Rage starts the dialogue
with this statement:
“Somaliland as an independent entity has been governing
itself for more than a quarter century. In addition, we, the people of
Somaliland has been trying to satisfy UN- member countries to recognize us and
introduce us to UN and other political bodies. I can simply say NO ONE will
recognize because we satisfied all requirements needed for sovereignty of a
nation. In fact, we exceeded those requirements. Therefore, Somaliland, its
citizenry, including the politicians running the country should refrain from
chasing this mirage. Our situation is akin to a young man wanting to get
married and in more than a quarter of a century, no single woman, which he asks
for her hand, says, “YES". At one point, he should just forget about that
project”
Omer responds to Rage:
“Somaliland has been seeking its independence from Somalia
for the past 28 years, and that is the problem because they were on a wrong
track. Now, the current administration seems to be trying their best in a
different way: through tough mediators. That may effectively work, if they
handle their way through legal means. I think the final stage will be to ask
the Somaliland people whether they want to stay with Somalia, or to become an
independent Somaliland country through an acceptable referendum endorsed by UN,
EU, AU and many other organizations. Let us be patient, please.”
Nasir too responds to Rage:
“I think the problem is our expectation that recognition is
easy. That is one. Secondly, that there
are some requirements that we have to fulfill, to prove to the world that we
are a nation, like we have a defined border, population, currency, democracy
etc.
On the first, that is just naive. No country has ever,
throughout history, been recognized because they are doing the right thing, and
being NICE
Every country and nation on Earth has risen from blood and
ashes and come about through the barrel of the gun in modern times, or on the
back of horses and swords in ancient times. Our losses in 1988 amount to
nothing compared to Eritrea and South Sudan, the youngest two countries in
Africa. They both fought for decades and lost millions in their struggle for
independence.
Do we in Somaliland, have the courage, resilience, and
vision, and ready to pay the price to regain our independence?
On the second one, I just don't understand our politicians
including someone like Silaanyo who is more seasoned politician that myself.
Somaliland was a country that was recognized for five days
and then United with Somalia
We were a country that was born in 1960.
Let me repeat we were a country
Why our politician always engage in this useless discussion
of the requirement of state and nationhood?
We as a nation, got very emotional about 1991 that we forgot
that we were a country from 1960, and some politician try very hard to prove to
the world that we have borders, currency, army, democracy, that we are a
nation!!
Arabs say: المعرف لا يعرف
If a man stands in the streets and try to prove to the by-passers
that he is a man, and says, look my shoulders are bigger than my hips, I have
mustache, people think something is wrong with him.
We, and our politicians are so delusional that we are
celebrating 18 May, which is the biggest distraction in Somaliland politics,
and now everybody including our politicians act and think like we are a
separatist movement that needs to prove itself to the world that it has the
requirements of a statehood.
If it is true that Somaliland was recognized by 35 countries
including the United Kingdom on June 26, 1990, then the argument for
recognition should be that the people of Somaliland freely joined Somalia and
now freely want to dissolve that union. That's all
That should be the cornerstone of Somaliland legal quest for
dissolving the union not the recognition of Somaliland as a nation because
Somaliland is and was a nation. The debate should be about how we should
dissolve the union. The focus should be
on the issue of dissolving the union not the creation of a new estate in the
world stage. In politics it is always about how you frame the issue.
Ahmed responds to all:
“If I am not mistaken, Somaliland had only one conference on
this issue of recognition in Hargeisa since we took this path from 1991. That
tells one thing: we just talk about it but we never designed and discussed how
it would be realized. Second, Somaliland has a designated envoy for recognition
- Marwo Edna Adan with no budget and staff provided, but in reality it is an
honorary appointment and title. She is always engaged in her first priority of
running Edna University Hospital. Nothing is handed over without exerting an
effort. Third, the precursor of international recognition is the home front
recognition, and the international communities know clearly this fact.
Somaliland is not a commodity or an interest owned by only the central
communities. If we cannot convince some segments of Somaliland people to
embrace Somaliland case and ambition, how are we going to convince the
international communities? Finally, charity begins at home. Smooth functioning of
government is not yet there in Somaliland, but rather communities trying to
live in peace and stability. The structures and services of government are nowhere
to be seen. When foreign delegates come and visit Somaliland, apart from their
discussion with the politicians, they are also keenly observing and assessing
our claims. There was a British
journalist who wrote a commentary in 1960 that said: “A colony that rejected
freedom". To me it seems we are still in that mode.”
Rage again writes:
“To Omer & Ahmed, what are the new tactics; I have
great doubt that it will work, as we have pitched this new tactic to the same
audience. To Nasir, (1) Name a
single country that went on a 28 year odyssey to get recognized (2) Democracy,
population, defined border, currency, and I can include safety/security,
passports, universities are all achieved by Somaliland (it is not a flash in
the pan)
Hassan writes:
“First I appreciate the depth and maturity of your
discussions. I believe the only way out is negotiated settlement through
serious and mediated negotiations. This has not been achieved to date because
the South has thus far opted to frustrate Somaliland. The previous Mogadishu
leaders were at least prepared to talk but Farmaajo, current president of
Somalia, is a sick enemy and mafia, who is raised in orphanage. Just wait until
he burns the South to ashes with the help of Ethiopia and the indirect support
of Qatar turkey and Italy.
The question is how we can push Mogadishu to engage in serious
negotiations.
