Rethinking The Definition Of The Northerner In Ghana

The concept NORTHERNER has occupied an important place in the political, economic, historical and geographical discourses in Ghana. It’s a concept that has been assumed to have a static meaning even in changing contexts of the geographic and economic north, changing contexts of the people of the north and Ghana as a whole.

I believe it is about time Ghanaians in general and northerners in particular began to give contextual interpretations to the word northerner. Such a contextual discourse about the northerner will be relevant in understanding and addressing the contemporary challenges of northern Ghana.

The North in historical terms refers to a part of Ghana that was largely ignored, undeveloped and untouched during the colonial periods of Ghana. The North first attracted the colonizers as a reserve of slaves for the transatlantic slave trade business complex. It was and perhaps still, the part of the country 100 years behind the rest as far as education and development are concerned. It was and perhaps still the part of Ghana designed as a labour reserve for the rest of the country.

Geographically, the north occupied a landscape called the northern territories by the colonial administration. The geographic north is something that is fluid and has been redefined variously for various reasons. To most people, the north comprises three regions namely the northern region, upper east and west regions. However, for political reasons, governments have expanded the definition to include the Volta and Brong Ahafo regions and that led to the transformation of the Northern Accelerated Development Authority to the Savannah Accelerated Development Authority. The north is a landscape most Ghanaians including those in the media are ignorant about.

Ethnically, the north is a collection of various tribes and ethnic groups that are distinct from those found in other parts of the country. People from these tribes are referred to as northerners regardless where they reside or where they are born in the country and beyond.

Economically, a northerner characterizes a person subject to poverty with limited resources and opportunities. As such, a typical northerner has a peculiar childhood and growth characterized by limited opportunities for education and a constant struggle for survival. Hence, the life of the economic northerner can best be described as one set on struggle and survival rather than living and comfort. The poverty of the north was one of the instrumental reasons that qualify Ghana for HIPC in 2000[whether HIPC funds fully benefited the north is another discussion].

A northerner can also be described as person with an acute understanding of the challenges peculiar to life in the north as well as an individual with the desires and determinations to improve the lives of the people of the north. In this light, Kwame Nkrumah can be seen as the best northerner in the history of Ghana for his determination to uplift the people of the north from poverty. Professor Jeffrey Sachs [for his involvement with the Millennium Villages Project in the north] can be seen as a better northerner in comparison to most contemporary and past elite northern politicians who are consumed by personal glorification to neglect of the poor, whom they are elected to serve.

Significant changes have taken place over the years in Ghana that requires us to rethink the definition of the northerner. Economically most northern elites including the political and the educated classes have grown out of the northern brackets. On the other hand, there are many people in all parts of the country who qualify to be called northerners as far as their economic circumstances are concerned.

Also, social mobility has permitted people to be born and raised as well as reside in the geographical south of the country despite having northern origins. Should we continue to call thess people northerners despite the fact that they may experience different social and economic circumstances compared with those in the geographic north? What about those of southern and other origins who currently reside in the north? Should these people be considered northerners?

Rethinking the northerner is very important in our political, economic and historical discourses in Ghana and for Ghana’s future development. Almost all Ghanaians think of President John Dramani Mahama as a northerner because of his ethnic northern origin but Mahama has more in common with the southern Ghanaian than he has with the northerner. He was born into a wealthy political class family and for that matter did not have a typical northern experience growing up.

Mahama has lived much of his life in the south [attending Achimota for his basic education] of Ghana and therefore shares a cultural lifestyle that is closer to the typical southerner than the northerner. Mahama’s abolition of the Teacher Trainee Allowances for Teacher Colleges in Ghana suggests both his lack of understanding and perhaps desire to address the challenges of the northerner.

The allowances paid to teacher trainees have been a lifeline for most northerners who pass through teacher colleges in Ghana. In some cases, its not just a lifeline for the student but his/her entire family.

The concept of the northerner and its place in Ghana's development is a subject that northern youth should consider for research at the masters and doctoral levels of studies.

H. S. Wumpini
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