The “Recovery Zones” and Somalis in the Diaspora
The Lost Generation: Badly Informed and Highly Clannish “Somali Intellectuals”

It is widely reported that the “Recovery Zones” with the help of certain countries and some UN agencies have made tangible progress in the areas of peace and stability, social development, water sanitation and some rehabilitation of the existing meager infrastructures, i.e. roads, bridges, airports and sea ports. In certain areas, where all prior Somali governments, intentionally or unintentionally, have failed to create any form of infrastructure, the “Recovery Zone” authorities, with whatever meager resources available, have instituted new infrastructures. They have built new police stations. They have also rehabilitated thousands of clan militias into a well-organized police and military forces. They have also instituted, in today’s Somali standards, what might be considered an effective tax/revenue collection services. They seem to be on their way to being the main building blocks of an emerging federal system of Somalia.

In business development, investments and new ventures, the tables had been overturned. Lately, it is the young men and women in their early thirties, who are dominating almost all business incorporation and the laissez faire business movements in the “Recovery Zones.” With the advice, motivation and ready partnership of this group, some Somalis from the diaspora returned, and in partnership with the locals, have made tangible investments in the country. The returning expatriates, mostly recent college/university graduates in the West, mainly North America, were always short of funds, but big in ideas. The two sides gathered together and are today’s cornerstones of future stability and development. The authorities in the “Recovery Zones” have blessed the business community dealings and have provided the required security and stability. With the exception of the monetary lawlessness in the country, the local authorities have created an atmosphere conducive to business and investments. This public/private partnership has created the most sophisticated network of telecommunications in Africa. It is also the cheapest. Internet usage is widespread. With the help of the old timers and local property owners, they have created commercial real estate where none existed before. Private educational institutions are sprouting everyday from every city and village. Old and neglected lower educational institutions have been revitalized; newer privately funded universities are erected. And it is only the beginning! The locals, returning expatriates and local authorities, have created what might be called a “learning entity.” This group is continually expanding their capacity to create the desired results. They have a long way to go, but again, it is only the beginning.

Meanwhile, the reader might have suspected that something is missing from the equation. Where are the Somali diaspora intellectuals in this debate of nation building and business development? It is rumored that they are nowhere to be found. They have neither participated in nation building nor have they contributed to business development. We will try to examine the generational differences that have emerged within the Somali community in general, and the “Recovery Zones” in particular.

According to a limited and unscientific recent study undertaken by SHASNA, which in no way represents the positions and standing of the silent majority, the following generations are of particular concern to Somalia’s generational sea change: The Pre and Post Said Barre Regime generations (Pre-SBR and Post-SBR.) We have examined the history and background of a randomly selected twenty individuals (ten from each generation) from the “Recovery Zones.” These two generations are unlike any other Somali generation in their differences. Their priorities and living standards are also quite different from each other. The Pre-SBR generation is better educated than its successor and has mostly been subsidized by the Somali public and previous regime. The Post-SBR generation is more motivated and substantially more active than its predecessor. Clan allegiance is less important for this generation. They are also more business oriented than any other Somali group.

The Pre-SBR generation is defined as the college/university graduates before the 1991 Barre Regime downfall, and who subsequently settled or were previously settled in the developed world. Most of them came through by way of scholarships, internships, and training seminars or as government officials from the previous regime. Most of them had been granted asylum by the host country. They all ran away from the hardships and because of a well-founded fear of persecution by the Siad Barre Regime. All of them are over forty years of age, well educated and very motivated. They all share one trait: they are all wannabe politicians. It doesn’t matter if they are journalists, doctors, lawyers, accountants, and unemployed welfare recipient, in academia or still in search of another degree. They have all the answers to all of Somalia’s dilemmas. They believe that every mishap in Somalia is due to a tribal animosity. They are so inclined in clan matters that their political allegiances are shifting daily. They hardly ever pay attention to social, education or economic developments. Being a product of the cold war and of Marxist Regime, and even though they profusely deny it, they are no believers of individual initiatives. They believe in government and government only, provided however, that that government is of their clan. Clan supremacy seems to be all that matters.

The Post-SBR generation is defined as the generation that came of age after the Siyad Barre Regime downfall. Most of them were caught in the Somali civil war and were genuine refugees at onetime or another. They have experienced the difficulties and fatalities of war. They were one time or another in front of the defensive lines against “The Mogadishu Invaders” and right in front of their eyes have lost loved ones. They suffer from deep psychological scars. They are all under the age of forty (the under twenty years of age group are not examined in this brief study.) They have either graduated from high school or are in process of graduating from a western institution. Most of them are in North America. Unlike their predecessors, most of them understand the Somali reality. While they have quite an allegiance to their clan, they are mostly concerned about regionalism, security and economic development. For them, local politics are secondary to survival. If they are not attending some kind of educational institution, they are working. They work a minimum of forty hours a week. They support their loved ones and relatives back home. They are heavily invested in the regions they come from. They have made partnerships with the locals. They have built houses for their loved ones. In some instances, they have built their dream homes. They believe in individual initiatives. Clan based representation in government is considered irrelevant and dangerous; they have seen and experienced the consequences!

