Aware (woreda)

Aware (Somali: Awaare) is one of the woredas (districts) of Ethiopia in the Ogaden, commonly known as Somali Galbeed or Somali State. Part of the Jarar Zone, formerly Degehabur Zone, Aware is bordered on the south by Gunagadow, on the west by Degehabur, on the north by the Jijiga Zone, on the northeast by Somalia, and on the east by Misraq Gashamo. Major towns in Aware include Aware, Bukudhawo, Gurdumi, Koore, Dusmo, Bulaale, Annanu. Gunagadow, Daroor, Yoocaale, and Gashamo woredas were all separated from Aware between 1995 and 2015.

Overview

Situated near the border with Somalia, Aware is one of the oldest cities in the Ogaden, with history spanning over centuries. Prior to the 1977 Ogaden War ('77 War) between Ethiopia and Somalia, the city served as the principal seat of the Jarar Zone. At the onset of the '77 war, the provincial capital of the zone was moved more inland to Degehabur, which by the early 70's surpassed Aware both in population and in economic importance. The city was the seat of the British administration in the Haud prior to Somali independence in 1960. Aware has dry pasturage. However, the construction of private wells and birkas (underground concrete water tanks), a development which started in the 1950s and later on dramatically increased after the 1970s, offered a solution to the absence of permanent water. While this encouraged birka owners to further diversify traditional animal husbandry beyond camels and small ruminants into water-dependent cattle, this also increased livestock population in an overpopulated region, putting additional pressure on shrinking resource base; the vicinity of almost every settlement in Aware have become overgrazed by cattle belonging to the villagers, thus driving away ideal nomads raising camels and small ruminants in the eternal search for pasture and water.^[1]

As part of their response to the local insurgency, the Ethiopian army enforced a trade embargo on part of the Somali Region which includes Aware. In early June 2007, a truck transporting goods (sugar, oil, and other food items) from Hargeysa was stopped by a military patrol 12 kilometers from Aware town, near the village of Dud Adaad. The patrol accused the truck's owner of delivering food to the Ogaden National Liberation Front, and confiscated his truck. In mid-September of the same year, three more commercial trucks traveling from Hargeysa to Aware were stopped and confiscated by the army at Bukudhaba village.^[2]

British Control

Part of the Haud, Aware was the only city in present-day Ethiopia that the British had established a presence including a sizable military contingent. The city served as the provincial capital of the British administration in the Haud and later Reserve Area. An extension of British Somaliland, Britain maintained the Haud Protectorate until 1948, when it informally recognized the area as Ethiopian territory and eventually ceded control of the land in 1960. However, it will continue to maintain a small support administration in the city for another few years.

Renown Primary School

Aware boasts a prestigious primary school that is world renown. Established by the British in the mid 1940's and taught by white instructors from England, the school would come to define the future of the city for decades. The grades 1-6 school was the only school Britain had ever established in present-day Ethiopia, owing to British administration of the Haud which included Aware as its provincial capital. The school would rival the only other English language school established by Britain in the horn - the famous Sheekh Primary School in Sheekh, Somaliland, which would rise to the preeminent institution in British Somaliland. Together, the two schools produced generations of educated leaders who would go on to dominate politics and business for many decades in their respective regions and in Somalia in general. Aware and Sheekh primary schools acted as the feeder schools for political and military leaders in Somalia in its heyday. In the 1982 Somali cabinet in Mogadishu, a third or 4 out of 12 cabinet members were graduates of Aware Primary School. This unprecedented success of the school was a testament to the quality of the British school system which has transcended into the Horn.

The school helped the city transform into a burgeoning economic hub by the late 1950's and onto the 1960's. It has contributed to the city's reputation for elite, civilized population when education in the rest of the region remained relatively primitive and out of reach. The legacy of Aware Primary school is still felt to this day, with graduates achieving considerable success in higher education and business later on in life in Ethiopia or abroad. Students who have earned top marks from the school and have gone abroad have consistently outperformed their counterparts in their resident countries including United States and United Kingdom. This is a well known fact about the school.

