constitution has no room for him come what may 2009.

Likewise, Somalia's President Abdullahi Yusuf Ahmed, is to pack up and leave office in 2009 unless re-elected by parliament for a second-term. Until then, regardless of reconciliation successes between his administration and the many forces with diverse opinions opposed to his rule, what Somalis pray to see, is a strong government that will enforce law and order and reunite Somalia. Whether it will be a refurbished TFG with an all-inclusive government, or the militant al-shabab, or a new administration with multi-faceted ideological foundations, what the future holds for this tattered nation, is in real essence, hard to predict. But what had been predicted by one educated Somali academic about the future of Somalia is clearly emerging in piecemeal: so many poor Ethiopians are settling in the autonomous region of Puntland and and in the breakaway state of Somaliland; the country has become so ungovernable such that it is only the Ethiopian directional compass that can give it a true bearing and heading no matter how deviant that direction might lead; division of mind and conflict of ideology tends to favor Ethiopia's wrong dimensions; every single income from the port, airport, and other tax revenues is being collected for Ethiopian coffers; Somalia has become part and parcel of Ethiopia with administrative dictations coming from the headquarters in Addis Ababa; and that its governor is General Gabre-the Tigreyan General in charge of overseeing the TFG's social activities and political measures.

Even with the exit of Meles and Yusuf and most probably Afewerki in 2009 and beyond, a bleak future awaits the beautiful people of the Horn of Africa. How to bury the hatchet, pick up the pieces, and embark on a new collective strategy will be hard to accomplish. Suspicion, hatred, and gerrymandering will prevail for generations to come.

SOMALI VULGAR LANGUAGE IN ITS TRUE COLORS

What the heck is wrong with Somalis whenever they disagree on any subject they hurl expletives and other despicable conversational language at each other devoid of brainpower and comprehension? Perhaps, the first contaminated and impertinent language ever to spew out from the mouths of our forefathers is the ineffective and bashful overtone 'awowgaa lagub' and 'waran hele' which, at present, is left to a few surviving culturally inclined men and women bent on preserving our unique prestige and heritage. For the youth of Mogadishu and those of the southern regions, 'jinoole aa tahay' and 'habartaa buufkeed' still captures the limelight of joking relationship.

From an anthropological viewpoint, joking relationship may be defined as behavior common among certain people of close proximity in kin who display a sense of hilarity involving shared mockery, wit, and liveliness often sliding into romantic apprehension and sexual insinuation. In contrast, avoidance relationships imply the evasion of certain negative behaviors amongst sets of kin in order to enhance social harmony. Joking relationship often dissipates in societies afflicted by conflict. In the case of Somalia where civil strife is a daily occurrence, avoidance relationships is a common tool used to create substantial barricade so as to keep warring factions poles apart or else it could lead to senseless conflagration of political uncertainty and death. Intimidations and insinuations against adversaries using arrogant expressions like “ma anoo reer hebel ah” can be found among all peoples including clans.

The mention of the word 'clan' rents many hearts asunder as it reminds them of several decades of misrule by tyrannical regimes who callously diluted the dignified status and good name of Somalia’s fragile communities leading them into an abyss of social disgrace and continuous exodus of political refugees to every corner of the earth.

Clans are a group of people related by blood who are uninformed whether they have authentic affiliation. Whether one is 'laan gaab' or 'laan dheere', among Somalis, the decayed slattern and the highly educated all share a common blatant for introduction purposes: anigu waxaan ahay reer hebel.

'War waxu af dheeraa' signified the severity and abhorrence the Somali people had for the use of aggravating language. Now that the hellish war between the warlords competing over drugs, money, and power and the Jihadists all out to enforce law and order in Mogadishu and its environs is over, it is quite comprehensible that the battleground is rife with immoral, ravenous, and contemptible acts slowly filtering disparaging language into our formerly uncontaminated traditions and mutually supporting society-a tough assignment for our future forces that will combat decadence in our midst when peace finally prevails.
For the haggardly loxoox-munching, qaad-chewing, mentally hallucinated, and dyspepsia- afflicted ragamuffins who dedicated their lives to doing dastardly acts to enforce the peculiar laws of the insatiable loquacious warlord san-ka-dhuus, rest assured you will be judged by your actions for ignorance of the law is no excuse and that the only option open for your future repentance is to undergo psychiatric therapy to cleanse your blood-stained hands and eroded cannibalistic mental faculties.

The era when society harmonically admonished criminals 'war Allahaaga ka cabso' is no longer of vital importance as it now belongs to ancient verbal expressions. It is the rule of the 'labo-xiniinyood' whose daggers are drawn in cut-throat positions with each side willing to sacrifice entire 'qoys', 'jilib' and 'qabiil'. Opposing forces launch callous vituperations assisted by blasphemous imprecations: including 'Allaah ha idiin dabargooyo', 'Rabbiyoow kuwani naga gacansareysii'-a stupendous malcontent of duplicitous and sacrilegious declaration that is not consistent with Islamic values but rather a commoditization of excessive satanic religiosity and absolute display of immoral values. The saying by some: 'Soomaali waxaa lagu xukumi karaa qori caaradiisa' seems to hold some water. An endless cycle of violence has been dragging on for fifteen years with no solution in sight even with the intervention of the mightiest powers. A famous Somali Poet exclaimed that the return of Siyad Barre (deceased former president) could tilt the scale of anarchy and have all warlords in dungeon- an impossible undertaking indeed.

The recent clashes between the Islamic Courts and the warlords, two war-hardened rivals brought a sigh of relief to Somalis wherever they may be as the warlords themselves have either conceded defeat or cried 'cagteey malabeey meel igee' feverishly running faster than 'xiin finiin' to their hideouts while retorting: 'Libaaxii alamtarana soo dhaaf'. Even with 'maromugeed' of dollars and their promise that they will pursue some members of the Islamic Courts in the most impenetrable 'futo jiir', in the long run, the extended hands of the world powers will take the warlords into custody so they may be handed over to the International Court of Justice in The Hague, Netherlands, to be tried for crimes against humanity, just like Charles Taylor of Liberia.

The circumambulation of the graves of the holier-than-thou and virtuous religious figures and throwing of stones at Lucifer in specially selected localities in the hope of receiving blessings in order to have an upper hand in war continues to this day in many parts of Somalia-undeniably a religious innovation of the worst kind. The cry of sheikh hebelow which was a way of overcoming hardships has been hampered by the shortage of cambuulo, a good recipe for congregational purposes, however; gone are the days when its abundance made many sing: 'cambuulo galleey ka ciilbeelayeey'. At the present time, the training of our youth for future warfare against other tribes is antagonistically in the making. 'Waar dameeryahow abtirka toosi' is homework for every under-age Somali child.


Lately, a few prominent curses have disappeared from Somali vocabulary. Up till now, 'Caloosha kuwareegtay' and 'xaarkaaga xero loo ood' need not create unease for anyone due to abundance of abdominal medications. But there is cause for apprehension for a few in the use of appalling soubriquets like 'fool midgaanle', for such epithets malign the good name and reputation of an exemplary community known for centuries-old artwork, creativity, and manifest beauty.

Furthermore, the use of offensive language by major tribes catapulted to wider depth and stretch after the ouster of the former regime consequently creating a frightful atmosphere for the weaker tribes and minorities who have been victims of abuse and marginalization for centuries. For the major clans, references like 'war hooy aan kala xishoonno' assisted the warring parties calm their belligerence and advocate a temporary ceasefire until an amicable solution could be reached. When one is unable to control his mouth, he is apt to exclaim: 'kaalay afka iga sharootee' -for such individuals are said to be disturbed by excruciatingly painful unnoticeable tumors which can be traced to devastating worms twirling in their intestinal organs and so passionately Somalis query: 'war waxa ma dixri baa walaaqaya'?

Presumably, each of the warlords may have seven intestines and that is why they are referred to as 'xaaraan ku naax', 'calool barmiile' and 'xiidmo geelle', nevertheless; braggadocios the likes of those waging wars in Somalia, despite remaining indefatigable doyens of Somali jungle politics and having absolute influence over the communities they led, in the long run; they were reduced to 'digo iyo dambas'.

In conclusion, it is time for habarkuuleey to rest in peace undisturbed; a time to display a sign on her door handle that reads: 'wejigaa Alla manuuree buuqa iga daa'. Frowning disgusted, and perturbed, Mooryaans and their cohorts disconsolately walk away in disbelief saying: 'lee ilaha'- apostasy punishable by death under Islamic sheria. Let’s wait and see if derogatory language ceases to exist in our midst.

“If you go to Rome, do as the Romans do”: How to Perfect our Nomadic Way of Life

Do you pick your nose in places frequented by the public? Do you floss your teeth with toothpick in public and then spit in piecemeal? Do you place the same toothpick closer to your nose in order to assess the devastation of the smell from tartar known to attract hungry house flies in waiting? Do you brush your teeth with ‘Cadey’ (Salvadora persica), in public places thinking that it is a hygienic practice that is okay anywhere and everywhere with everyone? Do you cough up phlegm in full view of a foreign person? Do you munch ‘Miraa’, ‘Nakhwa’ ‘Qaad’ or ‘jaad’ like the only cow you owned in your homeland-the only ‘xil iyo xoolo’ you owned in your lifetime and are your rotten teeth and greenish ‘daaqsin’ visible to eyewitnesses? When eating food, have you noticed how ‘suugada’ decorates your lips? Do you disgorge ‘dhuusada’ in public and in private transportation believing ‘waa iska caadi no’ such that passengers look at you with curious eyes and feel like getting you by the throat? Do you swear day and night thinking that it is ethical and part of human way of life? After eating with your hands, do you massage your palms, arms, and face with the sticky traces of ‘dufan’? Do you say ‘uf’ to others because you feel they emit bad smell?

