A long-drawn-out debate about the inaugural issue of the Somaliland Journal of African Studies has been pontificating by a group of people, who imaginarily believe as they are the only existing Somali academic warriors. To a certain extent, it is palpable that the academic and political misfortune will never expunge from the minds of the Somalis. Over and above, the aim behind the doctrine of Cadaan-Studies that people tracked in the social media since February 2015 was nothing more than political treachery. But fortunately, what failed the inoperable political project and enlightened the reality was the calligraphy of the Somali Youth League. The tribute of SYL was the main thesis and the strong argument of Abdi Samater for the last thirty years.
As Professor Abdi Samater (1989) pointed out ‘’in 1943 the first modern nationalist movement, the Somali Youth Club, was founded. The club changed its name to the Somali Youth League and became a full-fledged political machine with offices and officers with all the Somalilands except Djibouti (French Somaliland), the first time specified an independence date, which was to be 1960 for Somalia’’. This biased argument shows the intellectual dishonesty, which resulted an academic mind-numbing and lacklustre, especially when it comes the deliberately overlooked element of academia in social research methods. Because Samater’s aim was to purposefully obliterate the good nationalist history of Somaliland, including the veterans, such as Farah Omaar and Sayid Mohamed Abdillah Hassan, who both deserved to be mentioned because of their credentials of anti-colonialism ideology. But his sociological imaginations and reflexivity desired the British Made unschooled restaurant owners of SYL.
In addition to this, Safia Aidid, the historian PhD candidate who is the thespian of Cadaan-Studies acts as if she is the avant-gardist, or in other words, the founder of the scheme reiterated the political footsteps of Abdi Samater. Safia posted on her Facebook status ‘’the first Somali anti-colonial nationalist organisation, the Somali Youth Club, later renamed the Somali Youth League was founded on May 15, 1943 in Mogadishu. They opened offices across the Somali territories and led a mass political movement which culminated Somalia’s in 1960’’. The above sentences completely refers the very same argument of Abdi Samater, but Safia only rephrased and failed to quote the reference. This was not by mistake or an academic plagiarism, but a deliberate occurrence in order to fool the people whom she conceived their loyalty.
The above evidences expose that the discussion of Cadaan-Studies were more emotional capital, because of the political involvement of Mogadishu, which based on the abhorrence concept of Anti-Somaliland stratagem. The line of attack of this academic journal (the Somaliland Journal of African Studies) refers the very same political antagonism that interminably denies the existence of the 24 years democratic and peaceful State of Somaliland.
The main reason why I called this debate a long-drawn-out and pontificating debate was; because it was not an academic debate of any kind. The rules of engagement are more politically aware as well as regionally grounded than the sense of Somali nationalism and anti-colonial scholarship.
The academic principle of researching society and culture should be more scientific and accurate. For instance, the squabble of Cadaan-Studies, argues about how Somalis are marginalised in the field of academic research and policy studies that concerns them.
If that was the initial core of the debate, I fully wonder why Hawo Y. Mire, who wrote this article;http://sahanjournal.com/
Sceptics came out when she ruled her script out of the well-known claim of Somaliland sovereignty by means of reclaiming one political identity by the name of Somalia. Her writing completely omitted to remark Somaliland, while she repeatedly points out what she called the indistinguishable Somali politics and identity.
Hawo disclosed her conspiracy and intellectual dishonesty indirectly by arguing that if the Somalilanders or the people of Somaliland are acknowledged and regarded differently with a diverse national identity it will decay the idea of Greater Somalia. At this juncture, this is her scripts ‘’here’s a valuable opportunity to remind us that without Somalis, there is no Somalia’’. It is quite clear as this shows her commitment to anti-Somaliland scheme. Because if the name of Somaliland is to be popularised in this field of academia (the SJAS), it will hinder the failed unity of Somalia.
One can easily realise that if the aim of the texture was to critically analyse the idea of Cadaan-Studies and the academic marginalisation of the Somalis, there was no need to mention the unity and the existence of the nation state of Somalia, but was rather to focus on the context of the critique on how the Advisory Board of SJAS excluded from the Somali scholars.
However, the notion of the Somali unity was the political root-cause of the regional instability and the everlasting Somali civil war in Mogadishu for the last two and half decades. It was the root-cause of the current political notion that failed and resulted the prolonged destabilisation of public institutions and the political insecurity. Although the consequences have yet been acknowledged by the International Community after millions of Somalis are starving throughout and every part of the world. The project of unification invited piracy and terrorism, the result of this can be seen the terrorist attacks in the neighbouring countries of Kenya, Djibouti and Ethiopia, and this is one of the reasons why Somaliland overruled the detrimental unification, which is not good for Somalis as well as the region.
