Mansa Musa

Another great king ruled Mali from 1312 to 1337 and his name was Mansa Musa. Crowned “Mansa”-meaning “king of Kings”- Mansa Musa was the grand-nephew of Sundiata. A Muslim himself, Mansa Musa embarked on the greatest Islamic pilgrimage by caravan ever recorded in history between the years 1324-1325 in a journey spanning thousands of miles through the stretch of the massive and expansive Sahara desert. Reputedly the most lavish pilgrimage in the world, Mansa Musa’s entourage carried 100 camel-loads of gold, each weighing 300 pounds; 500 slaves, each carrying a 4-lb. gold staff; thousands of his subjects; as well as his senior wife, with her 500 attendants.

According to the Arab historian Al-Umari, Mansa Musa and his retinue gave out so much gold such that the value of gold in Egypt drastically fell rendering the Egyptian economy in decline for many years. Al-Umari further states that Mansa Musa had to borrow from well-wishers at usurious interest rates for his return journey to Mali. In return, Mansa Musa brought back with him an Arabic library, religious scholars, and most importantly the renowned Muslim architect al-Sahili who built him a majestic royal palace and two great mosques at Gao and Timbuktu.

In the aftermath of Mansa Musa’s travel to Mecca and Cairo, the Kingdom Mali became a center for commerce, education, and trade followed by diplomatic exchanges with Morocco and other Islamic nations. Mali enjoyed remarkable peace, stability, and profound prosperity for the forty-seven years between the time of his grandfather’s brother, Sundiata, and his accession to the throne. Mansa Musa ruled the Kingdom of Mali for twenty-five years finally leaving the political spectrum in 1337 when he died of natural causes. According to E.W. Bovill, author of The Golden Trade of Moors (1958), Mansa Musa’s kingdom was "remarkable both for its extent and for its wealth and a striking example of the capacity of the Negro for political organization".

The Lion Prince Sundiata

In the first half of the thirteenth century, a notable king by the name Sumaoro Kante of the Ghana Empire, ruled over the populous Mandinka tribe of Mali against their wishes. The Ghana Empire or the Wagadou Empire lasted from c. 790 until 1235 of the Common Era. The Mandinka remained in a state of bondage and helplessness until a powerful prince by the name Sundiata returned from exile thus becoming the undisputed celebrated hero of the Malinke people of West Africa. Known for his courage and unmatched vigor in battle, the Lion Prince as he was called, Sundiata, remained remarkable in his pursuit of leadership even while away from home in exile. By forging judicious alliances with local rulers, Sundiata assembled a large army comprising mostly cavalry and by 1235 his sphere of influence encompassed the modern states of Mali, Mauritania, Senegal, Gambia, Guinea-Bissau, Guinea, and Sierra Leone.

After overthrowing the Kingdom of Ghana, Sundiata governed from his capital city Niani that featured buildings of brick and stone. His Malian kingdom controlled and taxed the trade caravans passing through West Africa. Often, caravans as many as twenty-five thousand camels heavily-loaded with miscellaneous cargo traversed the trade routes. The cities of Gao, Timbuktu, Jenne, and Niani became important trading centers populated by indigenous people and merchants in pursuit of the gold trade. Under Sundiata, Mali immensely profited from the trans-Sahara trade such that it benefited far more than Ghana did in the past. Malian rulers practiced Islam and provided security, accommodation, and luxuries to Muslim travelers from further up north. Sundiata reigned from 1230 to 1255 of the Common Era. In terms of sphere of influence, the Mali kingdom was the second largest kingdom in size in Africa (1.1 million sq km), with the Kingdom of Songhai being the first and the most extensive in land mass totaling 1.4 million square kilometers.

The Travels of Ibn Battuta

The history of generosity to foreigners in Africa goes along way. In 1331, Ibn Battuta, a learned Moroccan traveler, Islamic jurist and scholar, during a visit to Mogadishu, was accorded the best form of hospitality by being fed, clothed, and entertained for free. Perhaps, had he paid visit to any European land, he would either have been held captive as a slave indefinitely or he would have been killed right away. In his famous Rihla or travels, Ibn Battuta reported, “we stayed there for three days, food being brought to us three times a day, following their custom. On the fourth day, which was a Friday, the qadi and students and one of the sheikh’s viziers came to me, bringing a set of robes, these [official] robes of theirs consist of a silk wrapper which one ties round his waist in place of drawers (for they have no acquaintance with these), a tunic of Egyptian linen with an embroidered border, a furred mantle of Jerusalem stuff, and an Egyptian turban with an embroidered edge. They also brought robes for my companions suitable to their position. We went to the congregational mosque and made our prayers behind the maqsura [private box for the sultan]. When the sheikh came out of the maqsura I saluted him along with the qadi; he said a word of greeting, spoke in their tongue with the qadi, and then said in Arabic “you are heartily welcome, and you have honored our land and given us pleasure.”

Ibn Battuta’s hosts never turned out to be the apes, beasts, and baboons recorded in many obnoxious European accounts of Africa. Instead, he found people who were resilient, affectionate, modern, and perceptive of travelers’ needs, punctilious, and above all religious and not blasphemous as the Europeans would have us believe. Ibn Battuta was a guest to a Somali sheikh (Islamic scholar) and a qadi (magistrate) both of who observed all the values, creeds, and customs of Islamic way of life especially in reference to etiquettes relating to hosting guests or visitors. Even before disembarking ship, Ibn Battuta and his companions or crew, were accorded a high degree of respect on board ship. Ibn Battuta was accorded the respect reserved for a doctor of the law. He became a guest of the sheikh and not the guest of an ordinary man or woman. Born in Tangiers, Morocco in the year 1304 C.E., Ibn Battuta descended from the Lawati Berber tribe in a family of lawyers and judges. The full name of this dedicated lone-traveler was Abu Abdullah Muhammad Ibn Abdullah Al Lawati Al Tanji Ibn Battuta; he died about 1368 or 1369. In a period spanning 29 years, Ibn Battuta covered approximately 75,000 miles by ship and on dhows, on horseback, on foot, and riding donkeys and camels to mostly Muslim lands. He traveled three times the distance covered by the celebrated European discoverer and explorer Marco Polo!

In reference to past African political organizations, contemporary scholars and writers often use the terms stateless society and segmentary society. Far from the truth, Africans enjoyed elaborate hierarchy of officials and bureaucratic apparatus in the management of their daily affairs. Between the years 800-1500 C.E., great kingdoms, empires, and city-states flourished in sub-Saharan Africa with scrupulous trade routes traversing the massive Sahara desert culminating in the profusion of immense wealth to West Africa, North Africa, Middle East, and Europe in what came known as the trans-Sahara trade routes. Whether in the coastal plains or in the lush hinterlands, Africans executed complex and organized central governments ruled by powerful kings with administrative divisions overseen by prominent figures representing the head of state. Long before the birth of Islam, a mighty kingdom existed in Ghana (not related to the modern state of Ghana). Even before the Islamic Hijra in 622 C.E. (Common Era), as many as twenty-two kings ruled Ghana. As reported by Al-Bakri, a mid-eleventh century Spanish-Cordovan traveler, the seat of the Kingdom of Ghana was at Koumbi-Saleh-a flourishing city containing elaborate buildings and over a dozen mosques. During its height of power from the ninth to the twelfth century, as many as fifteen thousand to twenty thousand people populated the city of Koumbi-Saleh.

To maintain order in the kingdom and protect the city and the state from external aggression and to safeguard the trade routes from marauding hooligans and highway robbers, the Kingdom of Ghana had as many two-hundred thousand well-armed and well-trained armies of warriors. To support such a large army, the administration in Koumbi-Saleh levied taxes on trade caravans passing through the kingdom. During this period in time, the headwaters of the Niger, Gambia, and Senegal rivers contained the largest deposits of gold. The demand for economic development and dwindling resources in the eastern hemisphere lured merchants in the Mediterranean basin and the Islamic world to the vast resources that was available in the kingdom of Ghana. In exchange for gold and other precious minerals, trans-Saharan merchants from as far as Europe and Arabia brought in horses, cloth, manufactured wares, and salt-a crucial commodity that was in short supply in the tropics. Besides Koumbi-Saleh, other prominent trading towns were Timbuktu in present-day Mali, Gao, Jenne, and Niani. Never at time has the history of the African continent been contrasting as European explorers of the past envisaged. Instead, Africa enjoys a history full of intricate governance, distinct civilization, elaborate terra-cotta craftsmanship, magnificent trade routes and abundance of wealth, and endless stories.

Arabs and Persians in Africa

If there be any reliable truth-telling society that can shed light on historical African social life prior to European incursion of Africa, a glimpse at past Arab and Persian chroniclers would without an iota of doubt prove remarkably useful. The Arabs have in their libraries vast array of materials of historical significance that has either been out-rightly rejected by the Europeans because of the profound impact they incur on African historical perspectives or said other way, because these materials continue to rot in libraries devoid of translations.

Arab proximity to African coastlines enabled Arab philosophers, historians, adventurers, religious scholars, traders, and seafarers to crisscross the Indian Ocean on dhows aided by the Indian Ocean seasonal monsoon winds. Likewise, Persians were the very people who preserved and translated the vast knowledge of Greek philosophy we cherish today so much so that the philosophical foundations we inherited from Greek philosophers like Aristotle, Socrates, Aristophanes, Thucydides, Anaximander, Plato and others serve actors in the governing of world democracies; they also remain the nerves behind the continuation of the much-admired theatrical performances seen the world over, and subjects of profound solace in global academia. Despite coming to Africa way after the Arabs and Persians had bonded with the mighty continent through concrete reciprocal friendship, later European travelers to Africa drew gloomy pictures about the people they interacted with and the lands they traversed regardless of being accorded outstanding reception.

