In a mas­sive show of sup­port for the newly-cre­ated Juba­land State, thou­sands of So­mali-Cana­di­ans con­verged at the Sher­a­ton Ho­tel at Toron­to’s West End in the evening of Sat­ur­day, June 1st to cel­e­brate the birth of So­ma­li­a’s newest re­gional state.

Event par­tic­i­pants with roots in all re­gions of So­ma­lia trav­eled from across South­ern On­tario and as far away as New York and Min­neapo­lis to join So­mali-Cana­di­ans from Toronto and the wider GTA area in the night-long fes­tiv­i­ties. Ac­cord­ing to event or­ga­niz­ers, the colour­ful cer­e­mony brought to­gether an es­ti­mated 3500 peo­ple from all walks of life in­clud­ing So­mali el­ders, pro­fes­sion­als, Fed­eral gov­ern­ment politi­cians, com­mu­nity/​busi­ness lead­ers, the youth and an im­pres­sive list of North-Amer­i­can-based So­mali artists.Event MC, Has­san Ab­dil­lahi Omar “Karate,” the pop­u­lar an­chor and di­rec­tor of Ogaal Ra­dio, 88.9FM thanked the pub­lic for their show of sol­i­dar­ity to­ward the emer­gent Juba­land State. Ac­cord­ing to pro­vi­sions in So­ma­li­a’s new Fed­eral Con­sti­tu­tion, two or more re­gions that meet con­sti­tu­tional re­quire­ments can form a state within a New Fed­eral Sys­tem.

On May 15th 2013, del­e­gates com­pris­ing of 500 state res­i­dents and tra­di­tional el­ders from across Juba­land elected Sheikh Ahmed Mo­hamed Is­lam, pop­u­larly known as Ahmed Madobe as the re­gion’s first Pres­i­dent and Gen­eral Ab­dul­lahi Sheikh Is­mail (Far­taag) as Vice-Pres­i­dent bring­ing to cul­mi­na­tion a four- year process. Juba­land is lo­cated in So­ma­li­a’s south­ern­most fron­tiers and com­prises of the three re­gions of Gedo, Mid­dle and Lower Juba. It is largely re­garded as So­ma­li­a’s bread­bas­ket, with fer­tile agri­cul­tural lands dot­ting the Juba Val­ley.

The re­gion is also known for it thriv­ing live­stock in­dus­try and the po­ten­tial for off­shore oil and gas re­serves along the In­dian Ocean. Kismayu, a strate­gic City known for its vastly lu­cra­tive Sea­port and air­ports, is the Cap­i­tal of the new Juba­land State.

In Sep­tem­ber last year, So­ma­lia ush­ered in a new post-tran­si­tion era as Par­lia­men­tar­i­ans se­lected by a tech­ni­cal com­mit­tee elected Mr. Has­san Sheikh Mo­hamud as Pres­i­dent to steer the war-rav­aged na­tion back into the in­ter­na­tional fold af­ter two decades of civil strife that plunged the coun­try into an­ar­chic law­less­ness earn­ing the tag of most failed state in the world.

In re­cent months, peace has largely re­turned to the So­mali cap­i­tal of Mo­gadishu with a steady flow of Di­as­pora based So­ma­lis trick­ling back into the sun-baked City known for its stun­ning beaches in what was once con­sid­ered the Pearl of the In­dian Ocean. De­spite the un­easy, frag­ile peace, sim­mer­ing ten­sions re­main as the new Fed­eral gov­ern­ment in Mo­gadishu re­mains at log­ger­heads with emer­gent re­gional states, par­tic­u­larly the Juba­land State of So­ma­lia.

Last month, a del­e­ga­tion from the In­ter­gov­ern­men­tal Au­thor­ity on De­vel­op­ment (IGAD), a re­gional group­ing that brings to­gether seven East /Horn of African states vis­ited Kismayu, the re­gional cap­i­tal of Juba­land lo­cated in So­ma­li­a’s deep­est South and the na­tional cap­i­tal, Mo­gadishu, to dif­fuse on­go­ing ten­sions. The del­e­ga­tion urged the com­pet­ing Fed­eral and Re­gional forces to mend dif­fer­ences by hold­ing a rec­on­cil­i­a­tion con­fer­ence in the So­mali cap­i­tal.