Also, in the process of chewing ‘Qaad’ and after depression (also known as ‘qaadiro stage’), do the sheer looks of your eyeballs threaten young kids because of your menacing characteristics? Do you eat food with your mouth wide open exposing all the cavities housed therein? In the process of chewing ‘Qaad’, after your semen transform in to ‘caano barax ah’, do you grasp your genitals at the sight of a female assuming that you are signaling desirability? Do you use your clothes to wipe off mucus and sputum instead of handkerchiefs or napkins? Are you sensitive and hypervigilant? Do you urinate in public assuming you are safe from the eyes of onlookers? Do you chatter like apes and conduct business in the ‘monkey business’ styles? Do you sit comfortably in public transportations while the feeble and elderly hold on to the guardrails in standing positions? Do you avoid sitting on toilets for fear water may splash on to your buttocks and do you prefer the ‘kadaloobsi’ technique until you break the toilet to pieces? Do you beat wives and children senselessly in the course of ‘Qaadiro stage’ thinking that you are disciplining them?

If you answered ‘yes’ to any of the above questions, then you better watch your polluted and repulsive behaviors because you are psychologically a sick person belonging to the Sanitarium. The old wise saying, ‘if you go to Rome, do as the Romans do’ is pretty much the same as our own Somali proverb that says ‘haddaad tagto meel il laga la’yahay, il baa laystiraa’. What I have posed above are crises that need crisis intervention.

“Often, people in crisis are in a state of acute turmoil and feel overwhelmed and incapable of dealing with the stress by themselves. They do not have time to wait for the customary initial therapy appointment, nor are they usually in a position to continue therapy over a sustained period of time. They need immediate assistance. Crisis intervention has emerged in response to a widespread need for immediate help for individuals and families confronted with especially stressful situations-be they disasters or family situations that have become intolerable (Butcher and Dunn, 1989; Everly, 1995; Greenfield, Hetchman, and Temblay, 1995; Morgan, 1995)”.
A crisis may include a traumatic divorce, an injury or disease, and a natural hazard such as a deluge that make social readjustments almost impossible. Lack of minor resources and social prop up fade a person’s ability to survive a crisis. Responsible nations put much interest in how their citizens behave. That is why we have a line-up of sciences dealing with human behaviors and treatment.

Unfortunately, in governments run by dictators, there is absolutely no remedy and that dependable child rearing is almost ambiguous as there are no institutions to educate the mass on how best to live and interact with others. Educating children in early stages, showing them what is good and bad helps polish their transition to adult life. If our leaders are busy bickering in ‘fadhi-kudirir’ and are unable to get to the bottom of the long-running civil disorder that is running to almost two decades, who do you think will come to our rescue? The genesis of such negative behaviors developed from the many years of neglect by heads of households causing long-standing biological consequences of distress and irregular physiological changes in our family members.

Without the great efforts of past successive Persian Empires recorded in history books, the fields of human sciences from Greek civilizations and from other ancient powers that we so much cherish in the world today would never have been possible. The Persians observed, memorized, and translated whatever transpired in Ancient Greece in to their mother tongues and preserved tons of knowledge that would otherwise have been lost had they been left to others. Even in the most overwhelming wars, the Persians prudently hid their manuscripts from all sorts of damage.
Let’s borrow a leaf from one of Plato’s analogies and see where our leaders belong.
“Imagine, then, that something like the following happens on a ship or on many ships. The shipowner is bigger and stronger than everyone else on board, but he’s hard of hearing, a bit short-sighted, and his knowledge of seafaring is equally deficient. The sailors are quarreling with one another about steering the ship, each of them thinking that he should be the captain, even though he’s never learned the art of navigation, cannot point to anyone who taught it to him, or to a time when he learned it. Indeed, they claim that it isn’t teachable and are ready to cut to pieces anyone who says that it is. They’re always crowding around the ship-owner, begging him and doing everything possible to get him to turn the rudder over to them. And sometimes, if they don’t succeed in persuading him, they execute the ones who do succeed or throw them overboard, and then, having stupefied their noble shipowner with drugs, wine, or in some other way, they rule the ship, using up what’s in it and sailing in the way that people like that are prone to do. Moreover, they call the person who is clever at persuading or forcing the shipowner to let them rule a “navigator”, a “captain”, and “one who knows ships,” and dismiss anyone else as useless. They don’t understand that a true captain must pay attention to the seasons of the year, the sky, the stars, the winds, and all that pertains to his craft, if he’s really to be a ruler of a ship. And they don’t understand there is any craft that would enable him to determine where he should steer the ship to, independently of whether the others want to go there or not, or any possibility of mastering this alleged craft or of practicing it at the same time as the craft of navigation. Don’t you think that the true captain will be called a real stargazer, a babbler, and a good-for-nothing by those who sail in ships governed in that way, in which such things happen? I certainly do. I don’t think that you need to study the simile in detail to see that the ships resemble cities and their attitude towards the philosophers, but you already understand what I mean” (R 488a-489a).

Decades of misrule and power wrangling has left us in the lurch such that we have become a laughing stork in the eyes of the world. Some writers have called for Somalia to be placed under a United Nations Trusteeship because of the incompetence of her leadership. The analogy above presupposes that there is a body of understanding on hand to the statesman parallel to that applied by the navigator. We lack leaders with strong political power, tough philosophical foundations, and sound educational arrangements-leaders, who, regardless of censorship, propaganda, and indoctrination, will uphold the banner of persuasion, moderation, and rational willpower and discard irrational ideologies from internal and external meddlers.
If most fathers remain a nuisance, then, what do you expect from a presumably steatopygous, overweight, or embellished and desolate Mama who has been a victim of deliberate wife beatings for many years? Obviously, such negative results and overwhelmingly unmanageable stress add up to the predicament of a mother already under pressure leaving her irritated and dejected in the initial end. It takes a sober mind to raise healthy and disciplined children. Recurrent or concurrent wars, famine, social turmoil, and floods have been found to cause human behavioral changes exacerbating long-drawn-out and complicated conditions beyond parental control and expectations.

The tone of aggression and hatred from pathological responses to death increase instantaneously triggering impasses in children as well as in adults regardless of gender. Scars from Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) intentionally inflicted in childhood leave behind trails of persistent indicators like exaggerated startle response, brief psychotic mayhem, periodic illustrations, flashback experiences, and false impressions. Senseless beating of children exhibits a gloomy future with unstable adjustments that time and again exude flashbacks and future contemplation of vengeance in their path to adulthood.

Lack of age-group persuasion that would instill confidence, mass media and molding plans that would deglamorize negative aspects of alcohol and drug use, and programs to raise self admiration, seem to be missing in war-torn nations of the world.
Tragically, it has come to the attention of many Somalis in the Diaspora that raising children in a foreign country is not the right thing to do. The agony is that, these children are unable to kill two birds with one stone: their desire to stick to the cultural values of their parents and their want to assimilate in to a new environment has caused cultural variations. “An object of striking appearance catches one’s attention” (anonymous). If you were to observe heavy traffic on a highway, obviously, your attention would be focused on to one vehicle or to someone of the opposite sex because of color, model, or shape acceptable to what your inner soul covets regardless of the condition of the car or the shape of your preferred partner. Children learn from adults and often practice meticulously what they see. A good child is the one who had a good upbringing with solid foundation in his or her early stages in life either raised by an affectionate biological or caring surrogate parent whose desired goal entails ensuring the child becomes accountable, subservient, inspiring, and tranquil. An adult who picks nose in public, defecates in abandoned structures, has no shame in whatever negative act he/she does must have had a poor rearing.

"Gabadhaada Saaxiibkeeda waa Midgaan": War illeyn balaayo badanaa

Adigu ma aragtay rag maseyraya sida dumarka? Haddaad maya kujawaabtay, war baa kaa maqan. Sideedaba bani'aadmigu wax iskuma ogola; mid walba midka kale ayuu eeganaya; uma ogola wax horumar ah; oo waa waardiye aan mushaharo lagu siin waardiyenimadiisa.

Dhowr qof oo ay ubadanyihiin dhallinyaro Soomaaliyeed ayaa meel kawada shaqeynjiray. Goobta ganacsi oo warshad ahayd ayaa waxaa iska lahaa nin caddaan ah. Wiilahashii Soomaali wiil kamid ah ayey is caashaqeen gabadh uu dhalay milkilaha warshadda. Raggii kale ee Soomaaliyeed ayaa kacarooday caashaqa wiilka iyo gabadha maalqabeenka. Waxay kutashadeen inay usheegaan aabbaha gabadha bal in uu wax kaqabto arrinkan argagaxa badan.

Maalin maalmaha kamid ah ayey usheegeen aabbihii gabadha inuu wax kaqabto arrinkan murugsan. Waxay usheegeen in wiilka gabadhiisa caashaqay yahay midgaan Soomaalida dhexdeedana kayahay mid takooran. Odeygii ayaa wuxuu weydiiyay dhallintii ama raggii iney dhammaan yihiin Soomaali iyo in kale. Waxay yiraahdeen, 'haa Soomaali beynu nahay laakiin wiilka iyo wixii ay ehel wadaagaanba isma guursano, isma dhex degno, islamana cunno ama wadaagno xitaa cuntada'; kaaso kayaabiyey gabadhi aabbaheeda.

Wuxuu kuyiri 'waa hagaage, bal berrito isku kaayakeena'. Halkii ayuu sheekada ugu xiray. Maaliintii xigtay ayuu raggii Soomaaliyeed kulmiyey. Qaddar kadib, wuxuu guddoonsiiyay waraaqo lagaga eryaya shaqada. Waxaa loo sheegay inay yihiin kuwo kudhaqma midab kalasooc oo cadaawad daran ay lafaha kagashay. Sidii ayey kushaqo seegeen. Gabadhii iyo wiilkiina way aqal galeen.

