Mogadisho folks, stop misconstruing.
By: Prof. Abdi A. Jama.
What about if it is you who suggested
separation first?. Yes……yes….It is us
who are determined to get back our sovereign independent state. Not being
recognized has nothing to do with you as Mogadisho people as such. It would be
the same for you, were you put in our shoes. Had you have the initiative of
seceding yourself from Hargeisa, you would not have been able to do so
according to international law, unless we agree. However, it happened that
Hargeisa wishes to leave this time, and has not been recognized so far. So, there
is nothing special Mogadisho has for Hargeisa.
Having said
that, we should not feel ashamed to ask you for leave. Similarly, you should not feel being in a better position or somewhat
superior by being asked for that. Simply because, the situation could have been
the opposite or reversed. For instance, when Moscow-- the head-quarter of
former Soviet union --wanted to separate itself from the rest of USSR. It had
not done so unilaterally, because it could not had done so from international
law perspective. Moscow had actually
reached an agreement with each and every republic of former soviet union.
Other-wise, it would not had been possible for Moscow to leave or abandon the
rest of the country.
So, it is
something normal to do such business with each other, provided that you don’t
misconstrue and think that you have some power over us. I know you—Mogadisho
people-- are very prone to fall in this fallacy. Simply because, I ,very well, understand psychology of Mogadisho people and how they see life. As a student who lived in
Mogadisho for five years, a Mogadisho
guy, even in his narrative of every day events, he tells you that someone has
been sucked, beaten or got rid of. They see
the life as fight in the jungle, every one is trying hard to win unkindly over
the rest. This is my judgment or perception of them. I could be wrong. However, To be fair, we cannot always generalize . To
my knowledge, many good mogadisho people are out there.
People with
such attitude, can easily misunderstand Somaliland case, not only denying
history of the two countries and the union, but also they may assume that such
a situation is strength for them and weakness for Somali-land. And this may
lead them to reserve what they believe to be a privilege for them, so we,
Somalilanders, would be deprived of rational partner with whom we could do
business with. And that is why I wrote this article, at least, for those of
them who are educated and free from shackles of Mogadisho culture.
All in all, Hargeisa
has nothing special for Mogadisho, and Mogadsiho has nothing special for
Hargeisa. It is a normal deal. Yesterday,
union. Today, separation. Either
Mogadisho or Hargeisa could have launched such initiative and the other should
respond rationally and responsibly as a reliable partner. If not, the road
would be rough apparently for both of us. If , so far, not convinced, ask
history how things would end up in such situations.
Source:profabdiali.blogspot.com
Pen-name:Abdo