Long before the birth of Christianity and long before the rise of the succession of Roman empires that came to wreck havoc in Asia Minor, Arabia, and northern Africa, a dedicated Greek mariner produced the useful historical document we know today as the Periplus of the Erythraean Sea. This internationally-acknowledged historical magnum opus details the existence of thriving cities and societies straddling the eastern and southern Africa coastlines with mention of commerce and trade and ocean mercantilism in the year 1 B.C. Similarly, in the 14th century, a Chinese navigator by the name Admiral Hwang Ho or Huang He, sailing on behalf of the king of imperial China, paid a courtesy call to Somalia’s coastline presumably landing either in Mogadishu, Berbera, or Zeila where he was given on his return voyage a giraffe as a gift by the sultan of Somalia at that time. The history of Arabs, Persians and other Asian societies most notably Polynesians plying the African coast long before Europeans mastered the art of sail-making, may not be taken lightly because the footprints these people left behind are quite visible to this day from further up north in Zeila in Somalia to further south in Sofala in Mozambique.

The Axumite Kingdom of Abyssinia
The current state of Ethiopia has seen dramatic historical experiences that stretch back to three-thousand years corresponding to the era of the Biblical Queen of Sheba who ruled ancient Yemen and King and Prophet Solomon whose reign encompassed a greater part of the Arabia landscape, the Levant, and parts of Asia Minor. Abyssinia (currently Ethiopia) enjoys historical significance such that its majesty in ancient architectural engineering is the envy of many past civilizations. With the ancient city of Axum or Aksum as the capital city of the Kingdom of Axum-a civilization that flourished in the current Tigrey region of Ethiopia from ca. 400 B.C. up until the 10th century-the eponymous kingdom of Axum had a strong naval and trading power that stretched to as far as modern-day Yemen in the Middle East right across the Gulf of Aden. Ancient Abyssinia was home to the renowned “Lucy”-a presumed hominid fossil who is a Gracile Australopithecines represented by bones from single skeleton-specimens discovered in Ethiopia’s Afar region. Ethiopia’s Afar region has long been an area famous for volcanic eruptions, earthquakes, and blanketing lake sediments and slow accumulation of sediments.

The recent discovery of another skeleton thought to have died 4.4 million years ago-a fossil named Ardipithecus ramidus or in short “Ardi”-is estimated to be a million years older than the famous Lucy find of the 70s. Pioneered by the Middle Awash research project and co-directed by Tim White, a paleo-Anthropologist from the University of California at Berkeley and assisted by his Ethiopian colleagues Berhane Asfaw and Giday WoldeGabriel, the team believes that the Afar region of Ethiopia holds paleo-anthropological treasures.

With a long historical journey and many ruins comprising churches carved-out of mountains and steel structures dotting the countryside, undoubtedly, ancient Abyssinia was once a seat for mighty emperors who carried the ceremonial title “Ras” until the last ruling dynasty, Emperor Haile Selassie, was overthrown and murdered in cold blood in 1974 by a military committee known as the Derg that was led by Lieutenant Mengistu Haile Miriam. Colonel Mengistu, having himself been removed from power in 1991, is purportedly hiding in obscurity in Zimbabwe at the behest of authoritarian ruler Robert Mugabe. Among the most striking ancient structures remaining in modern-day Ethiopia include the monolithic obelisk that in the course of time collapsed and subsequently broke into three parts.

Ethiopia survived foreign manipulation for over 3,000 years especially the so-called Scramble for Africa until the Second World War when Italy’s fascist ruler Benito Mussolini occupied it for a few years despite bitter resistance that culminated in the defeat of the invading forces by Ethiopia’s combined local gallantry. Mussolini’s war with Ethiopia was to avenge the Battle of Adowa which took place in Abyssinia on March 1, 1896. It was Mussolini’s desire to revive an empire reminiscent of the Roman

Introduction to Upcoming Book on African History

For thousands of years when the people of the Europe lingered in an observable fact of savagery and barbarism, the African continent enjoyed remarkable peace, prosperity, and good governance until poor and famished Europe woke up to an era in the 15th century that came to be known as the Renaissance with France becoming the first in continental Europe to seize the opportunity to effect change to its people’s living conditions politically, socially, and economically. Despite being called names pejoratively by the people of Europe, the inhabitants of the mighty African continent have never at any given time in history sought the help of Europe in any way whatsoever in the past. Instead, after suffering unmitigated hunger and general deprivation for many years, it was the leaders of Europe who embarked on surreptitious projects that in the end reduced the African continent into a bleeding mess.

Until we realize what the major factors are that continue to hold back the poor African continent through the eyes and mind of the African intellectual, we may never understand the general dilemmas of the African and Africans. From the very moment when Europeans started to involve themselves in African affairs, the rate of human suffering has been quite alarming. While the rest of the world is accelerating in terms of development, to the contrary, the African continent has experienced tremendous deceleration-not because of scarcity of natural resources and human capital, but because of European mistreatment.

After unleashing slavery and slave trade as a precursor to its protracted ravenousness and profligacy, the leaders of Europe persistently plundered Africa through imperialism, colonialism, neocolonialism, commercial misgivings, trade imbalances, the World Bank (WB), the International Monetary Fund (IMF), and most recently through the World Trade Organization (WTO)-an organization whose mode of operations favor allies of the United States and the European Union while imposing hefty tariffs on African raw and manufactured products that are perceived as having inferior quality.

With the exception of oil and other industrial mineral exploits and rubber plantations that are either owned by or managed by western multinational corporations (MNC) and Coffee, Tea, and Cocoa that is farmed by underpaid Africans in Ethiopia, Kenya, Uganda, Rwanda, Mali, and Ivory Coast respectively and consumed heavily as beverage in the western hemisphere, Africa’s vast natural resources-exploited and unexploited-remain in commercial limbo for failing to secure internationally accepted legitimate market value.

Despite the abundance of diamonds in Sierra Leone and Namibia; gold in South Africa; rubber in Liberia; oil in Nigeria, Chad, Niger, Libya, and Tunisia, persisting colonial vestiges, embezzlement of state coffers and despicable corruption hinder prospects for progress and serendipity. It is quite common for the very African leader who is himself a product of colonialism to heap blame on his nation’s former colonial master be it be Britain, Spain, Portugal, Italy, Germany, or France respectively. Britain and France, the two major colonial powers that are central to the adulteration of African affairs continue to misguide their servants through the formation of proxy blocs known as Anglophone and Francophone where participating states are required to comply by laid down rules and regulations dictated from London and Paris. Ironically, majority of African leaders who subscribe to any of the two opposing rims, Anglophone or Francophone, came to the helm through vote rigging or through coup d’états. Thus, aspects of political and historical significance that failed to capture the imaginations of many writers in the past will be unveiled as you read the pages of an upcoming book on the history.

The subsequent rise of the Axumite Kingdom of Abyssinia before the advent of Christianity and Islam, the golden age of the Kingdom of Ghana, the wealth of the Kingdom of Mali under Mansa Musa, the Songhai Empire, the thriving civilizations on the Swahili coast of Eastern Africa, the great ruins of Zimbabwe and the forces that built it along the Zambezi and Limpopo rivers will be thoroughly scrutinized in the most scholarly manner.

Human Rights Abuses in Somalia

The issue of human rights abuses in Somalia goes back to the days of the military junta when select clans were targetted for voicing their concerns. The worst form of human atrocities, extrajudicial killings, trial without legal representation followed by prolonged jail terms, denial of freedom of speech, arbitrary arrests, and other forms of cruel and dehumanizing punishments including aerial bombing of densely populated places, forceful conscription into the armed forces, lack of reliable healthcare facilities, poor infrastructure, lack of clean tapped water, and the forceful adaption of communism and Scientific-socialism that were contrary to Islamic values remained prevalent up until the fall of Somalia's last central government.

The fall of the military government in 1991 exploded intertribal and interclan rivalry leading to the worst form of humanitarian crisis never before witnessed in modern human history. The rise of dreadful warlords culminated in the formation of fiefdoms and eventual cantonization of the once unified and homogenous state of Somalia. The rise of startling crimes of extortion and murder, rape of young girls and women, destruction of the nation's infrastructure, pollution of the environment, destruction of national forests through charcoal burning, dumping of toxic wastes, and the indiscriminate killing of defenseless civilians opened a path to the most grueling mass exodus of people and wild animals inside and outside of Somalia's borders such that Dadaab refugee camp in Kenya has become home to 300,000 refugees mainly of Somali origin. Dadaab refugee camp is reputedly the biggest refugee camp in the world according to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR.

International, interregional, and intraregional migration became the only possible means of escape for those with the willpower and resolve, energy and drive. Hundreds of wild animals including elephants, giraffes, buffalos, rhinos, zebras, and other bigger animals who could cover longer distances sought refuge in countries neighboring Somalia. In the Diaspora, the number of Somali teenagers langushing in foreign jails for felonies and misdmeanors is hard to grasp. Somali youth in the Diaspora have become victims of crime because their illiterate or drugged parents have failed to guide them and act as role models.

Currently, Somalia remains the most dangerous place to live. It is a place where life has no meaning at all. Regardless of where one lives in Somalia, the truth of the matter is, peace, liberty, and happiness remain elusive. In the areas controlled by the Islamists, uneducated and brainwashed young men wielding considerable power have made life unbearable for the millions who look to them for protection. In their attempts to consolidate power, the Islamists have become adept at imposing unbearable rules and regulations that are an impediment to peace and progress.