Kafiirso Intaadan Falin

Culusow Soomaalida kale ee looyaqaan 'faradheerta' waa uu kayara duwanaa; wuxuu ahaa nin qunyar socod ah oo innaba hayaraatee aan degdegin walow hal maalin sidii labaatan jir ah uu kabooday geed-geedkaasoo ah talo xumo uusan sifiican uga baaraandegin. Sidiisaba wuxuu ahaa nin firfircoono shaqo badan oon marnaba ogolaan inuu gacan dadeed wax kasugo. Yaraantiisi ayuu bartay farsamada baaburta; waa waagii Soomaaliya ahayd dawlad laga wada aqoonsanaa daafaha dunida oo dhan. Waxaa Ilaahey kumaneystay itaaldheeri iyo labolafoodnimo; wuxuu ahaa nin heybad iyo maamuus udhashay; weligiis geed maxagan; abidkiis cudur maqaar kumadhicin; gabadhaan aqoon summadiisana, waxay weligeed kunoolaan jirtay murugo iyo ciil aysan abidkeed kabogsoon. Laakiin, wuxuu kadhashay qoys sabool ah, taasaana usaamixi weyday inuu dugsiyada waxbarashada arday kanoqdo. Guurna haba sheegin waayo wuxuu ahaa 'doob qalanjadiis gabay'. Wax balwad ah malaheyn sidaasuuna uga magangalay cudurada jirka dhalinteena jilciyay ayagoon xoogsan.

Dabcan, dad badano dan yar iska ahaa, ayaa kheyr badan kala kulmay burburkii kudhacay dawladii Soomaaliyeed ee Maxamed Siyaad Barre uu katalin jiray. Culusow iyo qoyskii uu kadhashay waxayba heleen daryeel gaar ahaaneed maadaama markan ay soo galeen wadanka Kiiniya ood moodo xoogaa in ay qadarineysay sinnaanta iyo caddaaladda siiba xeryaha qaxootiga oo ay maamuleysay laanta qaxootiga ee Qaramada Middobay. Nimaan waxba aqoon xeryaha qaxootiga waa ay kusaxariir waayo waxa wax laga sugaa waa raashiinka yar ee ay qeybiso UNCHCR. Culusow, intuu waalidkiisa iyo walaalihiisaba dejiyay guri carshaan ah oo uu gacantiisa kudhisay, ayuu shaqo tegey. Maadaama uu ahaa farsamo yaqaan, waxaa markiiba shaqo geliyay hay'ad samafal ah oo uu usameyn jiray baabuurta kahalaaba ama ciladeysan. Noloshiisi waxaa kudhacay isbedel weyn maadaama uu qaadan jiray lacag badan bil walba. Muddo yar kadib, wuxuu waalidkiisi iyo walaalahiisaba ufuray dukaan kaaso soo gelin jiray hanti farabadan.

Wax yar kadib, waxaa lasoo ogeysiiyay in dhammaan loo qaadayo cariga Mareykanka. Waxba kama soo wareegin markuu keligiisa maray baaritaankii iyo caafimaadkii lagu yaqiin laanta socdaalka. Wax dhib ah lama uusan kulmin bil kadibna waxaa lagu wargeliyay in howshiisi tahay gebagebo. Farxad iyo reynreyn ayuu lajoogi waayey Culusow. Wuxuu markasta oran jiray 'nimba boogta kutaal asagey bilbishaa'. Damiirkiisa ayaa usaamixi waayey in uu kusii dhexnoolaado hal qowmiyado isku af ah, isku diin ah, oo isku dhaqan ah. Wuxuu islahaa 'bal mar un aad qaboojisid laabta bilbileysa'.

Wax latiriyey taag malehee, Culusow waxaa looso qaaday Mareykanka waxaana ladejiyay magaalo aad iyo aad uweyn. Maalmihii xigey ayaa lashaqo geeyay. Wuxuu kaloo bilaabay waxbarasho uusan hore uhelin. Wuxuu kaloo bilaabay jirdhis iyo jimicsi iyo inuu cuno cunto nafaqo badan iyo weliba qudaarta oo aysan Soomaalida isku fiicneyn. Nafaqo daradii haysay way kahaaday wuxuuna jirkiisa ku arkay isbedel weyn. Shaqada makaanignimada oo lagu yaqaan hawl badnaan ayaa usii dheerayd. Dhibkii iyo rafaadkii badnaa ayuu kareystay.

Laqabshada dhaqanka reer galbeedka waxba kuma aysan qaadan. Waxay isbarteen gabadh Soomaaliyeedo quruxley ah. In muddo ah ayey is shukaansanayeen. Gabadhu ayadana waxay ahayd mid aan yareysan xaga quruxda. Culusow inbadan ayuu kabaaraandegay lasocodkeeda. Wuxuu kuqasbay ineysan meel fagaare ah ugu immaan oo ay kubalamaan meel kaloo Soomaalida laga aqoon siiba magaalooyinka yaryare kayara fog tan ay kunoolaayeen. Wuxuu iska ilaalin jiray maqaayadaha Soomaalida iyo meelaha kale ee ay kucaweysimaan 'farodheerta'. Waxaa bartilmaameed unoqday maqaayadaha cuntooyinka macaan siiba kuwa dadka Shiinaha, Bakistaaniyiinta, iyo Hindida.

Istarliin waxay ogaatay inaysan kukhasaarin diidmadii faraha badnaa ee rag badano ilmo adeeradeeda ahaa ay kugacanseydhay. Calaf waa nasiibe, waxay go'aansadeen inay sida ugu dhakhsaha badan uqalgalaan sifa ay ubad kheyr qaba ukala helaan. Culusow oon lagu aqoon lexjeclo iyo wixii lahalmaala ayaa wuxuu kutalaabsaday inuu isku keeno wixii guri looga baahnaa. Wuxuu dalbaday daahyada Suuriya oo laga keenay magaalada Dimishiq; wuxuu kuwargeliyay nin gancsade ah oo Yemeni ah inuu udalbo kuraas carbeed noocii ugu dambeeyay; wuxuu Istarliin ugaday gaari nooca afarta lugood roga ee looyaqaan 'Cadillac' ahna nooca ugu wanaagsan ee Mareykanka kufaano; hadal iyo dhammaantii wixii yaryaraa ee guriga kadhinaana wuu soo dhammeystiray. Wuxuu gabadhiisii udalbay dahab nooc aan hore loo arag. Wuxuu Istarliin usoo ijaaray dharka arooska ee udhaqanka ah Reer Galbeedka. Sidoo kale wuxuu soo gatay dhar qiimo badan ee ah nooca 'three piece suit'.

Istarliin waxaa loo diray meelaha hablaha isku qurxiyaan waxaana xinnaha umariyay gabadh Hindiyad ah. Waxay labadooduba kuheshiiyeen in aysan arooskooda kadhigin meelaha Soomaalida kubadantahay sifa buuqa iyo sawaxanka unoqdo mid lagu raaxeysto. Istarliin waxay martigelisey dhowr rag iyo dumar ah asagana sidoo kale wuxuu uyeeray saaxiibadiisa oo isugu jiray Soomaali iyo ajaanib. Habeenkii arooska waxaa lawada dareemay damaashaad xasiloon iyo iskudhafnaan miisaaman. Saddex saacadood kadib, arooska iyo aroosadda waa la aqalgeeyay ayadoon wax xiisad ah dhicin.

Istarliin guurkeedii Culusow way kunasatay waayo culeys badano saarnaa ayaa kafuqay. Culusow ayaa kala wareegay lacagihii ay waalidkeeda udiri jirtay. Dhammaan eheladeeda ayuu lacag kudaadshey kana qaaday diiftii badneyd ee ay la ildaraayeen. Istarliin waxay noqotay hooyo guri joog ah oo aan marna kawelwelin duruufo adag oo soo wajaha waalidkeeda iyo walaalaheeda kuharay Soomaaliya. Culusow wxuu kaloo biili jiray waalidiintiisa iyo walaalahiisa oo uu uga soo hayaamay xeryihii qaxootiga ee kuyiil Kiiniya.

Bil kadib Istarliin waxay qaaday uur; toddobo bilood kadibna dhakhaatiirta dhalmada ayaa usheegay inay caloosha kusido wiil. Labadooduba waxaa kuso kordhay raxmad iyo farxad hor leh. Waxay sugaanba waa wiil iyo caano. Bishii sideedaad ayaa qoys guurkooda kaqeyb galay arooskoodii aaday Soomaaliya siiba magaaladii Culusow kudhashay. Waxay dhalashada wiilkooda sugaanba; waxaa maalin maalmaha kamid ah soo dhacay telefoon laga soo diray dal shisheeye. Illeyn waa saaxiibteed Istaahiil oo ay isku magaalo ahaayeen Culusow. Inteysan telefoonka soo dirin, ayey Istaahil booqatay
qoyskii Culusow kadhashay. Telefoonkan ayey ugu warami doonta saaxiibteed Istarliin wixii ay kalakulantay siyaaradani.

"Hello, waa tuma", ayey Istarliin weydiisay qofka soo wacaya.
"Abbaayo, waa aniga Istaahil, ee seetahay", ayey saaxiibteed ugu jawaabtay.
"Abbaayo, waan fiicanahay" ayaa kaso yeeray Istarliin.
"Naa heedhe, waxaan tegey xaafadii ninkaaga Culusow, waxaana soo ogaaday in ninkani yahay midgaan".
"Ala hoogayey, maxaad tiri, naa makaa dhab baa"?, ayey tiri Istarliin oo hal mar jirkeeda wadadhididay.
"Awalba been iguma aadan ogeynee, ee xajiso hadalkeyga. Waxaan gurigooda kuso arkay eeyo farabadan, waxayna deganyihiin xaafadii dadkii takoornaa, ee bal lahal ninkeyga aad rumeysatide", intay tiri ayey telefoonka kuwareejisay odeygii.
"War heedhe, maad iga deysaan dheesha"?, ayey Istarliin kutiri Istaahil ninkeeda.
"Waa wareey, hadal waa laguu dhammeeyay baan filaya", ayuu laso booday Istaahil ninkeeda.

