Editorial ByMohamed F Yabarag
First and foremost the secessionist enclave called “Somaliland” has never been a legitimate state in the eyes of the international community. It exists only in the minds and hearts of its die-hard supporters whose SNM militia had singlehandedly fabricated this non-existent mirage entity in defiance of the will of all the other Somali clans in the northern regions, following the collapse of the last central government of Somalia. According to secessionists, “Somaliland’ was created in Burao by representatives of all clans from the former British Somaliland. This is a pure fantasy as this bogus state was concocted by a gun-toting clan militia which, alongside other armed Somali militias, violently brought down the last functioning central government of Somalia led by the late Mohamed Siyad Barre. In an atmosphere shrouded with secrecy, suspicion, fear and intimidation, the participants of the infamous Burao conference were simply coerced into signing a blank check for outright secession, which they did under duress. The fact that many elders had retracted their statement after returning home safe and sound speaks volumes about the validity and legitimacy of this so-called consensus agreement between former British Somaliland clans.
A little over twenty years have gone since the invention of this imaginary state, and yet no country in the whole world had bothered in the slightest to recognize “Somaliland” as an independent and sovereign country, including regional bodies such as IGAD and Arab league to which the mother country, Somalia, is a member. If a single valid attribute for statehood was evident in “Somaliland’s” otherwise fake dossier for a separate statehood, it would have been recognized by the international community decades ago in the same way as Kosovo, East Timor, Eretria and South Sudan were recognized.
In an interview with the Economist magazine in 1997, aware of the mammoth task facing his enclave, the late Mohamed Haji Ibrahim Igal had vainly pleaded the international community to grant “Somaliland” a status similar to that of the Palestinian Authority. This could have, at minimum, granted the secessionists in Hargeisa the legal basis to interact with the international community and mitigate their financial hardships caused by its self-imposed exile. This proposition was rejected by the international community with derision and the hunt for a separate statehood went on unabated. Despite the relentless push for an international recognition by the hardcore secessionists, the bottom line is that nobody wants to see the fragmentation, mutilation and the dismemberment of Somali state along tribal fiefdoms. The mere fact that secession lasted more than twenty years is purely down to lack of an alternative government in Mogadishu, the Somali capital, coupled with the inability of Somalis in the south and central Somalia to put their houses in good order. Had they done that, the secession would have folded ages ago.
Now, with the establishment of Khaatumo state of Somalia in the lands of brave SSC and the earlier declaration of Awdalstate in the west, “Somaliland’s” unrealistic dream of achieving its own fantasy statehood among the international community is severely dented by Talex announcement and the likelihood of recovering from this massive blow is as remote as ever.
A confluence of events has gone against the secessionists lately. The biggest one was delivered by Djibouti’s president in a platter. In a frank interview with Jane Afrique, Ismail Omer Gheuleh mentioned in no uncertain terms that the creation of “Somaliland” was a big mistake fraught with diplomatic difficulties.“They put the cart before the horse”: he said. He went on to say: “it was hastily erected without proper consultation with all the concerned stakeholders in the region as well as those in Somalia proper. In a nutshell, what president Geulleh was saying, though difficult for secessionists to stomach, was a fact known already in the diplomatic quarters in Africa and elsewhere that no country in the world is foolish enough to fall for the lies of SNM-backed administration in Hargeisa. As far as the international community is concerned, Somalia is an entity that is inseparable. End of the story.
Shortly afterwards Geulleh hammer blow, came the announcement of Khaatumo 2, the long-awaited SSC conference that was going to spell trouble for the secessionists. This mortal blow from Talex, a place of great significance in the Somali history, was the last to knock off the secessionists from its treacherous path of anti-Somali. Talex is the place where all have begun; it is the place where the great Somali nationalist, Sayid Mohamed Abdulle Hassan, had dug in to defend the country from the British colonialists. This is the place where the long struggle for Somali independence and pride began and culminated in the creation of Somali republic in 1960. And, hopefully, this is where the Somali renaissance is about to begin now. Ismail Hurre aka Ismail Buubaa, a veteran Somali politician and a former foreign minister of TFG currently based in Nairobi, had compounded the misery of secessionists by declaring “Somaliland” project nil and void. Untenable!
While penning this article, I learnt the secessionists had launched a bloody attack against the innocent civilians of Buhodle and, as they did previously in Las Anod, left death and destruction in their wake. The sad fact is that the president of the secessionist “Somaliland”, supported by his warmongering politicians in Hargeisa, has sanctioned this cowardly attack following his pugnacious speech in front of the enclave’s parliament in response to the establishment of Darwishland state in Talex. And the reason for this attack according to secessionists is to protect the “integrity and sovereignty” of “Somaliland” from anti-Somaliland elements. Ironically, the anti-Somaliland elements described in Ahmed Silanyo’s bellicose speech are the rightful owners of the very land the secessionists are hypocritically staking claim on. Lacking international legitimacy themselves, how secessionists justify their encroachments on other peoples’ land is beyond belief. The worst hypocrisy known to a mankind is alive and kicking in the secessionist camp. Buhodle and the other towns in the SSC territory may suffer at the hands of secessionists now and then, but not for so long. The peace-loving Somalis all around the country, including the emerging TFG, will soon come to their rescue because they stand for Somali unity, whilst secessionists stand for the dismemberment and humiliation of the Somali nation.
In conclusion, the secession of “Somaliland” is doomed to fail, and as Mahado Shiekh Dahir eloquently articulated in her recent hard-hitting article titled The SSC Comeback on Wardheernews, the secession is over. This is what Mahado had said:“With the strong come back of the SSC, and the declaration of Awdal State, it is evident that the secessionist agenda of the Somali Nationalist Movement (SNM) is now not only damaged but it is, in fact, over and the SNM drive of mutilating Somalia, as we have known and experienced it, is kaput, finito and gone”.I concur with Mahdo. The days of secession have long gone, whilst the days of Somalinimo are gaining the momentum we lost many years ago. The emergence of Darwishland state is what Somalis in the Northern regions were longing for all those long and agonizing years. It may have delivered the final blow to the secessionists.
Myabarag@yahoo.co.uk
Source: Suna Times
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