by Zakia Hussen
Saturday, August 16, 2014
They say through parables one can tell much wisdom; I strongly believe this is true. A parable makes you think of a problem in a different way, it allows for the removal of emotions so you’re thinking only in logical terms. It’s a method that has been widely deployed by religious scriptures and secular thinkers alike and parables have formed big part of ancient stories and novels.
As we gear up towards 2016 elections in Somalia, I want to present a parable to be solved by anybody who has any wish or plans to run for the highest office in the country. I call this The Parable of the Four blind Men and an Elephant.
Imagine you have four blind men sitting in a room, they do not know each other but they know they all blind. In a separate room you have a big elephant that has been sedated and is unconscious. Another man, who’s not blind, escorts Blind Man 1 to the room where the elephant is resided. He grabs the trunk of the elephant, gives it to the blind man and tells him;
“What you are now holding is a big branch of a special and rare tree. You will be returned to the room you were sat, a man will come to you and try to convince you that this is not a branch but something else. Do not believe that man, he wishes to mislead you for everyone wants to get this priceless branch. Stand your ground and you will be given this rare tree branch, believe him and he will take it from you and sell it for the millions that it is worth”.
The blind man believes him and is returned to the room where the other blind men were sitting. Blind Man No 2 is now taken to the room where the elephant is, and he is given the tail of the elephant. Like the blind man before him he is told what he has just been giving is a priceless item, a man will come and try convince him otherwise and that he should not believe him but rather stick to his grounds. Blind man no 3 and 4 are separately followed shortly thereafter, they also being told the same narrative as the ones before them.
You now have four blind men, each have been told a lie and been instructed to stand their grounds. They have been told you are an enemy that has come to take away a priceless item from them; if they disbelieve you they will be gain massive financial rewards.
How do you convince them that what they have been told is a lie that in fact they just been allowed to touch four different parts of the one and same elephant? The first major challenge you have is to convince them that you are actually not a blind person.
Solve this parable and perhaps you then you are fit enough to become President of the Federal Republic of Somalia…
Zakia Hussen
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