Meeshii waxaa kabilowday fowdo iyo dagaal. Istarliin wey xanuunsatay waxaana lageeyay isbitaalka dhalmada dumarka halkaaso ay kujirtay ilaa ay kadhasho. Mar alaale markii isbitaalka laga fasaxay, ayey wiilkii dhalaanka ahaa faraha kasaartay Culusow kuna tiri, "qabso, waa midgaane kulabeyso". Halkii ayey kaga dhaqaajisay.

Culusow waxaa soo foodsaaray culeys uu xamili waayey. Wuxuu wargeliyey xafiiska qaabilsan danaha caruurta waxaana loo sheegay inuu soo raadsado qof haweeney ah oo uhaya canuga oo loo qoro mushahar. Dumar badano shaqo la'aan ahaa ayaa saf usoo galay ugu dambeyntiina waxaa hantiyey xanaaneyntiisa duq Karaay Kuuleey oo aan sidaa udhib badneyn.

Culuusow sidaasi kuma uusan samrine, wuxuu lashowray immaamka masjidka oo ka balan qaaday inuu laxiriiri doono hooyadii dhashey canuga. Istarliin oo markaasi soo reysatay ayuu imaamkii lakulmay unasheegay iney mudantahay ciqaab daran Ilaahey hortiisa haddii ay canugeeda soo ceshanweydo. Welina waa laga warsugaya. Culusow, magablamin wuxuu sugaaba waa wiilkiisii nasabka ahaa ee ay udhashay hooyadii 'farodheerta' aheyd oo ukora.

CHASTE AS IT WAS

Whoever was occupying the solitary toilet, I thought, must be dead or obnoxiously insensitive. For how else could I explain a man sitting in a desolate toilet for over fifteen minutes now? As if he was reading my mind, a man way back in the slowly forming queue grumbled, ‘Is this cursed creature inside, mistaking this stinking toilet for a sauna room adorned with gold moldings, silk drapes and crystal chandeliers?’ the impatient man rubbed his stubble for a moment, and wagged his finger, admonishingly, at the mysterious occupant of the small pit latrine. ‘He must come out in the next thirty seconds or else, I am going to throw him out!’ he yelled. Giggles were traded.

For over ten minutes, I stood in front of the toilet in that dusty airport, waiting for my turn to come. The pain in my bladder was excruciating. But I kept reminding myself of the virtues of patience and empathy. Empathy to the man inside, who I had no idea what he was going through? I knew it was at such testing moments that temper is never allowed to reign.

‘Seriously, this man is (miraculously) giving birth to twins and is not relieving himself’, said a cheeky man, munching green leafs of Qat as he aimlessly strode past me. Subconsciously gazing at the handwritten sign that read ‘Toilet, no use of stones permitted’, I saw my old school in it. Twenty two years ago, we were the graduating class.

Tales abounded, in the school, why Haybe was getting so many love missives lately, all of a sudden. For three years, he was the man every one of us pulled his leg. We knew he was at his wits end when it comes to finding a caring lover. As we dash to the post office to collect love letters from our ‘fiancés’, he was the lone member of the contingent who had naught to attend to. And God, what a hard time we gave him! He was the man all of us recited our valor to, and who listened to it patiently as Quresh, Ruqiya, Asli, Dulmar’s and many more girl’s secrets spurted to the floor.

Nevertheless, that final year of our study, started off with many surprises. Of which, the deluge of Haybe’s serene life with letters was the most astonishing. Not only was he receiving a notice of a newly arrived letter (week in week out), but the names and locations on the ‘from’ side of the envelopes -plaid with red and blue on the corners- were equally startling. Unlike the old and boring names which we used to brag about, his were newer and fancier. And not all from the rural homes we came from. Ibtisam from Liboye (Kenya), Hani from Mogdisho, Taslim from Hargeisa, Ugbaad from Galcayo etc, etc. ‘Where the hell did you meet all these girls? And how do you rate them?’ we implored him for explanation, green with envy. For it was always more appetizing to be in touch with Hani than Quresh, we thought.

They were not in short supply. Yes, tales were coming in multitude. Some said, he has been going around all these places during the school vacation; while others insisted many of these girls are pen-pals whom he never met. In fact, the girl from Liboye refuge camp was said to be his niece who fled the war in Somalia with her family. But that must be the chatter of disgruntled peers amongst us. I saw one letter from her, and I think it contained ‘macaane Haykal’. Now, we all knew there was no way Haybe would render his correct name to the girls. It sounded so frightening, and symbolized charcoal. So Haykal is the ‘nom de amour’ we understood.

What was most infuriating for us was the content of the letters. Contrary to the ‘how is your health? Here I and everybody else is fine, and wishes you good health’ cliché-filled white papers from Dulmar’s and Canbaro’s (as if they were our family-doctor’s painstakingly checking on our sugar levels); his were embellished with pictures of hearts and scents of rose, with mellow and sublime ‘side tahay, qalbiga? Waxa aan xassuustaa…’ type uplifting passages.

It was by accident that one of us found out that Haybe himself actually drafts the letters purported to have been sent by the girls and then sends to his address from another post office. He caught him red-handed while doing it. It was painful to learn the extent our reckless scoff impacted on his self-esteem. He finally confessed, tearfully. ‘I was sick and tired of being the deuteragonist all these years’ he sobbed. That closed the curtain on his luscious sources of self-worth. We vowed never to dishearten him again.

Still standing at the Airport, the man next on the line patted me at the back and asked where I was going to. I was awakened by his hand from thought of the olden days. I told him. Then, he started his story. He said he was watching the RTD (Radio-Television Djibouti) last night on the Arabsat, when he suddenly found out that his wife was making the headlines. ‘I jumped up. For what is she there? When did she go to Djibouti?’ I said. Apparently, his wife, who recently graduated from an embroidery school, thinks she is an erudite and modern woman. I should have known, he murmured, what Professor Saleeye told me. I had no idea who the professor he is referring to was.

‘Professor Saleeye enlightened me, how our women are learning the wrong way,’ he said. ‘The professor said, if you see women Doctors, Engineers, or Pilots from India, China or Japan, they are all dressed up in their national costumes, speak their languages with pride, and are not necessarily averse to ‘traditional’ home-values and division of labour. Indeed, in the east, educated women strive to open-up education and employment opportunities for the other unlucky girls and women, uphold progressive cultural and societal capitals, and encourage the integration of useful western values into their native mores and norms that have served them well for centuries.’

‘So why do you feel ours are not doing the same?’ I asked.
‘Because I know from my own experience. Ours are blighted with confusion and vengeance against men. For them, civilization 101 starts with vituperative rhetoric of ’men and women are equal! Down with the male, and to hell with headscarves! They spend their energy on trivialities.’
‘Are you sure you are not bitter because they are demanding long-denied rights?’ I asked.
‘I am not crying for lost privileges, my friend. The thing is, of all the issues that await them, why do myopically focus on upsetting family cohesions, and initiation of unwarranted scuffles. Why do they give too much weight to ‘the man should cook for me, and wash the dishes’ slogans? Even, in situations (unlike in the West) where there are no pressing conditions for that to be done.
‘I think there is no harm in us doing those works. But I agree with you, that if respect is mutual in the family, then sharing house chores could be agreed upon cordially without any bitterness. And I concur with you that the element of coercion is the spoiler here. In addition, the prejudice that the ‘whites’ are culturally more superior to us is what we have to repel.’

He shook his head and finally told me what happened last night. According to his story, he expected his wife to be in her family’s home - attending to her sick mother. At least, that is what she told him before she left the house, two days ago. But he says, he was dumbfounded when the news reader of the TV broadcasted pictures of Yusra, his wife, donning a cap, and with big dark sunglasses. ‘A delegation of young women has arrived today from Diredawa to pay a week-long visit, aimed at fostering the sisterly relations between the youth of the two cities. Marwo Yusra, the head of the delegation told journalists that this year’s event is organized under the slogan ‘Free movement for women bolsters family cohesion’ the TV man said, the stranger-friend told me. He held his mouth with his hands, and quizzed me, ‘mind you, with no notice. With no permission. Do you think this will bolster our unity? No way. She will see!’ he vowed.

Suddenly, the door of the toilet opened, and a skinny short man walked out, throwing his hands. He was furious. ‘Now, do you call yourselves human beings? I have epilepsy and fell down inside the toilet, and no one comes to my rescue? Thankfully, it was before I started and I am not messed up’ he walked away - dejected.

The man who told me his wife’s story was the next after me, but on account of his age, I allowed him to take my turn. Some at the back of the line murmured. Disrespect? The humiliation the man was dealt by his wife triggered reflections of parallels I knew about. My mind quickly raced back to that final year in my school. And to Haybe.

Despite our earlier undertaking not to disappoint Haybe again, when in the same year – the graduation year, we saw his pick of partner from the Eve’s descendants; we couldn’t let him ruin himself. Not before our own eyes!

‘Naagtan faraha ka qaad! She is not for you. She is worthless’, all of us thundered on the daunted Haybe; who in his confusion cocked his head to his left, eyes fixed on the sand flooring, as if to say enough, enough, I hear it, but would you please end it. The torment was unbearable, I felt.

