By Abdullahi Jamaa | Wajir Today

When Abdirahman Abdinur Ali was enrolled as the first student in Wajir High School in 1965, independent Kenya was barely two years old, and the Northern Frontier District was at the height of the infamous Shifta War that took place between 1963 and 1967.

Abdirahman, then a young man, was fortunate to be the first student admitted to the first secondary school in the entire region. With admission number 001, he is a living legend among the few peers from his generation.

He looks back on his life at Wajir High School with tempered reflection, recalling the dawn of his educational journey as an ambitious Form One student at a time when schooling was not easy for the overwhelming majority of boys and girls from the parched and bare region.

“I can’t remember the exact number but we were about twenty students in the first class,” says Abdirahman to the best of his recollection. “That time, the school had one block of classes and two dormitories.”

The father of eleven has his roots in neighbouring Mandera, where he began his primary schooling in 1958 under Kenya’s colonial education system, known for its discrimination against native Africans.

Armed with an insatiable passion for education, Abdirahman, like many other African students at the time, weathered the storm of colonial oppression to get educated.

“I started my primary education at Mandera Government African School. That time the education system was still under the influence of the British colonialists,” he says.

From Mandera, he moved to Moyale, where he continued with his primary education before transferring in 1962 to Wajir Full Primary School, established in 1948 as the Government African School by the British colonial authorities.

By the time he was transitioning to high school, the entire region was in the middle of a political and security quagmire emanating from a standoff between the new Kenyan government and the Northern Province People’s Progressive Party (NPPPP).

The locals’ secession agenda, backed by neighbouring Somalia, morphed into what was widely known as the Shifta War, which brought large-scale disruption to life in the region.

“Things were not good those days. There was widespread insecurity and disruptions to people’s life in the region,” he says.

Despite the great difficulties of transitioning to secondary school at such a confusing time, Mr Abdirahman rolled up his sleeves to achieve a milestone.

Enrolling at Wajir High School in 1965 was more than a personal achievement, it was the beginning of a story that laid the foundation for a proud tradition, as class after class followed in his footsteps, building a legacy that has stood the test of time.

Now celebrating 60 years since its founding, the school honours Mr Abdinur as a living thread in its rich tapestry of history that defines the struggle for education in this part of the world.

Being among the first cohort of students to occupy its classrooms and dormitories, he stands as a testament to the humble beginnings where the seeds of the school’s proud legacy were first sown.

Wajir High School was his home until 1968, when he completed his secondary education and proceeded to a certificate course in range management at the Animal Health and Industry Training Institute (AHITI).

A year later, he was deployed to Garissa as Assistant Range Management Officer with the Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock, a position he held until the end of 1970.

After completing several professional courses related to his field and earning a diploma in range management from Egerton University, Abdirahman became Deputy Principal at Griftu Pastoral Training Centre, a position he held between 1972 and 1976.

He later moved to his hometown, Mandera, as a range management officer with the Ministry of Agriculture, a position he held until his retirement in 1996.

As his former school prepares to celebrate six decades of academic excellence on 12 July 2025, the ageing Abdirahman is considering joining the rest of the old boys to mark a celebration of his history, the biggest the school has had since its inception.

“I am considering attending the event. I am told the young boys are eagerly waiting for my presence,” Abdirahman says.