Almost all Somali factions, religious or secular, continue to exploit and suppress even the most vulnerable of their subjects-children. Children as young as ten carry AK-47s in the streets imposing strict rules and lashing unobservant, defenseless civilians. What the west refers to as child labor has become a common practise for armed groups. The absence of human growth and develpment has depleted Somalia's human capital such that even those who have been hale and healthy at one time, have lost their mental and moral fiber.

Disruption of humanitarian supplies, exposure to hazardous waste, the defeaning noise of artillery and gunfire, and a host of undiagnosed and protracted maladies leave many reeling in pain on a daily basis. Theocracy, authoritarianism, and pseudo-democracy are the only forms of leadership styles currently existing in the Somali landscape.

Women and girls escaping the mayhem in Somalia, often find themselves abused, roughed-up, or raped by the security personnel of the host country. The political imbroglio in Villa Somalia and the Transitional Government's failure to capture lands in the hands of the opposition, will excercabate the current negative trends and alien traditions the nation is engulfed in.

Somali Child Soldiers

A recent report by a New York Times reporter that the current Transitional Federal Government of Somalia employs child soldiers to keep the peace in the areas it controls has become a subject of discussion in the global media. Images of dishevelled underage Somali children carrying AK-47 rifles raise questions about the ill-intentions of the besieged Somali government.

Taxpayers in the West perceive hippocracy and deception on the part of their governments for recklessly dishing out their hard-earned monies to a government that does not respect the rights of the child. According to some estimates, 20% of Somalia's children are engaged in conflict as child soldiers. These children are either orphaned, abandoned, homeless or have been forcefully conscripted against their wishes or have been attracted to the meager wages offered by heartless militia commanders including Somalia's national army that is short of willing recruits.

As a result of push-pull factors, these children are being lured either by the desire to win their daily bread or the urge to satisfy their drug addictions. Somalia is synonymous with the consumption of Qaad-a narcotic leaf grown in the highlands of Kenya and Ethiopia-a drug that contains fatal ingredients of cathinone (or cathonine)and known to induce euphoria, insomnia, and hypersensivity.

On the other hand, the absence of social activities, lack of schools, abject poverty, and massive unemployment opens a path for competition, survival, and bitter struggle among those who don't have relatives in the Diaspora. Often, children with no guardians or role models find themselves left with options other than fending for themselves. Strange as it may seem, the main perpetrators who exposed these children to such horrendous living conditions and untold suffering, have taken their children out of harms way and settled them in far away peaceful lands.

News that the president of Somalia has ordered a thorough investigation of New York Times' damaging revelations about Somali child-soldiers be carried could be welcoming if only we knew the effectiveness and impartiality of the final findings. Though it is easy to verify the number of child-soldiers serving in Somalia's army, what makes the veracity of the anticipated final report unconvincing even before it is made public, is the current government's past investigative failures. Perhaps, fearing public scrutiny, the current government is yet to deliver the results of investigations into past horrific incidents including the deadly suicide bombing of Hotel Shamo in December of last year where prominent public figures, university leactures, and graduating students met their untimely deaths.

Beledweyne for al-Shabab

The strategetic town of Beledweyne which previously served as the main hub for Sheikh Hassan Dahir Aweys' Hizb al-Islam militia has finally fallen into the hands of al-Shabab. With only Ceelasha Biyaha-a massive camp for the Internally Displaced located outside of Mogadishu remaining as the last bastion for Hizb al-Islam-undoubtedly, one could conclude that Sheikh Aweys' faction is headed for total dismemberment and absolute involuntary dissolution. To add insult to injury, the number of Hizb al-Islam forces defecting to the opposition is siad to be explosive finally leading to HI's top brass disbanding and bringing to an abrupt end the Sheikh's uncalled-for loquacity, rhetorics and innuendos of the past. With HI out of the political spectrum, what everyone has to keep an eye on is how the next battle will be fought between the Transional Federal Government and Ahlu-Sunna-Wal-Jama'a on one side and al-Shabab on the other.

Somalia Government Flexes Muscles

The current Transitional Federal Government of Somalia (TFG) headed by Sheikh Sharif Sheikh Ahmed has long been accused by the international media and by a cross-section of impatient Somalis as being inept, incompetent, and corrupt. For some, the TFG has been a government only in name; its sphere of influence is restricted to the presidential palace-also known as Villa Somalia-which translates to a few blocks in a city of eighteen counties and a population exceeding over a million inhabitants.

Besieged by armed insurgents on all sides, the president and his retinue of dignitaries remain under the protection of AMISOM-an armed contingent provided by the African Union and funded by the international community. Perhaps a little less than a division and a legion, AMISOM is an amalgamation of select forces from the nations of Uganda and Burundi. The roughly 8,000 AMISOM force currently in Mogadishu remain guardians of the harbor, the airport, and the presidential palace. Lack of effective management and scarcity of funds has hindered the TFG's prospect of ushering in the much-needed peace and security.

Bickering and clan affiliations remain the major destructive tool for disgruntled parliamentarians with intent to further divide and plunge the nation in to a cycle of abyss. Rival militias integrated in to government forces switch sides by joining the Jihadists who continue to wage war on all fronts with the ultimate goal of toppling the infant and fragile TFG.

With patience and constancy the TFG is headed to reversing previous negative trends that posed a threat in the past by winning the hearts and minds of its war wary citizens. With thousands of newly-graduated troops and committed commanders on the ground, the TFG has now flexed muscles by covering and capturing new ground.

In the past few days, loyal government forces overwhelmingly captured the strategic city of Beletweyne from Hizbul Islam militia. Likewise, government forces and AMISOM troops have been pushing back the confrontational al-Shabab militant group from various segments of the city of Mogadishu thus allowing the safe return of displaced persons to their rightful homes.

Besides, the TFG has become a beneficiary of millions of dollars from the international community earmarked for the reconstruction and development of Somalia-the latest being money to the tune of $300m. The recently concluded conference in Ankara, Turkey, will be followed by a similar one to be held in Spain before year end. Which brings us to the conclusion that Somalia will in the long run reclaim its lost glory and once again become a major force to reckon with.

The Impact of Globalization on Somali Culture

Abstract
The impact of globalization is being felt almost everywhere in the world including the “stateless” nation of Somalia whose economy is spiraling at a tremendous pace even with the absence of an effective central government and escalation of war. The purpose of this paper is to examine the positive and negative impacts of globalization on the Somali culture.

What is Globalization?
The term globalization resonates with a novel and emerging global topic whose definition in the myriads of available international relations textbooks and dictionaries conjure up varieties of rudimentary connotations. Charles W. Kegley, Jr. and Shannon N. Blanton, in their book, World Politics: Trend and Transformation (12ed), describe globalization as the integration of states, through increasing contact, communication, and trade, to create a common global culture for all humanity.[1] Globalization has been around the world for a long time since the interaction and integration of different societies through international trade and investment.

Somalia: A Brief introduction
Somalia got its independence in 1960 with Aden Abdille Osman as its first head of state. Situated in the Horn of Africa, the Republic of Somalia has a land area of 637,540 square kilometers which makes it slightly smaller than the U.S. state of Texas. Its terrain mostly consists of plateaus, plains, and highlands. Measuring 3,025km, Somalia has the longest coastline in the African continent followed by South Africa (2,798km). It is bordered by the tiny nation of Djibouti (inhabited by Somali-speaking people) to the northwest, the Gulf of Aden and Yemen to the north, Kenya to the southwest, the Indian Ocean to the East, and Ethiopia to the West. The population of Somalia was estimated by the United Nations in 2003 at 9,890,000 and is placed at number 80 in population among the 193 nations of the world.[2]

Colonial environment and Somali Language
With the exception of Somali which is the national language, other languages spoken in the country include Arabic, English, and Italian. The Somali peripatetic way of life accelerated economic interdependence and regional dominance making Somalis to inhabit the most expansive land that stretch from the Somali-inhabited region in Ethiopia to as far south as Kenya’s eastern and Northern provinces while in between traversing Djibouti and Somalia.

It was only in 1972 when the Somali language came into the glare of publicity after the official writing script developed by Shire Jama Ahmed became the unanimously accepted version in favor of the Latin and Osmaniya scripts-orthography invented in the early twentieth century by the Majeerteen poet and ruler, Osman Yusuf Kenadid.[3]

The Dynamism of Somali Culture
Somalia is a homogenous nation with a mix of rich culture. Somalis speak the same language which is Somali; they have one religion which is Islam, and they enjoy similar customs. It is the clan that determines one’s place in society. In modern times, Somali exposure to foreign ways of life has tremendously altered the previous dividing factors that existed between its various clans. Improved intercommunication due to amalgamation of communal groups alleviated major barriers pertaining to intermarriage. Clans who exclusively observed endogamous marriages due to customary restrictions have eased imposing constraints by allowing partners to partake in the formulation of exogamy thus leading to the creation of a wholly new concept of marital relationships never before seen in Somali culture.

Perhaps, the first European to venture into Somali territory who meticulously described the culture and language of the Somali people was Sir Richard Burton. About the people and their language, he wrote: “The country teems with “poets, poetasters, poetitos, and poetaccios:” Every man has his recognized position in literature as accurately defined as though he had been reviewed in a century of magazines-the fine ear of this people causing them to take the greatest pleasure in harmonious sounds and poetical expressions, whereas a false quantity or a prosaic phrase excite their violent indignation.”[4] Somalia has been described as a “nation of poets”. The most famous Somali poet was Seyyid Mohamed Abdille Hassan who was dubbed “mad mullah” by the British colonial administration in the late 1900s. Poetry and prose play great roles in Somali daily life even in this era of globalization where it is used as a means of communication.