The original British-built school with its unique architecture and design has deteriorated to the point of no recognition. Quality of education has also gradually declined vis-à-vis under British administration. However, the school is still ranked favorably, occasionally topping the national Ethiopian examination score cards. Efforts to rename the school as Suldaan Biixi Primary School have stalled in the past but is now being reconsidered in the city council.

Economy

Economy in the Ogaden is underdeveloped by all standards. It is largely dependent on traditional livestock much like neighboring Somalia and Somaliland. Remittances from abroad also contribute to the subsistence economy. From the late 1940's to early 1970's, which is thought to be the city's golden times, Aware was a leading economic hub, with somewhat diverse economic base, thanks to its natural proximity to Ports and large international cities such as Hargeisa. A modern British school located in the city has also created educated workforce who excelled in cross-border trade. Because of its strategic location, the city was gateway to the Ogaden region from the North, with direct linkage to the Aden Port in Yemen via Berbera in Somaliland. By early 1950's, merchants from the city have established commercial businesses in Aden, bringing the latest merchandise to the city, which in turn supplied large parts of the Ogaden. Economy boomed, standard of living dramatically increased, making the city a magnet for enterprising Somali businessmen from all over the region. During this period, the city has developed into a large population center.

The burgeoning economy in the city was hampered by successive wars, initially clan-based and later between Ethiopia and various liberation movements which were all based in the city or nearby villages. Between 2007 and 2017, the city was effectively blockaded on all sides under the order of the former Somali regional president Cabdi Maxamuud Cumar because of a perceived disloyalty of the Reer Isaaq clan to the TPLF regime. The blockade had led to the near-total collapse of the city. As part of the blockade, the 82 km road between Aware and degehbur was indefinitely closed with no travel allowed anywhere along the road. The road to Hargeisa was all but suspended, effectively cutting off the city from historic commercial and travel links to the North. The road to Warder was also suspended under the pretense of security. With multiple checkpoints installed around the city to prevent free movement of people and business, the city has nearly succumbed to its demise.

The sustained campaign to suppress the city has caused catastrophic humanitarian situations, with claims of a genocide frequently being raised.

New President

The fall of the former president of the Somali region Cabdi Maxamuud Cumar in August, 2018 closed the darkest chapter of the city's history. The election of Mustafa Cumar who is a native of the city had brought a renewed hope to the residents. A sense of normalcy has returned to the city. The road to Degehbur has already reopened, business is slowly recovering, ONLF fighters and exiles are both pouring into the city in droves. Optimism seems to prevail.

Landmarks

The city has numerous landmarks and attractions that are part of the city's historical records. Aware is most famous for its wild horses, perhaps the single most recognizable symbol of the city. Untamed, wild horses roam the city, leading many historians to take account of the city for this majestic animal. Large and diverse in colors, the horses can often been seen grazing in the greens east of the City. They are a relic of the bygone era of Sayid Maxamed Cabdille Xassan, the father of Pan-Somali liberation who is considered the greatest Somali ever. Sayid Maxamed maintained his headquarters in the nearby Aware sub-division of Gurdumi for some years. Gurdumi was the main training camp for thousands of horses each year to make them battle-ready for the Sayid's fighting force. The training camp along with structures built by Sayid Maxamed still stand today in Gurdumi. After the end of the Darwish wars, the remaining horses were brought to Aware in search of water. They have never left. Despite best efforts to relocate some of the horses, which numbered 350 at their height, to nearby cities and villages, they have always managed to sneak back to Aware, creating a permanent home for themselves in the city, and in return, changing the face of the city, forever! The song "Fardihii Awaariyo" (Aware's Horses) by the famous Somali singer Maxamed Saleebaan Tubeec in 1976 remains a popular song among all those who have connections to the city.

Aware is also known for its tasty water which comes from water wells concentrated in the middle of the city. The taste of the water is held as a point of pride by the local people. Biyaha Macaan (delicious water), as locals call it, is considered a city flair, almost to the point of local delicacy. People visiting the city are sure to discover and taste the acclaimed water. Privately-owned water wells continue to be the life-blood of the city even with the advent of water rigs. Sibidhle, the legendary well developed by Badal Cali Dibad in 1969 is an iconic landmark in the city. Famous for its abundant water, producing more than 5,000 gallons per day at the height of the dry summer season, Sibidhle inspired many poems and songs, often on account of its tasty and abundant water.

