Tribalism :  Psychological Approach to the issue

O MANKIND WE CREATED YOU FROM A SINGLE (PAIR) OF A MALE AND A FEMALE, AND MADE YOU INTO NATIONS AND TRIBES, THAT YE MAY KNOW EACH OTHER. VERILY THE MOST HONOURED OF YOU IN THE SIGHT OF GOD IS (HE WHO IS) THE MOST RIGHTEOUS OF YOU AND GOD HAS FULL KNOWLEDGE AND IS WELL ACQUAINTED (WITH ALL THINGS)." Holy Qur'an 49:13
Colonialism , Religious fundamentalism, socialism, communism and imperialism have all enjoyed world attention and concentration during certain period of  the history . These issues have become or have been seen as vital issues that dealt with the social , economical or political aspects of certain countries that were then able to make them across the headlines of the world media. Tribalism is equally a vital issue to few Asian and African countries . To most of these , it has become part and parcel of the culture and history of the nation with very little impact on the current daily life of the people. However, In Somalia , It still is and will unfortunately continue to be for decades to come a factor  that controls the social and political life of the nation. It is therefore very essential that we put this tribalism system  into the laboratory and study it with clearer microscope.

• How did it start in our social life.?

• Is it a psychological superstition among the society or a social reality that should be sacred.?

• Does the mere existence of tribes among the society give rise to tribalism.?

• Why is tribalism so incurable a disease in Somalia while it hurts less in other countries.?
  Have all countries passed through the stage of tribal based governing systems and freed themselves from it or they just skipped the stage.?

• Is it true that banning the tribalism system totally will not solve the problem but rather cultivate it further.?

• Do all the Somali people know that to belong to a tribe is different from suffering from tribalism related nepotism?

Let us look into it with the microscope clearly now. From Adam and Eve , Man has reproduced into population . from one Father , we have over 6 billion people on earth today ( World population 6,442,596,587 as of 08:54 GMT (EST+5) May 20, 2005 ) . If one is able to magically trace back his ancestral roots deeper , one will finally end up to Father Adam. so will every human being one earth. As the process continued , same people of Adam have grouped themselves into nations as per the geography , language formed, ethnicity . With in the nation , The people then grouped themselves into subgroups of people known as tribes & clans as per the ancestral root father - the lineage , the window through which they are believed to enter that nation or a great historical group alliance made between few ancestors to share everything that facilitates their living in one particular region . As in Somalia , Every other nation on earth has tribes among the society for the simple reason that every breath taking human being has to belong to a lineage of root to follow back to Adam. Psychologically , the Somali citizen relies mainly on his tribal group for security , financial guarantee and power hence he is deeply obsessed to love and have moral support for his tribal members blindly. Historically it started in the rural areas of the country where tribesmen regularly fought over water and grazing rights for animals. The killing was easy and reconciliation processes after the fighting were normally held through tribal customs under a tree. The child from the rural society is born and brought up within and around the repetitive sound of the word of REER HEBEl and REER HEBEL echoing in his ears and hence accumulating at the back of his head. At the age of 20 , He is fit to be a decent tribesman , fully obsessed that a devotion for the love of his clan is as equally vital for his life as a religion. Before the rush from the country side to the capital Mogadishu, the tribal sensitivity was less in the big cities than the rural areas and people in the cities barely cared for what tribe they belonged. The positive side of tribalism , as per some Somali intellectuals , is that through the system , people donate to support the weak, use tribe as identification and mediate for peace over quarrels. Ironically , as we enjoy the use of the positive side of tribalism , we can not avoid the by-products which is more harmful. We have to accept the reality to live without any sign of the system if we want to eradicate It as it can not be the multiple uses of a knife. Any cooperation and help based on the basis of a tribe will automatically cultivate in one's heart a strong love for his tribal relatives and hence provoke him to isolate others & do injustices to monopolise power for his people. In Europe , civilisation & tough experience in life with hard struggle for survival made people to become so individualists and self reliant to the extents that Cousin brothers share only a big Hi. T he fact is that as the self reliance grew much in the western society , it sometimes crossed over the limit to create a situation that it creates more social problems . This shows a balanced & scientifically proved social system is required that avoids any back lash and takes the society to full freedom and advanced lifestyle. Tribalism is in fact a psychological issue in our country that created a social problem at the boiling point grade in all aspects of our lives. it hence needs a psychological approach with combined national effort to carefully erase the stigma off the minds of the people. Following steps would help the process:

• Good Governance : If the president reached to the throne due to tribal politics or political backing with the help of tribal influences, He is compelled to maintain the tribal games which will cultivate tribalism among the society . Government that is the product of a support based on ideology has greater chances to create tribalism-free-society in Somalia.

• Public perception control : Controlling the perception of the society away from tribal sensitivities to an ocean of national engagements is a good technique to lead to a solution. no society is prone to change . Media campaigns , nationalism and patriotism , Sport and other competitions based on non tribal categories etc are all campaigns that help the public attitude free from tribalism .

• Greater enemy phobia : External threat to the nation. Exaggerating the threat from an external enemy is a way to unite the citizens into one hand . It most of the time backlashes great political disasters but it works if maintained with good intentions and financial back up. It worked with the American and European think tank policy makers to exaggerate the threat from communism which turned out to be an iceberg.

• Good Education: Educating the society is a genuine way to free the mind of the citizens from the scratches of superstition and tribalism.

• Justice & security protection : In an insecure society where people fought over many issues , one could not avoid to secure protection . The only protection available came from his tribesmen . an attack on one also came because of his tribe. The Government should substitute the dependence of the citizen on his tribal alliances for security protection . When the citizens know that Government justice safeguards their security and the national police force are an independent & neutral body that makes sure that no citizen will get harassed in the country and the offenders will not escape punishment, they would hardly require their tribal group for the same purpose.
   

With a toll of over hundreds of thousands of very precious lives, social damage that is beyond the scope of any book-keeping system and an unimaginable economic disasters, We have every reason to bring Tribalism at par with other systems that need prevention or dissolve it into an effective application in our lives.

Unfortunately , it seems we have accepted to live with the tribalism as part and parcel of our social life when we agreed to share power in a tribal plate .

There is no indication that there is agenda for future rearrangement of the system or a programme for reforming the society away from the tribalism curse.

Let us work together so as to prepare the process of preventing the disease .

Take the pen to submit your opinion to the New Somali Group that is committed to initiate total change.

Awes A.Osman

thenewsomaliagroup@hotmail.com

PS : The New Somalia Group would like to hear from the Somali intellectuals in all over the world in order to register for our plan to gather their intelligence & expertise for our creation of Mind revolution - a programme of utilising the life experiences of Somalis in Europe and USA to imitate the good side of the Western culture and avoid the bad.

The Programme is a huge plan that will be launched by the NSG soon.

Kindly take part by responding to this note and for further details , please write to us.

Awes A.Osman
somali group
thenewsomaliagroup@hotmail.com