That is why emotional somalilanders suspended rational analysis, independent judgment, and conscious decision making about what they are hearing or taking in. They, therefore, have lost the boundaries between what they wished to be true and what is true. From there

In Greek mythology, a man called Odyssey lost 20 years in unknown seas on his return from Troy to Ithaka. In his absence, it is assumed he has died, and his wife Penelope and son Telemachus must deal with a group of unruly suitors, who compete for Penelope’s hand in marriage. His son was in process for adoption.

On Odyssey’s arrival in Ithaka, large number of people were in procession to see him alive. They heard his story for a long and they were for curiosity. Odyssey who admitted symptoms of identity crisis during his absence, did not care about who married his beloved Penelope or the adoption and the identity change of his son, Telemachus.

He was very happy to see the many people who greeted him. That is all what he wanted. Ahmed’s Penelope is already in the hands of another suitor. She waited him for many years when he got lost in his imaginary fantasies.

This journey, as seen by many, is on the 11th hour when the clock is ticking fast and loud….right to the end of the game. It is also a surprise to many who didn’t know the Professor and who are learning now. However, those who know him expected it as it happened. From a Somali president ambition to a drummer in the underworld of Somaliland is a very big flat and splash.

For more than quarter of a century, this part of the country has changed into medieval cult. Its leaders and elders had become masters of the folk art of human manipulation. They modify their approaches and techniques and use centuries-old manipulative talk to lead people to the ditches. There is no limit to the ways they can learn to manipulate others, especially when they don’t have the conscience.
They use two main methods of persuasion techniques which are (1) emotional manipulation (2) and distortions of historical facts. No matter which techniques those cult leaders have used, other Somalis have seen the resultant behavioral change of the people from that region.
In the first technique, emotional manipulation, leaders put people in a psychological hypnosis. The opium of tribalism is the tool and, subsequently, the main obstacle to the rational thinking. This is essentially a highly mental focused concentration in which the leader occupies the minds. On the other side, the population blindly follows their leaders, suspending judgment, reasoning and peripheral awareness. That is how the leaders, in this cultic environment, manipulated a vulnerable society implanting suggestions tailored to their personal agenda

In the second method, people are brainwashed and are impaired. This is a phenomenon in which everyone’s consciousness or awareness is modified. In that case, people’s awareness seems to split as their active critical-evaluative thinking dims. They then slip from an active into a passive-receptive mode of mental processing and listen or look without reflection, evaluation and logic.

The craze, and the imaginations are business as usual. Starting from the SNM campaign in 1980s till this present day, the distortions are the rule. They hide the real truth about the history of the region and its people, about what happened in the whole country of Somalia, about what happened in the civil war and about everything they share with other Somalis. Only one window is open from there, young and old learn the cult culture and nothing beyond.

That is why emotional somalilanders suspended rational analysis, independent judgment, and conscious decision making about what they are hearing or taking in. They, therefore, have lost the boundaries between what they wished to be true and what is true. From there, Imagination and reality intertwined and their mental processor gear shifted permanently into receptivity, leaving active mental processing out of position.

The cult manipulative talk was always out of proportion but went overboard few days ago. That was when Faysal Ali Warabe equated Christianity and Somalism. He argued that anyone who chooses somalism against Somaliland is like a convert from Islam to Christianity. This means that Somaliland is a religious cult. Whether that is sane or insane, I will leave it to the readers. Is that a leader or a cult leader?

In our modern world, the word cult in its current popular usage is a reference term for a new religious whose beliefs or practices are considered abnormal or bizarre by the larger society. It is generally characterized with great devotion to the group’s spurious ideas. Such blind devotion is regarded as a craze.
After so much suffering in a quarter of a century, our people were supposed to make their endeavor to a qualitative difference to society, by reawakening the spirit of solidarity and brotherhood on the basis of a common humanity. That would have brought the people together as one collective soul with life for all.

Those cult leaders like Silanyo, Saleiman, Hirsi, Biixi, Kahin and their team could have a better life for their people and even for themselves. The question is, did they ever try a way out? That requires real sacrifices and courage. Do they have the courage to be strong, wise and out of the murky way? For sure, they by now have realized that this is not working and there is a better way for all. For them, it seems too late because they have been brainwashing their people for a quarter of a century.

In today’s leadership, we don’t need cult leaders whose minds can’t judge between reality and fiction. We need leaders who can understand between reality and imagination and who shift people’s minds from the receptivity position to active processing.

Jamal Hassan jamal_hassan@hotmail.ca