Natural Resources
Somalia is endowed with unexploited mineral resources and vast maritime resources that have been a source of contention since the collapse of the central government in 1991. The absence of a strong and effective central government has left Somalia’s coastline prone to illegal fishing and dumping of toxic waste by foreign trawlers and the dreaded Mafia-an issue even voiced with deep concern by Mauritanian-born Ahmedou Ould-Abdallah, the UN envoy for Somalia.[5] Somalia’s eastern coastline overlooking the Gulf of Aden has become a hotbed for piracy.[6] Oil explorations carried out by Conoco, Amoco, Chevron, and Philips before the military junta fell point to a strong possibility Somalia could contain significant reserves.[7] In modern times Somalia remains a strategically, economically, politically, culturally and religiously sensitive region.

Globalization and Somalia
Somalia’s proximity to the Middle East and North Africa made it a center for commerce in historical antiquity. During that era, Somali sailors and merchants traded in myrrh, frankincense, and spices with ancient Egyptians, Phoenicians, Mycenaeans, and Babylonians.[8] Even though there could be similarities between Somalia’s previous era of globalization and the current one, today’s experience with globalization is to some degree more intense for Somalia and her trading partners. Somalia’s trial with capitalism got off the ground immediately it gained independence in 1960 when the nation’s leaders adopted democracy as the form of governance for the country. That dream was shuttered by the arrival of a military government in 1969 that changed the nation’s governing style to Leninism-Marxism which ended in 1991 a few years after the collapse of the Berlin Wall.

Preservation of Somali Literature
Several major universities across the globe have taken the responsibility of either teaching or collecting materials related to the advancement of the Somali language. One such example is the University of Indiana in Bloomington which boosts a large collection on Somali literature deposited by the Somali Studies International Association. These materials were acquired by the university with support from the US Department of Education Title VI grant.[9] The University of Ohio has included the teaching of Somali into its African studies program.[10] Several European countries teach the Somali language to Somali children. Higher institutions of learning such as the School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS) which is part of the University of London, the Swedish Academy in Uppsala, and Rome University have specialized study programs preserved for the Somali language.[11]

Improved Telecommunications
Somalia has seen dramatic improvement in communications. According to a study carried out in sub-Saharan Africa by Benjamin Powell who is an Assistant Professor of economics at Suffolk University and a senior economist with the Beacon Hill Institute, Somalia moved from the 29th place to the eighth in terms of telephone landlines use per 1,000 of population since it became stateless in 1991. It ranks 16th in phone mobile use, 11th in internet users, and it ranks 27th in households with televisions. It takes three days for a telephone line to be installed; the bill for a monthly land-line costs $10 which includes unlimited local calls while international calls cost 50 cents a minute. Due to the explosion of internet cafes, web access costs 50 cents per minute. Using a mobile phone in Somalia is “generally cheaper and clearer than a call from anywhere else in Africa”, according to the economist.[12] The nation’s three biggest mobile phone companies, Hormuud Telecom, Nationlink, and Telecom Somalia have 1.8 million customers who enjoy some of the cheapest rates in the world.[13] Currently, Somalia has a varied and vibrant news media including 12 radio stations, and a handful of newspapers mainly written in the Somali language.


Positive Implications of Globalization
The thousands of Somalis who settled outside Somalia’s borders tremendously altered the political, social, and economic landscape of the Somali nation by injecting millions of dollars in the form of remittances into a once beleaguered, impoverished, and war-ravaged nation thus opening the gates of globalization. In its March 2009 report, the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) office for Somalia, estimated that Somali Diaspora remittances to the Horn of Africa nation amounted to over $2 billion in remittance flows. According to the authors of the UNDP report, Somali Diaspora organizations may be credited for supporting or establishing service delivery facilities by providing regular funding flows meant for the payment of salaries to schools or hospitals. The significance of globalization and international political economy has necessitated the transfer of goods and services. Somali businessmen have found it easier to balance supply and demand in almost every region of the country regardless of daily hostilities.

Depending on the size or intricacy of developmental assistance, various Diaspora groups fund multifarious schemes not only in the health and education sectors but in construction, feeding centers, orphanage homes, digging of water wells, farming, banking, manufacturing, fishing, and the transportation sector. In the unrecognized breakaway republic of Somaliland and in the eastern autonomous region of Puntland, the semblance of peace has triggered a progression of various competing air travel companies, foreign-funded educational institutions, maritime trade and investment.
Thanks to the generous contributions of the Somali Diaspora and international organizations currently Somalia has over a dozen universities. When the military junta was in power, Somalia had only one national university. The fall of the Berlin Wall, the break-up of the former Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR) and the collapse of the military junta in Somalia have made it easier for Somalis to turn to the West for educational opportunities. Every year, in the US, EU, Canada, and Australia, hundreds if not thousands of Somali students, graduate from colleges and universities. The thousands of Somalis educated in the West and elsewhere will undoubtedly spearhead the concepts of globalization in Somalia as the years go by without encumbrances.

Islamists and anti-Globalization
The rise of religious militancy in Somalia has set bad precedents and adversely impacted globalization. The two strongest factions opposed to the current Somali Transitional Federal Government have imposed stringent measures on schools funded by the Diaspora by placing a ban on the teaching of English and the Science and they have prohibited the ringing of school bells during school breaks. They have also slapped a ban on western-style haircuts, western fashion, and western manners; in their efforts to fight vice, all cinema halls and video dens remain closed; all men are required to have their trousers above the ankle otherwise they risk flogging or imprisonment or both; owners of television and radio stations have been told to refrain from playing music or else risk arrest and to make matters worse, the local VOA and BBC transmissions have been taken off the air and their equipments transferred to other radio stations owned by the Islamists. It is worth noting that Islamists only dominate the southern part of Somalia and that they have no stake in Puntland and Somaliland.

Despite acrimony, fear, and division, Somali culture will immensely benefit from Globalization whenever a stable government emerges from the ashes of destruction. Through the concept of convergence and economic growth, Somalia will eventually catch up with richer countries. Its hale and healthy human population will unlock the mysteries of sustained economic growth. The future of globalization in Somalia depends on Muslim-Somali’s ability to wed western-style modernism with Islamic principles, or, in other words to develop Islamic-style modernism without sacrificing Muslim values.

References
[1] Charles W. Kegley, JR. and Shannon L. Blanton. World Politics: Trend and Transformation (12ed.), Wadsworth, 20 Channel Center Street, Boston, MA 02210
[2] Encyclopedia of the Nations:
http://www.nationsencyclopedia.com/Africa/Somalia-POPULATION.html
(accessed 20 April, 2010)
[3] Shire Jama Ahmed:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shire_Jama_Ahmed/
(Accessed 23 April, 2010)
[4] Richard F. Burton: First Footsteps in East Africa; Or, an Exploration of Harar. London, Longman, Brown, Green, and Longmans. 1856
[5] ‘Toxic Waste’ Behind Somali Piracy by Najad Abdullahi, Aljazeera. October 11, 2008. http://english.aljazeera.net/news/africa/2008/10/2008109174223218644.html
(accessed 20 April, 2010)
[6] Helen Kennedy, Piracy big boon to Somalia economy; hotels, restaurants sprout in port of Eyl in pirates' presence, nydailynews, April 9, 2009 http://www.nydailynews.com/news/national/2009/04/10/2009-04-10_piracy_boon_to_somalia_economy.html
(Accessed 21 April, 2010)
[7] Natural Resources (Somalia), Natural Resources.
http://www.janes.com/articles/Janes-Sentinel-Security-Assessment-North-Africa/Natural-resources-Somalia.html
(Accessed 22 April, 2010)
]8] ^ Civilizations: Culture, Ambition, and the Transformation of Nature By Felipe Armesto Fernandez
(Accessed April 20, 2010)
[9] History of Indiana University’s Somali Collection. http://www.indiana.edu/~libsalc/african/Digital_Somali_Library/history.html (Accessed April 24, 2010)
[10] African Studies director honored by Somali president,Youtube.com, www.ohio.edu/outlook/09-10/October/79a.cfm
(Accessed 24 April, 2010)
[11] Mohamed H. Rabi. The Institute of Practical Research and Training: The Role of Somali language in Education http://www.iprt.org/role_of_somali_language_in_educa.htm
(Accessed 29 April, 2010)
[12] Mohamed H. Rabi. The Institute of Practical Research and Training: The Role of Somali language in Education http://www.iprt.org/role_of_somali_language_in_educa.htm
(Accessed 29 April, 2010)
[13] Abdi Sheikh and Ibrahim Mohamed. Somali mobile phone firms thrive despite chaos Reuters. Nov 3, 2009. Retrieved May 1, 2010 from http://af.reuters.com/article/investingNews/idAFJOE5A20DB20091103
(Accessed May 1, 2010)

Bibliography
Charles W. Kegley, Jr. and Shannon L. Blanton, World Politics: Trend and Transformation (12ed), Wadsworth, 20 Channel Center Street, Boston, MA 02210

Rachel Swarns, “Africa’s Lost Tribe Discovers American Way,” New York Times, 10 March, 2003.

Sir Richard Burton, First Footsteps in East Africa, Tylston and Edwards, The Meccan Press, 3 Soho Square, London, WMDCCCXC1V.

