The Somalia Debacle

The situation in Somalia calls for reflection. It demands from other African countries, the need to be proactive in their planning process. No one could basically tell why the problem seems a hydra-headed one: from piracy to militancy, kidnapping, insurgency and, now the greatest of all- famine that has been sacking the two regions in the South Central Somalia. Media report has it that over 12,000 persons have been displaced from their homes to the nation’s capital-Mogadishu, as many more thousands are spewing-out to neighboring Kenya and Ethiopia without food and water and transportation. And the Transitional government and the world stand-still and helpless because Al-Shabab, Somalia’s most fearsome and deadliest insurgent group remained on the prowl.

Unfortunately, as the people are fleeing the famine region, they are been assaulted and the women are been raped while children die in their thousands! According to the UN, the scourge may in no distant time spread to other regions if nothing is done urgently to arrest the situation by wealthy nations and other aids agencies. Thus, the world supra body has declared famine in Somalia after about 19 years. Besides, Mr. J.J Rawlings, the AU representation has declared that if we do not act urgently, Africa would have many children to bury in the ensuing weeks. Somalians are trekking kilometers upon kilometers, escaping the food shortage in their land. Who is to blame for the severity of the food shortage?

While the situation is blamed on nature, its most complex dimension is hinged on the Al-Shabab militant group that had been at war with the Transition government since 1992. Consequent upon this, there has been no government, no state police, no functional infrastructure and other basic necessities that make life meaning to citizens. The Al-Shabab militants’ strongholds are the worse-hit regions because they have barred food supplies from NGOs into these regions few years ago while they continue their heinous activities. Their illicit operations in the sea coast of Somalia has been hindering smooth movement of vessels and the crew men that have attracted international attention in the last two decades, yet the situation is more worrisome now that the food shortage is being heightened by the same group which had blocked the innocent population’s access to food supplies. Notwithstanding, the ban Al-Shabab has lifted on the food agencies and NGOs is tenuous and not all-compassing. What is the guarantee that the group would not kidnap aid workers, and confiscate food as they are famished too?

Certainly, Somalia is a failed-state. It does not have the capacity to curtail the situation all alone. The United Nations, other donor agencies have been doing their best to salvage the condition by making food and water available to the famished population in Mogadishu and those in refugee camps in Kenya. Nevertheless, many more are left stranded in remote areas. What are the other countries doing to help? Horrible footages of malnourished and dead children from Somalia are terrible enough to spur other African nations into action to help their dying neighbor.  It is not about waiting for the world to take a step first. They must act now. The African Union (AU) must live up to its role as an umbrella body which oversees activities of its constituent members. Having their representative in the person of the former president of Ghana, Mr. J.J. Rawlings is not enough. There is need for profound empowerment.

Essentially, the whole of East Africa is susceptible to the same scenario playing out in Somalia. The Somalia’s example should prompt their neighboring nations to take proactive and preemptive measures to tackle the situation head-on. They must not play the lie-and-wait game. Planning for food sufficiency through new technological innovations, making use of the natural resources and embracing good governance would go a long way to put off the imminent problem. While it is appreciated that the US and UN, have done much to bring peace to Somalia particularly, and other African nations; they could do more by assisting in the best innovative ways to tackle the Al-Shabab extremists group, so that Somalia can assume the status of a responsible nation- state with the capability to respond to its tasks as a sovereign nation that would require the least of assistance from other nations.