Juba­land lead­ers have wel­comed this de­vel­op­ment and the pro­posed Mo­gadishu con­fer­ence will take place at a date yet to be spec­i­fied. With pul­sat­ing So­mali mu­sic lend­ing a car­ni­val at­mos­phere to the oc­ca­sion, flag wav­ing Toronto cel­e­brants clad in col­or­ful at­tire chanted pro-Juba­land and pro-So­ma­lia slo­gans in a glee­ful evening filled with pomp and colour. The event fea­tured keynote and guest speak­ers in­clud­ing speeches by el­ders and a rous­ing speech by Eto­bi­coke North Mem­ber of Par­lia­ment, Dr. Kirsty Dun­can, which was greeted with the rau­cous chants of Long Live Juba­land! Long Live So­ma­lia!

Fad­uma Ali Nakruma is a na­tional icon and a tow­er­ing fig­ure who has in­flu­enced the So­mali mu­si­cal scene for most of the East African na­tion’s post-colo­nial era. She used the oc­ca­sion to call for the unity of all So­mali peo­ple in a uni­ver­sal mes­sage of peace, love and unity. “Many folks would rec­og­nize me for my role as an in­ter­na­tional singer hail­ing from So­ma­lia. I have served my na­tion since I was four­teen years old when I first earned a liv­ing work­ing for the gov­ern­ment. Un­til to­day, I still be­lieve in the quest for a func­tional state. With­out a gov­ern­ment, there is no life.
Now that we have a new Fed­eral gov­ern­ment, I call upon my peo­ple to unite be­hind this gov­ern­ment and for the Fed­eral gov­ern­ment to sup­port the as­pi­ra­tions of all re­gional states, in­clud­ing Juba­land” said the beloved Diva of So­mali mu­sic. Mo­hamed Is­mail, a Min­nesota-based So­mali au­thor who trav­eled to the event all the way from Min­neapo­lis, echoed Nakru­ma’s uni­ver­sal mes­sage call­ing for So­mali peo­ple to close ranks and unite to pro­mote peace in post-con­flict re­con­struc­tion. “The new Fed­eral So­mali Con­sti­tu­tion al­lows for the cre­ation of re­gional states. It was agreed in prin­ci­ple by all So­ma­lis dur­ing the tran­si­tion pe­riod. Re­gional states within a Fed­eral sys­tem are seen by many So­ma­lis as the only vi­able route to peace. It is through their cre­ation that we can achieve peace and sta­bil­ity” said Mr. Is­mail, whose book Him­i­ladaaha Hano (Eng­lish for as­pi­ra­tions) cap­tures the pre­vail­ing mood among So­ma­lis whose as­pi­ra­tions are rooted in the es­tab­lish­ment of re­gional states in So­ma­lia.

One of the con­tentious is­sues sur­round­ing the newly-es­tab­lished Juba­land State is the sta­tus of mi­nori­ties and their pur­ported role in the new re­gional gov­ern­ment. Cir­cles within the Fed­eral So­mali gov­ern­ment claim that mi­nori­ties have been ex­cluded from the Juba­land process.But promi­nent lead­ers of the Ba­juni com­mu­nity in Toronto have al­layed such fears stat­ing that mi­nor­ity com­mu­ni­ties are ac­tive par­tic­i­pants in Juba­land’s af­fairs.“Kismayu is orig­i­nally a Ba­juni name and as Ba­ju­nis, we are Juba­lan­ders. We are firmly be­hind our newly-elected Pres­i­dent, Ahmed Madobe. We closely mon­i­tor events on the ground and I can con­firm that my com­mu­nity is fully in­volved in the on­go­ing process. In fact Ba­ju­nis were among the vot­ing del­e­gates who di­rectly par­tic­i­pated in the re­cent Kismayu elec­tion. Our Sul­tan, Dili Ma­hadi Dili, sup­ports the Juba­land State and has en­dorsed its new lead­ers” said Omar Has­san Obo, a Ba­juni com­mu­nity leader based in Toronto. Mr. Obo also hailed the Juba­land Process as one that is herald­ing a new era, free­ing area res­i­dents from the clutches of suc­ces­sive war­lords and Al-Shabab ex­trem­ists. “In the past, Kismayu ex­changed hands sev­eral times dur­ing the long civil war. It now has a per­ma­nent ad­min­is­tra­tion. We are happy to elect Ahmed Madobe as Pres­i­dent of Juba­land” said an op­ti­mistic Omar Has­san Obo.

