After establishing his business in Belet Weyne he traveled to Mogadishu in 1944 and met the men of the Somali Youth Club (SYC), which changed its name to Somali Youth League (SYL) in 1945, and became member number thirty. He also registered Abdullahi Issa Mohamoud as member number twenty-nine. Upon his return to Belet Weyne he told Sheikh Ali Jimale about the new organization, who subsequently joined. The SYC opened a branch office in Belet Weyne a year later and Osman and Jimale rotated as the SYC branch secretary.

Abdi Ismail Samatar, Africa’s First Democrats, loc. 181