Tuesday August 27, 2024
By Mahad Mohamed
![](/images/2024/Aug/2024827638603559027410798onlfj.jpg)
A member of the Ogaden National Liberation Front, an insurgent group in Ethiopia, marches with other fighters in the bush. Credit /Vanessa Vick for The New York Times
On August 15, 1984, the Ogaden National Liberation Front
(ONLF) was established, marking a significant moment in the history of the
Ogaden people. At the time, I was a 20-year-old living in Mogadishu, a city
already beset by turmoil. However, the situation in the Ogaden was even grimmer—a
region devastated by endless conflict and despair. The people of Ogadenia
longed for hope but were met only with suffering as war ravaged their homeland.
In February 1990, I visited the Ogaden region and witnessed
firsthand the deep disconnect between the people and the Ethiopian government.
Basic necessities like education, healthcare, and clean water were nonexistent.
In the 1970s, the Western Somali Liberation Front (WSLF) was the primary
freedom fighter in the Somali Region, advocating for the self-determination of
ethnic Somalis in the Ogaden region. However, the WSLF was caught between the
Ethiopia-Somalia Ogaden War of 1977, leaving the Ogaden people trapped in a
relentless cycle of violence. The formation of the ONLF, however, offered a
glimmer of hope.
As the people of Ogaden became disillusioned with the WSLF's
ability to represent their aspirations and hopes, the ONLF was founded in 1984
by members of the WSLF diplomatic corps stationed in Middle Eastern countries.
The first chairman of the ONLF was Sheikh Ibrahim Abdalla (May Allah shower His
mercy on him), with Mohamed Sirad Dolaal serving as his foreign secretary and
deputy (May Allah shower His mercy on him). In February 1999, Mohamed Omar
Osman, a former Admiral of the Somali Navy, was elected leader in London as the
diaspora from the region increased in Western Europe and North America during
the 1980s and 1990s.
After the 1977 war, the Derg regime under Mengistu
established the Ogaden Autonomous Administration in what was then the Eastern
Hararge region, with Harar and Godey as its administrative cities. Leaders like
Bashiir Sayid, Abdi Harir Hashi Bare, and Mahdi Ayuub played important roles in
ensuring, for the first time in history, that the voices of the Ogaden people
were heard by the Ethiopian government. During my brief stay in Harar and Dire
Dawa, I had the privilege of engaging in long conversations with most of these
leaders to gain a good sense of the situation on the ground. I also met Sheikh
Abdirahman Sh Kassim in Dire Dawa—a man who, like many Ogaden statesmen, was
unjustly imprisoned from 1963 to 1990 for peacefully resisting to defend the
rights of his people. My journey also took me through several cities in the
Ogaden region, including Dhagahbur and Jigjiga.
On April 11, 1990, I took a train from Dire Dawa to Djibouti
to visit my brother-in-law, Ismail Ali Yusuf (May Allah grant him Jannah).
Realizing the grim prospects in both Somalia and Ethiopia, I lost hope in
continuing my business ventures and planned to travel to the USA after
obtaining a visa in Djibouti. After briefly returning to Mogadishu to see my
family, I traveled to the USA and landed in Washington, D.C. on June 1, 1990. I
stayed with my cousin, former Somali Minister Hussein Qasim, as we discussed
the ongoing struggles in the Ogaden and reflected on the devastating war that
began in 1977. For decades, the Ogaden people have been denied the right to
determine their own destiny, continually living under threat. On June 11, 1990,
I moved to Ottawa, Canada, like thousands of Somali refugees and immigrants, to
settle and start fresh.
The ONLF's struggle can be divided into two significant
phases. In 1992, after the TPLF toppled the Mengistu regime, a new federal
constitution was drafted that introduced ethnic federalism in Ethiopia.
Although the ONLF was not recognized as part of the coalition that shared
power, it nevertheless returned to the region, participated in the first
election, and won an overwhelming majority in the state legislature and federal
parliamentary seats representing the Somali Region. During this phase, the ONLF
dominated regional administrations and established the Somali Regional State
institutions, with Godey as its administrative city. However, the absence of
the necessary infrastructure for state functions and the heavy-handed
interventions of the federal military and security forces made it impossible
for the new administration to serve and meet the enormous expectations of its
people. This led the ONLF to call for a referendum on secession, as provided
for in Article 33 of the federal constitution. The federal government
intervened, canceling the vote and moving the regional administrative city from
Godey to Jigjiga—a decision that caused the ONLF to abandon its participation
in the government.
In 1996, the ONLF became an armed liberation front, which
the federal government labeled as an outlawed and terrorist organization. All
these developments occurred under the leadership of Sheikh Ibrahim. The second
phase began under the leadership of Admiral Mohamed O. Osman (1999-2018), which
was the bloodiest and most painful for the local Ogaden population, regardless
of their support or membership in the ONLF. The ONLF mobilized the Somali
diaspora in Europe and North America, using the Ogaden diaspora as a base to
raise funds and apply political pressure on the Ethiopian federal government in
international arenas. This internal and external pressure led by the ONLF
culminated in 2018 when the TPLF-led coalition was toppled, bringing Prime
Minister Abiy Ahmed to power.
Returning to an earlier part of my story, I met Joseph Nur,
a Somali Christian born in Ethiopia, who shared with me an interesting document
revealing that Shell Oil planned to begin oil extraction in the Ogaden in 1996.
This project was expected to boost Ethiopia’s economy by 20%, yet the entire
board of directors consisted of Tigrinya officials, with no representation from
the Ogaden.
Joseph warned that this oil project would lead to the
destruction of the Somali people in Ethiopia. This realization gave the ONLF
renewed momentum, and we, the Ogaden diaspora community, intensified our
support for the struggle. Since 1995, thousands have died, and countless others
have been displaced due to the armed resistance. Although the losses are
immense, we take pride in the ONLF’s resilience in preventing the TPLF
government from realizing its target to extract oil in 1996, which posed an
existential threat to our people. In 2007, the ONLF’s military wing stormed and
destroyed a Chinese-run oilfield in the Ogaden region, forcing their
withdrawal. Forty years after its creation, the ONLF remains a symbol of our
resistance and fight for self-determination. We pay tribute, pray for, and
honor those who lost their lives; they will forever remain in our thoughts and
prayers.
The struggle for justice and self-determination for the
Ogaden region continues. In 2018, the Somali government under President Mohamed
Abdullahi Farmaajo and Prime Minister Khayre unlawfully extradited Abdikarin Sh
Muse (Qalbi Dhagah), a prominent and iconic freedom fighter, to Ethiopia.
Furthermore, the Council of Ministers passed a resolution labeling the ONLF as
a terrorist organization, placing many lives at risk.
The people of Ogaden have suffered and endured hardship and
subjugation since 1921, yet we have never given up and remain steadfast. May
Allah bless and protect all Somali people, wherever they are in the Somali
peninsula and abroad.
Mahad Mohamed is a Ottawa Businessman and Member of the Ogaden Community in Canada