As far as his writing talent is concerned, in my opinion, Nuruddin Farah is one of Africa ’s best writers; and a fine novelist at that, by any standard. I am one of his admirers as an artist. However, I am disappointed with some of his political characterization of Emperor Menelik II, colonialism and the aspiration of the Somali Islamists, besides the denial of his birth place. Let me quote him to substantiate my assertions:

“I was born and raised in Somalia …”

“With the collapse of the Ottomans, the last Islamic empire, the Europeans — meeting in Berlin in the late 1800s — worked out a system by which portions of Somalia went to Italy , Britain and France . Because Menelik II, Emperor of Ethiopia, pleaded with his fellow Christians, claiming that his country was a Christian island in an Islamic ocean, Ethiopia was, in time, given a share in the land grab, the Somali-speaking Ogaden. This territory has remained the bane of Somalia ’s blighted dealings with Ethiopia .”

“It could be that Sheik Aweys and his fellow Islamists are modeling their struggle on the first Somali to wage an anticolonial war in the name of Islam against Christian invaders. Maxamed Cabdulle Xasan fought for the reinstitution of Somalia ’s religious and national dignity. A letter he wrote to the British government in the early years of the 20th century spells out his aims: “I want to protect my own religion. All you can get from me is war, nothing else. We ask for Allah’s blessings. Allah is with me as I write this. If you want war, I am ready; if you want peace, go away from my country.” So what can be done?”

First and foremost, Nuruddin Farah was not born in Somalia . He was born in Ethiopia as an Ethiopian and raised in Ethiopia , at least until he completed elementary school. He left for Somalia later on. He himself had told me this when we met in Germany about 26 years ago. We had corresponded after that for a while. There are also other sources that attest to the fact that he was born in Ethiopia . In denying his identity, Mr. Farah has betrayed his own people-the Somali Ethiopians who struggle to better their lives within Ethiopia . As such, he has acted as a traitor and opportunist. If he was a man worthy of his salt, he would admit that he is a Somali-Ethiopian, and join forces with the Somali-Ethiopians in their struggle for their well-being, than distancing himself away from them and doing nothing for their betterment. Since he received at least his elementary education in Ethiopia , he owes something to the Ethiopian tax-payers. In disassociating himself from them, he has also proven to be ungrateful to those who had contributed to his upbringing.

To furnish him with a bit of history lesson without implying anything else besides straightening the historical record, the Somalia he favors over his own country, was a part and parcel of the Ethiopian Empire as far back as 2000 years ago. 2000 years ago when Somalia was not yet called Somalia, and Ogaden was called “Awlat”, Somalia and Ogaden were ruled as one entity by an Ethiopian king named Mogadishi who reigned under Emperor Bazzen whose capital was in Ethiopia proper. The capital of Somalia , Mogadisho, which bears his name to this day, is a proof for this. King Mogadishi was one of the twelve great Ethiopian kings and prophets who took gifts for the baby Jesus and traveled for two years as far as Jerusalem and Bethlehem , following the star which signaled His birth. As I said, I am simply stating the fact. I am not in any way implying that Somalia should now belong to Ethiopia , as this can easily be misconstrued.

To state that European colonizers sympathized and helped Emperor Menelik II acquire land during the “Scramble for Africa ” is either a naive way of looking at the history of colonialism or a deliberate distortion of history to deceive those unfamiliar with colonial and Ethiopian history. European colonizers never sympathized with anyone, Christian or no Christian, that resisted them or went against their interest as did Emperor Menelik II. It was Christian Italy which made an attempt to colonize Ethiopia twice in 1896 and 1936 inflicting on her untold misery and havoc, besides looting and burning churches. Ethiopia kept her independence because of the unity and bravery of her people, as well as the mercy of God.

Speaking about Somalia and her struggle for independence against British and Italian colonialism, Ethiopia had played a vital role at least twice, contrary to what Mr. Farah contends. The first was in the beginning of the 20th Century, the second in the late 1950’s and early 60s. The grand son of the very Emperor Menelik II, Lij Iyasu, was against the British and Italian colonization of Somalia and Northern Ethiopia . As such, he provided the Somali leader, Mr. Farah mentioned above, Mohamed Abdulahi Hassan, with moral and material support. Among the recorded gifts he sent him were lots of money and six camel-loads of ammunitions and guns. It was Ethiopia who fought first and foremost in the United Nations for the independence of Somalia as recently as 40 years ago in the persons of Ethiopian convoys and foreign ministers, Ketema Yifru and Minassie Haile. The truth should be revealed to straighten the record.

Mr. Farah states, “It could be that Sheik Aweys and his fellow Islamists are modeling their struggle on the first Somali to wage an anti-colonial war in the name of Islam against Christian invaders.”

From this and from his statement regarding Ogaden, we deduce that Sheik Aweys and his fellow Islamists are fighting for the liberation of Ogaden. I thought that they were struggling to establish themselves in Somalia proper and to settle their own internal differences. Mr. Farah presents the problem of Somalia as Islam versus Christianity, which is a flat denial of the reality on the ground. If the Islamists have ambitions on Ogaden, wouldn’t Mr. Nuruddin Farah’s assertion justify Meles Zenawi’s involvement in Somalia ? I think this backfires on Mr. Nuruddin Farah.