By: Yusuf M Hasan
HARGEISA (Somalilandsun) – Prof Ahmed Ismail Samatar is set to return home after decades of exile on June 2nd 2013.
This was revealed by Fisheries minister Mr. Abdilahi Jama Osman ‘Geeljire’ who is chairing a special welcoming committee appointed by President Silanyo to make arrangements for receiving Prof Samatar.
The arrival of Prof Samatar who is the country’s undisputed prodigal son is highly anticipated by citizens thousands of whom are already in the port city of Berbera where they will be joined by others from various parts of the country in welcoming the prof who shall land in the port city through an Ethiopian airlines flight from Addis Ababa.
The hullabaloo created by not only the imminent arrival of Prof Samatar but his announcement that he is homebound emanate from the fact he, the good Prof, has been a thorn in the flesh of Somalilanders for over two decades due to his then professed allegiance to a united and federated Somalia republic thus in direct opposition to the sovereignty of Somaliland, his motherland.
Apart from his numerous writings that had always been very anti-Somaliland Prof Samatar was a member of the current parliament in Somalia, a membership he gained prior to contesting that country’s presidential elections where he garnered 8 votes in in Mogadishu in September 2012.
A few months later the US based prof who resigned his parliamentary seat made an astonishing announcement that he did so after it come to light that he is considered an outsider due to his Somaliland origins.
The Prof then stunned both Somalians and Somalilanders alike when he subsequently renounced his allegiance to a united and federated Somalia thus transferring his allegiance back where it belong, his motherland Somaliland.
opinion is divided on the now professed liking for Somaliland by Pro Samatar with some opinionating that the prof has already done a lot of damage thus his return is useless and others saying that it is the perfect and timely move.
The pros and cons of the Prof Samatar return shall be discerned once he is back in the country and after he completes a nationwide tour which he has informed is geared towards sharing his pro-Somalia experiences with fellow citizens.
The anticipation of the Prodigal’s son arrival is visibly through big billboards erected in major cities of the country.
