Hiiraan Online

by Ali Osman
Wednesday, February 18, 2009

“A hero is someone who has given his or her life to something bigger than oneself.”

            -Joseph Campbell-

President Ismail Omar Guelleh

However, we should acknowledge, our government did not happen by itself, it came about, through the hard work and toils of unsung heroes. Heroes such as the president of Djibouti Ismail Omar Guelleh and the outgoing Prime Minister Nur Adde and many others who fought wars to liberate from Ethiopian occupation. The President of Djibouti refused to give up on Somalia and he deserves a Nobel Peace Prize for his steadfast support for the restoration of Somali government. 

After a decade and half of trying to put together a workable government in Somalia, the president could have said, forget it, it is not working as the world governments has done. In addition, he watched many governments that he invested considerable time and money fail and it would have been convenient for him to wash his hands from Somalia and say we tried to help but it has not worked out. What he did was try and try over and over again.

Djibouti is small country with limited resources but they have been doing their outmost to ensure we stand on our feet. When the world told us, we are failed state and some suggested we should be placed under UN trusteeship or worse be handed to Ethiopia. Djibouti was the single voice reminding us, yes you can. They were telling us that we can do better and yes, we did better this time.

Inshaa Allaah Somalia will stand on its feet and Ismail Omar Guelleh will be remembered one of the founders of the modern Somalia. We would never forget the tireless effort of the great leader the president of the Republic of Djibouti Mr. Ismail Omar Guelleh and his people for standing with us in our darkest hour.