This might shock and upset lots of Puntlanders, but PL itself was a creation of our 'lower classes' of elites not our high elites at all. I can see why this happened. It was 97 and everyone returned from failed Cairo Conference where two hawiye were elected president/pm indicating this is a clan project not nation state project.
Have you seen the people who were in attendance at PL state building conference, they surely were not the 'elites' who had big names in Somalia, they were more like the 'mid-tier and lower tier' elites who came together and asked the ISIMO to support this project of PL creation. If I was there in 98, I honestly can't picture myself attending either such a new grand project and shifting away from the 1 Somalia dream that all our elites were working on.
My father never attended either and he was far higher in status then Farole as an elite of PL, he was still fixated on the Hamar project. Imagine how many other Puntlanders were still fixated on Hamar and centralism at the time? I would say by far 80% were. What came together in Garowe 98 was 'Jabhads' or SSDF-USP-SSDU, it was a militant envisioned project there is no denying that with Abdillahi Yusuf kick-starting it.
He invited all Puntland elites to attend but it seems the only ones who did attend were themselves not our 'creme la crop' so to speak, I mean look at the conference and you won't see any big name Majerten there. Is there any denying this? You won't see Abdirazaq Haji Hussein type elites at all, you will see Farole type elites. There is huge damn difference.
Anyways this shows you something special about PL, we don't even need our elites and our lower class people can create something from nothing, so let this serve as a warning to our elites who may feel comfortable about they're positions in society, no-one is going to sit there waiting for you anymore if it is against the will of the people. Iyaga tashan doono reer puntland. That's why from day 1 till now PL has been said to be engine and brain-child of the LOCALS and not so much the diaspora at all.
Have you seen the people who were in attendance at PL state building conference, they surely were not the 'elites' who had big names in Somalia, they were more like the 'mid-tier and lower tier' elites who came together and asked the ISIMO to support this project of PL creation. If I was there in 98, I honestly can't picture myself attending either such a new grand project and shifting away from the 1 Somalia dream that all our elites were working on.
My father never attended either and he was far higher in status then Farole as an elite of PL, he was still fixated on the Hamar project. Imagine how many other Puntlanders were still fixated on Hamar and centralism at the time? I would say by far 80% were. What came together in Garowe 98 was 'Jabhads' or SSDF-USP-SSDU, it was a militant envisioned project there is no denying that with Abdillahi Yusuf kick-starting it.
He invited all Puntland elites to attend but it seems the only ones who did attend were themselves not our 'creme la crop' so to speak, I mean look at the conference and you won't see any big name Majerten there. Is there any denying this? You won't see Abdirazaq Haji Hussein type elites at all, you will see Farole type elites. There is huge damn difference.
Anyways this shows you something special about PL, we don't even need our elites and our lower class people can create something from nothing, so let this serve as a warning to our elites who may feel comfortable about they're positions in society, no-one is going to sit there waiting for you anymore if it is against the will of the people. Iyaga tashan doono reer puntland. That's why from day 1 till now PL has been said to be engine and brain-child of the LOCALS and not so much the diaspora at all.