Awdalnews Network,

Abu Dhabi, 26 Nov. 2004— Supporters of Burao University, the latest in Somaliland’s growing list of universities, launched a campaign on Thursday, 25 Nov. 2005, to raise around US$ 30,000 from the Somaliland Community working in the UAE and other Gulf countries.

As part of worldwide fund raising drive to secure US$ 212,000 needed for the construction of a purpose-built campus for the nascent university, the Campaign representative Muuse Idigaa said that the plan was to obtain the targeted funds by the end of 2004, start the construction by January and aim for completion by May 2005.

Opening the meeting held in Abu Dhabi and attended by a selected group of Somalilanders, Adan Idigaa, a UAE resident, said the event was the second to be held in the UAE. The first was held earlier in the week in the scenic University City of Al Ain where Dr. Sa’ad Ali Shire, the man behind the Burao University project and Manager of the London office of Dahab Shiil, the global money transfer company, met with a number of Somaliland intellectuals and prominent community members.

Briefing the audience on the history of the project, Muuse Idigaa, also a staffer of Dahab Shiil, London, said the history of the University of Burao went way back to 1998 when the University of Hargeisa was at the planning stage.

“The intention was then to establish in Burao a Veterinary Department and a Centre for Arid Land and Rural Development Studies, which would be part of the University of Hargeisa. The Mayor of Burao at the time was keen on the idea and showed commitment to facilitate their establishment. But the plan did not materialize for various reasons until June 19th 2004, when the university was officially inaugurated as an independent institution of higher education,” he said.

Talking on behalf of Dr. Shire who departed earlier in the day for Djibouti, Muuse Idigaa said that the research carried out prior to the university’s establishment had illustrated the need for a university for the city of Burao, the second largest city in Somaliland and the country’s livestock commercial hub.

Responding to questions raised by some skeptics on the need for a university for a town that possesses less number of secondary and primary schools than its counterparts in the western regions of the country, Muuse Idigaa affirmed that the research had shown that with a population estimated at between 250 and 300,000 people, 11,000 students in the various levels of schools and two secondary schools with enrolment of 500 students, it was concluded that there was a great need for a university in Burao and the whole of Togdheer region.

“With the absence of boarding facilities in the current two universities of Amoud and Hargeisa, the first high school graduates of Burao couldn’t find a university education,” Muuse Idigaa said, noting that within the coming few years more students will be completing the high school and without a university they will only contribute to swell the already over saturated ranks of the jobless youth loitering around in the streets.

Further highlighting the need for the establishment of Burao University any other higher education institution in Somaliland, Idigaa said that through their research the pioneers of the project found that research was the key factor for any country’s development and that no credible and scientific research could be conducted in the absence of higher education institutions.

Elaborating the picture of the bleak future that was approaching fast if the current situation of lack of higher education institutions was allowed to continue, Idigaa said “With 95% of the country’s educated class living abroad and the remaining 5% either taking lucrative government jobs or joining the ranks of the graying generation, there will be a big hole in our education system and a wide knowledge gap between the educated class and the young generation”, underlining such development will only contribute to the gravity of the current situation of a society deprived of doctors, engineers, teachers and professionals in the various walks of life.

The audience raised the issue of the recognition of the degrees issued by Somaliland universities. With three batches graduated from Amoud and the first class graduated from Hargeisa University, it worries many people that the lack of recognition of their degrees may have a negative effect in Somaliland universities’ credibility and discourage the disapora Somalilanders from sending their children back home for higher learning.

Muuse Idigaa, however, said that Burao University had benefited from the experience of the other two universities before it, Amoud and Hargeisa universities, and was working to avoid all the pitfalls. He added that the university, started in the academic year 2004/5, was offering two degree courses and a non-degree program in four departments including:

• The Department of Veterinary Medicine
• The Department of Education
• The Department of Business and Finance
• The Department of continuing education and community development

Muuse Idigaa added the university campus would be constructed at the seat of the former Forestry and Range Management School, located in the North-Western suburbs (Shab) about two Kilometres from the centre of the city.

Explaining the current status of the university’s allocated structure, Muuse Idigaa said as per information he gleaned from the University’s Website, the campus site covers an area of about 17 hectares, and consists of 14 desolate structures including a sports ground, a lecture hall, classes, offices, a Library, a computer room, laboratories, a mosque and toilet facilities

All the buildings stand without roof and windows, and some of them have been badly damaged. They need to be repaired, rebuilt and reinforced so that more floors can be added on top to make room for additional classrooms, laboratories and offices. While building work is under way, the university will be located temporarily at Burao regional headquarter compound of the Ministry of Pastoral Development and Environment, where five rooms – 2 classes, 2 offices and a library room have been allocated to the university. A lecture/seminar/conference which is shared with the Ministry is also available.

There was a lively participation of the attendants in the discussions that followed the briefings. The audience also included three educated Somaliland women, Rhoda Rage, Amina Ali and Hinda Mohammed Jama whose input and enthusiasm had added a much needed voice and momentum to the campaign. Rhoda pledged to single-handedly raise US$1000. It was also announced in the meeting that Adan Idigaa had obtained more than 4000 books for the university.

Later, Dr. Shire who spoke to the audience through a telephone call from Djibouti emphasized the role the university would play in the development of Burao and the Togdheer region, underlining that investment on research was the key for development.

At the end the floor was given to Ismail Ali Abokor, a former Somali Vice President, political prisoner and a respected elder.

Abokor said that he was glad to have lived to see his country’s people building universities and enthusiastically working on educational projects. “Good educational institutions are vital for the return of our people and our children from the diaspora,” he said.

Remembering the days when education started in the former British Protectorate, Abokor said that he was enrolled in school in 1947 in Sheikh, as the second in-take of students since the inception of the modern school system in Somaliland in 1945, and graduated from Amoud Secondary school in 1954.

“It took 57 years for me to see a university to be built in my hometown of Burao. This is the beginning of the end of our life in the diaspora. Soon our children will be learning at home and growing up among their people and in their culture,” he said.

He, however, encouraged the audience to work equally and diligently for the recognition of Somaliland.

“We have to know that without the recognition of Somaliland as a sovereign state and recognized member of the international community our universities will not be recognized,” he added, noting that working robustly for the recognition of Somaliland should be a top priority for every Somalilander.

The meeting was concluded with the announcement of the names of the Committee assigned to carry out the fund raising campaign.

A similar two-tier committee was earlier formed in Al Ain including a fund raising committee and a technical committee consisting of Somali teachers working in Al Ain University who will advise Burao University on academic issues

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