‘What is with her? And why are you so much concerned?’ he said, after he somewhat recovered from the initial agony.
Mahdi never minces his words. ‘Everything is wrong with her. In fact, it would have been easier to answer, had you asked what is right with her. Don’t you see the way she dresses, the way she talks and most of all the unfaithfulness? By the way, even if she is the most righteous girl in the city, would it matter, as long as everybody in town sees her entirely differently? And that is what they do.’
‘You haven’t said anything.’ Haybe got heart from the lack of evidence of the supposed culpability of his love.
‘I have said everything, if you have ears. Must I say she is the toast of men of all ages? Or ought I to tell you, what her epithet these days is: ‘the river of the country’. Do you see the jab here? Or you are God’s sheep as I suspected? War meesha waa laga wada cabbaa!’

Nobody disdains Haybe as a squeamish soul, but with what is just being said against Hibo, he had a fill of insult. His neck prickled with ire. Testicles are patted, and there was no way he will let this go with impunity. He charged forward, tooth clenched, eyes red-shot, and got the chin of the last talker- who, frankly, he doesn’t recall who he was anymore- with a head butt. Blood gushed out and smeared shirts. The frenzy and the swapping of blows didn’t let us distinguish who was bleeding and who wasn’t. If we hadn’t intervened in time, I bet grave-diggers would have had at least one more body to rest, that day.

The next morning, all of my friends handed the weight of convincing Haybe to ditch that crazy girl down to me. We knew he was head over heals for her, but we also knew she will land him in unfathomable mess. I, the self-proclaimed most liberal of all the guys, wondered what is so special of the girl, that blinded the serene friend of us, from the glaring reality. For it was true, that Hibo was seen entwined with so many men, that nowadays, it has become easier to recall the date and place she was sighted, than to describe the man with whom she was last seen. It was rumored she goes out with men on an hourly basis.

When we were compiling evidence on her infidelity, we were astounded by what we saw and heard. Yusuf would come with the story of ‘she was with a young boy-half her age, jeego-xiir ah, and they held hand-in-hand,’ with a wrath that leaves one wondering whether he is just imparting information, or bemoaning a harsh rout in a love contest. Xaashi said, he saw her with a very old man, balding and white-haired (driving a Toyota Pick-up). He added that on top of the Pick-up car was flour-mill, and that he suspects the man might be an owner of a bakery in the town.

‘Waxba maydaan arkin idinku’, Shakuur bellowed. ‘Last night, when I was coming back from the library, I saw two men and a girl walking side by side on the first street. The girl was in between and was holding the hand of one man, while she was in passionate cuddle with the other one.’ He heaved a sigh of disgust, and went on. ‘Where on earth is such a game being played? It was Hibo.’

And he heard. Haybe was listening to all of these. But when I finally took him to a secluded pastry, and started to give a useful counsel why it is for the good of him, I and other friends are concerned, he only spoke one sentence: ‘why don’t you leave me alone?’ Later, while in our study (and sleeping) room-we were all students- he played Hanuniye’s ‘dadbaa jira waalanoo haday wax is rabba arkaan ukala wariya xumaan…Jacaylkeena ka weyn’, over and over as if the tiny National Panasonic tape that we bought collectively belongs to him alone.

Then it slowly crossed my mind. Why can’t I meet the young lady and make out all I need to know. I knew their home; but again, why go into all that intricacy. Is she not going to pass by the front of the cafeteria ‘leopards’ loiter for their pray, ‘I think I love my wife cafeteria’. Mostly, married men assemble there; men they call the ‘undeterred elderly’, who would not hesitate to nib the bud of any wayward virgin. Hibo was restless and wayward. She wasn’t a filly, though. Not anymore. She was in her early thirties. Yet, she still conducted herself as if she was in the eve of the days when she was in her fullness of adolescence; just coming to bloom. The impertinent fellows who roost there say Hibo passes by, at least, twice a day. If she doesn’t, then she didn’t need to. She has her man already.

I didn’t need to look for her for long. There she was, by the side of Xabiibi’s shop. I shook hands with her and started telling her the purpose of my meeting with her. Barely did I finish the first sentence, when she cut me short.

‘Are you talking about your friend Haybe? Or you are here for, let us say to try your luck?’ she said, and then let out a mock chortle. It was a rather wry humour to me.
‘Of course, I am here to talk to you about why you are not treating my friend well. You know he is ready to marry you. Why can’t you de-crowd yourself?’ I was getting disconcerted.
‘First of all, I am a woman. I talk to a thousand and marry one. Don’t you know that?’ she said derisively, and strode back and forth, with as much panache as she could muster.
‘But you are abusing that antiquated aphorism. It is practiced by you in that face, literally. How many are you talking to right now! Three hundred, five hundred, two thousand? No body knows. And to be honest with you, that is not the issue. It is not about talking to men. It is about…’ I almost said what wasn’t a secret to anyone in town; but decided against it in the nick of time.
‘What are they saying? She is a provider? I know and I don’t care. Anything else?’ had I said the talk is about how well you dress, she couldn’t have been more indifferent. And she gave vent to her indecency with a loud guffaw and wiggle of her waist.

I didn’t reckon that respectful one bit, but even before I went far with the probe of what she thinks about Haybe, a young boy came running from the street, and stood right beside the wall she was leaning on. ‘Hibo, Jaamac says I am not in that house tonight; come to the other one. Near the airport.’ The boy scratched his head as if he expected something, but she motioned with her hand for him to go. And then the telephone rang. Not her mobile; there were no mobile phones those days. The telephone in the shop, next door. A tall man stretched his neck out of the window, pointing a hand towards her, and gestured ‘you have a call here’. She swiveled the first finger twice, to hint ‘let him ring later’ note.

On a hectic evening, he finally caught her. She was dining in ‘the hungry Hippos’ restaurant with a man who is a cashier in local remittance agent (xawaalad). We were with him, and he froze for a good ten minutes. It was time to go back to our tiny room and confer on the issue.

‘You see what we were telling you! Now, it is not you who is in charge. It is us. You have shamed us enough. We have become the objects of ridicule for everybody. Listen now.’ We all said one after another. And then issued commands to him. You will not to talk to her again, you will not pass by the route she passes, you will not utter her name, and most of all you will not talk to any of her woman friends. And a lot more of don’t do’s.

I remember his request. ‘I fully agree’, he said, ‘but allow me to see her one more time just to take my anger off my chest. I will tell her that she is not what I thought she is, that if she thinks I am not enough for her, she has made a big mistake and that she will end up in the hand of one of these losers.’ Permission not granted. Then he begged, ‘what about if I call her and say she should never come around me, please let me say that to her’. Again, a resounding no, was the consensus from us.

After a silence of maybe half-an- hour, Haybe made another request, this time more cogently. ‘Hey, friends, is it not weird that I just stop a relationship and the other player doesn’t know about it? No, no, I think I must let her know that it is over’.

Xashi’s patience waned. ‘You man. You look you are not yet over it. Why do you insist on seeing her again? It is over. Over. We said so, and don’t expect us to acquiesce to the whims of an infatuated man.’ Haybe looked at me with beseeching eyes. ‘Why don’t you say something, Caabi?’ his voice stuttered like a radio with a dead battery. Like the proverbial Hyena that run to the side of whoever showed mercy, among the hunting men; he likes to slope towards me when he is in an unpleasant condition. But he must have known, of all days today, I wasn’t going to come to his rescue. I was up to my neck in distaste for the young lady.

I told him to listen to his friends and heed their advice. It was clear he was making a valiant effort to contain his disappointment with our intrusion. Gradually, Haybe walked out of the room with melancholy. We later learned he actually confronted her with the allegations, but thankfully, Hibo assured him that it was all an ugly fib. Truth be told, the first acquaintance of a celestial visitor would have been Hibo, in that town. Was it Percy Sledge, who said Loving eyes can never see? Right, he was.

After a week, we were invited to their wedding rite. She insisted Axmaaro friends of her, must sing for the occasion. And the unambiguous wedding melody (of the Axmaaro) flowed, to the disapproval of many of us, who saw it as uncalled for and iconoclastic.

‘O! (You) Bride, O! (You) groom
To you comes, our heartily wishes
May your matrimony bloom
Like that of Abraham and Sara
Like Methuselah, May it live
For a long time, for eternity’

Three months later, it was time for divorce. Disregarding the blessings, they obviously lampooned Abraham and Sara. ‘What happened?’ We asked, recalling that in those early days of nuptial festivities, we were small with shame, and Haybe made sure we feel the pain of our crimes (by playing different songs that hailed the inevitability of the triumph of love over jealously and pernicious gossips) whenever we paid the newly-wed family an obligatory visit.

‘War bad baan galay’, he said, holding his head.’ I now know I wasn’t living in this town. ‘Rag aana magaaladda waligay ku arag baanu isbaranay’ these days. The bottom-line is my house became ‘Acapulco bay’ where the obscure love and lust chase of a Mexican series is played out. Sometimes, I think I am a receptionist in a massage parlour. ‘Where is Hibo?’ is the most used word of my days, and to my surprise, when visitors come, and when I face her with who they are, it is always ‘either her ina-abti or waa caadi’.

‘Kaalay, is the United Nations your reer-abti? I asked her once.’ He asked us, not soliciting any particular answer,’ how can folks of all nations and races surround my house and she tells me they are her ina-abti?’ He made us laugh when he defined ‘caadi’, not as a word, but as anything from ‘a bearded-stranger at your doorsteps asking for your wife, to a young lady who knocks at your door after midnight and whispers things in your wife’s ears’.

Her version was different. ‘Wuu bacoobay’, she said. ‘I don’t know why he is behaving so strangely? Before we married, he never protested against ‘people I socialize with’. He knows I am an avid lover of social discourse and interactions’.

As my patience paid off and I finally walked into the smelly toilet, it passed my mind, whether Haybe will think of us, with hindsight, as an insufferable hordes, or genuine friends with a legitimate cause for concern (who were on a scared mission of saving him a damned life)’. Considering that we disapproved of his second marriage as well, which since then proved a success; it isn’t so clear, I thought. Is it? And then Haybe’s words the last time I saw him, three years ago, reverberated in my mind. ‘Chaste as your friendship was, it was rude and abysmal’ he said. ‘The hurt, nonetheless, was adequately expiated by ever the healer - time’.

