I’ve noticed that with other groups similar to us in terms of size and population (mainly Ethiopians) all have a sense of regional pride in comparison to clan pride whilst still having a clan system, for example an afran qallo oromo knows their clan is afran qallo but identify as hararghe oromo first or a tulama oromo knows their clan is tulama but go by shawan oromo first before their clan. This regional pride isn’t with just oromos, amharas for example have completely forgotten their clan system and go by just regions now (gojjam, gondere etc). Regions which are divided along ethnic lines still retain the same identity, example a shawan oromo and a dhaqan amhara both go by shawan and then their respective ethnicities and a wollo oromo and a wollo amhara are both welloye before their amhara or oromo. Smaller ethnicities tend to have a more ethnic pride example, tigray which is how they managed to get as powerful as they are through all being United as tegarus first rather than respective regions. Somalis however are the clear outlier. Even in galbeed where somalis are a minority clan pride is still seen as heavier than regional pride which is how madobe managed to seize power in jubaland without even being from there. Imagine somalis started uniting along regional lines instead of clan lines, harti and issaq in sanag start going by reer sanag and hawiye and darood in mudug start going by reer mudug before their clans. I think a system like this would mean much less conflict and a stronger base for a United somali nation (if possible) as qabils won’t be at eachother as throats anymore. The closest we have to something remotely like this would the rahanweyn clan, who have developed a community based unity system where anyone who farms on rahanweyn land becomes rahanweyn over time and it worked well for them since rahanweyn don’t fight nearly as much as other clans do. How possible would it be for other somalis to adopt a system like this?
