In a press release sent last week to many websites, the Tol Leadership Council explained to the average guy from Awdal, I presume, how these Ivy League scholars can take care of business and that they can put the matter of Awdal affairs in their hands. But let’s put aside their noble principal and look at their propositions. At first, we can acknowledge that their arguments are divided into two sets of ideas. One is tautology and the other is wishful thinking.

A tautology is by nature a needless repetition using different words without clarity, for example, they stated that the destiny of the people of the region lies in their interdependence and mutual understanding which is nothing but an empty rhetoric and does not have any depth whatsoever …!

In terms of wishful thinking, one must wonder how the Tol Leadership Council can ask for; a fair distribution of senior portfolios of the legislative, executive and administrative bodies of the government, a judicious ruling of land ownership in specific disputed locations, and an equitable sharing of international (particularly NGO activities) material and intellectual presence in the country. Isn’t this the same thing that the people of Awdal have been asking for 20 years with no result?

Meanwhile, repeating the same thing and expecting a different outcome, as the cliché goes, isn’t it but a waste of time and energy? As for the Tol Council, isn’t it too little and too late to ask for a fairness now. 

What does Awdal State stand for?

This leads to the question, what does the State of Awdal stand for and what is its purpose? In the case of our Ivy League of the Tol Leadership Council, they have missed the point. Let me explain: Awdal State stands for the voice of all the Awdalites. It is the increasingly and unstoppable true voice of the silent majority of Awdal. Their discourse reflects the rise of a new generation with a new self-awareness who wants to achieve change from the bottom, and establish an administration of their own making.

We believe that begging for our rights is awkward and does not win us friends or respect. The idea of the State of Awdal was born out of reflection and is more than a slogan; it is history in the making. We know what we don’t want: we don’t want to feel disfranchised in our own land. Rather we want to assert a more conscious and political control over our lives. Instead of outsourcing our power to Marodi  Jeex, why not empowering our own people.

It is the best way to address the problem of the people from Loyada, Xalimaleh to Gabileh. We want to reclaim, in a constructive manner, a political identity that is long overdue. We think that it is the best means to escape the sulking nature that has become pervasive in our culture.

Therefore we decided not to stay in this abusive union because it is dangerous for our future and a destructive path for the whole community to say the least. It is the reason the people of Awdal decided and chose not to be the coccyx of idoor (daboo idoor).

The audacity of Hope?

As they say, it takes two to tango; sadly Somaliland is a clanocraty by and for the good of the middle clan. The Sultans of Awdal never intended to grant the Issak clan an absolute power over their own people. The Sultans of Awdal tried to believe in the hope of change despite all the evidence that Somaliland was a one clan project. Unfortunately, their audacity of hope, to borrow a famous title of a book, didn’t pay off. Even Rayale’s time was, regrettably, a big setback since it planted the seed of deep hatred between kinships.

Awdal State is not a mere slogan; it is the discovery that Somaliland can’t be reformed because tribalism is its fabric, its blood, and discrimination is in its DNA. It has created two casts: the good cast, the issak, and the bad one, the rest of the population (what do you call it when the araab sub-clan has more symbolic representation than the whole Gadabourci clan).

The people of Awdal decided not to sacrifice their voice on the altar of good will and peace.  That’s why Awdal State is the only solution and (a pragmatic one) meant to act as a catalyst to focus our energy and vigour on the progress of our respective regions be it Xarirad, Bonn, Dilla or Lughaya. It is the best attempt to believe in ourselves, get confidence and a definitive departure of victimhood.

That’s why the State of Awdal must and should exist and is already welcomed in the heart of thousands.

By Cali Xeebjire  -  Montreal, Canada

Email: alihebjire@gmail.com

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What is self-determination?

What is most widely implied in the term self-determination is the right to participate in the democratic process of governance and to influence one’s future – politically, socially and culturally.

Self-determination embodies the right for all peoples to determine their own economic, social and cultural development. Self-determination has thus been defined by the International Court of Justice (in the West-Saharan case) as: The need to pay regard to the freely expressed will of peoples.

The right of self-determination

The right of self-determination of peoples is a fundamental principle in international law. It is embodied in the Charter of the United Nations and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights. Common Article 1, paragraph 1 of these Covenants provides that:

“All peoples have the rights of self-determination. By virtue of that right they freely determine their political status and freely pursue their economic, social and cultural development.”

The right of self-determination has also been recognized in other international and regional human rights instruments such as Part VII of the Helsinki Final Act 1975 and Article 20 of the African Charter of Human and Peoples’ Rights as well as the Declaration on the Granting of Independence to Colonial Territories and Peoples.

It has been endorsed by the International Court of Justice. Furthermore, the scope and content of the right of self- determination has been elaborated upon by the United Nations Human Rights Committee and Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination as well as international jurists and human rights experts.

Source: www.iwgia.org