How does Somali politics impact educated youth?
I’ve never been interested in politics, but my dad is; it’s what he does for a profession, and it’s what we talked about every day.
I questioned whether I am on the same route as my father before I started writing this. My father is interested in politics and has familiarity with the subject. But I simply became sick of it.
Not because of politics’ nature, purpose, or actions, but rather because I haven’t noticed any good thing a politics did for somalis.
However, I’m about to explain why and how I detested politics, as well as how it affected me as a young adult male.
Unlike my father, I did not grow up in the big, powerful Somalia that some still consider it the best in all of Africa at that time, while others may view it as a fascist, corrupt, and dictatorial regime.
Therefore, i was in Somaliland which we believe is a different. as once as I was born, I became a citizen of Somaliland , not Somalia or any other country, and that is how I was brought up until I was old enough to learn about history. My government in Somaliland was pleasant, tranquil, and busy repairing its infrastructure. I’m happy that I had a good education, a good childhood, and wonderful experiences while I was growing up. I didn’t travel too much; I only left Somaliland twice, and on those two trips, I was gone for over a year in total.
Somali regions are known for its ststeless, warlord and consistent poor governmental conditions caused by poor political influence for the past 30 years.
However, Politics dailuge and the war in Somaliland Lasanod are currently the Somali community’s main concerns. The Somalis are experiencing a wide range of feelings, including anger, hatred and resentment. No matter where they were, the whole Somali community was affected. Hate to say but tribalism and tangled political agendas are at the heart of this war’s character.
Tribal politics are the foundation of Somali politics not just today, but ever since Somalis attempted to establish a government, they believed that this was the greatest option. In any case, Somalis are people who share the same religion, tight cultural ties, language, and customs as everyone else.
But, none of these characteristics have enabled them to unite, thrive, or rise. because it turned out that the tribe — which possesses an equivalently modest percentage — of those attributes was stronger.
As the first Somali government was based on tribalism, everyone who grew up under that system had the belief that tribes, not republicanism, democracy, or any other political system, should be in charge of centralizing the government. which explains why those who were raised under that system and who presently hold political office still rely on tribalism for their political campaigns, strategies, and ideologies.
Regrettably, this eventually caused that wonderful Somalia to be destroyed. Due to the fact that certain tribes are more numerous than others, there are political injustices, economic inequalities, and unjust laws that affect all of the other tribes. This is the major problem if you’re trying to figure out why Somalia’s politics have failed.
It appears that the generation before us didn’t learn anything from this dysfunctional, ailing, and unjust system of government in order to establish new political systems which are distinct from the previous ones, which were based on tribe. No one from that generation, which includes the current leaders, seemed to care about a brighter future for future generations.
Yet, my country was able to educate me and grant me the freedom to study whatever I wanted. Education liberates the mind, which has inspired me to read and study anything that piques my curiosity. I studied Somalia’s history there, learning why Somaliland reclaimed its sovereignty from other regions of Somalia and what transpired. This has given me sufficient grounds for supporting Somaliland, but not enough to convince me, as a young man, that this is a wise course of action or define my contribution to these confusing historical and political snafus.
I discovered that the current situation in Somaliland and Somalia will never lead to growth or a just system of government through research, education, reading, and immersion in politics, history, various systems of government, political economics, and understanding how global politics operate.
Somalis will never be free as long as we have politicians pleading with us to vote for them only because we belong to the same tribe as them and not because of their idealogy, speech, or leadership abilities. Somaliland chose democracy but did nothing to implement it in terms of forming a government or electing a president, or other forms of elections, like parliament and district representatives.
The method of choosing those leaders, not the election itself, is flawed. Yes, people vote for their president, but they do so based on the number of tribes that support them rather than the leader’s leadership skills since they don’t want the leader of another tribe to take the presidency, even if they are more qualified to do so.
For educated youngsters like myself, things like these make us skeptical, unclear, and uninterested in the policy, who knows that this will never, ever lead to progress or development
Our thought leaders, professors, and those of sound mind urge us never to evaluate someone based on their tribe but rather based on their character and integrity however in every election this is how the people rise to the position of running the government.
My fellow Somali youngsters share my outrage and perplexity, and they have given up on the idea that this would ever lead to anything but anarchy, warlords, and devastation.
Our politicians in Somalia betrayed us by not caring about the generation that would witness how utterly ridiculous their policies are. How hopeless and full of lies, deceit, and hollow promises they do to these Somali youngsters.
However, this sick approach to political campaigns has inspired more young leaders to follow in their footsteps, and this twisted attitude will only keep the Somali community destitute and impoverished.
Nowadays, educated youth and everyone with the correct attitude can plainly understand that tribalism-based governments can never bring about anything positive, yet despite this, our political leaders never stop pushing their desperate, tribe-focused demands into our brains which is quite unpleasant.
As long as Somali leaders continue to put their own demands ahead of the needs of the community, they will be unable to have any rational, caring vision for the future of the Somali young or how things may turn out.
On the contrary, the Somalis have grown envious, hostile, and angry as a result. Each person who has been elected to office has not been elevated to power on the basis of his capacity to lead, but rather on the basis of how many members of his tribe and how many other tribes backed him. This is a disease that may erode confidence between the populace and the government.
Tribalism and other problems, such as ignorance, poverty, bad government, and a lack of future direction, will never improve Somalis’ prospects. In all respects, we are doomed.
The considerations I indicated above — which tribe is the biggest contributor — are now what caused the conflict to start in Lasanod; to be fair, any battle raging in any part of Somalia is founded on similar issues.
What could be the solution to this you might ask?
How prospective Somali leaders interact with the next generation and what vision and ideologies they must foster now in order for tomorrow to be better are the answers to these problems.
While simple, saying this is never simple. The future of Somalis will always be boring and lifeless as long as our youth are focused on how their tribe is being handled, which has no good results for them and for their other brothers and sisters. As long as youth are not seeking to liberate their mind from these distorted, sad, and tribe-oriented prejudices then there is no hope for Somalis in the future.
we are all wondering why are they educating us if they are not ready to hear us out, not ready to consult with us, and not ready to let us say what we think is the right way to do things.
Somalis have long gone trusted sultans, Garads, and other clan-based figures for peacekeeping and stability but these individuals fail every time the tribal wars take place. how long will Somalis rely on these figures which are the root problems of poor governance?
Lastly, I believe tribes, clans, and any sultans that think they have power over people will not bring my people any justice socially as long as it is interfering in politics, tribalism should be limited to identifications but not the form of government at any king.
Thank you for reading!!