A. One option is to behave like naughty guy. We
should occupy all our eastern territories plus some Puntland. The world will
then take us serious
B. We should always interfere in the affairs of the South and contribute to
who is becoming their leaders
C. We should insist on world class negotiation with
international observers
D. We should endeavor to highly improve our education
and economic wellbeing. Foreign Direct Investment is the best key in this
regard as the investor countries will have vested interest in supporting our case.
DP world, the Genel Energy, and Rasgas are the first such cases
E. We should consolidate the internal front . Our
leadership should demonstrate more seasoned diplomacy. The “Ku Jiq Sii” tactics
inherited from Qaaxo era will take us nowhere. Yes, politicians are often
cunning and shrewd but at the end of the day Muse and his people and the opposition needs pushing toward improving the way our democratic institutions supposed
to be handled. The civil society and the elite should play their rightful roles
and grow above tribal politics.
Finally, Somaliland should reached international recognition
no matter how long it takes.
Nasir again writes:
“Rage, the youngest African nations, namely Eritrea and
South Sudan, went through more than 30 years of bloody struggle. The struggle
of South Sudan started in 1955, and they became a country in 2011. That was 56
years of struggle and more than 2 million people paid the ultimate price and
lost their lives.
Eritrea's fight took thirty years to achieve their dream of
being an independent nation. What I am trying to say is that, recognition is
not easy and it might not be soon. We have to be patient and resilient. The
past 28 years has not been wasted in vain. In fact, we accomplished more than
we did in the previous thirty years from 60 to 90. We have more hospitals, more
schools, more factories, more everything, and above all our freedom.”
“Hassan, thanks for the serious and thoughtful points,
though I will have number (E) as number (A)
As you said, we need to consolidate the internal front. Unfortunately,
Musa's administration is not helping in that regard.
Point (B) is excellent. We have to have friends inside Villa
Somalia by any means necessary even buying them. Musa has an excellent
opportunity to build a lasting legacy for his presidency by solving the issue
of Sool, Sanag and Awdal. But, why he is ignoring this issue is beyond me!”
“And I totally agree with Omar about the referendum. Our
legal argument should be the voluntarily unity of 1960 between two sovereign
nations, and now it is time to get back to the people of Somaliland to decide
what they want to do about that unity. That should be the goal of Somaliland
negotiation, and before we get to the referendum, we have to do a serious work
within Somaliland to repair the internal front. What Siyad did or did not do is
irrelevant. Playing the victimhood card is going to take us nowhere.”
Hassan again writes:
“Nasir, I totally agree with your patience and resilience. But
I have outlined the alternatives at our disposal, as I see them. Equally, I
would support a second referendum, which be a reminder to the international
community of the choice of this nation. You are right; Muse Bihi should assume
the prime responsibility of fostering the internal front.”
Omer writes again:
“Rage, as to the new tactics against this rigid &
stubborn enemy that uses ‘crocodile tears’ style of attracting our poor and
innocent people to create doubts about our destiny, the current administration
has started something new in the pursuit of our lost independence. They want
negotiations based upon a clear dissolution of the failed union. President Muse
informed that to President Gelleh of Djibouti who was interested to hold a
false meeting between the presidents of Somaliland and Somalia in his country.
Primarily, we must remember that we were an independent
country for ONLY five days and that we voluntarily tried to make a union with
Somalia that failed. We are very different from Eritrea and South Sudan, when
it comes to established borders inherited from the colonial powers - a
recognized and approved system agreed upon by the African Union. When things you
are doing do not work for you, the only option that you have is to change your
way. We need new ways of dealing with our enemies.”
Rage again write:
“Omer, first Somalia has NO INCENTIVE to sit and negotiate
with Somaliland's recognition; in fact, Farmaajo or any other leader in
Mogadishu loves to punish Somaliland more than anything else. Also as far as
Eritrea & South Sudan are concerned, there is one glaring difference between
those two and Somaliland. In the case of Eretria, back in the 1950s, Emperor
Haile Selassie asked FDR at first UN meeting that he wanted to annex Eritrea
and FDR gave his blessings, thus, during the independence felt to right the
wrong of FDR. As for South Sudan, one my best friends was working for a
contractor at the US embassy in Khartoum, but he told me that he was in Juba
80% of the time during South Sudan's independence movement, and once again, the
US was the first to recognize it. Now, Somaliland was independent of Britain
for 5 days in 1960, and without any powerful country meddling in its affairs
and some sort of responsibility of our condition, we are left to fend for
ourselves. When no one listens to your appeals, regardless of how well you behave,
you must either stop asking for what you want (my choice) or become the real
bad boy in the neighborhood (not my choice).”
Nasir writes again:
“Rage, maybe I am missing you point all together. What is
your choice? Do you want us stop trying to gain our recognition? The reason I
brought up Eritrea and South Sudan cases, is the difficulty and how hard it is
to be accepted as a nation state in the international arena, like the UN, the
African Union and the likes. I perfectly understand from a legal point of view that
we have completely two different cases. However, as far as the struggle is
concerned, they had it more badly than we did. They paid heavy prices for their
recognitions as state nations. The reason I am bringing Eritrea and South
Sudan, because many Somalilanders are getting impatient, and they want to give
in to Villa Somalia.
Many people are asking, we have been chasing this dream of
recognition for 28 years, and for how long should we wait? I say if South Sudan
waited for 56 years, I am ready to wait for 70 years, 100 years, or even forever.
What are we losing? Nothing! Just continue build our country. We will prevail,
no doubt about that. But we have to believe in our cause, and stay the course,
however long it might takes.”
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