By Ibrahim Haji Ali, a pioneer Oromo journalist, singer, poet, and linguist who mentored and inspired many young Oromo artists and journalists, died on 22 December 2020 after months of illness. He was 72.
Ibrahim was born in 1948 and raised in Dire Dawa city, which is considered the New York of Hararghe since its creation along the Djibouti-Finfinne railway line. He grew up when the town was evolving and fostering a thoroughgoing Oromo cultural revival that culminated in the birth of the Afran Qallo Cultural Troupe in 1960, which spearheaded and inspired musical performances and educational dramas.
Ibrahim’s father, Haji Ali Boru, was a prosperous and respected businessman who served as a role model for the emerging Oromo urban elite. Because of the family wealth, Ibrahim had a comfortable life as a child and as a young man. He was a delightful and diligent child who performed well both in religious studies and formal education, the latter of which he followed to secondary level.
He proved a deep love for sport and music at a tender age. He combined his passion with the capacity to organize and guide his peers in the local football team from where he progressed into wearing the number 10 shirt for the Civil Aviation football club.
Ibrahim wore many hats. He was a singer-songwriter who also played the keyboard, guitar, organ, and other musical instruments. He began his singing career with a group known as Suk-al-Ilaak, which later became one of the successor bands after the imperial regime suppressed the Afran Qallo musical group.
As a vocalist, among many other singles, he leaves behind the much-loved hit, “As Koottuu Asiin Jiraa,” a timeless traditional tune that was a must for any aspiring singer to perform. Ibrahim passed the test with distinction.
He also had substantial input to his colleagues’ successes in the youthful band, such as Hime Yousuf, Muqbil “Mixii,” Hamido, and many other talented performers whose many enduring tunes are venerated by later generations.
Ibrahim later moved to the Ethiopian capital Finfinne (Addis Ababa), where along with his colleagues, he formed the Adu Birra Band. Finfinne is located at the heart of the Oromo country, but it was devoid of tangible traces of Oromo cultural heritage at the time. It fell on Ibrahim and the many talented pioneers of the Adu Birra Band, including the matchless Ali Birra, to introduce and popularize modern Oromo music in the City. The band performed in nightclubs and intermittently at the Macha-Tulama Association’s bimonthly meetings until its closure about 1967. Ibrahim was an outstanding contributor and performer throughout this period.
With the Aduu Birra Band, Ibrahim toured different parts of Oromia, learning from and entertaining the ever-wider audience through melodic songs. He was put on the spot on one occasion in Gidami, Qellem Wallaga, where the band performed in a concert that became memorable for unearthing another young talent named Abitew Kebede. Throughout, Ibrahim was a laudable member of Aduu Birraa, which showed itself as an authentic successor at the national level to the cultural revival mantle of the disbanded Afran Qallo Cultural Troupe.
After the coming into power of the military regime in 1974, Ethiopia saw the launch of the first private newspaper and the first Oromo language newspaper, Bariisaa. It was the brainchild of Mahdi Hamid Mude (Tullu), which soon stirred and rallied many patriotic writers and contributors. Ibrahim was among its founding members. It was while working at Bariisa that Ibrahim got his other talents toned.
In addition to journalism, he had a strong will and capacity for not only absorbing but also living Afaan Oromo’s infinitely rich lexicon. He enjoyed documenting and comparing shades of meanings of ordinary and idiomatic expressions from all corners of Oromia and their applications in the Oromo society’s dynamic life. The experience stood him in good stead when the much sought after and inevitable opportunity for public use of Afaan Oromo arose.
In the wake of the 1991 changes that ushered in public use of the Oromo language in all aspects of life, including administration, schools, hospitals, courts, etc. in the Oromia state, Ibrahim seized every opportunity to put his passion, talent, and experience to good use in the development of the Oromo media.
He ran his own popular and substantive show – Faana Afaan Oromoo – on Fana Radio, engaging the broader public in understanding the language in written, spoken, and singing form. In his twin interests of sport and journalism, Ibrahim was ever effusive with keen analysis and perceptive commentaries of events, particularly football. He reported from the Moscow Olympics, indulging his two passions of enjoying the feasts of sports and living the journalist.
Ibrahim was an enthusiastic, hardworking, and effusive contributor in the Oromo language standardization committee, of which he was a long-standing member. He thoroughly enjoyed contributing to the committee’s work and loved and respected his colleagues. His approach was inclusive research and patient comparison of dialectic meanings before application to relatively new situations. Ibrahim was reasonably content with efforts being exerted to develop his cherished Oromo language through the bodies and channels he was involved with. At the same time, he was keenly aware of instances when things went needlessly awry despite their best efforts.
One time, the committee he worked in agreed to introduce “hookkara bittineessaa” for “riot control,” which appears entirely sound. A zealous reporter hurriedly but mistakenly pronounced it as “kora bittineessaa,” which means “meeting disruptors,” and the rest of the media quickly grabbed and ran with it. Ibrahim said his committee had a hard time to put things right, so the unintended usage remained for some time.
It is customary for some people to shower the departed with praise, even showing qualities unknown during their lifetime. However, the few facts raised here are but a small part of Ibrahim’s wider attributes and many contributions, which are recognized and celebrated by his colleagues, friends, and admirers. I hope someone more informed will make a more detailed presentation of Ibrahim’s life and work in due course, making up for the present piece’s shortfall.
Ibrahim lived through a tumultuous era that saw the Oromo language evolve from being banned and condemned to extinction to becoming an official medium in Oromia and being taught and researched at the Ph.D. level. He took great pride in his contributions toward these hard-won gains.
Ibrahim is survived by ten children. Copious solace to his family, friends, and admirers and eternal peace for his soul.
🧵(Read the paper below)
(Kabajamaa) Ibrahim Haji Ali was a versatile man — gifted singer, musician, composer and poet. He was one of the founders of the Afran Qallo Band, a group of pioneer art movement in setting a standard for #Oromo modern music in the 20th century. pic.twitter.com/znTCn8Kxe1
— Soretti Saleh (@sorettisaleh) December 23, 2020
Very sad to learn that veteran journalist, musician, sport commentator and language expert Ibrahim Haji Ali passed away.
His knowledge on Afaan #Oromo was like an ocean. He was like a ‘dictionary’ – someone we look up to for expertise on the language.
Rest in Peace! #Ethiopia pic.twitter.com/GpJ5gtXhwW— Bekele Atoma Boru (@bek_boru) December 23, 2020
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