RE: Youth of Naniik Clan call for peace amid paramountcy dispute with Tanmoung

I have read in the GhanaWeb, the above captioned Press Release and wish to react as follows:

Much as it is a laudable idea for any person in society to comment on this issue of the Naniik Paramountcy and to sue for peace, it is important for us not to let imposters throw dust into the eyes of the public to confuse the issues at stake in the instant matter.

The supposed “Spokesperson for the Concerned Youth of Naniik Clan, Duwaar Dubik” though a Naniik Clansman is an imposter.

There is no such Group in Naniik that supports him. If indeed there was he should have named the membership of his supposed “Concerned Youth of Naniik who sat with him to hatch that treachery against the clan. He lives in Bimbagu amongst the Tamoung Clansmen and wants to sow this seed of discord among the Naniik clansmen.

He is a traitor to the Naniik Clan cause.

He attacked my integrity by writing this about me:

“We find the language and assertions used by Lawyer Mahama Dubik deeply troubling and a recipe to bring about clan clashes.”

“It is not true that the Tanmoung people are tenants on Naniik’s land nor is it true that they owe allegiance to Konkomba Chief”.

Either this quisling did not read what I wrote or the Tamoung clansmen have bought him over.

In my rejoinder to the Tamoung clansmen’s Press Conference, I only restated what the historical facts are and the Judgment of our Overlord, the Nayiri, His Royal Highness Naa Bohugu Abdulai Sheriga II of Manprugu kingdom on the issue dated 22nd December, 2022.

Is Mr. Duwaar Dubik saying that the Nayiri is wrong in his judgment?

If he is sowing treachery amongst the people, same should not be alluding that the Nayiri is wrong and that some unknown eminent persons should dialogue on it. It is not negotiable. This is a Judgment that has been passed and is based on sound facts.

Duwaar Dubik is thriving in naivety, which is rather dangerous to the peace of the area. When he says “Let us engage in dialogue to find an amicable solution that will foster growth and development in our area”. It means that he does not recognize Nayiri’s judgment and it should be set aside and be replaced by his unknown proposals that should suit his purpose. Though a Naniik by blood, he does not recognize that the Naniik Clan lands are different from those of Tanmoung. Again, he unilaterally is saying that the judgment in favour of the Naniik clan and the elevation of Naniik skin to Paramountcy over such lands is untenable. What a treachery!

Who is Duwaar Dubik?

He is notoriously known for always illegally challenging traditional and customary authorities in every place he lived. He was born and raised up in Ejura in the Ashanti Region but he had to in 1999 escape from Ejura to Bimbagu for his dear life because he had impudently and unjustifiably offended the customary authorities of the area and he was declared Persona non grata and he had to flee for his dear life. He remains a fugitive in that environment to date.

Mr. Duwaar Dubik does not know the history of the settlement of Naniik and should never confuse the people of Naniik as he is bereft of his background and wisdom. He will admit that I am older in age than his biological father and I do not think his father is one of the concerned Naniik youth he seeks to represent in his Press Release.

For example, he had in my conversation with him prior to his Press Release, claimed and insisted that Najikong and Kunkomon as he had been told belong to the Tamoung Clan despite the fact that I had drawn his attention to the Judgment of the Nayiri and history as well as the physical realities on the ground in the Naniik enclave which is distinct. I reprimanded him for such acts of treachery and the result were verbal insults he rained on me.

The settlement around Najikong which is originally known as Naniik Gberuk in particular was first settled by Chamba Boklik who had two (2) sons and as at 1953 one of his sons Boklik Lambon also known as Awutu (deceased) was enskinned the first Konbonaba of the place by our first chief in 1953. Boklik Lambon a.k.a Awutu was the father of Mr. Karte Lambon and his other children some of whom are deceased. The other son of Boklik was Boklik Konlan also called Kujok who was the grandfather of Mr. Abu Danumin Subiniman and others.

The Tamoung settlers came later. Some of them were Kontiang, Kanjantoon Duut, Baakir and Kunjantoon Nankaab who was the grandfather of Matthew Bitian and Baakir (deceased). Baakir also had a brother called Wakpaal Kampi who used to visit him from Japar in Togo.

All of them were blood relatives who came from Japar in Togo and settled there at which time Boklik and his family and relatives were already there. He allowed them to settle with him in the interior.

Other clansmen and people who were present there were Kantam Lambon and Kantam Jatuat from the Maan Clan.

There was a Kanjantoon Laar who was from the Nandodaan Clan but was not a son of Kanjantoon who came along to live with them and used his uncle’s name as if he was from Tamoung Clan. His mother was a sister to the Tamoung clansmen.

No other Clansman had questioned the leadership of Chamba Boklik Lambon a.k.a. Awutu as the Headman or Konbonaba of Naniik ruling them on behalf of Naniik Naba when he was enskinned in 1953.

The present confusion started around 1957 when a Maan Clansman by name Digban Duut who lived with my father and us at Domeabra Ahafo decided to come back home came and approach our chief Napot Konlan to offer him a place by the roadside at Naniik Gberuk and he was granted.

