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An Ogaden
Hero: A Tribute To Sheikh Ibrahim Abdalla |
Ogaden Online Editorial
June 23, 2008
Heroes are borne from circumstances. They
are a product of their environment. They
come to embody a situation and a period of
time. Sheikh Ibrahim Abdalla was a true
Ogaden hero. To the people of Ogaden, he was
synonymous with the struggle. He was
deliberate in speech and steady in thought.
He was constantly working whether it was
joining others to found the Ogaden National
Liberation Front (ONLF), or writing a book
for the generations that come after him.
To this Ogaden hero, there was seemingly an
unlimited variety of ways to support the
struggle. While he is best remembered for
leading the ONLF through the decision to
pursue armed struggle, he was also a man who
left no stone unturned to seek to obtain the
rights of the Somali people of Ogaden to
self-determination through peaceful means.
His courage was well known to all our
freedom fighters, and he was loved by all of
us.
History gives us very few heroes as such,
when they pass it is cause for pause and
reflection. If nothing else, the greatest
tribute to Sheikh Ibrahim Abdalla and the
hero's before him and those who will come
after him is to ensure that this generation
will be the last generation of our people
under occupation.
For all those who bled in the sands of
Ogaden; for all those who walked countless
miles under the hot sun to find the enemy;
for all those who tended to a wounded
freedom fighter; for all those who stood up
to the occupation; and for all the heroes of
our struggle, your sacrifice will not be in
vain. As assured is the sun's rise in the
morning and its setting in the evening, your
sacrifice will not be in vain.
The march of the people of Ogaden towards
freedom is unstoppable. Every village
burned, every father killed, and every
community harassed by the occupation forces
produces another Sheikh Ibrahim, another
Makhtal Dahir, and another hero. We cannot
be stopped in our march forward as we are at
a point of no return. Our people will go all
the way this time for we have nothing left
to lose.
This is the generation that will free Ogaden.
This is the generation that will conclude
our centuries old struggle for freedom. This
is the generation that will pay back all the
heroes who have given everything so that we
can someday have something to be proud of.
Our time is now and our moment is here.
Africa will witness the birth of a new
nation borne of over 100 plus years of
struggle and personal sacrifice. We will not
be denied what our fathers and their fathers
have bled for and died for. We will not be
denied what our brethren have suffered for.
Surely we will not be denied what is
rightfully ours.
Freedom is not and has never been free but
we are willing, ready, and able to pay the
price. Ogaden belongs to us and we will take
it back by any means necessary. While we
mourn the passing of our great hero Sheikh
Ibrahim Abdalla, we celebrate his heroic
acts to rid Ogaden of the Tigrian tyranny.
editorial@ogaden.com
Ogaden Online Editorial
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