Jijiga

Infobox Settlement
official_name = Jijiga
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pushpin_label_position = bottom
pushpin_map_caption = Location within Ethiopia
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subdivision_type = Country
subdivision_name = Ethiopia
subdivision_type1 = Region
subdivision_name1 = Somali
subdivision_type2 = Zone
subdivision_name2 = Jijiga
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population_total = 98,076
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timezone = EAT
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latd=9 |latm=21 |latNS=N
longd=42 |longm=48 |longEW=E
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elevation_m = 1609
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footnotes = Jijiga ( _so. "Jigjiga") is a city in eastern Ethiopia and the capital of the Somali Region (or "kilil") of that country. Located in the Jijiga Zone approximately 80 km (50 mi) east of Harar and 60 km (37 mi) west of the border with the Republic of Somaliland (northern Somalia), this city has a latitude and longitude of coord|9|21|N|42|48|E|region:ET-SO_type:city(98076) with an elevation of 1609 meters above sea level.

Based on figures from the Central Statistical Agency in 2005, Jijiga has an estimated total population of 98,076 of whom 50,355 were males and 47,721 were females. [ [http://www.csa.gov.et/text_files/2005_national_statistics.htm CSA 2005 National Statistics] , Table B.4] According to the 1994 national census this city had a population of 56,821 people. This city is the largest settlement in Jijiga woreda.

In his memoirs of his homeland, Nega Mezlekia describes Jijiga as sitting "on a vast, unmitigated plain, with no greenery in sight except for the occasional cactus bush used as shelter by the wandering hyena, and the inevitable sacred tree in every compound. The city is surrounded by rocky mountains on all sides save the north, which is open as far as the eye can see." [Nega Mezlekia , "Notes from the Hyena's Belly: An Ethiopian Childhood" (New York: Picador,2000), p. 5. ISBN 0312289146]

The city is located on the main road between Harar and the Somali city of Hargeisa, and is known for incense production. It has enjoyed postal service since 1923, and had telephone service by 1956. [http://130.238.24.99/library/resources/dossiers/local_history_of_ethiopia/j/ORTJI.pdf "Local History in Ethiopia"] (pdf) The Nordic Africa Institute website (accessed 31 May 2008)] Jijiga is served by Jijiga Airport airport codes|JIJ|HAJJ.

History

Jijiga was a city of Hararghe province, but with the adoption of the 1995 Ethiopian constitution, it became the capital of the Somali Region. Jigjiga is the birth place of Garaad Wiil Waal of the Bartire sub-clan of the Jidwaq clan, who along with Weyteen (younger brother), Yabare-Jidwaaq, Geri, are the main residents.

According to I. M. Lewis, Jijiga was attacked by the followers of Sayyid Mohammed Abdullah Hassan in March, 1900. Although the attackers suffered heavy losses which allowed the Ethiopian government to declare a victory, Siyyid Mohammed's men recovered livestock the Ethiopians had taken from the Somalis and proved that Siyyid Mohammed was a force to be reckoned with. [I. M. Lewis, "A Modern History of the Somali", fourth edition (Oxford: James Currey, 2002), p. 71.] However, Richard Pankhurst states that Jijiga was founded in 1916 by Fitawrari Tekle Hawaryat, who had the town methodically organized in a square grid of streets. [Richard Pankhurst, "Economic History of Ethiopia" (Addis Ababa: Haile Selassie University, 1968), p. 621]

During the Second Italo-Ethiopian War, Jijiga served for some time as Dejazmach Nasibu Emmanual's headquarters and a supply center for the Ethiopian army. An Italian force under Colonel Navarra occupied the city on the evening of 5 May 1936. Two days later, while inspecting a ruined Ethiopian Orthodox church in the city, Marshal Rodolfo Graziani fell into a concealed hole, which he was afterwards convinced was a mantrap; Anthony Mockler suggests this mishap contributed to his murderously paranoid mindset which led to the atrocities that followed the attempt on Graziani's life 19 February 1937. [Anthony Mockler, "Haile Selassie's War" (New York: Olive Branch, 2003), p. 144] Jijiga was occupied by the 23rd Nigerian Brigade 17 March 1941, after the Italian garrison had abandoned the city. [Mockler, pp. 365f]

Once they had possession of Jijiga, however, the British were slow in returning the city to the Ethiopians. At first, it was included as part of The Reserved Area, as defined in the Anglo-Ethiopian Agreement of 31 January 1942, which also included much of the Haud. Only after patient pressure from Emperor Haile Selassie, in 1948 the two countries began to discuss an agreement for the evacuation of the British from this territory. Although Ethiopian officers began to take over the administration from British officers in May-July, the protocol agreeing to the transfer was not signed until 24 July of that year. A brief demonstration of overt Somali nationalism occurred in Jijiga when the Somali Youth League (SYL) raised their flag before their headquarters in defiance of the law and the new Ethiopian administrators. Major Demeka, the governor-designate of the Ogaden Province, requested the British military administration, which was still in charge, to remove the flag. When the leaders refused to pull down their flag, the police brought it down with a machine gun mounted on an armored car. In the disturbances that followed, one policeman was killed and another wounded while the police opened fire on the crowd and killed 25 of them. The SYL was proscribed shortly afterwards in Ethiopia.

Germane Neway, one of the leaders of the unsuccessful 1960 coup, served as governor over Jijiga in 1959. He had been transferred there for his civic responsibility and concern for the underprivileged while administering a district in Sidamo Province. The obstruction he encountered, not only in Sidamo but in Jijiga, convinced him of the need for radical measures. [Bahru Zewde, "A History of Modern Ethiopia: 1855-1991", 2nd edition (Oxford: James Currey, 2001), p. 213] In the early stage of the Ethiopian Revolution individual units from the Third Division put the local governor under house arrest around 13 April 1974.

During the Ogaden War, Jijiga was occupied by the Western Somali Liberation Front's Ahmad ibn Ibrihim al-Ghazi division led by Col. Yusuf Dheere, later with the Somali National Army, from September 1977 to February 1978. On 28 May, 2007, during the celebration of Ginbot 20 (celebrating the downfall of the Derg), Jijiga and Degehabur were the scenes of attacks on civilians and government officials. At least 16 people were killed and 67 injured, including Abdulahi Hassan Mohammed, president of the Somali Region, who was speaking at the ceremony. The Ethiopian government blamed the attack on the Ogaden National Liberation Front. [ [http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/75E9A636-0634-40CA-81BF-D1598386E18F.htm Many killed in Ethiopia attacks] (al Jazeera)]

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External links

* [http://web.archive.org/web/20070405112211/http://www.addistribune.com/Archives/2001/12/28-12-01/CITIES.htm Cities of Ethiopia: Jijiga] by John Graham (Addis Tribune, 28 December 2001)