'Leadership requires patience' - Yaa Naa Abukari Mahama II

The overlord of Dagbon, Yaa Naa Abukari Mahama (II) says good leadership requires patience.

He has accordingly advised royals of the Dagbon Kingdom who are keenly aspiring to contest for positions to lead various towns and villages of the Kingdom to adopt extreme patience as one of the critical leadership qualities required to position them to occupy chieftaincy positions is his Kingdom.

He said as royals, who are supposed to lead by example, they must eschew all forms of vindictiveness including Jealousy of one another, display of dishonesty to succeed, and lack of patience to force ambitious royals to adopt shortcut as the easiest way to get to the top in traditional leadership.

According to the Lion, tolerance and honesty are key virtues that must cloud the leadership qualities all royals in the Kingdom must possess. Should the following charateristics of leadership qualities be followed properly by all royals, he said it will keep the traditional area united, intact, peaceful and prosperous.

Under the circumstance, he charged the chiefs and people of Dagbon to accommodate each other, and adopt new workable measures that will guarantee peace and security in Dagbon, which is the biggest and most populous Kingdom in Northern Ghana.

Speaking in an interview exclusively with Gbewaa Show, a popular Northern television programme, monitored by GhanaWeb's Daniel Kaku, dedicated to the founder of the Dagbon Kingdom, Naa Gbewaa, the King outlined key measures he will adopt to deal decisively with issues of chieftaincy disputes in the Kingdom.

First, he said his primary responsibility is to idenfy issues causing divisions, disunity, and mistrust among royals and after that, they will be dealt with decisively and with dispatch.

Other negativities coming out of the disputes and drawing back the development of the great Kingdom, he said will be identified immediately and adressed amicably by stakeholders.

Consequently, he declared that the Abudu and Andani fracas that had set Dagbon ablaze for nearly two decades, and rendered the Kingdom underdeveloped, was henceforth over following his ascension to the anviable throne last month.

"My word to chiefs of Dagbon is very simple. They must follow due process in selecting chiefs and sub-chiefs, abide by custom and tradition hitherto underpining the supreme values of the Kingdom", he said.

He continued "They must consider the supreme interest of the Kingdom as the ultimate goal of leadership. Those who are royals, must know that if you sow a good seed today, you will harvest well tomorrow".

"They must look at my track record, and adopt it as an example in their lives. If you bid for any chieftaincy position and you dont get it, it is not yet your time. Please do not set the town or community in turmoil. Let us maintain peace, unity and focus our leadership direction towards development of Dagbon", remembered.

He recalled the number of times he bidded for various towns and villages as a young prince of the Kingdom but lost during the late Yaa Naa Yakubu Andani (II) who was his son.

He said he never caught the eye of the King until when he got to his prime age and had an opportunity for the first time to rule Kpunkponi, a village within the Kingdom.

Following that, he said he never looked back and never looked down upon others in the Kingdom who were equally aspiring to lead and truly had their chances ahead of him.

He explained that although Kpunkponi never became his last destination because, he never rejected the opportunity offered but devoted himself to serve the Kingdom in any capacity.

"I grabbed it with all hands, knowing very well that there were better days ahead. Subsequently, i was elevated to Yoo, the Savelugu paramountcy, which is the Savelugu Municipality. Today, i am the overlord. This humble story must inspire all royals to want to follow due process as you aspire to climb the leadership ladder in Dagbon", he emphasized.

Explaining why he said the Abudu and Andani fracas was over, the Lion said the grandfather, Yaa Naa Yakuba gave birth to Abudu and Andani, an indication that both Abudus and Andanis were actually from one royal gate, and that consideration must clearly serve as the singular motivation to inspire followers to endeavour to irradicate the division that took over the traditional leadership and governance in Dagbon.

"We must kill all forms of divisions in the Kingdom, embrace peace and unity. I guarantee you, let us do these things and watch how Dagbon will be transformed in terms of development in the shortest possible time".

He appealed to scholars of the Kingdom to contribute towards the rebuilding of the Kingdom. In doing so, he cautioned that they must take politics out of Dagbon and desist from meddling in traditional process of selecting chiefs.

He called for forgiveness among indigenes of the Kingdom, noting that they must support each other in sustaining lasting peace and tranquility in the Kingdom to guarantee development.