Natural Resources (Somalia), Natural Resources. Retrieved April 22, 2010 from
http://www.janes.com/articles/Janes-Sentinel-Security-Assessment-North-Africa/Natural-resources-Somalia.html

Helen Kennedy, Piracy big boon to Somalia economy; hotels, restaurants sprout in port of Eyl in pirates' presence, nydailynews, April 9, 2009. Retrieved April 21, 2010 from
http://www.nydailynews.com/news/national/2009/04/10/2009-04-10_piracy_boon_to_somalia_economy.html


Natural Resources (Somalia), Natural Resources. Retrieved April 22, 2010 from
http://www.janes.com/articles/Janes-Sentinel-Security-Assessment-North-Africa/Natural-resources-Somalia.html

Shire Jama Ahmed. Retrieved April 23, 2010 from
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shire_Jama_Ahmed/

History of Indiana University’s Somali Collection. Retrieved April 24, 2010 from
http://www.indiana.edu/~libsalc/african/Digital_Somali_Library/history.html


Mohamed H. Rabi. The Institute of Practical Research and Training: The Role of Somali language in Education. Retrieved 29 April, 2010 from
http://www.iprt.org/role_of_somali_language_in_educa.htm

Benjamin Powell, Somalia: Failed State, Economic Success?, Freeman: Ideas on Liberty, April 2009 • Volume: 59 • Issue: 3. Retrieved May 1, 2010 from
http://www.thefreemanonline.org/featured/somalia-failed-state-economic-success/

The World's Longest and Shortest Wars Revisited

Man has been at war with himself since time immemorial. Some wars have been short; others lasted many, many years. Some wars have been quick and decisive while others continued until the emergence of a conqueror; other wars dragged on for centuries even after the death of the masterminds. Usually, a war may be ignited by flimsy issues like a love affair, competition for scarce resources, and rivalry over leadership, disagreement over ideology or it could be over major issues like retaliatory measures over grievances, religious superiority; it could be a row over diplomacy, forceful annexation of new lands, and territorial expansion. Wars may result from internal turmoil leading to civil disobedience or it could be caused by external aggression. In almost all wars, clever men intervened to reconcile warring parties. Some wars end for good after warring parties opt for an armistice or negotiated settlements.

The longest war in human history erupted during the reign of Alexander the Great III who succeeded the throne after the assassination of his father Philip of Macedon II in 336 BC. Alexander the Great III waged war against Persia between the years 320s and 330s BC. The man who would claim the titles Hegemon of the Hellenic League, Shahanshah of Persia, Pharaoh of Egypt and Lord of Asia died at age 32 in 332 BC after capturing Syria, Egypt, Mesopotamia, Persia, and Bactria. His short-lived reign lasted only 13 years. His ambition of capturing India ended in disarray after his soldiers mutinied prompting him to turn back thus shuttering his dream of capturing Arabia. Alexander’s desire was to reach the "ends of the world and the Great Outer Sea". Thus, the wars inherited from Alexander the Great left a geopolitical vault that continue to drag on 2,500 years later between the forces of Europe and the Middle East.

In the past, many battles exploded between Europe and the Middle East with North Africa, Spain, France, the Balkans, Palestine, and Asia Minor serving as battlefields. The rise of Islam in the 7th century consolidated and strengthened the forces of Western Asia by significantly Islamizing the Middle East and tipping the poise in support of Mid-Eastern superiority for several centuries. The falling behind of the Arabs and the Turks in economic and military terms in the 19th century enabled the French and the British to impose colonialism on Muslim lands.

Another prolonged war worth mentioning erupted between the Netherlands and the Isles of Scilly (Dutch: Driehonderdvijfendertigjarige Oorlog) which lasted for three hundred and thirty five years. Strange as it may seem, not a single shot was fired for 335 years making this war the longest war with the fewest casualties. This war ignited during the Second English Civil War between the Royalists and Parliamentarians in 1642 to 1652. It was Oliver Cromwell who pushed the Royalists and secured Cornwall for the parliamentarians in 1648. Under the command of Admiral Robert Blake, the Parliamentarians finally forced the Royalists to surrender in 1651.

Because of the exact dates remaining sketchy, many historians are of the view the Vietnam War was fought against the French for 11 years (1946-1957) and 18 years against the United States (1957-1975). In total, the Vietnam War lasted 30 years. The Korean War was far much shorter than the Vietnam War as it lasted from 1950 to 1953.

Of all wars the world has seen and recorded by historians, World War I (1914-1918) and World War II (1939-1945) left unforgettable scars in the memory of humanity. Industrialization, abundance of resources, advanced military technology and the mastering of modern tactical warfare by the nations of the western hemisphere, the former U.S.S.R, and Japan culminated in the speeding of aggression that led to the loss of life and property on both sides of the warring parties.

The shortest war recorded in history occurred on 27 October, 1896. Known historically as the Anglo-Zanzibar War, it was fought between the Sultan of Zanzibar and the powerful United Kingdom. This war is said to have lasted 38 minutes and has been documented to have started at 9:02 AM and ending at 9:40 AM-approximately 38 minutes though many disputes exist among historians as to the exact timing of this brutally devastating war that took tremendous life and property.

It all started after the sudden death of Sultan Hamad bin Thuwaini who died on the 24th of August, 1896. At this time in history, the British monarchy was pushing for an end to slavery in Zanzibar that was started by Omani Arabs in the 17th century. The British were in favor of Hamud bin Muhammed for the throne because he was a royal cousin of the deceased and because he did not extremely support the advancement of slavery.

However, a hot-blooded nephew of the deceased sultan, a man named Khalid bin Bargash who was an extreme supporter of slavery seized the throne in a coup. At this juncture, the British colonial administration delivered an ultimatum to Bargash ordering him to give up the throne. The big-headed Bargash challenged the British by hurriedly assembling an army of 3,000 men; he ordered the fortification of his newly-usurped Beit el-Ajaib palace or the House of Wonder; he also put into action a hurriedly-created navy in the form of the ex-Sultan’s yacht, HHS Glasgow.

At this juncture, the Royal Navy of Britain, the strongest navy in the world at that time, deployed two warships in the harbor aiming their heavy guns at Bargash’s newly-usurped abode-the Beit el-Ajaib. By now, the Royal Navy had three ultra-modern cruisers in action: the Edgar- class armored cruiser HMS St. George, the pearl class protected cruiser HMS Philomel, and the archer-class cruiser HMS Raccoon and two gunboats, the HMS Thrush and HMS Sparrow.

On the other hand, the British dispatched a landing party under the command of General Lloyd Mathews. By the time the war ended, Bargash’s palace had been razed to the ground, approximately 500 of his poorly-trained soldiers perished, and his navy was obliterated. Bargash sought refuge in the German embassy. Eventually, he escaped to Dar es Salaam in mainland Tanganyika where he was captured by British forces in 1916. Finally, the imposing but trounced Bargash was released by the British. He died in Mombasa, Kenya in 1927.

Whether short or prolonged, in essence, wars are catastrophic in nature for they exacerbate death and destruction and accelerate human suffering. Wars are known to be agonizing for fauna and flora alike and never at anytime nurture living things. Had there been no wars for all the years men have been up to their throats, the shape of the current world would have been habitable.

In the current era of globalization, the prospect of the world experiencing another major war remains slim mainly due to internalization of trade and investment and the interconnectedness of nation-states through mutual cooperation and the observance of internationally-sanctioned organizational commitments which ultimately will put an end to the concept of unilateralism and hegemony experienced in the past.

The current politically motivated wars raging in Afghanistan, Iraq, Darfur, the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), and Somalia will come to an end in the near future. The only wars that will remain mind-boggling to the international community will be the current unsolvable Israeli-Palestinian conflict whose ideals rest on religious and ethnic dividing lines and China's domination of the world's economy 2050 and beyond.

Somalia: Back to pre-Islamic Era of Ignorance

Just today, in Somalia's wretched City of Mogadishu, two remote-controlled bombs simultaneously went-off in the famous Ali Shideye mosque crowded by worshippers killing over 30 people and injuring almost 100 others. The prime target of the bomb was Sheikh Fuad Shongole, a naturalized Swedish citizen and a high profile in al-Shabab's assembly of sheikhs. According to a spokesman for al-Shabab, Sheikh Fuad survived the bombing though he sustained injuries to the hands and other parts of the body. So far no one has claimed responsibility.

Today's bombing of a religious stronghold manned by al-Shabab demonstrates the emergence of a powerful opposition force that is capable of inflicting considerable damage to any future militaristic ambitions by al-Shabab and her allies. Forces opposed to al-Shabab seem to be reinventing their war strategies by coming up with superior tactics that could cause collateral damage to where unleashed.

Of late al-Shabab has been capturing new grounds from AhluSunna Wal-Jama (ASWJ) in the central regions. Al-Shabab's provocative actions prompted ASWJ to join the Transitional Federal Government (TFG). This collective initiative will empower the unified government to marshal a dependable, effective, and loyal force to counter al-Shabab's continued aggression. According to media reports, leaders of ASWJ have been quoted as saying that they will entirely eradicate al-shabab from Somali territorial soil through coordinated efforts. Perhaps, it could turn out to be a dream come true.

