Like everybody else writing an article about Somali affairs, let me start by saying that Somalia has been a failed state for over twenty years. Whether we like it or not, that’s how it will always be remembered. It’s really shameful. Ladies and gentlemen, our failure is wide obvious for the whole world to see. I kept asking myself, why is it that every time our politicians get together to discuss any simple issue, it ends in deadlock? Infighting, stubbornness and unaccommodating attitude are the true characterization that Somali politicians are known for. Instead of engaging in open and honest dialogue for the overall good, our leaders act like they’re involved in starring contest to see who would blink first. That’s an immature attitude indeed. Even worse, you may notice that it’s usually our initial reaction to the small problem that ends up being the real big problem later on. Shame on you people!

Other than ineffective customary law, it’s really problematic when the whole society has no conflict resolution mechanism in place. Strange enough, guess who’s there in its place? International communities, Bravo! They have always been there to intervene, to try and help us address our internal issues. It sounds bizarre but true. Historically, most of our conflicts or disagreements were resolved during this stage but not without coercion. In reality though, international community cannot keep up with our nonsense power wrangling attitude all the time. Before we can hold ourselves accountable to international community, let’s first be accountable to ourselves. Another bitter truth is that every Somali man or clan wants to see permanent government installed but only on their own terms. This shocking and troubling behavior itself justifies a real threat to our sovereignty. I wonder, what happens to unconditional love of our motherland. Shame on you people!

Believe me, I am no longer proud to be Somalian. We failed as a nation, as a society, and as a community. Every year we claim the top, not prestigious and unflinching number one spot in the world of chaos, starvation and lawlessness. What a shame! As Somalia still characterized as such, the new government has little or no control of its legal territory and unable to act alone in the best interest of its own citizens. As a definition, this means we’re not a sovereign country. Are you in disbelief? After twenty odd years, we’re still in search of good, stable and functioning government throughout the country. I wonder how difficult that would be to attain! If the situation continues on any longer, then our hope of reuniting the country, in any form, may soon be vanished. The choice is in our hands and for only us to make! Shame on you people!

My intensions were not to write a solution paper but to remind ourselves the mess we’re in and acknowledge that nobody could force us to come out of this misery. As you will notice, I am not going to include clan effects in my talking points as I personally believe that clan was not a leading role in our conflict. However, due to public weakness on clan sensitivity, greedy monsters and power mongering politicians made us to believe, and to some extent succeeded in doing so, that clan was the cause of our conflict but in reality, it was just the effect and a uniting factor for the sole purpose of satisfying their greed. Let me also say that the job ahead of restoring Somali sovereignty will not be that easy but feasible. As we’re overwhelmed with so many problems for so long, it’s hard to know where to start but, for this purpose, I will focus on some factors that will get us off the ground and hopefully help us restore our sovereignty.

Stop blaming each other; stop blaming other nationals and start taking ownership for your own troubles

Before the civil war era, we’re also afflicted with a lot of misfortunes and hardships, but had always used the traditional coping mechanism and managed to move on with our lives by looking on the bright side of situations. Now, the ‘blame game’ and ‘victim mentality’ attitude has changed our perspective from a realistic one to a more pessimistic view. With the absence of clear judgment, this is a habit that’s hard to break. Shame on you people!

Ordinary people are really tired of listening to negative and controversial views coming from government authorities in every level (federal, regional and local). No single authority usually offers valid or clear evidence for their claims other than the, ‘I am right and you’re wrong attitude’. This overbearing behavior can be frustrating for anybody involved. Listen up people, we don’t care who’s right or who’s wrong, we only care to see that you’ve learned to communicate, negotiate, compromise and settle your differences in a humane and civilized way. This way, rest assured, the government will be able to accomplish a lot more and move forward in a short period of time. Another piece of advice, stop communicating through the air waves. To de-escalate a conflict, just start talking it through and start opening lines of communication. Shame on you people!

It’s an insult to my intelligence and integrity to hear people echoing that international communities are to blame for our failures. This is just absurd. On the contrary, they’re responsible for the only good thing happened to Somalia as well as the small window of hope we have got today. It seems like we took them for granted but they truly deserve our gratitude. Give them the credit they deserve. Honestly, the fact of the matter is, we’ve become so attached to this never ending culture of dependency and comfortable with the situation. However, this cannot go on forever. The world communities cannot continue to feel sorry for our self-inflicted sufferings forever as we’re using up most of the world resources. To be fair, I believe most of the financial resources poured into Somalia, directly or indirectly, for the last two decades should have been diverted to other countries trapped in either natural catastrophes or facing real but temporary issues. International communities have no sympathy for us anymore and are becoming weary ‘babysitting’ our issues. Shame on you people!

Now, let’s be honest with ourselves and admit that we have created a huge problem and accept full responsible for the lawlessness of the country and for the suffering of its people. Also, take full ownership of the problem as well as the consequences of our responsibility. Finally, get your sanity back and realize that nobody but us can understand and resolve our problems. Now let’s stand up collectively for the salvation of our country; it’s way overdue. Do you realize that the cooperation between the Somali people is the only key in resolving our differences and playing a very essential part of shaping the country back into world community? Now you know. Shame on you people!

