Written by:
Abdul Latif Alhassan,
becash07@gmail.com/becash8559@yahoo.com
0247011871/0203171028.
My great people of Dagban, to you I greet. To the Dagbambas, Nanumbas and Mampurisis. I say “gaafara”. My noble greetings to the chiefs, and all stakeholders in Mole Dagban Kingdom. I was too juvenile to have opened my mouth when elders were conversing but, situations have compelled me to voice what I have for my people of Mole Dagban, no matter how small it is.
It is an indubitable fact that Mole Dagban Kingdom is a primordial great kingdom, where there were respect, bravery, power, unity, love and all the manhood and socially accepted qualities one can think of. But let us ask ourselves; do those qualities still exist among us? Are we now like the game called “aclaim” that everybody plays and claim us? Do we have respect anymore? Are we the Mole Dagban we were in some time back?
Just imagine our ancestors’ time of wars of victories. When they swore to bury any faction that dared them in war. The likes of Mande, Shitobu, Zirili, Mamtambu, Yemtori, to mention but a few, who moved in wars of conquers and victories, from land to land, kingdom to kingdom and boundary to boundary. All the way from Nigeria, seized lands and properties, captured slaves and freed people from slavery. No wonder Mr. Alhassan Salifu Kalala has always been saying on his early morning radio program that, Mole Dagban Kingdom emanated from bravery and respect but, if care is not taken, it will collapse in sorrow and cowardice. What wars didn’t our ancestors fight? What victory didn’t they get? And what respect didn’t they harvest? Upon all these, we the contemporary Victorian Mole Dagban have decided to put all our eggs in one basket and throw it on the ground.
It is an inevitable fact that the Mole Dagban Kingdom is the largest ethnic group in the Northern part of Ghana, and if not mistaken, the second largest in Ghana. The fifth conducted population census in the history of Ghana indicates that Mole Dagban has taken 52.2% of the population in the Northern of Ghana. Going by the dictum “strength in number” what strength do we have needed to overcome whatever we wanted.
Upon the numerous men and women of Mole Dagban who constitute 52.2% of Northern Ghana, let us question ourselves. How many developmental projects are in the North? How much do we benefit from the national cake we all run after? How many government officials do we have and, how many of them are ready to bring developmental projects to the North? The most pathetic of all the questions is that; how many top government offices in the North are chaired by a Mole Dagomba? Aba! Can we not reason with the world of common sense?
The only thing we direct our psychic energies towards are blind politics of killing, burning houses, envy, jealousy, selfishness and the primordial chieftaincy dispute of “Alhassan and Fuseini” which have never helped us and will never help us in any direction. At Damba festival organized by Dagban Students Association, UCC Chapter, Dr. Abdulai, the Director of Centre for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR), rightly mentioned that “those chieftaincy issues are as old as nature and, anyone who runs after them will die and leave them”. This should have been a clear paradigm we should have all incorporated into our schemas to direct us on our approach to chieftaincy issues. If all of us were to incorporate this into our schemas, nobody would have bordered to risk his life in the name of chieftaincy dispute.
The most interesting part of the Mole Dagban brouhaha is the fact of saying that, if they challenged us, let us show them where power lies after that we will sit round the table and resolve the issue. Why do we create problems for ourselves because we have the resolution machinery? Is prevention not better than cure? Surely, is about time we stood up to avert any form of calamity rather than trying to resolve after we have created hullabaloos.
His Royal Highness, chief of Tamale, Nyaba Dakpema Alhassan Dawuni clearly stated that, “Dagban cannot live on divided lines”. In your own view, can we continue to live own divided lines if our Southern counterparts are already miles ahead of us? Can we continue to be on divided lines if our great kingdom is in a tumult? Can we continue to live on divided lines if our noble men and woman are suffering the aftermath of conflicts?
All that we yean and cry out for is the love of one another. With love, there would be peace because love is the mother of peace. That is why one adhadith of the Holy Prophet Mohammed (S.A.W) says, you should love brother as yourself. Not only that, Jesus also made mention of love for one another. Rudimentarily, love is the fundamental pillar upon which every good society is built on. But, do not let us forget to be trustworthy, sincere, honest, just, respectful, obedient, discipline and warm-hearted. All these qualities make up the block and cement to build the temple of love. Let us all ponder over the dictum that together we stand and divided we fall.
Thank you.
