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Jigjiga Has Shown Its Warm Hospitality to Mogadishu |
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  Jigjiga Has Shown Its Warm Hospitality to Mogadishu
March 7th, 2013
By. Dr Mohamed Abbas
Watching from afar, and from thousands of miles away, I was delighted to listen the breaking news about the visit of a Somali Parliamentary delegation led by the country’s Parliament Speaker Mr. Mohamed Sh. Osman Jawaari to Jigjiga, the capital of the Somali Regional State in eastern Ethiopia. Once the small white Ethiopian flagship plane touched down at Garaad Wiil-Waal International Airport, Mr. Jawaari stepped out from the plane with a determined step of someone who knew where he was visiting. This delegation flew in to Jigjiga from the Ethiopian federal capital Addis Ababa, but their emotional state upon arrival in Jigjiga was not the same as when they landed at Bole international airport in Addis Ababa few days earlier. To Speaker Jawaari and his team, visiting Jigjiga was being at home away from home.
A Warm Welcome:
Hundreds of well-wishers came out to welcome the Somali Parliamentary delegation, chanting: “soo dhawaada, soo dhawaada.” But the most stunning image that attracted many viewers was the two children clad in a Somali traditional dress presenting flowers to the visiting Parliament Speaker. The atmosphere seemed to be more carnival than a reception for both visitors and local cheering crowd. Led by the President of the Regional State Abdi Mohamed Omar and members of his cabinet, the people of Jigjiga greeted the Somali delegation with an extravagant celebration that included the Somali traditional dance called dhaanto, which is mostly performed by the Somali Ogaden folks.
First Impression
Upon arrival, the Somali Parliament Speaker Mr. Jawaari and his delegation were very much impressed with the city’s modern state-of-the-art airport, that even their words were not enough to convey their positive feelings. Their mere glance and body language can reveal how impressed and pleased they were to visit Jigjiga especially when you look at the photos taken while they were walking on the fine marble covering the floor and through the glass corridors of the glistering Garaad Wiil-Waal International Airport. To everyone who visits Jigjiga, the beauty of the city and its massive growth are visible from every corner. To those who live beyond its environs like myself can follow up this unprecedented development from the state government’s own TV channel known as ESTV. If truth be told, it is not an exaggeration to say that today Jigjiga is one of the most bustling cities in East Africa.
But to some critics, this warm reception is partly a striking political move from the state government to showcase its political, social and economic development in the Somali-speaking Ogaden region in eastern Ethiopia.
Was It an Experience-Sharing Visit?
The purpose of this visit was said to be an “experience-sharing” between Mogadishu and Jigjiga. But was this indeed an experience-sharing from both sides? In my view, it was one way communication. In other words, it was Jigjiga sharing its development experience with Mogadishu, and not the other way round. At the moment, we all know that Somalia has nothing positive to share with. The country’s newly-elected government remains under the protection of the African Union troops. The Somali president Hassan Sheikh Mohamud himself still dares not to walk among his people without having these foreign troops as a shield. The country’s capital is no longer what it used to be as most of its buildings are still pockmarked by bullets following the 22-year of the inhumane destruction caused to the city. Mogadishu was once called the “pearl of the Indian ocean.” Today, it is called the capital of the world’s No.1 failed state.
Speaker Jawaari with President Abdi Omar
Despite the fact that Jigjiga and Mogadishu are not comparable now in terms of peace, stability and development, nonetheless, nobody can deny that the two cities share many other points of contact. The residents of both cities speak the same language, belong to the same Somali ethnic, and share the same faith and cultural roots.
At the President’s office, the state government officials have shared their development experience with the Somali Parliamentary delegation. These included agriculture, health, vocational training, rural settlement and development, watershed and land management. The succeeding state governments have transformed Jigjiga from being a sleeping town into a well-heeled booming city in a very short period of time, a phenomenal success that did not take place elsewhere in Ethiopia.
In a PowerPoint presentation, the state government also shared its experience in the country’s political development with Jawaari and his delegation. This presentation covered Ethiopia’s federal system which is an ethnic-based structure, and how this system works especially with regards to the relationship between the state government and the central authority in Addis Ababa.
During their two-day visit, Speaker Jawaari and his delegation visited a number of landmarks in Jigjiga such as the city’s main referral hospital, Teachers’ Training College and Jigjiga University which has over 15,000 students including hundreds of students from Somalia who are studying there under the state government scholarship programme.
A Spectacular Farewell:
President Abdi Mohamed Omar has hosted a dinner in honour of the visiting Somali Parliament Speaker. The dress code for this farewell has been a black-tie affair, in other words: a Western dress code. But suddenly something interesting has happened. The President surprised the Speaker after he dressed him in traditional Somali attire that consist of macawis (sarong), men’s shawl (go’ shaal ah), and Somali traditional-stick (bakoorad). Both leaders were all smiles as they stared performing the Somali traditional dance known as dhaanto.
Later on, speaking before a friendly crowd at the farewell dinner, Speaker Jawaari said he and his delegation were overjoyed with the warm welcome they received from the state government and from the people of Jigjiga.
It goes without saying that honouring your guests and pampering them is what the Somali people are generally famous for and it is deeply rooted in their culture wherever they may be found. And in this case, you’ll agree with me that Jigjiga was not in short supply to offer its friendly reception and warm hospitality to the Somali Parliament Speaker and his delegation.
Dr. Mohamed Abbas
Chairman,
Jubbaland Intellectuals
Kismaayo91@hotmail.com |
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#1 |
on March 10 2013 06:23:38
#2 |
on March 28 2013 16:38:16
#3 |
on April 25 2013 04:39:29
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