The question we are about to raise is: why is a younger and less educated group, with visible scars of the civil war, more committed and more successful than its predecessor?

The answer, we believe lies in teamwork! The Pre-SBR generation has grown up with a centralized form of government. They have grown up and got educated with the expectation that they will be employed by the government. The Pre-SBR team has lacked teamwork. Teamwork was neither encouraged nor allowed to develop by the Marxist Siad Barre Military Regime. Again, unlike their brethrens, the Post-SBR generation is younger and more vital. They have also grown up with war and instability; teamwork and constant cohesion are required to confront these problems. The Post-SBR generation has survived by relying on themselves and on their team. They overcame all adversities. They believe in themselves and their team. They are always in search of a team to work with and learn from. They are always asking: how can we improve our lot? They are more social with genuine dialogue, and therefore develop better communication and are more successful. They are part of a living, breathing and learning entity.

In Peter M. Senge’s book, The Fifth Discipline, The Art & Practice of the Learning Organization, he writes: “Learning organizations are possible because not only is it our nature to learn, but we love to learn. Most of us at one time or another have been part of a great “team,” a group of people who functioned together in an extraordinary way - who trusted one another, who complemented each others’ strengths and compensated for each others’ limitations, who had common goals that were larger than the individual goals, and who produced extraordinary results. …The team that became great didn’t start off great - it learned how to produce extraordinary results.” Therefore, the Post-SBR generation complemented and compensated each other, and thereby produced extraordinary results. They never pass the buck; they fix the problem!

Having developed some background, an analysis is in order. The Pre-SBR generation, the educated elite, is in limbo. Their ideas are more tired than ever. Some of the more educated members of the Pre-SBR generation’s ideas are out of place in today’s Somalia. They never seem to have graduated from their school of thought of constant blame and nag. A shameless blame game that seems to have no place in today’s Somali “Recovery Zones.” While democracy is a luxury widely enjoyed in the West, and is a laudable choice that should be encouraged at every turn, it requires solid foundations. It requires an educated society, with good, predictable and functioning rule of law. It requires a well fed and employed participants and reliable infrastructure. Democracy needs a society free from tribal animosities and with real progressive interests, not clan wishes. Democracy needs the educated Somalis in the diaspora. But the Pre-SBR generation doesn’t seem to need Somalia. They are wrongly convinced that Somalia doesn’t offer three course meals. Democracy, fair and free election cries are their motto du jour! In a twisted way, they are always applying the rule of law of the developed world to a place where the rule of law is still only a name! A rule of law, the sons of the “Recovery Zones,” never want to help take root in their homelands. To succeed, the rule of law requires great sacrifice from every participant. This generation wants to be no part of any sacrifice. They say: how come the local authorities can’t apply the existing laws the same way as in the developed world? And the “Recovery Zone” residents might respond: ‘Lax Dhukani Abaar Moog.’ The educated sons of the “ Recovery Zones” have developed multiple personalities that constantly shift with the wind. They have developed clan lineage that go from North to South and from South to North. While in the comfort of their condos in the developed world, their one-man opinion letters have taken residences in regions and in places they have never set foot. Always out for number one, while they take hot/cold showers in tall buildings in safe distant places and are fed with at least two three course meals, their ever imaginative one man organizations are constantly paraded one continent after another; always wanting one Somali clan to set fire on another; always in wilderness in the arena of ideas; always wanting and waiting for someone to call and tell them how important they are! But the call never comes! These are the solitary men whose parents and grandparents have written them off long-time ago. These are the men whose ideas hardly matter to the struggling men and women of Somalia. These are the so-called Somali intellectuals the UN wishes them to lead Somalia. While their younger generation of Post-SBRs work tirelessly over forty hours a week or toil in the hot sun of the homelands, these so-called intellectuals are the same group of Somalis that think the ‘Arta Clan’ might have a chance! Again, they are told: ‘Lax Dhukani Abaar Moog.’

With the continued shared vision of the locals, the Post-SBR generation and the local authorities, together they will excel and the learning entities will grow. Just as the DC-3 has revolutionized commercial air travel, the “Recovery Zones” based on the concept of federalism, will also revolutionize the way Somali politics are engaged in today and in to the future. And the lost generation is always eagerly awaited to constructively join in the debate and the rebuilding and redevelopment process of the nation. We are quite convinced that they will be welcomed with wide-open hands. The “Recover Zone” partnerships are always on the lookout for people who have common goals larger than the individual goals, and who can work with the locals to produce extraordinary results.

SHASNA* Editorial Board
cc: SHASNA Members

Contact: Shantasomali@aol.com 

*SHASNA is an advocacy group based in Boston, Massachusetts. It stands for the unity and peaceful coexistence of the Somali people. It supports the creation of a federal system of governance to safe guard the emerging free markets of the Recovery Zones. SHASNA encourages corporate and individual investments in the Recovery Zones. It has presences in both Puntland (Boosaaso, Garoowe, Buurtinle, Bacaadweyn and Gaalkacyo) and Somaliland (Hergeysa, Berbera and Burco).