The city's most famous natural landscape "Deyrka" lies just outside the city. A large, dense forest called "Deyrka" hugs the city from the south just 5 miles away and covering an area of approximately 200 km2. Considered a local treasure in the Somali region, Deyrka created infinite folktales and admirers for generations, often in relation to its varied plant species and characters of its size such as the difficulty of navigating the immense land. Deyrka is a significant source of cultural influence as evidenced by the number of songs and poems that include the enchanting site in their lyrics and hymns. The most popular somali song in history "Dirgax" with more than 9 million views on YouTube^[3] uses Deyrka as its setting. The song opens with the line "Ma yartaan daydayee....Deyrka baandheeyaybaa," (The girl that I have been searching for, the girl I have meticulously searched the Deyrka because of her....)

Climate

The city has pleasant weather year-round, with no humidity during the dry hot summers when temps spike above 80 °F (27 °C) or the chilling cold in other big cities in the region such as Jig-jiga. Rainfall has become increasingly irregular, with no measurable precipitation in some years and substantial rainfall in other years. This irregular weather pattern due to global warming has resulted recurring draughts in the region in the last 20 years.

Demographics

Based on preliminary 2017 estimates, the district (Woreda)has a population of 125,482, ranking it as the 7th most populous Woreda in the Somali State and 2nd most populous Woreda within the Degehabur Zone. Because of its high population and the large territory encompassed, Aware Woreda surpasses the threshold needed to be upgraded to a Zone status. This conversion to the Zone status is widely expected and will most certainly happen within the next regional parliamentary sessions in 2018/2019. The redistricting will see Aware split from Degehabur Zone. The 2007 Census conducted by the Central Statistical Agency of Ethiopia (CSA) was deemed unsatisfactory due to ongoing war between the ONLF and Ethiopian defense forces with Aware at its epicenter. The 1997 national census reported a total population for this woreda of 103,337, of whom 55,839 were men and 47,498 were women; 22,518 or 21.79% of its population were urban dwellers. The largest ethnic group reported in Aware was the Somali.^[5]

This city is almost exclusively inhabited by the Ciidagale sub-clan of the Isaaq clan.

Prominent Figures

• Mustafa Muxumed Cumar, president of the Somali State
• Makhtal Daahir, founder of WSLF independence movement and later ONLF
• Suldaan Biixi Muumin Fooleey, Sultan of the Ogaden clan, prominent leader of the Somali Independence for the Ogaden & Somaliland
• Gen Maxamed Muumin Dacay, founding member of the Somali Revolutionary Council(SRC), Governor of Kismayo (now Jubaland) in the 70's
• Korneyl Axmed Cumar Jees, colonel in the Somali Army and later founder of SPM
• Maxamed Cumar Jees, minister of Planning and later minister of Education in Somalia
• Asli Hassan Abade, first female pilot in Africa and the only female fighter jet pilot in the Somali Air Force, decorated for bravery in the '77 war
• Gen Abdi Muumin Dacay, first somali fighter jet pilot in the Somali Air Force
• Gen Cabdiraxmaan Khaliif Dhicis, Joint Chiefs of Staff of the Somali Army in the late 80's
• Deeq Cali Dibad, first Somali PhD holder from the Ogaden, and one of the first Somali anywhere
• Xuseen Sheekh Cabdiraxmaan(Xuseen Mataan), minister of defense and attorney general of Somalia in the late 70's and 80's
• Xuseen Qaasin, minister of Natural Resources and later minister of Planning in Somalia in 1974-86
• Guuleed Xuseen Qaasin, minister of Telecommunication and Transportation in Somalia
• Korneyl Doolaal Aadan Xaal-xaali, colonel in the Somali Army, former deputy leader of ONLF
• Axmed Budul, Somali artist based in Jigjiga

Notes

Coordinates: 8°35′N 44°00′E / 8.583°N 44.000°E / 8.583; 44.000