ABSTRACT
The lifespan of the modern nation-state as designed by Britain and Italy for the Somali people was brief. On the eve of independence in July 1960, the former colonial powers fashioned a constitution that sought to enable the formerly British north and the Italian south Somaliland to integrate their governing strategies into one coherent administration. 1 It was a lastminute attempt by Britain who decided to relinquish its control of its northern Somali territories shortly after Italy announced independence for the south. No two European systems were more different, nor were the lifestyles of the European peoples and those of the Somalis.