This man Digban Duut who was also with us at the defunct Bredi cottage in Domeabra who had 1957 migrated back to settle in Najikong in Naniik, encouraged Biya a Tamoung man who was with us in that village to migrate to Naniik because he was no more interested in being in Ashanti Region. He intended going back to Japar in Togo but he had to change his mind to settle in Naniik.

I know this history perfectly well because these two people were very close friends of my father and we were all living in a large compound.

They were three (3) good friends namely my father, Borkin Laar Konlan Bauk also called Yakubu Abogyese by the Ashantis, Biya and Digban Duut who were living on the same large compound with their wives and children and I was one of the children in that household. When the two (2) of them left and came to build in Naniik and they gave their rooms to my father and we occupied them.

Bukari Biya was a younger brother of Wakpaal Kampi and Baakir of the Tamoung Clan.

It was in 1958 that Biya an ex-serviceman from the 2nd world war who was a brother to Baakir and who was living in a defunct village in Domeabra Ahafo in Ashanti Region came to build in Najikong and was granted permission to build there by our then Chief Napot Konlan.

Today the son of Biya, Abudu Biya who is married to my younger sibling both of whom were born in my presence in 1956 at Domeabra Ahafo claims to be owner of the land at Najikong and is granting the same lands to prospective tenants as if he is the owner. He also claims to be the chief of the place.

I am narrating this history without malice or out of spite against my brother-in-law but because the truth must be told to the world and the record set straight.

Similarly, Kunkomon was first settled by Tamatuk and his brothers and kinsmen and cousins like the Najapien.

Similarly, Kamuajual and his siblings and other clansmen built around the very site where the new Bimbagu Senior High School is located and there are graves around the area including his own which we preserve as a place of historical importance to all Naniik Clansmen. No Tamoung Clansman ever settled in that area. The Naniik only allow them to farm there. The Tamoungs do not own that place.

Again, Nayin Gberuk was settled by Chamba Nayin and his brothers and other Naniik Clansmen such as Bojuk and his brothers. Naniik Clan owns the lands in that area and share a common boundary with Konchian Gberuk.

In effect the Naniik land and its Paramountcy as per the Judgment of the Nayiri and the evidence on the ground shares boundary with the Bimbagu Rana the Konkomba chief and Nankpaduri at Konchian Gberuk and Yunyoo at Gbingbalanchot and Binde lands along the river between Naniik and Binde.

It is in reaction to the likes of Duwaar Dubik and his cohorts who claim that I am not from Naniik, and I have no interest therein that I am revealing the following part of my life history.

I wish to inform the world that I have more attachment to and knowledge of Naniik as settlement than any other Naniik Clansman. In the 1970’s (1972-1975) when I was attending the University of Cape Coast for my first degree, I lived with Dufouk Konlan popularly called Dufouk Mol who was a cousin. He was a famous bicycle repairer who in his youth lived with us at Domeabra Ahafo before he relocated to Naniik and for this reason I almost always spent my holidays with him in his house at Naniik. The first Chief of Naniik, Napot Konlan was also alive when I was attending secondary school in Bawku in the early 1960. His first son, being Prince Dufouk also called Dabint was one of my mentors and I learned a lot about Naniik both as Clan and as a settlement from him especially when I had to spend holidays with them in Naniik.

Again, I was living with Dufouk Mol (deceased) when I met my wife from Najong No. 1 in 1974 and he stood in with other family members to perform the marriage rites on behalf. My in-laws did not know that I was born in Jimbale and my parents were in Jimbale.

He died in the Konkomba-Bimoba War in 1989 in Bimbagu which was started by the same Tanmoung Clan and Konkomba could not differentiate the Bimoba Clans and had to lump all Bimobas together to fight them.

Note that because my first degree was B.A. Education with History and Geography, I took my time to study the origins and History of the Naniik as Clan and the Naniik Settlement.

To conclude, until every Bimoba, Mamprusi or Konkomba respects each other’s sovereignty and respect and pay allegiance to the chiefs and land owners within whose jurisdiction they live and work, peace and Development in the area cannot be achieved.

No chief or clan preaches the eviction of any person from his jurisdiction but every person occupying a land must acknowledge the ownership of the said land and pay allegiance to the appropriate owners.

It is not tenable for the land owners to be deprived of their rights. It is clear in Mamprugu Kingdom that the Nayiri the overlord enskins all tribes and clans therein whose ancestors reduced the virgin forests there to farms and settlements as its chiefs and land owners. No group or groups of youth have the right to seek to rewrite the history per the barrel of the gun as always being touted by some clans.

It is as indefensible as it is reprehensible in the modern era for people to embark on territorial expansionism against their neighbours without disturbing the peace of the area. Peace is invaluable for our development now and same cannot be achieved without the rule of law.

Long Live Naniik Clan!

Long Live The Kingdom Of Mamprugu!

And Long Live Ghana!

YAKUBU DUBIK MAHAMA, ESQ.