But, what intrigued me most was the pace of human mind, which in the span of seconds re-winded enormous recollections that had nothing to do with the purpose of my travel that day (I was going to Mecca for the Hajj). And, of all places, why would a toilet evoke memories that are held like dear treasures in my heart? It made no sense.

I asked myself, was the man right? “Are our women learning the wrong way?” I know I have some lingering misgivings about some ‘scholar’ women, but can I be so conclusive? I don’t know. Then, I heard the sound, ‘Passengers, passengers, you are reminded to please get ready to board’ and I hurried out of the toilet.

Dagaalkii Boqolka Kun ee Doolar

Qaxooti badanoo laga keena wadamadada saddexaad laguna soo daadgureeyo wadamada hodanka ah ee reer galgeedka ayaan aqoon fiican ulahayn sida looga kafa'ideysan karo kheyraad badanoo ay ka indho daboolan yihiin. Taasina waxaa daliil u ah marka aad eegto sida ay qaar u najaxeen qaarna uduloobeen. Waxaa jira kuwo soo galay ayagoon waxba haysan haddana maalqabeeno ah kuwaaso ay ufuranyihiin goobo ganacsi siiba dukaamada cuntada, dharka, iyo qudaarta; haddaad dhan kale jaleecdana waxaad arki kuwo tiro badano isugu jira waayeelo iyo dhalinyaro wax bartay ama dhiganaya ama kadhigaya jaamacadaha; yeynan iloobine waxaa jira kuwo kusaaqiday nolosha oo daba orda nolosha adduunka ee qaloocan kuwaaso isku mashquuliyay dhileysiga ama sinada; daroogada sida qaadka, khamriga, xashiishada iyo maandooriyeyaal cuseyb ku ah ummadda Soomaaliyeed.

Haddaba, waxaa jira qoys iskutaxluujiyay sidii ay uga samatabixi lahaayeen gaajada iyo wixii lahalmaala. Waa labo islafahmay sida loo dheelo shaxda musuqmaasuq aan hore loo arag. Daadirow iyo Duniyo waxay Soomaaliya ku ahaayeen danyar muruqmaal ah oo si ba'an ula dagaali jiray gaajada. Hadaba, haddii ay heleen fursad qaali ah taaso ah deganaansho wadan rer Galbeed, waxay niyoodeen inay si dhakhsa ah ulacageystaan kadibna kunoqdaan wadankoodii hooyo goortii nabadi dhacdo.

Kadib markey isla falanqeeyeen sida ay wax ufarsameyn lahaayeen, ayey isla arkeen in dheesha ay kafududahay siday moodayeen. Ajendihii ay hindiseen ayaa wuxuu lanoqday wax sahal ah. Horaa loo yiri lacagi lacag bey dhashaa. Haddii ay si fiican ushaqeystaan, dee Soomaaliya waxaa looga aqoonsan tijaariin ama maalqabeen. Mid waliba habeenkii wanaag buu kuriyoodaa. Waxay riyada tustaa ayagoo dalxiisaya jasiirada Seysheles; mararka qaar waxay kuriyoodaan ayagoo kunool guryo waaweyn; marna waxay arkaan ayagoon waxba qabaneyn oo loo shaqeynaayo.

Haddaba, sifa ayan udabaalan riyo beenaad, ayey bilaabeen in ay kadhabeeyaan wax qabadkooda. Waxay go'aansadeen inay kala noqdaan 'separate' ama labo isqaboo kala tagay. Duniyo waxay wargelisay xafiiska arrimaha bulshada in ninkeedii ay isfureen. Mar haddiiba ay falkaasi kudhaqaaqday, Daadirow waa kamamnuuc inuu soo istaago guriga ay Duniyo iyo wiilkeeda laba jirka ah ay kunoolyihiin.

Duniyo waxaa loo ogolaaday lacag caddaan ah iyo raashiin beytimaal ah oo ciida kabadan. Kiradii guriga ee ay bixin jirtayna waa laga joojiyay. Waxaa kaloo laga dhaafay korontadii, gaaskii, iyo waxyaabo kaloo badano lacagta ka xayuubin jiray. Neefta ayaa kaso booday. Waxay mashruuc qarsoodi ah lagashay haween Soomaaliyeed sifa ay caruurtooda ugu keensadaan oo ay ugu hayso gurigeeda. Mar haddiiba dhaqaalaha loo kordhiyay Duniyo waxay goosatay inay sii kordhisato ama kororsato. Ogow, wax badso waxay leedahay wax beel. Waxay furatay xaruun dahsoono ilamaha lagu xanaaneeyo kaaso loo yaqaan 'day care'.

Muddo kadib Duniyo waxay is aragtay ayadoo haysata ilaa iyo toban canug oo midkiiba lagu siiyo $750 bishiiba. Duniyo way najaxdee, tolow duni maxaa xigi doona. Ilamahani dhalaanka ah mas'uuliyad kama saara cuntadooda, dawadooda, iyo dharkooda intuba. Waa arrin utaal waalidiintooda. Caruurta waxaa loogu keena raxanraxan subax iyo galab ba.Wiilkeedi yaraa ee cidlada ahaan jiray wuxuu helay ilmo uu lacayaaro wuxuuna noqday bulshaawi.

Aw Daadirow wuxuu koray tagsi wuxuuna sameyn jiray lacag fooqalcaqli ah. Hurdo habar korin weyday horaa loo yiri. Maseexdo inta badan saacado yar mooyee; madamaashaado oo kuma cayaaro lacagtiisa; wuxuu soo shaqeeyana Duniyo ayuu farta kasaaraa oo ugu haysaa guriga. Magaalada ay deganaayeen, waxaa lagu qiyaasay inay kunoolaayeen ilaa iyo todobo malyuun oo qof. Inkastoo ay kala yihiin 'separate', haddana guriga kama uusan tegin oo habeen habeen ayuu soo jiif tagaa.

Muddo labo sanadood markey wax dhigayeen, ayey bilaabeen xisaabtan. Waxay ogaadeen lacagta ay keydsadeen in ay kor udhaaftay &100,000 oo Mareykan ah. Maadaama Soomaaliya wax xal kaso socon, waxay kutashadeen inay sii badiyaan dadaalkooda. Sideedaba, bani'aadmigu khilaaf kama dhamaado oo waatan labada isqaba habeen iyo dharaar iscunaan. Waxaa soo kala dhexgalay kala shaki iyo is aamin la'aan. Maalin maalmaha kamid ah ayey fooda isdareen. Daadirow ayaa ugacanqaaday naagtii hantida uhaysay.

Duniyo waxay wacday Booliska oo isla markiiba ooda soo dhigtay baabuur faro badan. Daadirow wuu argagaxay markuu maqlay guuxa baaburta booliska. Wuxuuu fahmay inuu gacangalay. Qadar yar kadib booliskii ayaa soo galay gurigii. Duniyo waxay jabsatay baroorasho. Booliskii ayaa amray Daadirow inuu debedda usoo baxo sifa loo katiinadeeyo. Wuxuu codsaday in loo ogolaado bal inuu soo qaato boorso dhar ugu jiray. Waa laga aqbalay. Gudaha ayuu ugalay qolkii jiifka wuxuuna lasoo baxay boorso yar. Duniyo ayaa kula dhegtay boorsadii. Way isjiidjiideen oo kudagaalameen. Booliskii ayaa soo kala dhexgalay kana qaaday boorsadii. Waa ay fureen; mise waxaaba kabuuxa lacag ay layaabeen.

Isla markiiba su'aalo ayaa laweydiiyay oo ay kamid ahaayeen halkii ay kakeeneen lacagahaasi faraha badan. Waxaa loo sheegay inay khalad tahay inay iska haystaan lacag aan lacanshuurin. Duniyo meysan fakan; ayadana waa lakatiinadeeyay. Daadirow iyo Duniyo waxaa loodhaadhiciyay xabsiga. Maalintii xigtay ayaa Duniyo iyo Daadirow midba gooni loo baaray. Waxaa loo sheegay inay yihiin khaa'imiin dawladda ugeystay boob iyo dhac maadaama intaaso sannadood lasiinahayey deeq ayagoo haystay dhaqaale kufilan.

Lacagtii dawladda ayaa lawareegtay. Duniyo iyo Daadirowna waxaa loo dhaadhiciyay maxkammad. Muddo bil kadibna waxaa midkiiba lagu xukumay min labo sano oo xarig ah. Wiilkoodii yaraana waxaa loo dhiibay qoys Soomaaliyeed oo sii haaynaya ilaa ay xabsiga kadhameysanayaan. Maadaama aysan haysan dhalashada waddanka, waxaa dhici kartaa in laga musaafuriyo waddanka gebi ahaanba. Wax badso waxay leedahay wax beel.

In Defense of a Wronged Legend: Mohamud Abdullahi Isse (Singub)

When a young man from a village near Aware town, ambushed and murdered Mohamed Moge Liban, he just avenged the death of one of his clansmen; by slaying a prominent member of ‘the rival clan’. It all amounted to that, for him. He had no idea of the colossal loss he had inflicted on all of us - the Somali nation; by cutting short the life of one of the most illustrious singers of the nation. A tragic loss to Somali art and entertainment! Not to mention, the visionary zeal of revolution in the deceased’s heart, that is buried with him. A vision, nowadays twisted to other trivialities, by few who care less about the true beliefs of the hero; and more about a new found ‘chants of convenience’.

