There is a Somali wisdom that divides men into six categories:
Nin Rag ah iyo Rag kalkaal, Rife iyo Rife Kalkaal, Abeeso laa iyo Ana waa i kan, to explain the riddle, it means Nin Rag ah (or a Real Man) is a man of initiatives who is bestowed with sound judgment and clear vision; a man whose ideas and proposals lead the clan to peace and prosperity.

Rag Kalkaal or supporter of the Real Man is an honest man with good conscience who can appreciate and support the man of ideas and stand by him.
Rife or shredder is one who tries to kill all good endeavors and pokes holes into every good idea; a man who is inhabited by evil demons and cannot stand to see good taking root in the society.

Rife-kalkaal or shredder supporter is a man who is always ready to support the destructive ideas of Rife.

Abeeso laa or snake-killer, in the traditional Somali nomad and rural culture, is the cobbler man who makes and mends shoes, or the artisan who makes handicrafts. Due to the nature of their work, these skilled men always practice their trade at the family camp or abode. Therefore, they became handy whenever the women of the clan encountered a danger such as snakes. These men are called for to help to kill the snakes, thus came their name snake-killer.

Anna Waa i kan, or here I am too, is a man with low intelligence but lucky to be married to an intelligent woman. She keeps her eyes and ears open and whenever she comes to know that the men of the clan had met and decided to raise funds for a cause, she would send her husband with his contribution in hand and tell him to go to the meeting and tell them that you were there too to pay your share. He then would go and say, " I am here too."

Therefore, when I stumbled on WardheerNews on the first day while browsing the Internet, my initial hunch was that WardheerNews was not Rife or Rife Kalkaal, nor indeed Abeeso Laa or Anna Waa i kan but a real Nin Rag ah iyo Rag kalkaal. My hunch was later proven right by the website's highbrow journalistic standard and its powerful and pithy editorials, a trend that has been pioneered by Awdalnews Network among Somali websites. Several other websites have since tried to follow the example but it is only WardheerNews that has paralleled Awdalnews by bringing forth such brain teasing, thought-provoking and timely editorials. It is indeed admirable to see the wealth of excellent articles, reports and research material that Wardheernews has built up just in one year.

I say hurrah to the team of WardheerNews who manage this splendid and informative website. By their concerted and dedicated effort, WardheerNews has left behind the plethora of many Somali Anna Waa i Kan websites, which make a few flashes here and there and then disappear into the dark like a lightning bug.

Bashir Goth
bsogoth@yahoo.com 

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