When I was in 21 Oktober elementary school, back in Somalia, I got into a major argument with a boy in my class.... I have forgotten what the argument was about, but I have never forgotten the lesson I learned that day. I was convinced that "I" was right and "he" was wrong ... and he was just as convinced that "I" was wrong and "he" was right.

The teacher decided to teach us a very important lesson. She brought us up to the front of the class and placed him on one side of her desk and me on the other. In the middle of her desk was a large, round object. I could clearly see that it was black. She asked the boy what color the object was. "White," he answered....I couldn't believe he said the object was white, when it was obviously black! Another argument started between my classmate and me, this time about the color of the object.

The teacher told me to go stand where the boy was standing and told him to come stand where I had been. We changed places, and now she asked me what the color of the object was. I had to answer, "White." It was an object with two differently colored sides, and from his viewpoint it was white. Only from my side was it black. My teacher taught me a very important lesson that day: You must stand in the other person's shoes and look at the situation through their eyes in order to truly understand their perspective...because once you have closed your mind to thinking that only you are right, you have actually rejected the whole truth...

The bottom line is that, some inhabitants of Geddo region have viewed Omar Hajji as a desctructive and power abuser. Some others have seen him as a Sade’s best leader ever known. Thus, by reading Hassan’s article leaves me wondering: is this man just an insatiable political animal? Or is he Geddo’s last best hope?...

Whatever the answer might be, the prospects for a peaceful solution in Geddo region are hanging over a series of "ifs." If Omar Hajji were willing to give up the leadership of SNF, if the ‘former presidential candidate’ would not challenge Omar with SNF chairman, if Itihad militants would accept something less than complete power in the region, and if Ethiopia would stop funding the insurgents, peace would be possible. I believe these conditions could be met, if only one of the parties would make the first move...