Equally, when a group of secessionists hatched an insidious plot to defile the name of Mohamud Abdullahi Cisse (Singub), it was all about settling an old score with a partisan ‘FAQASH’ of the rival clan. They had no idea they were sculpting a gigantic sarcophagus for an untimely burial of Somali art and poetry. For the man they zoomed in, in their vindictive pursuit of clan vendetta is irreplaceable; and an instantiation of Somali culture and folklore. A genius, some analysts compared to Shakespeare, in terms of the influence both men had in their respective languages.

‘A prophet is not revered at home’, they say. And it is true Singub is not a prophet. But he isn’t an ordinary man either. He is a man of intellect, a possessor of wisdom and a literary genius. A gifted actor, poet, and philosopher! Heaven knows how from a monotonous life of the Hawd, a shining star of a nation came. By all measures, Mohamud has already overachieved! And has no more to prove.

From Xoriyo to Qabyo, from Qabrigii Jacaylka to Waa Maadays Aduunyadu, who among us had not twinkled with awe and appreciation when Mohamud let out the barrage of allegories and metaphors: giving us stories, guiding us to moral principles, warning us of vice and most of all refreshing our minds. And who hasn’t put palm to palm and cheered in standing ovations to his stupendous performances in those unfittingly small theater houses of the defunct country. Unfitting, because for a man of such stature and intuition, - a man in the pedigree of Mozart and Bach, the opera edifices of Vienna and Sydney would have been fortunate to host!

If, however, Somali language is still a language of few millions of nomadic people in East Africa, and hence, the works of the man has no global appeal at that, it is not his mistake. He is just an ill-fated man.

And as if his fame among this tiny people is menacing, sick minds have unearthed all the stones they could dig, to sully the reputation and regal standing of Singub. Because, allegedly, at the start of the Somali civil war, he has taken sides. I am in no mood to delve into whether he had or not, or whether he should have or not; but the fact remains, Mohamud Abdullahi Isse’s patriotism and nationalism are categorical. All his works bear out that assertion.

If he had affronted some groups with his political aligning of the yesteryears, it is a choice he made based on either pragmatic grounds; or at worst an error of judgment. That is why if he had supported the falling regime, as alleged by the secessionists, it looks he was prophetic enough to foresee what is to transpire, and had chosen to throw his lot with the lesser of the evil. A bad Republic would still have been better than the carnage that ensued after the demise of Siyad Barre, and a united Somalia is far more sacred than a constellation of tiny banana republics.

Looking at what has come of Somalia, and the unsavory intent of few who are hell-bent in curving out miniature ‘forts of loot’ from the ribs of a giant nation - driven by sheer ignorance, avarice and/ or hate; who would bet against the unassailability of the judgment of citizens who stood up to confront those who were wrecking the boat?

In total disregard for Somali societal decorum, and with mirthful exploitation of loopholes in western laws, they rushed to quench an insatiable craving for his blood. And god knows pain they inflicted! But for a man who has swam in the tumultuous waters of the unpredictable life of Hawd and who single-handedly made himself, tenacity and patience are hardly an asset he longs for. He has it, and in time, the pain will be gone. The mind-numbing pain goes to the Somali nation, though. When will we finally lay down the bottles filled with clan venom, strapped around our waists, and treat national figures as public treasures well beyond and above the fray of messy clan feuds?

The Pre-eminence of Singub’s works has withstood time and the competition of many other great Somali artists, and it is apparent it will survive the avalanche of lies and distortions of the marauding secessionists. If history is not ‘a fable agreed upon’ as Napoleon would like us believe, the day of deliverance is beckoning!

And the day will come when grateful men and women of our nation will assemble and pay tribute anew to the mastermind and do honour to the toasts for him. In my mind, I see people lining up in bookstores and libraries, in theaters and exhibition halls to get a glimpse of the art and wisdom the man conferred to us. One day, some day. Meet you there!

"Hooyo, marka hore waxbarashadaada dhammeyso"

Malyuun waa haweeney Soomaaliyeedo quruxdeeda lala yaabay. Yaraanteedii ayaa lagu ogaa qoor dheer sida garanuuga; waxay lahayd timo kufidsan dhabarkeeda kana qurxoon kuwa hablaha Hindida iyo Carabta oo laysku daray; waxay kusii darsatay dheerar dabiici ah, sanqaroor, midab maariin ah, ilko caddaan badan, iyo nadaafad joogta ah. Waxay ahayd qof nasiib badan oo dabeecad wanaagsan, una naxariista dad oo dhan masakiin iyo maal qabeenba. Ragoo dhan ayaa waxay oran jireen, 'haddaan qabi lahaa taasi oo kale'. Haddaba naagi rag badan hal mar mawada guursatee, waxaa nasiib uyeeshay ina adeerkeed Xaange oo ahaa nin bulshaawi ahi oo kaftan badan. Magaalada Xamar oo ahayd caasimadii dalka, ayey ku aqal galeen.

Labada lamaane waxay kadhasheen qoys cudud kulahaa xukuumadii markaasi katalineysay Soomaaliya. Wax daryeel la'aan ah weliyood meysan arag. Waxay ku noolaayeen nolol barwaaqo ah. Guri weyno 'Villa' ah ayaa hoy u ahaa. Qaabka loo dhisay gurigooda wuxuu soo jiidan jiray ilkastoo milicsata. Gudaha gurigani waxaa kubeernaa ubax noocyo badan.

Dhib ugama soo horeyn dagaalkii ahliga ahaa ee lagu hoobtay markii dawladdii militari la afgembiyay. Nasiib daro, Xaange, oo markaasi ay uhaysay saddex caruur, ayaa lagu dilay qalalaasihii bilowgiisi. Malyuun waxay kamid noqotay malaayiintii Soomaali ee wadanka debedda uga baxay. Waxay soo gashay Kiiniya oo ay kamid noqotay qaxootigii ladejiyay xeryaha Xagardheer. Nolosha xeryaha ayaa kunoqday waxaan loo dulqaadan karin. Cuduro badan ayaa kadilaacay; siiba cudurada laaya caruurta iyo waayeelada.

Muddo labo sannadood markay kasoo wareegtay burburkii Soomaaliya ayey usoo wareegtay dhanka caasimmadda Kiiniya ee Neyroobi. Waxay iska diiwaangelisay xafiiska qaabilsan arrimaha qaxootiga ee UNHR kaaso udalbay deganaansho dalka Mareykanka. Waxay sugeysay hal sano intii lamaareynaayey dhoofkeeda.

Malyuun iyo caruurteeda oo kala ahaa hal wiil iyo labo gabdhood, ayaa waxaa looso qaaday waddankii ay weligeed niyadda kuhaysey-waa waddanka sinaanta iyo cadaalada-United States of America. Imaatinkeedi waxay lakulantay caqabad badan sida luuqadda iyo dhaqanka dadka oo kaduwan. Waxaa kudhacay jahwareer. Waxay isu haysatay inay kunoolaan doonto noloshii ay soomartay nolol kasii fiican. Waxay moodi jirtay in cimilada Mareykanka leedahay midabka huruudka; in lacagta ay dhoobantahay waddooyinka oo aaban innaba hayaaraatee lashaqeyn. Wixii ay qalbiga kuhaysay oo dhan waxay noqdeen waxaan waxba kajirin. Waxaa ladijeyey guryo loo yaqaan 'apartments' oo dabaqyo ah. Socodkii ayaa dhib kunoqday maadaama ayan weli baran sida gaariga loo wado walow ay goor dambe laqabsan doonto nolosha wadada.

Rag badan oo Soomaali ubadan ayaa usoo guur doontay, dhamaantoodna way diiday. Malyuun hareedleey waxay ballan kuqaaday inaysan nin guursan inta carruurta agoomaha ay kawada baxayaan jaammacadda. Carruurtii oo dhan bey geysay dugsiyada waxbarashada siiba meelaha ay dadka cadaanka ahi degaan sifa waxbarashadooda ugaadho heer sare. Dawladda ayaa kaalmo lacageed iyo mid cuntaba ugu deeqday. Dumar badanoo Soomaaliyeed ayaa kula taliyey inay iska guursato dhammaana way kugacan seyrtay. Waxay kutiri dumarkii, "anigu dooni maayo in ubadkeyga ugacan galaan nin Soomaaliyeedoo hadhowto isku roga halaq oo caruurta iga laaya anigana ijirdila".

Malyuun hareedleey waxay nolosha laxarbisaba, ilmihii ayaa ukoray oo noqday qaayngaadh. Gabadhii ugu weyneyd ee Nasra waxay kaqalinjebisay jaammacad qadiimi ah ayadoo baratay dhakhtirnimo; tii kuxigtayna oo ahayd Saruuro waxay dhiganeysay 'kalkaaliye caafimmaad'; wiilkana wuxuu dhemmeynaayey dugisga sare. Malyuun noloshey keydsaneysay ayaa usoo bidhaamay. Waxay istiri, "wallee goor dhowr waan raaxeysan markey ilmahan iga wada tagaan ayagoo wax bartay." Malyuun hadafkeeda ayaa wuxuu ahaa inay iska degto Imaaraadka Carabta oo halkaasi ka bidhaansato arrimaha Soomaaliya.

Nasra waxay isbarteen Caydaruus oo hooyadiis Bishaaro ay ka kari weyday gabadh udhalatay waddanka Mexico. Bishaaro waxay taagneyd heer ay isla hadasho maadaama wiilkeeda uu kadhacay meel xun. Maalin maalmaha kamid ah ayaa Caydaruus ku yiri hooyadiisa, "hooyo waxaan jeclahay inan Soomaaliyeedoo aan isbaranay goor dhow." Bishaaro aad ayey ugu riyaaqday hadalka wiilkeeda kaso yeeray. Waxay ubalanqaaday wiilkeeda haddii uu keeno gabadha uu jecelyahay, in ay uguurin doonto wax kasto haku qaadatee. Habartii waxay niyeysatay in wiilkeeda kabixi doono saagsaagnimada.