Besides al-Shabab, another faction by the name of Hizbul Islam (HI) has its head up in Somalia's mangled politics. HI is headed by Sheikh Hassan Dahir Aweys, a former Somali army colonel who fought the government of Ethiopia in his heydays with al-Itihad al-Islami. Sheikh Hassan Dahir Aweys and the current president of the TFG, Sheikh Sharif Sheikh Ahmed, under the banner of the Union of Islamic Courts hereafter referred to as UIC, meticulously executed the defeat of the dreaded warlords in 2006. The two buddies parted ways when Sheikh Sharif Sheikh Ahmed was inaugurated president of the TFG a year ago in a ceremony conducted in Djibouti under the auspices of the international community.

HI is closely allied with al-Shabab in ideology though the two technically remain at war. In the past HI lost large swathes of land in the southern part of the country to the forces of al-Shabab. Recently, Sheikh Hassan Turki, formerly a staunch ally of HI and leader-founder of Muaskar Ras Kiamboni, after thorough negotiations and tough deliberations, switched sides by pledging allegiance to al-Shabab in a well-arranged ceremony. Such is the ideological delicacy and political intricay of the lackadaisical multifarious forces josstling for power in the name of Islam in Somalia.

One other ideological reject is Sheikh Ahmed Madobe who is holed up in Somalia's southern border with Kenya. Rumor has it that Sheikh Ahmed Madobe is a close relative of Sheikh Hassan Turki. What prompted Hassan Turki to abandon his brother when he needed him most will remain shrouded in mystery. In the meantime, Sheikh Ahmed Madobe conducts guerilla raids on villages and towns straddling Somalia's southern border that are predominantly inhabited by his tribesmen but under the control of al-Shabab.

As you can see from the topic above, Somalia is headed for the era of ignorance-the era before the forces of Islam swept the Arabian peninsula. It was an era when women had no discource; children suffered at the hands of their own biological fathers especially girls who were buried alive in the scorching sands of the Arabian desert; tribal wars erupted frequently and the golden rule was "whoever has the gold rules". The hostile tribes of pre-Islamic Arabia committed excesses that included worship of idols, highway robbery, plunder, murder, and a host of crimes equal in enormity to what is happening now in Somalia.

Dear reader, the sanctity of houses of worship have been violated and human life given to the dogs. Can you imagine at the time this ugly incident happened hundreds of people had gathered for the obligatory noon prayers and all of a sudden a deranged person detonates devastating bombs just to seek revenge. Revenge in the House of Allah? To what religion do they belong those who commit such crimes? Can we call them Muslims?

Islam means peace, submission to the will of Allah; it means obedience. When inside a mosque a Muslim is supposed to submit wholeheartedly to Allah with sincere devotion and forget the allure of this world. A Muslim is the one who observes the divine laws stated in the Qur'an and the Hadith. Furthermore, according to Islamic teachings, the punsihment for killing an innocent person in the hereafter is to dwell in hell forever.

Somalia has been without a central government since 1991 when the ironfisted military government paved way for clan warfare, warlordism, and anarchy. The succession of administrations in the name of Transitional Federal Government never had complete control of the country except being holed-up in Villa Somalia-the delapidated presidential place.

It is a clear fact that war can only be declared by the head of a sovereign state and not by criminals forcefully imposing unjustified laws in a lawless country. The current transitional president, Sheikh Sharif Sheikh Ahmed, because of his unending adventure travels, remains a president in name only otherwise he is a president-in- absentia.

Unless someone claims responsibility, it will be absolutely hard to uncover the perpetrators of today's bloodshed. To this day, last year's unsolved despicable crime that cut short the lives of a dozen graduating doctors remains a mystery. A government that controls a few blocks in a city of a million people whose survival is at stake must not be expected to avail a comprehensive and conclusive forensic report now and in the future because it is already showing signs of imminent departure from the political spectrum.

Decline of Violence in Iraq

Formerly Mesopotamia or the “Land between two Rivers”, the current modern state of Iraq is situated in the Middle East. It is bordered by Syria to the West, Turkey to the North, Iran to the East, Kuwait to the South-east, Saudi Arabia to the South, and Jordan to the South-west. The country descended into anarchy and insurgency when the former President of the United States, George W. Bush, ordered a U.S.-led invasion in 2003 under the pretext of destroying Saddam Hussein’s Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMD). Iraq has been under the dictatorship of the Baath Party from 1979 until the subsequent capture of Saddam Hussein in 2003 by U.S. troops. This article looks at what led to the reduction of violence in Iraq in 2008.(1)

Misconceived Notions about Iraq
Once considered a homogeneous Arab Nation and a beacon of peace and stability, the nation-state of Iraq, has, since 2003 (with the exception of 2008), transformed into a safe haven for hard-line insurgents and turned out to be a nation composed of various social structures or social strata each with its unique culture. To north are the Kurds who consider themselves to be non-Arabs with their own distinct history and culture. Among the Arabs there are two Arab societies: the Shiites in the South and the Sunnis who populate the middle of the country and who had a bigger stake in the running of the country during the reign of Saddam Hussein. The terms Sunnis and Shiites refer to different religious sects within the Islamic faith. Despite contrasting views among U.S. citizens, according to popular opinion, the “troop surge” implemented during the presidency of George W. Bush is reputedly thought of as being behind the drop in violence in Iraq since 2008 even though there is no way to prove or measure such claims.

The Evolution of a new Political State
Pioneered by the United States, her allies, and the coalition of the willing, the evolution of the current Iraqi state with its multiple political parties came to the fore after the subsequent departure of Saddam Hussein and his Baath party elites from the political spectrum. Likewise, the creation of new democratic institutions of governance and the restoration of freedom and liberty to the Iraqi populace, the formation of northern Kurdish prefectures and the taming of the Peshmerga(2), and the curtailment or defeat of the predominantly Shia Mahdi Brigade, shepherded the progression of a new Iraqi state. It was Lt. Gen. Stanley A. McChrystal who is credited with finding and capturing Saddam Hussein and with tracking and killing Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, the Jordanian-born leader of Al-Qaida in Mesopotamia. Only 20% of the 479 districts of Baghdad known as Mahallas were free of organized crime before a year-long operation by the U.S. military and Iraqi security forces (ISF) brought safety to the capital and improved the situation. According to Brig. Gen. Mike Milano, a top U.S. military official tasked with restoring security to Baghdad, nearly 80% of the capital's districts became free of organized extremist activity. The most comprehensive report on the decline of violence in 2008 appeared in the July issue of the Weekly Standard in which the author, Kimberley Kagan, attributes political maturity to be the cause of the partial cessation of hostilities for that period. The establishment of many political parties along tribal lines laid down the groundwork for stable, nonsectarian, and at least cross-sectarian politics.

Decline in Violence
Many may wonder why Iraq got immersed in a sudden sagging political quagmire immediately Saddam Hussein was removed from the helm and why there was a semblance of peace in 2008.The countless spates of reprisals seen in Baghdad before the surge were caused by the bitter hatred that existed between the Sunnis who had a stake in the running of the Iraqi government during Saddam’s 24-year reign of terror and the Shias who profoundly felt marginalized. The bombing of the golden Shia mosque on February 22nd, 2006 culminated in the launching of attacks that resulted in retaliation by Shias against Sunnis. After stabilizing the chaotic situation in Iraq, Army Gen. David H. Petraeus, the man who came to be the progenitor of what came to be known as the Petraeus Doctrine, turned over the reins of power to Army Gen. Raymond T. Odierno, in October of 2007.

Professor David Siddhartha Patel of the Department of Near Eastern Studies at Cornell University, commenting on the insurgency in Iraq, had to say this: “The fighting in Iraq really isn’t motivated by Islam. It’s really motivated by politics; it’s about economics; it’s about money. And that divide between Sunnis, Shiites and Kurds that we hear so much about … that doesn’t really capture what’s going on. Just as much, the violence is within groups as between groups”. Consequently, the following factors could be attributed to the decline of the insurgency:
 The weakening of Al-Qaida and the collapse of tribal coalitions;
 Sunni Arab parliamentarians' acceptance of the Iraqi constitution;
 Coalition forces’ defeat of Iranian-supported “special groups” and the engaging of Muqtada Sadr’s Mahdi Army/Jaysh al-Mahdi (JAM);
 The establishment of tribal “Awakening Councils” and the formation of Concerned Local Citizen (CLC) groups to fight Al-Qaida in Iraq;
 Coalition forces’ collaboration with the civilian population led to torrents of fresh intelligence that culminated in the containment of hostile forces;
 The intensification of military operations against Kurdish rebels in northern Iraq by Turkey and Iran;
 The diminished flow of foreign fighters from Syria and Iran led to reduced suicide bombings, IEDs (Improvised Explosive Devices), and EFPs (Explosively Formed Projectiles/Penetrators);
 The training of a more effective Iraqi Security Force (ISF);
 The transformation of the coalition forces from an army of occupation to an army of collaboration.

Conclusion: Though there is no way of measuring the causes of the decline in violence in Iraq in 2008, on the other hand, the escalation of retributions, hostility, and tribal hegemony diminished because the warring parties became exhausted and wary of war after much damage was done to both sides of the isle. The famous saying among Arabs that states “me and my brother against my cousin; me, my brother, and my cousin against the world”, seems to have been the driving force behind the complex divisions, mistrust, and negative cultural attitudes that resulted in the dragging of Iraq into the senseless cycle of abyss that left thousands dead and an equal number unaccounted for.

