Dear Somalia

As I type this, ana ana Somali wa aftakhir (I am Somali and I am proud to be) song by one of your proud sons Abdirashid Muhyidin is blaring in my ears. Listening to it, I feel all hope is not lost. But 22 years is too long. Children born after your fall have their own children and that is two generations who know nothing about you. We no longer know who is fighting who and for what reason. The protagonists in your conflict change names and characters but the script is the same. foreign Armies are sent on expeditions to train on your soil not with dummy targets but with your sons and daughters as human targets. The world has grown weary of your tribulations. Not that they cared in the first place but even the occasional public relation conferences are no more.

"Don’t go the Somalia way” we were warned in 2007/08 when my country men went for each other’s throats. That was too much a consequence to imagine and we relented. You have become a lesson to others but why don’t you learn from your experience. Your sons and daughters waste away in squalor refugee camps in Kenya, Yemen, Ethiopia and Djibouti. They have no home, no country and no rights. Hundreds of thousands of your children breathed their last and you will never hear from them. The remaining ones are taking to the high seas in search of a better life. Horrendous stories abound of mothers and children feasted on by sharks after their wooden boats stalled in the middle of the sea as they tried to reach Europe through Italy and Spain. Many have died trekking through North Africa deserts and human traffickers exploit them, rob them and kill them on a daily basis. To them anywhere is better than their motherland. Ooh Somalia, who bewitched you?
Let me remind you if you have forgotten. You are the ancestral home of all Somalis; your flag is sky blue and you were once sky high, the star in the middle of the flag brightly shone with the twinkles reaching those far from you in Northern Kenya, Western Ethiopia and Djibouti but once your star dimmed, you left us all in darkness. Your national anthem espouses all humanity virtues. It reads “Somalis wake up,
Wake up and support each other
Support your country
Support them forever.
Stop fighting each other
Come back with strength and joy and be friends again
It's time to look forward and take command
Defeat your enemies and unite once again.
Become strong again and again
No country in modern history has been so lucky and so unfortunate at the same time. You have the most homogenous population of the 190 and so countries; ONE TRIBE, ONE RELIGION, ONE CULTURE. Compare and contrast with Kenya which has 42 tribes, dozens of religions and hundreds of cultures and she is still touted as a haven of peace. Your sons and daughters have soo much in common but chose to divide themselves using the most trivial of all; clan loyalty. Who said one clan is better than another. Were we not all created from clay, from Adam and Eve? Didn’t Allah tell us “O mankind! We created you from a single (pair) of a male and a female and made you into nations and tribes that you may know each other (not that you may despise each other). Verily the most honored of you in the sight of Allah is (he who is) the most righteous of you. And Allah has full knowledge and is well acquainted (with all things)”.
Didn’t prophet Muhammad (P.B.U.H) tell us to leave it (clan loyalty) because it is filthy? Were we not told by Him that Allah does not consider your looks, your body or your skin color but considers only what is in your hearts? Will anyone go before Allah and use his clan to escape from the torment of judgment? How is Hawiye better than Ogaden or vice versa?
Only you have the capacity to change your situation. No miracle or a high table conference in a posh western city will ever bring peace to you. Allah does not change the condition of the People who do not change their state. I will always say a prayer for you to stand on your feet, dust yourself, and stand proud among the League of Nations. Your sons are breaking records for other countries after acquiring new identity; they are contributing immensely to other nations but always look back at you with hope and I am sure you will enjoy their diverse backgrounds once you stabilize. I have always had a soft spot for you because of the common bond all Somalis share and the fact that if my father was not born on your soil then my grandfather was but now that the Kenyan constitution allows me to have a dual citizenship I consider myself a proud son of yours and I hope to contribute to your well being and reconstruction one day inshaa Allah. Meanwhile let me continue humming to this uplifting song and wind up the evening beautifully “ana ana Somali ana ana Somali wa aftakhir,Somali wa aftakhir wa xaniini sayastamir, wa biladii satazdahir, muqdisho hiyal qamar, hargaysaa hiyal amal kismayo uxibuhaa…..