To revisit the idea of Cadaan-Studies, Cawo Abdi, who is the wife of Professor Abdi Samater who wrote this article inscribed and paid her tribute on her twitter about Cadaan-Studies. The people of Somaliland are well aware that the couple extremely against the political notion of Somaliland as a different independent nation state. Most interestingly, the two Somali Professors who spoiled the history of the Somali people by telling mendacities are Abdi Samater and Ali Khalif Galaydh. This two academic elites are from Somaliland, but astonishingly, they have two things in common, they both married their wives from the Puntland region of Somalia.
In this sense, they have been ideologically hijacked by their brilliant wives who are well-educated and politically talented. Relatively, the first President of the Somali Republic Aden Abdullah Osman had experienced the same political manipulation from his matrimonial kinship from the same Somali region of Puntland in the 1960s. Most astonishingly, Amina Boqor Mohamed Boqor Osman, who was the Royal Family of Majeerteenia was married by Dougls Collin in 1944, this has happened the full permission of the Royal Family so as to politically establish the matrimonial relationship with the Italian colony. Please click this link for a full story;http://beenaywaarun.
Abdi Samater, who is the architect of Cadaan-Studies, but driving this scheme behind the curtain is acting as if that case has acquitted, but his scripts can be seen behind the lines. Abdi Samater wrote this piece, together with his fellow workmate Professors Mark Lindberg and Basil Mahayni. They all from the Department of Geography in the University of Minnesota. http://www.geog.umn.edu/
If the concept of Cadaan-Studies is to contest against the colonial construction of whiteness as the hidden agenda of Abdi Samater denotes, why Safia Aidid who I called the thespian of Cadaan-Studies behaving desperately. By way of that she cannot personally defend the argument of Cadaan-Studies, for the reason that this is not her idea. People can only defend their ingenuities and initiatives, because that is what they believe in. Soldiers and personal protectors taught to arrest who ever against the notion of their masters in order to guard their controllers.
It now seems that the same thing is happening as she blocked and unfriended anyone against Cadaan-Studies in her spot on social media. Khadar Barud (a young, energetic and open minded scholar, journalist and a politician) is the victim example. This sounds unprofessional for a PhD Student from Harvard University. But we can all understand that as the thesis was not hers and she has little information about the conspiracy theory of Cadaan-Studies itself. Because Safia was not the fabricator, she is just the scheme implementer.
In conclusion, Somali academics cannot distance themselves from their sociological imaginations, which is about how research reflects from their own backgrounds and social structures. One good example is Aw-Jama, A historian who specialised Sayid Mohamed Abdullah Hassan, he travelled to Djibouti and met President Geelle. It was puffed to my ears when Aw-Jama the great Somali historian blatantly lied and changed Sayid Abdullah’s poem of tribal attack in a way that favours the President of Djibouti. The poem heavily attacked Issa Clan of Djibouti, but immorally changed into Issa Musa from Subeer Awal Sheik Ishaq. This was the verse; ‘’Issa ha bakhtiga hiigaya iyo hoqay midgaan baa leh’’, the common meaning of this verse is to disclose Issa clan as one of the lowest disgraceful clans. But the poem never resembled the true nature of Issa clan, but rather the opposite. Issa is more culturally civilised than any other clan, whilst Gabooye is the most productive Somali citizens who have the skills to design or create something which has never been made or has never existed before.
This shows how Somali academics and historians cannot differentiate between realities and tribal stimulus. Aw-Jama was 96 years old when he was doing this disgraceful stroke. On the contrary, what do we expect a fish and chips young lady (Safia Aidid) who has never come across a sense of nationalism and comradeship of Somaliness but rather born into an inferno domicile and tribal hostility?
Finally, academics can easily understand the young lady’s confusion on Cadaan-Studies Scheme, because of the defenceless and weak argument. For instance, she was trying to elucidate her biased creed of SYL, but failed and miscarried the academic discipline of history as she ignored the historical sociology of the context. Safia pointed out that ‘’historians differentiate between early 20th century movement and the modern anticolonial nationalist groups founded around WWII is not important’’. This idea is Cadaan Idea itself, what is so important to differentiate between nationalists into unnecessary categories. The academic tools she adapted (Cadaan-Studies) and used in order to conduct her research were the colonial constructed dogma of the very whiteness in which she pretends to oppose. But the reality is one, the war on Cadaan-Studies started when the name of Somaliland appeared in the field of academia research and studies. If this academic journal would have been excluded from the name of Somaliland, the Cadaan-Studies would automatically be vanished so as any related concept of academia and the so called Somali marginalisation.
Mohamed Hagi Mohamoud. Department of Politics and International Studies. The University of Warwick. Email:m.hagi-mohamoud@warwick.