Mr. Omar Ma­hadi Dili, an­other promi­nent Ba­juni leader in Toronto and brother of the Ba­juni Sul­tan in Kismayu con­curred with Mr. Obo say­ing that the Ahmed Madobe-led Juba­land State is an all-in­clu­sive one that has en­sured the di­rect par­tic­i­pa­tion of all con­cerned stake­hold­ers in­clud­ing mi­nori­ties.

“Through­out the past tran­si­tional pe­riod(s), our Ba­juni com­mu­nity was to­tally ex­cluded from all af­fairs per­tain­ing to So­ma­lia. Ahmed Madobe is the first leader to ever take the ini­tia­tive to con­sult with us in build­ing the Juba­land State. To­day, Ba­ju­nis are in the front­line in Juba­land State fully par­tic­i­pat­ing in all its in­sti­tu­tion-build­ing ini­tia­tives. This has never hap­pened be­fore.

We sup­port Ahmed Madobe. The peo­ple of Kismayu in­clud­ing Ba­ju­nis all want peace and that is why we have elected Ahmed Madobe” said the equally op­ti­mistic Omar Ma­hadi Dili. Toron­to’s So­mali youth had a strong pres­ence at the Juba­land fes­tiv­i­ties. “As a youth mem­ber in sup­port of Juba­land, I am ex­cited about the new re­gion that can con­tribute to the unity of So­ma­lia. Juba­land should be seen as an ex­am­ple for all other re­gions in So­ma­lia.

The So­mali peo­ple and gov­ern­ment should be sup­port­ing the new re­gion in all ways pos­si­ble” said a ju­bi­lant Aisha Mo­hamed; an ar­tic­u­late young ac­tivist well-known for her key role dur­ing the 2011 down­town Toronto march and rally in sup­port of the vic­tims of the So­mali hu­man­i­tar­ian dis­as­ter.

In a speech that was well-re­ceived by a cheer­ing, flag wav­ing au­di­ence, Ho­n­ourable Kirsty Dun­can, the MP for Eto­bi­coke North, home to one of the largest con­cen­tra­tion of So­mali con­stituents in Canada, said that she would do every­thing for the So­mali com­mu­nity whom she de­scribed as mem­bers of her own fam­ily.

Her speech was punc­tu­ated by phrases from the So­mali lan­guage send­ing the mas­sive crowd into ut­ter delir­ium. “Ham­ba­lyo (con­grat­u­la­tions) Juba­land on the birth of the new state. So­ma­lia Hanoolaato! (Long Live So­ma­lia!), Juba­land Hanoolaato! (Long Live Juba­land!). I will sup­port all de­vel­op­ment in So­ma­lia. You are my dear fam­ily, not just friends.

I will al­ways be there for you. I love your beau­ti­ful cul­ture and lan­guage” said Dr. Kirsty Dun­can. The Fed­eral Mem­ber of Par­lia­ment also pledged to sup­port the So­mali-Cana­dian com­mu­nity in an­other front stat­ing that she has ini­ti­ated ac­tion in Ot­tawa to push for gov­ern­ment re­sponse to the deaths of young men that have haunted the com­mu­nity.

