The study of Marxist-Leninist revolutionary theory proved beneficial by the beginning of 1974; it came to the youth as both a panacea for the region’s social ills and a venue for intellectual growth. Marxism provided the youth of the time a rare perspective on the dynamics of oppression and liberation as two sides of the same coin. It quenched the starving patriotic souls with sound theoretical reasoning and the difficult journey ahead to “freedom, equality, and social consciousness”.
By the mid-1970s, hundreds of students returned to Jigjiga after abandoning their stations in the rural areas where they served the villageization program (Zemacha). Most of the returnees were older and had much more exposure to the Ethiopian debate, particularly the debate on nations and nationalities and the right to self-determination, a subject matter that particularly appealed to Somalis. They were armed with Marxism to the teeth! With a culture of clandestine reading of Marxist and other revolutionary literature.
Two issues confronted the youth: the 1974 famine and educating the urban workers. For the youth, studying powerful ideas, combined with practical activism to creat voluteer groups to raise funds for famine victims and educate the masses, was the quickest way to become hardcore revolutionaries. At the risk of being arrested or losing their life, the youth dared a campaign of teaching the Somali script to willing adults secretly. Therefore, the study of Marxist literature, learning and teaching the Somali script underground, the city emerged with bustling student cells. Any respected Somali student of high school level or higher had to be a member of a well-organized clandestine circle as part of a larger program for the liberation of the Somalis in Ethiopia. Often, discussions and discourse with other non-Somali circles became the venue to familiarize oneself with the prevailing discourse about the revolution. The most contentious issue has always been the right of the Somali nation to self-determination. The most referenced book was “Lenin’s Remarks on the National Question.” The Somali youth at the time believed that, given the right opportunity, the Somali nation would choose independence; the other side would take a position that would leave the doors open for either independence or regional autonomy.
Nonetheless, both sides were united in fighting oppression and subjugation, no matter who the perpetrators were. And that was then, the reality of 1975.
A clear pattern of two different classes of students would soon emerge in Jigjiga: one was the “buug cas” (those who accepted the “red book”) and the rest. A good number from the ranks of those who did not join the revolutionary fervor of the time were co-opted by the regime through an aggressive job training program – a program called “Ogaden youth employment.” The agricultural program of SERP was the ideal entity to employ those who chose to collaborate with the government. The deadlier group was the security team called “hisbi dirijit,” in other words, the Banda of the Fida team. Idealistic and highly well read in leftist literature (including the works of Marx, Engels, Lenin, Mao Zedong, Tolstoy, Dostoyevsky, Rosa Luxemburg, Karl Kautsky, Gorky, and Che Guevara, to just mention a few), the “buug cas,” or those who read the “red book,” boycotted the job program. Ultimately, the latter group ended up joining the armed movements, exiled to foreign countries, or some perished. That was then, 50 years ago to this date.
By. Engineer Faisal Abdi Roble