Sources
(1)Charles W.L. Hill, Global Business Today, McGraw-Hill Companies Inc., 1221 Avenue of the Americas, New York, NY, 10020 (pp. 91-92)
(2)Peshmerga is the name of the Kurdish guerilla army.
(3)Stanley A.McChrystal:
http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/people/m/stanley_a_mcchrystal/index.html?inline=nyt-per
(4)U.S. reports violence decline in Iraq, 2-23-2008: Read more http://www.usatoday.com/news/world/iraq/2008-02-23-saturday_N.htm
(5)The Future of Iraq: The decline of violence, the rise of politics by Kimberly Kagan, July 28, 2008, Vol. 13, No. 43:
(6)http://www.weeklystandard.com/Content/Public/Articles/000/000/015/345jfuan.asp?page=3
(7)United States Condemns Bombing of Important Shia Mosque in Iraq:
Read more: http://www.america.gov/st/washfile-english/2006/February/20060222110625cpataruk0.9421808.html#ixzz0kj9pg5hN
(8)Gates Notes Shift in Mission as Iraq Command Changes Hands by Jim Garamone of the American Forces Press Service: CAMP SPEICHER, Iraq, Sept. 15, 2008 http://www.defense.gov/news/newsarticle.aspx?id=51170
(9)Professor Discusses causes of Iraqi insurgency by Ian Wells, November 2, 2007. http://cornellsun.com/node/25728
(10)John T. Rourke, Taking Sides: Clashing Views in World Politics (14 ed.), The McGraw-Hill Companies Inc., 1221 Avenue of the Americas, New York, NY 10020.

The Controversial Song

Saado Cali Warsame, a veteran Somali female musician has just released a song called Libdhi Meysid Laas Caano in the Somali tongue which translates to "thou shalt not vanish Las Anod". The song has become so controversial that it caused unnecessary uproar and friction among Somalis. The town of Laas Caanod is claimed by the unrecognized northern breakway republic of Somaliland which formerly was part of the British colonial administration before the formation of what became known as the Somali Democratic Republic. The southern part of Somalia was under Italian colonial administration in pre-independence Somalia. The unification of British Somaliland and Italian Somaliland gave rise to modern Somalia in 1960. The inhabitants of these two unified regions share a common culture, religion, and language.

Laas Caanod is predominantly inhabited by the Dhulbahante sub-clan of the Darod clan. The autonomous region of Puntland is also claiming ownership of Laas Caanood because the Dhulbahante are related in blood to the Majertein sub-clan who are also Darod. Some high profiles from this disputed town serve in the Somaliland administration in Hargeisa while others serve in Garowe which is the capital of the Puntland administartaion. Saado Cali, the vocalist who sang the song for the disputed town is a Dhulbahante. She feels compelled to defend her town from the Somaliland administration that is struggling politically and diplomatically to secede from Southern Somalia. The fact is that Saado is expressing her views which seem to have angered others who dispute with her way of thinking. But who wrote the song in the first place? Emerging reports indicate that fingers are being pointed at a prominent poet and he has categorically and outrightly rejected the wild allegations being directed at him in the strongest terms.

The wars raging in southern Somalia seem to be accelerating without any break. Opposing sides are never short of willing fighters and sucide bombers. Any day blood is not spilled is a bad day for the fighters. At the time of writing this piece, the City of Mogadishu has been under seige because of heavy fighting between government forces and Ahlu-Sunna on one side and al-Shabab on the other. Somalis have been opposing each other in all aspects in every avenue. Leaders of Somalia have refused to give peace a change. Everyday, an unaccounted number of Somalis perish in useless wars perpetrated by merciless hooligans fighting over territory or over positions of power. Having fought many battles for almost twenty years in the south, Some disgruntled elements feel it is the right time to take verbal wars in the form of music way up north before the start of the real armaggedon.

Al-Shabaab Bans Music, BBC Broadcasts

Always expect the worst form of treatment from African leaders whenever they feel threatened. Southern Somalia's powerful Islamist groups have once again imposed stringent measures on the locals they govern: no more playing music by local radios and a shut down of the BBC transmissions. And that is exactly what the Tigre regime in Addis Ababa did to VOA broadcasts in Amharic for fear of raising political tensions as the elections approach. Strange as it may sound, another ban has been slapped on schools this time warning headmasters (principals)and school teachers to refrain from ringing bells at anytime. The islamists contend that bell-ringing is a Christian culture which has no place in Islamic Somalia.

Leaders of southern Somalia's religious movements who are eying to topple the Transitional Federal Government (TFG) in Mogadishu prefer banging of walls, desks, and clapping of hands as replacement for bell ringing. In the southern town of Afmadu controlled by Islamists, the teaching of English and Science have been terminated forthwith. We will leave these contentious and burning issues for Islamic scholars to debate on.

In this era of globalization where the world has transformed into a global village due to interconnectedness brought about by interaction and integration, one cannot understand how any nation can survive in the absence of international trade and investment. With the rapid rise of India and China as global economic powers, even mighty United States and her European allies are rewriting their school curricula so as to accommodate science, medicine, and engineering. While it is not a bad idea for the Jihadists to resuscitate, reinvent, and revitalize vital subjects that have long been abandoned, I find it laughable when science, which hardly contradicts Islamic teachings, is deemed unacceptable in the schools that fall under their domains. In the next few decades, a nation's survival will be determined by how far it has excelled in the sciences.

Islamist leaders have become masters at digging the skeletal remains of revered persons. There are even reports of these master-gravediggers mixing the skeletal remains of Somali shaikhs with those of persons of unknown religious following. These actions are meant to confuse the followers of the revered persons from identifying the exact human remains of their saints. At times they unearth the remains of non-Muslim religious symbols in the glare of the media. From what I know, people don't worship the saints or the graves that hold them, but that they are paying homage to their beloved departed souls.

While Islamists carry out desecration of graves, the government that is supposed to protect the people from harassment remains powerless, toothless, ineffective, and cowering behind the artillery and tanks of AMISOM-the African Union Peacekeeping Force in Mogadishu. According to observers of Somalia affairs and general politics, the current president of the TFG has become the world's most widely-traveled leader.
Undoubtedly, Shaikh Sharif's government has enough troops to counter the daily provocations from the heavily-armed opposition.

Lack of reliable military hardware, defective leadership compounded by corruption, and embezzlement of funds are the major obstacles crippling the current government. A fulfilling promise can only be warranted when the TFG and the opposition engage in a final onslaught so that whoever wins the battle emerges the final undisputed winner who will steer Somalia for many years to come.

Mogadishu Braces for Clash of Titans

Southern Somalia’s militant giant al-Shabab, the only leading force that is still wielding considerable political, social, and economic clout and the most formidable force that remains an obstacle to Sheikh Sheriff’s otiose and corrupt administration, has taken one further attempt to overrun Galgadud region currently controlled by ASWJ-the Sufi-led faction that just finalized an agreement with the TFG. Despite beating the drums of war loudly and pronouncing a declaration of war against al-Shabab and despite the TFG mobilizing its forces for a final onslaught, al-Shabab is seemingly emerging a force to reckon with. Its marvelous application of covert and overt battle operations, its ability to mobilize forces, its meticulous garnering of public support through the use of diplomacy, radio and cyberspace communication, its adroitness at manipulating tribal elders, and its meritorious skill of tendering support to minority clans for the sake of weakening and deracinating powerful tribes that pose threat to its survival, and its undaunted will to survive unparalleled hardships and challenges remain tools yet to be discovered by its avowed enemies inside Somalia’s murky political waters.

Al-Shabab has even become skillful at controlling international aid agencies operating in the areas under its control by requiring them to abide by stringent laid out rules and regulations otherwise they risk being kicked out of the country. The recent altercation between the World Food Program (WFP) and al-Shabab where WFP ultimately pulled out of southern Somalia revolved around al-Shabab’s demand that WFP buy local Somali farmers produce instead of bringing in expired relief supplies to the country and distributing as a humanitarian gesture to an already famished and displaced war-afflicted persons.

Al-Shabab’s refusal to allow WFP run its relief operations has led to massive starvation of residents of ceelasha biyaha and opened a new round of hostilities with a select group of council of elders supported by the hierarchy of Hizb al-Islam who feel al-Shabab is imposing sanctions on their tribal enclaves where majority of their kinsmen or followers reside. The enclave in question-ceelasha biyaha as it is called or the water wells-is roughly a few miles to the north of the town of Afgoi-where the largest concentration of internally displaced persons (IDPs) who escaped the shelling in Mogadishu resides.

So far the said council of elders has issued a decree denouncing the actions of al-Shabab and to that effect are convening an assembly that include the top echelons of Hizb al-Islam who will collectively deliberate on the most effective countermeasures to take. Sooner or later a deadly clash of titans could be expected should al-Shabab continue to stubbornly deny the said IDPs access to WFP’s relief supplies.

Ironically, many Somalis, presidential observers, and political analysts are bewildered and dumbfounded at President Sharif’s peripatetic itinerary. His travel plans bring into play a passion for endless merrymaking and craving for leisure travel, red carpet receptions and deafening twenty-one gun salutes, all-you-can-eat buffets set around intricately and articulately designed manicured lawns, and accommodation at five-star hotels with continental breakfast to share with an inflated procrastinating entourage lacking guided protocols and principles.

To make matters worse, the absence of accountability and national security and the absconding of duty by those who took the oath of allegiance to the constitution have made the current Transitional Federal Government headed by Sheikh Sharif Sheikh Ahmed wallow in pathetic corruption and remain absorbed in indeterminate situation.

Shocking revelations of embezzlement and mismanagement of donor funds, political bickering and the higgledy-piggledy nature of its bloated parliament, the exodus of highly-priced, newly-trained, and tribally-inclined troops switching allegiance then joining jihadi camps, and the tiptoeing of the colony of political chameleons hiding in its midst seem not to be signaling its ultimate salvation but its timely and imminent death.