“Right now, I am fight­ing hard to ad­dress a sad is­sue, the loss of 50 young So­mali-Cana­dian men. I am try­ing to get the Fed­eral gov­ern­ment to in­ves­ti­gate these deaths and to get real help for your com­mu­nity. My of­fice is your home and I will al­ways be there for you” said Dr. Kirsty Dun­can in ref­er­ence to the gun re­lated crimes that have claimed the lives of dozens young So­mali-Cana­dian men over the last five years. “I am here for So­ma­lia and the new Juba­land State, which I am told has a beau­ti­ful river, sea­port, air­port, a farm­ing re­gion and the ocean. I wish well the new Pres­i­dent. Juba­land Hanoolaato! (Long Live Juba­land!), So­ma­lia Hanoolaato! (Long Live So­ma­lia!), Canada Hanoolaato! (Long Live Canada!” Ma­had­sanid! (Thank You!)”con­cluded the Eto­bi­coke North MP to a thun­der­ous ap­plause from the ador­ing crowd.

Prior to tak­ing the stage, Dr. Kirsty Dun­can in­formed the Dig­i­tal Jour­nal that she would push for Fed­eral gov­ern­ment jobs for the So­mali-Cana­dian com­mu­nity in­clud­ing po­si­tions in the RCMP that would help ad­dress homi­cides in the com­mu­nity.She was all praise for the first wave of So­mali im­mi­grants to Canada who have im­mensely scar­i­fied for the fu­ture gen­er­a­tion. “So­mali-Cana­di­ans are an amaz­ing, won­der­ful com­mu­nity. They are a true in­spi­ra­tion for all Cana­di­ans.

The pi­o­neers of this com­mu­nity should write a book about their ex­pe­ri­ences and doc­u­ment what they gave up for their chil­dren and grand chil­dren in Canada” said the pop­u­lar Eto­bi­coke North MP. Promi­nent writer Abdi Aden Has­san(Zeylici) high­lighted key events in the mod­ern So­mali his­tory dat­ing back to the early twen­ti­eth cen­tury and de­vel­op­ments that ne­ces­si­tated the shift to Fed­er­al­ism in sev­eral African states in­clud­ing So­ma­lia.

“Dur­ing the colo­nial era, it was free­dom fighter Seyyid Mo­hamed Ab­dul­lah Has­san who fought vig­or­ously against im­pe­ri­al­ism to the point that British col­o­niz­ers were com­pelled to re­sort to aer­ial bom­bard­ment for the first time ever in Africa. Be­fore the end of the Sec­ond World War, the pro-in­de­pen­dence So­mali Youth League (SYL) was formed and later, there was the So­mali So­cial­ist Rev­o­lu­tion.

In coun­tries like Ethiopia and Nige­ria, Fed­er­al­ism be­came an op­tion to ac­com­mo­date eth­nic and re­li­gious in­ter­ests while in So­ma­lia, the pro­tracted civil war sparked the push for Fed­er­al­ism” said the fa­mous writer while call­ing on IGAD to con­tinue to sup­port So­ma­lia.

Mr. Haji Dahir Ra­madan, one of the el­ders who took to the podium to ad­dress the gath­er­ing said he is in favour of es­tab­lish­ment of states in all re­gions of So­ma­lia, not just Juba­land. “We are here tonight to cel­e­brate the birth of Juba­land, one of the sates of So­ma­lia.

We will also sup­port any re­gion(s) in So­ma­lia that are build­ing their own states as long as their es­tab­lish­ment is based on jus­tice, equal­ity and re­spect for So­mali unity. We ask the Pres­i­dent of So­ma­lia to sup­port Juba­land and all over So­ma­lia wher­ever states are be­ing formed in ac­cor­dance with pro­vi­sions in the Con­sti­tu­tion” said the So­mali el­der.

As the evening wore on, the gi­gan­tic, flag wav­ing gath­er­ing was treated to more elec­tri­fy­ing So­mali mu­sic with renowned artists; the likes of Fad­uma Nakruma, Zeinab Labada­gax, Awale Aden, Koshin Yare, Ab­dul­lahi Bikolo, Hayat Gelqad and Mur­sal Sug­ule tak­ing the stage to en­ter­tain the pub­lic. The ec­sta­tic cel­e­brants marked the oc­ca­sion in tri­umphant fash­ion, par­ty­ing to the wee hours of the morn­ing.

Source: Dig­i­tal Jour­nal