Abdi-Rizak M Warfa

Long before Mustafa Omer, commonly known by his nickname Cagjar, became president of the Somali Region, and a vocal critic of his predecessor Abdi Iley, he was a thorn in the side of Ethiopia’s intellectual elites, frequently challenging their narratives about Somali identity and the region’s history. A striking example of this can be found in a 2010 article he published under the pseudonym Muktar M. Omer.

Musician and activist Mohamed Adam, widely known as Wd Abu firmly believes that music alone is enough to reach people’s hearts; a belief rooted in his childhood, when he spent cherished summer holidays with his grandmother in the “Almada” yard in Nyala city, the capital of South Darfur state. This area was renowned for its folklore festivals, where people gathered to sing and dance to traditional beats, each tribe forming its own circle and expressing itself through distinctive dances.

On a recent visit to Addis Ababa, I accompanied my cousin to the Ethiopian Immigration and Citizenship Services Office in the Kazanchis area of the city—a trendy neighbourhood named after an Italian construction company. My cousin was there to apply for a yellow card, a residency permit that grants members of the diaspora certain privileges, such as exemption from entry visas and some restrictions applied to foreign nationals visiting Ethiopia.