Start building Trust and promoting Unity

Trust building, first and foremost, is the most important and difficult challenge facing our leaders. It’s our leader’s obligation to restore sovereignty by building trust among all Somali people. We all have come to realize that trust among Somali people has been betrayed and broken for so many years. In particular, our trust is being undermined by the gloomy and depressing experience we have had with bad leadership, religious functions, warlords, etc. Trust is crucial in a leadership. Trust, after all, is the glue that could either hold Somali people together or set them apart further. We understand it’s a slow process to rebuild and regain the lost of trust in a short period of time, but it is the obligation of any TRUE leader to create a trustworthy environment, to build and maintain a great nation, as well as to remove broken hearts from suspicion and skepticism. You either earn the trust of the people or you get out of the way. Shame on you people!

I am confident it’s doable. As Mahatma Gandhi so eloquently put it, “the best way to find yourself is to lose yourself in the service of others”. Now all you need to do is be fair and honest; restore public confidence; promote unity; keep your promises and commitments; create transparency and practice accountability; listen to your people’s issues and show respect to the things they value. Is that really too much to ask for in a leader? If our leaders are not prepared to do so, then they’re not TRUE leaders and can’t expect the people to obey or respect their rulings. Shame on you people!

Somalia desperately needs a leader with a vision. As a great leader, you need to unite the country by uniting first its people who are segregated into different regions, clan sentiments and religious functions. I can assure you that absolutely nothing can stop a TRUE leader with the right mission and rational attitude from achieving his goal. Ladies and gentlemen, we don’t really know what we have been missing until the country is united. Shame on you people!

 Stop Mismanaging Public Resources

As far as I remember, managing public resources responsibly was always an issue in Somalia. Before the 1991 civil war, corruption, injustice, tax evasion and looting public money became widely accepted, tolerated and sometimes considered legitimate. This gross, dishonest, and unethical behavior went unchecked for so many, many years. In particular, people with higher political positions, bureaucrats and business people were all engaged in misappropriating country assets and resources. Among others, I believe these were the major reasons Somalia went bankrupt. As a result, this led to the collapse of the social disorder which eventually ignited the civil war. Shame on you people!

It’s really unfortunate and heartbreaking to note that we, as a nation, never learned anything from our past experience. This is widely evident through the embarrassing acts of our politicians as they continue to act like wild beasts squabbling over its prey. They are deliberately trying to have our country relive the very same selfish, unethical and unpatriotic events that led to the civil war in the first place. It’s a disturbing flashback that destroyed the fabric of our society. Shame on you people!

I believe mismanaging public funds will remain one of the major challenges facing our country. Now the key question is, who could we possibly trust implementing the future lifeline projects for our country without mishandling it? To address this issue, we need to come up with an effective and enforceable plan of holding politicians accountable for misusing state funds. We may also need to raise the level of awareness to the whole public that bribery and corruption will undermine growth and could have detrimental effect on the whole economy. As a final thought, if we want to change the country for the better, ‘what’s in it for me’ mentality has to stop. I am sure you would all agree that we’re digging ourselves into a deep hole by following the footsteps of the greedy monsters. Please refrain from taking what’s not yours. It’s the choice we make that define who we really are. Shame on you people!

Stop breaking the Rule of Law

Rules were made for a reason and imply that everyone is subject to the law. Safeguarding and reinforcing the rule of law is the main responsibility of government authorities. However, day in and day out, we’re witnessing that Somali leaders do not respect the same rules they’ve sworn in and agreed to uphold. It’s really appalling that people with such powerful authority are acting foolishly irresponsible and showing lack of common sense. It seems like it’s in our blood to abuse the power and most likely turn our authority against each other, rather than to the good of the country. Oh, that’s too bad! Honestly, what would you expect from an average guy? We cannot move forward as a society when everyone is breaking our laws. We seemed to have prayed a lot for so many years but our prayers were not responded. It appears that we’re now praying for miracles. Ladies and gentlemen, let’s be realistic, Somalia is a lost cause that cannot be saved with hope or prayer. To move forward, we must change our attitude towards the rule of law and governance. Where is the moral and religious code that dictates us not to kill, not to rob, not to lie, not to break the law, etc? Remember, it’s just your principle and character that determines your value. Shame on you people!

I agree check and balance is a definite necessity and must be enforced but at times, I wonder what the fairness that every man, clan and regional administration is trying to get but no one dares to give in. If I may, let me share with you a simple example of an outcry related to Turkish Scholarship fund back in 2011-2012. Everyone was complaining that other people with authority were mismanaging scholarship funds and as a consequence, lost their region or clan share. With no exception, all regional administrations and clan spokesmen aired their concern through the media against Federal State authority. Likewise, regions, districts and sub-clan spokesmen within the same administrations were also making same accusations towards their own local authority. It’s unfortunate to note that the good gesture of Turkish government has created more bitterness, divisions and animosity among Somali people as every administration and every clan was fighting over resources, trying to get an unfair share. In conclusion, this means that everyone throughout every level of authority was being accused of mishandling the funds, i.e. breaking the law. That’s horrible! Where does the buck stop? Where in the world would we go with this divisive and selfish attitude towards everything we do? Shame on you people!

Leaders, in general, are supposed to lead by example. However, Somali leaders act like they work for a tourist industry. Throughout the year, they’re waving hands with big smiles while riding in planes from one country to another. That’s irresponsible and inconsiderate! Are they out of their mind? Have they actually forgotten they belong to a country that appears in the number one spot on the ‘failed state index’ in the world? Is that really something they can be proud of? Has anyone ever wondered what exactly it is they accomplished while touring around the world? We never hear any specific details after their work-vacation session ends other than ‘the trip was successful’ and ‘we all agreed on items discussed’. Shame on you people!

Abdirizak A. Aden (Eelay)
Email: puntland51@yahoo.com
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