Waxba kuma aysan qaadan Caydaruus keenista Nasra maadaama ay awal horeba kuwada xiriiri jireen telefoonka gacanta. Gabadhii ayuu ballamiyay. Nasra iyo walaasheed Saruuro midna magudneen taasaana lagu sifeeyay degdega ay kudegdegtay Nasra wiilka aan lagareyn camalkiisa iyo summadiisaba. Maalmo kadib, waxaa yimid Nasra oo diyaar loo ahaa. Hooyadii wiilka dhashay oo ah Bishaaro waxay diyaarisay qado macaan badan oo cajabisay Nasra. Waxaa kaloo Nasra lasiiyay haddiyad isugu jira dahab iyo dhar qurux badan. Halkii ayey Caydaruus iyo Nasra go'aan kugaareen inay is guursadaan. Isla maalintaasi ayaa odey kitaab gaab ah umeheriyay.

Nasra markay gurigoodii kulaabatay ammin habeen ah ayey usheegtay hooyadeed inay soo arkootay wiil Soomaaliyeedoo cajabiyey. Malyuun wey qarracantay. "Nasrooy, hooyo maad sugtid intaad shaqo kabilaabi ood unoqon walaalahaa maciin", ayey Malyuun kutiri gabadheedii weyneyd Nasra oon dheg jalaq usiin waanadeeda. "Hooyo, maxaad la guur seegatay? maxaad u seegtay nolosha adduunyo? Ma waxaad dooneysaa inaan guur seego sidaada oo kale"?, ayey weydiisay hooyadeeda. Malyuun waxaa kudhacay qalbi jab iyo niyad xumo.

Iblitilada halkaasi kuma ekaan. Maalintii xigtay Nasra waxay casuntay ninkeeda cusub. In yar markuu kursi carbeed kufadhiyay ayaa Nasra walaalkeed ugacan qaaday Caydaruus kana dilaaciyay shaar qurux badano uu xdhnaa isla markaana gaadhsiiyay dhaawac fudud. Meeshii waxaa kadhashay buuq sidii ayuu Nasra ninkeedii cusbaa uga hayaamay gurigooda.

Salaadii subax kahor intay Nasra kacday ayey alaabteeda oo dhan kuguratay boorso ayadoo go'aansatay inaysan dib dambe ugu soo noqon guriga hooyadeeda. Walaasheeda Saruuro ayaa kusoo kacday sanqadha Nasra. Isla markiiba hooyadeed ayey wargelisay. Malyuun oo habenkaaso dhan seexan weyday ayaa hal mar kaso booday sariirta. "Hooyo, maxaa kuugu dhacay"?, ayey weydiisay. "Ma walaalahaaga agoonta ah ayaad kadhaqaajin, Nasrooy"? ayey su'ashay inanteedii fallaagowday. "Haa oo dib dambe ii arki meysid", ayey Nasra hooyadeed ugu jawaabtay. Isla markiiba Nasra waxay kudhacday Taxi debedda utaagnaa.

Malyuun dhulka ayey kudhacday weyna miyirbeeshay. Waxaa soo wajahay xanuun xagga maskaxda ah. Isla maalintaasi ayaa loo keenya wadaad diin saara. Subaxii xigeyna wey soomiyirsatay. Waxay wacday dad badano ay xidhiidh lahaayeen waxayna usheegtay in talo faraheeda kabaxday. Qabiilkeedi baa shiray waxaana la go'aamiyay in loo gurmada hooyada gabadha laga dhacay.

Malyuun iyo caruurtii uhadhay kama aysan quusan dabagalka Nasra. Malyuun waxay wakiilatay odayaal ay isku heyb yihiin waxaana laso ogaaday halka ay Nasra cirib iyo jaan dhigtay. Habartii wiilka dhashay ayaa loo tegay laguna eedeeyay in ay sameysay wax kabaxsan diinta, dhaqanka, iyo caadada. "Walaalayaal, anigu wiilkani khaatu billaahi ayaan kataagnaa", ayey tiri hooyadii wiilka. "Hadduu wiilka layimid marwo Soomaliyyedo hananeyso, dee waa nasiib aan hore iiso marin, ee maxaa ibtiloo idiin muuqda"?, ayey si indho adeyg ah ku tidhi asxaabtii loo gefay. Gabadhii ayaa intay soo baxday usheegtay dhammaan odayaashii in ayadu tahay qayngaadh wax khasbi karana ayan jirin, haddii kalese waxay waceysa booliska. Odayaashii iyo Malyuun waxaa galay cabsi waxaana go'aan lagu gaadhay in gabadhu lanoolaato wiilka xuquuqdeedana latixgeliyo.

Malyuun ilaa iyo iminka wey isla hadashaa weyna gabowday oo timahedii madowga badnaa ayaa cirro isu rogay. Gabadhii Nasra kuxigtay ee ahayd Saruuro aayaheeda dambe waa lafalanqeyn la'yahay. Tolow ma waxay raaci doontaa dariiqii Nasra? Wiilkana sidee buu noqon doonaa?

‘President’ Abdullahi Yusuf: Wearing betrayal as a badge of distinction

Note to the readers: The issue of personal attacks and character assassination seems to have been misunderstood by many Somali readers, such that a mention of a politician, nowadays, runs the risk of an outcry of ‘it is personal attack’ clamour. To my knowledge, stating historical facts purported to have taken place (which can still be disputed), or bringing up names of political figures (without infringing on their physical, family or ancestral quarter) can, by no means, be categorized under that label. Indeed, it has now become trendy to hide under the sanctuary provided by the confusions that arise out of the mix-up of the very notion of what amounts to slander (libel) and what doesn’t. And, it is quite suffocating!

If Lombroso was alive today, he would have buried himself in the sand in ignominy. Cesare Lombroso, the Italian criminologist, believed in ‘biological determinism’ and argued that ‘criminals have particular physiognomic attributes or deformities’. According to him, criminality was inherited, and hence ‘the born criminal could be distinguished by physical atavistic stigmata’. These physical attributes including, inter alia, large jaws, low sloping foreheads, hawk-like noses or hard shifty eyes.

Well, Abdullahi Yusuf Ahmed, Somalia’s ‘President’ has none of that; yet he is a wicked criminal. In fact, with avuncular looks, curly hair and ever-present ‘adeer, listen to me’ talk, he is just another elderly Somali father.

The deeper I look into the man’s face, albeit irrationally, the lesser I could find any trace of proof to validate the Italian’s assertions. The very exploration of Lombroso’s supposition, was itself disconcerting, as I realized that such attitude will land me into the club of ‘eugenists’; and that after all, Lombroso’s theory failed to stand to the test of times and are no longer considered as the foundations of contemporary criminology.

To what does Lombroso’s purported theory amount to, then? To nothing! But that is not the end of the story. Luckily, criminals who escape that ‘natural detector’ can still be seized by the more rigorous one of scrutinizing their deeds and that is what I did with Abdullahi yusuf.

Abdullahi Yusuf Ahmed’s litany of crimes, rebellion, killings, and tribalism epitomises the ugliness of treason and betrayal of national interest: a treason he wears with gusto, as if it is a medal of honour.

In 1977, at the height of the Ethio-Somali war, a group of Somali Colonels hatched up a plot to subvert the gains made by the gallant Somali army. Somalia’s current president was a key resident in that abode of iniquity. He is, however, lucky because Somali’s are tribal society and treason is pardonable. Or so it looks.

His revolt against the tyrannical dictatorship of the late President - Siyad Barre, is understandable and in many ways commendable, but his later day actions point to a less ‘nationalistic’ motives for the insurrection than he purports it to be. A man, who privately confides with associates and clans-men, that the ‘Qaran-diid’ Hawiya’s deserve to be obliterated from the face of the earth; couldn’t have had the Somali vision in fighting Siyad Barre. Perhaps, it was all about inter-Darod sub-clan antagonism, or psychopathic lust for power that gave him the tenacity to wage a guerrilla war against the republic.

Nothing in the man’s actions of the last decades suggest to an altruistic and nationalistic desire to emancipate the Somali people from the malaise of tribalism, corruption and ill-governance it was deeply engrossed with.

In the 1990s, Abdullahi Yusuf sought the support of the Ethiopian regime to crush Al-Itixaad. Hundreds of Somali youth were ruthlessly butchered by foreign army under the stewardship of Somali traitors. The Ethiopians were also there to his rescue as he fought another clan war with Jama Ali Jama in Puntland.

But the biggest crime was yet in store for the man who takes immense pride in the number of battles he fought and blood he shed. Thousands of Somali youth have fallen at their early ages for his throne, and were used as a ritual sacrifice for his comfort and political ascendancy. Millions of Somali’s hung their heads down in shame and humiliation when he collaborated with arch-enemy Ethiopia in the‘re-colonization’ of Somalia. Thousands have fled their homes and languish in squalor and hunger around the capital. Hundreds of Somali girls are raped by the barbaric invading army.

Most recently, the octogenarian president whose definition of ‘dawlad and shacab’ is pre-historic, to say the least, is busy sabotaging any possibility of a peace deal. Surrounded by a retinue of clan-maniacs and former warlords, he knows a peaceful Somalia will hold him responsible for the unspeakable crimes committed against its people.

Hence, he prefers the last days of his life to end in exile and (in fortress when in Somalia) pretending to be a president – just an ordinary president; who can stand shoulder to shoulder with the rest of world leaders with his head high. What a pity? And an insult to the Somali nation as well!

It is time Somali’s prepare dossiers for the Marshal Petain’s (the French traitor who faked president of the Vichy Republic and collaborated with the Nazi occupiers) of the modern era and manuscript their crimes for posterity. Or at least name and shame them for what they are! Traitors. The worst thing to do is watching when murderers masquerade as leaders; and turn a blind eye.