Somali National Self-Determination

Surely, if the facade known as the legal-rational state of Nigeria can be considered an important player on the African stage, the Honourable Somali nation deserves to be respected as a player on the world stage? Has it not been the Somalis who have shown, time and again—despite the best efforts of the imperialist design inspired by the men of Europe in 1884—that war shall be waged against injustice, no matter how great the technological gap between the opposing forces? Most of the African continent may have succumbed to the coercive and brutal methods of European colonialism and, more recently, to the more subtle but related methods of the Americans, still the Somalis continue to fight valiantly against injustice.

Let us not be distracted by terms or methods. The fact of the matter is that there is no justification, what so ever, for the neo-colonialist concept of imposing governments “from above” upon African people. What authority gives the right to foreigners with respect to the task of creating a central government for the Somali people? A conclave of Somali warlords, hosted in Kenya, in 2004 gave birth to the monstrous TFG of Somalia. Nothing can be more insulting to Somali people than this overtly racist piece of political theatre. Is anyone with any intelligence genuinely surprised to learn of the fact that the TFG of Somalia is now on the brink of total collapse? Can anyone really be surprised by the news that the invading Ethiopian army—originally tasked with installing the fatally flawed TFG of Somalia in Mogadishu—now gladly faces the prospect of a military retreat from the scene of a major military humiliation?

The fact of the matter is that Somali people hate injustice, and nothing can be more unjust than the external imposition of alien concepts and ideals upon a traditionally proud and sovereign people. The Somali people, by their very nature, are always prepared to extend the hand of friendship to those who are prepared to treat them with respect. Let us hope that now, after more than a century of struggle with the disrespectful policies that had been inspired by the first great African land grab, the Somali nation shall be given time and space in order to determine its own political destiny. It seems obvious that a continuation of this war shall only be possible if the Somali people are somehow denied the opportunity to choose their own leaders, and on their own terms.

Many people are held captive by a deadly psychological distemper that all too often prevents them from thinking clearly. Such people are paralysed by fear when they are confronted by cultures other than their own. To such people, culture, language, art, and religion are all shadowy if these symbols of human civilisation belong to people other than themselves. The Somalis are incapable of changing their way of life for the benefit of other races of men; and, quite frankly, why should they do so? Certain other races of men are of the view that their way of life is superior to that of the Somali people. Such people are capable of extolling the virtues of hollow secularism, material consumerism, and moral relativism. Such people are capable of killing for the advancement of their perceived interests. It seems to me that it is in the interest of certain races of men to finally accept the fact that the Somali nation is fully justified when it comes to rejecting the corrosive influences of external direction. I would also suggest that the world is big enough to accommodate both western secularism and the Somali way of life.

Finally, the fact that Nigerian troops are being touted, by the western powers—in order to fill the military void that would be created by the much desired exit of the Ethiopian army from the hallowed soil of Somalia—represents a continuation of the current disrespectful and discriminatory policies designed to fatally compromise the Somali nation. The Nigerian government is well advised to keep its military forces away from Somalia. If they choose to send their soldiers to Somalia, they can expect to be confronted by hostile forces. The Somali people have a long tradition of fighting against imperialism and other disrespectful foreign interventions. Self-determination is the key to the problems of Somalia, and now is the time for all concerned to acknowledge this simple fact.