What Advantage is there for Rwanda to Switch from French to English?

The landlocked nation of Rwanda is located in Central Africa and is slightly smaller than the U.S. state of Massachusetts or is half the size of Scotland. To the north, it is bordered by Uganda, to the south by Burundi, to the east by Tanzania, and to the west it is partially separated from the Democratic Republic of Congo by the Ruzizi Valley and Lake Kivu. This tiny nation of over 8-million inhabitants came into the international limelight during the 1994 genocide where approximately a million Tutsis and moderate Hutus were killed in a span of 100-days thus going down in history as the worst ever documented intertribal genocide. Rwanda, the most densely populated country in Sub-Saharan Africa, has often been described as the “Land of Thousand Hills” by geographers and visitors alike. It has a rich history and culture and prides to have had mysterious kingdoms with legendary military force before European powers set foot in Africa. Formerly a Belgian colony, Rwanda is now saying farewell to the French Language in favor of English which has become the lingua franca of Sub-Saharan Africa. The Government of Rwanda claims that English has become the backbone for growth and development not only in the region but around the globe and that French is spoken only in France, some parts of West Africa, and in some parts of Canada and Switzerland.

Like its neighbor Burundi, Rwanda has had a long history of intertribal conflict beginning in the late 18th century when European powers convened in Berlin, Germany in 1884 under the auspices of King Leopold II of Belgium who originated what came to be known as the “Scramble for Africa” or the “Race for Africa” leading to the partitioning of the mighty continent of Africa along colonial powers Britain, France, Spain, Portugal, Belgium, and Germany. Formerly what used to be Ruanda-Urundi was mandated to Belgium in 1923 by the League of Nations (now The United Nations). This conference eliminated all the existing forms of self-governance and autonomy previously practiced by Africans. Inspired by explorer Henry M. Stanley’s book, Through the Dark Continent (1878), the Berlin Conference attendees found reason to exploit the human and natural resources of the African continent while at the same time establishing a prolonged imperial legacy that would benefit future generations of European expansionist enthusiasts. The splicing up of Africa among European imperialists took-off immediately after the abolition of the horrendous trans-Atlantic slave trade commencing in 15th century and culminating in the eventual industrialization of Europe and North America.

After World War II, Ruanda-Urundi became a Trust Territory of the United Nations controlled by Belgium. Rwanda and Burundi simultaneously proclaimed independence from Belgium on July 1, 1962. Prior to independence, Belgian administrators running the colony favored the tall Tutsis who had European-like features (as the Belgians claimed) over the short Hutus by giving the Tutsis administrative and military positions. In order to exploit the social structure that existed, the Belgians supported the Tutsi Mwami (king) and even introduced ethnic identity cards so as to divide-and-rule the two ethnic groups. Colonial anthropologists argued that the taller Tutsis were “Black Europeans”. The Hutus are regarded as the ethnic majority of Rwanda while Tutsis are considered in racialist ideology, a foreign race as opposed to indigenous race. It was Jean Hiernaux of the French National Center for Scientific Research, who, in late 1974, noted a 10 centimeter difference between the Tutsi (taller) and Hutu (shorter).

Racialist ideologists went as far as concluding that the civilization seen in Africa before the spread of European colonialism originated from an external Caucasian race but black in color-in what came to be known as “Hamitic Theory”. Thus, the origin of the outsider civilizing Hamitic race is placed in the Horn of Africa. These racialist ideologists were stimulated by Charles Darwin’s theory of evolution, the eugenics movement, and racism. Belief in the superiority of the white European race over the dark African race proliferated ethnocentrism to an extent Germany embarked on what became known as realpolitik where global dominance or influence of a larger scale was only attainable through increase in power and wealth.

Walter Rodney, in his 1972 book, How Europe Underdeveloped Africa, repudiated Colonial European ethnic division of Rwanda natives by suggesting that the tall stature of the Tutsis is a result of pastoralist protein-rich diet. He further shed light by claiming that the short Twa (forest people) possess pygmoid features simply because they are hunters/gatherers by occupation and that they lack essential nutrients in their diets. For the Hutus who are shorter than the Tutsis but taller than the Twa, Walter Rodney argued that, because they are agriculturalists, they have relatively poor food available for body building.

The land once described as a “tropical Switzerland in the heart of Africa”, Rwanda came to symbolize the killing fields of Cambodia when an inexperienced Hutu president ascended the throne upon proclamation of independence from Belgium in 1962. In order to impose law and order and ensure their “civilizing missions” materialized, colonial powers vested some authority on churches of their choosing. Church figureheads in turn proselytized, trained, and elevated subservient, approachable, and courageous ethnic groups they felt would relay the expansionist colonialist torches as commanded while observing standard operating procedures (SOPS).

On April 6, 1994, a plane carrying Juvénal Habyarimana, President of Rwanda, and Cyprien Ntaryamira, President of Burundi, was brought down by a missile while flying over Kigali International Airport, the capital of Rwanda, killing everyone on board including the two presidents who had just returned from a reconciliation conference in the city of Arusha in Tanzania. From 1973 until his death in 1994, Juvénal Habyarimana favored his Hutu tribe over the minority Tutsis. Former president of the United States, Bill Clinton, on an official tour of Africa, had this chilling message for the people of Rwanda upon landing at Kigali International Airport in 1998: "We come here today partly in recognition of the fact that we in the United States and the world community did not do as much as we could have and should have done to try to limit what occurred". [1] The former Canadian general Roméo Dallaire overseeing the United Nations peace keeping operations at the time of the genocide wrote in one his books the following the lines: "Rwanda will never ever leave me. It's in the pores of my body. My soul is in those hills, my spirit is with the spirits of all those people who were slaughtered and killed that I know of, and many that I didn't know.” [2]

Rwanda and Burundi became member states of the East African Community (EAC) in 2007. Formerly, the EAC comprised of the former British colonies Kenya, Uganda, and Tanzania that are English-speaking. 80% of Rwanda’s population speaks Kinyarwanda. The implementation of laissez-faire economies, a common customs and excise tax system, unrestricted airspace, common parliament, unhindered borders and free movement of people and goods across borders, and the creation of a common monetary unit (shilling), EAC member states will eventually benefit without depending much on foreign handouts.

Rwanda has introduced a cricket board mimicking the British system. The game was brought to Rwanda by its Diaspora returning mainly from Kenya where the game is common. Rwanda will be the second country after Mozambique (Portuguese speaking)-that has not been colonized by Britain-to join the Commonwealth. Queen Elizabeth II of England is the ceremonial head of the Commonwealth which incorporates fifty-four member states. Rwanda was admitted as a member of the Commonwealth of Nations in November, 2009. It has also been a Member of the United Nations since 18 September, 1962. Ambassador Joseph Nsengimana is Rwanda’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations. The leaders of Rwanda have embraced the idea of joining various clubs so as to relinquish Rwanda’s dependence on colonial master France that has been implicated in the 1994 genocide that decimated roughly 20% of the nation’s human population.

Despite the devastating genocide and the preceding political, social, and economic hardships inherited from imperialism, colonialism, and European exploitation, no wonder at present “…Rwanda has the highest number of women parliamentarians in the world with women constituting 48.8% in the Chamber of Deputies and 34.6% in the Senate. The Government of Rwanda also has 34% of women in its Cabinet.” [3]

In 2008, the Government of Rwanda announced that English would become the language of instruction in schools replacing French. On a visit to Rwanda on Thursday, French President Nicolas Sarkozy admitted that France had made “grave errors” in the 1994 genocide. [4] For now relations between France and Rwanda seem to be thawing. Upon President Nicolas Sarkozy returning to France, the French government detained Agathe Habyarimana for crimes related to the 1994 genocide. She is the widow of former President Juvénal Habyarimana who died in a plane crash in 1994. “Her arrest follows a visit to the Rwandan capital Kigali last week by French President Nicolas Sarkozy, when he admitted that France - and the wider international community - had make "mistakes" over the genocide.” [5]

Upon taking the reins of power in 1994, Paul Kagame, the current leader of Rwanda exhausted all avenues until he was forced to use coercive power to subdue the masterminds of the genocide by pursuing them into the jungles of the Democratic Republic of Congo by dispatching contingents of the Rwanda Armed Forces. As a gesture of goodwill and reciprocity, Rwanda’s head of state extended amnesty to some his rivals to overcome enduring rivalries. He called on Rwandans to show restraint and embark on disarmament so as to overcome enduring internal rivalries.

Rwanda underwent decentralization initiatives on January 1, 2006. Up to 2001, the country was divided into twelve regions formerly known as prefectures. The twelve prefectures have been reduced to five regions: North Province, East Province, West Province, South Province, and Kigali Province. Such decentralization techniques are meant to empower the common citizen to collectively participate in nation-building efforts so as to attain self-sufficiency and modernization.

Since the leaders of Rwanda are responsible for steering the nation to its right course and that they fully understand what is good for Rwanda as a sovereign nation, there is absolutely nothing wrong with switching from French to English as the language of instruction for the schools of Rwanda. The recent visit by the President of the France to Rwanda signals the restoration of the lost relations beween the two countries. For the citizens of Rwanda, learning a new language (English) should be an added advantage politically, socially, and economically.

Cited Sources
http://edition.cnn.com/WORLD/9803/25/clinton.africa/
pbs.org/.../frontline/shows/ghosts/interviews/dallaire.html
http://www.undp.org.rw/Newsroom_story8.html
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/02/26/world/europe/26france.html
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/8545120.stm