By Osman Hassan
Ali Mire Awale was one leading fathers of formal education in British Somaliland Protectorate whose birth place is Sheikh, where the first Intermediate and elementary boarding schools were built in 1944 soon after the end of the Second World War. Among them, Mohamoud Ahmed Ali was the most senior and truly the father of formal education in the British colony, Second place goes to Yusuf Haji Aden. Next in rank come Mohamed Shire, Abusalaam Hassan, and Yusuf Ismail Samater, all of the same ranking Ali came after them and recruited in 1944 as elaborated below. In this context, Ali was the last surviving member of those giants and so era has come to an end. As one of his students from those early days, I would give particular reminiscences to our early years in Sheikh, from 1945 to1953.
Ali Mire (AHN) was born 1926 in Higloole, a location not far from Buuhoodle, from a typically nomadic family background. At the age of eight, his aunt took him to Aden in 1934 believing that his future would be better in a town, and what better town than Aden which in those days was the ultimate dream place for Somalis in the north. As a teenager, he had to fend for himself and earn his living from odd jobs here and there. But mere survival was not his only concern.
Even at his early age, young Ali was instilled with a relentless drive to get educated in order to rise up in life. He saw all around many Somalis in Aden who did that from scratch, a phenomena specific to Aden Somalis unequalled in those days by any other Somali diaspora elsewhere. And so he picked up fast spoken Arabic and English. Ali came to know of a class where some Somalis were taking evening classes. Unable to find the required fees, Ali would surreptitiously come to next to an open window and listen to the lessons given orally or on the blackboard.
One evening, the teacher spotted him, asked to explain himself, and when he did, the teacher was amazed how much he learned by peeping through the window and asked him henceforth to join the class. He did and thanks to that opportunity acquired reasonable knowledge of the language and other basic knowledge of arithmetic. Ali also became a distinguished sportsman and came to be known the best hockey player (see picture).
From Aden to Sheikh School
When Ali was 18 years (sometime in 1944) he came back to British Somaliland to visit his family. On the return back to Aden, he stopped at Sheikh to visit the school. By chance, he met Abdi Said (AHN), the school storekeeper and sports manager. Abdi, a former Adenese himself, recognised Ali and took him to Mohamoud Ahmed Ali. They were all keen to have Ali in Sheikh and so went to the Principal, Mr Bell, if Ali could be engaged.
Teachers were so scarce in those days and so Ali was engaged but was first given crash courses for months by the senior teachers. After finishing his course, his immediate assignment was to teach those adult students, among them Ali Garaad Jama. Thereafter, he became a full-time teacher, first at the elementary school (he taught us arithmetic) and later the intermediate school (he taught us geography).
What distinguished Ali Mire from others at Sheikh
The education given was bereft of Somali culture and history. English and Arabic were the medium of instruction. History taught was colonial British history, how they conquered the world and ruled. All the teachers followed the imposed curriculum. But two went beyond that and inculcated us our Somali roots. Yusuf Haji Aden, by far the most nationalist would always depart from his subject and go on about the colonisation of the Somali homeland and its partition and recite moving Somali poems about freedom and Somali unity. Ali on the other hand would instil in us our Somali roots, reciting Somali folklore and producing plays on famous characters.
But more than anything else, history will always remember Ali Mire -as long as the Somali State – for composing the song “Soomaaliyee toosoo, toosoo isku tiirsada” (wake up Somalis, wake up and unite). This was recited each time his plays were held in the school or taken to places like Berbera. And so in the end, the song was chosen as the national anthem.
One unforgettable anecdote
One anecdote, somewhat funny, is worth recalling. As geographic teacher, we learned from him for the first time that the world was round rather than being flat which was the conventional wisdom in Somalia until then. This caused much uproar in the school and in Sheikh. But it did more than that when he was interviewed one day by Abdu Dualeh Ayuub of Radio Hargeisa which enraged many in Hargeisa who considered his teaching a heresy and Abi Dualeh had to avoid coming down town lest he would be mobbed.
Highlights of the rest of his life
- In 1957 he was sent to London for further education
- He graduated from Chelsea college and came back to Somalia in 1959 and finally become reginal education director in Somalia
- In 1967 he was employed by the Police and was responsible for enhancement of the police education
- He was again appointed as regional education director.
- 1975 he was among many directors who were dismissed by the military government as “Kacaan Diid”
- He travelled to Saudi Arbia in 1975 and was employed by the American Consulate in Dahraan and remained in Saudi Arabia until 1989.
- In 1992, he came to USA and remained until his death.
It is a sad reflection on the state of Somalia that his death received no public mention in the State media let alone give him a national mourning and funeral which he deserves. May Allah has mercy on him and all his contemporaries in Sheikh and all those they taught.
Osman Hassan
Email: [email protected]
Osman Hassan is a seasoned journalist and a former UN staff member. Mr Hassan is also a regular contributor to WardheerNews.
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