I am not saying Siyad was good politician, he was shit. He didn't know how to negiotate or ask people for their input, he wasn't good at foreign policy either cause u need to be good at politics to be good foreign policy guy, his approach of my way or the highway cannot be done in global stage it will lead to conflict. But don't question the man as a states-man, a wadani, a man who put his nation well being before politics. That is the part I find ridiculous when people question this. It's not even scientific cause we can break up his 21 years into 4 year blocs and measure it against key metrics such as security, business environment, unemployment levels, health, education, etc. Since other Somali leaders are elected for 4 years, we can take siyad 21 years and break it up into 4 year blocs for accurate assessment.
U will see clearly no-one comes close to siyad barre. No-one even touches him. Not even SYL leaders nor any leader who came after him till today. SYL was good for independence march but should never of formed a government is my opinion, their performance is miserable in comparison to siyad barre.
Siyad was clearly a dictator but that doesn't equal he was a bad leader that didn't take his nation to a next level in comparison to any Somali leader of his time or even till now. This is the part I hate about Somali history, they are trying to black out this guy history and your good DR is rageedi, I acknowledge people achievement when you put it before scientific bench-mark that are UNDISPUTABLE.