Abudu or Andani - my massage to Dagombas

Dagombas come from the Northern Region

Please allow me to use your medium to correct this wrong impression about Dagbon chieftaincy system. This and others like it have the tendency of reinforcing the conflict in the area. I am a citizen of Dagbon and very worried about the impressions that have been created and reinforced by selfish groups and individuals both within and without the great kingdom of Dagbon. For want of space, I will like to concentrate on one such erroneous impression in this write-up.

There is this impression that if you are a Dagomba, you are either an Abudu or an Andani and this seems to be accepted by even people who should know better. I want to emphatically say that it is NOT true and will NEVER be true.

The truth is that, the social structure of the Dagomba is such that we have the Ruling class (the Royals) and the commoners (the Ruled). ABUDUS are the royals who can ascend on the skin of Dagbon from the ABUDU gate whiles the ANDANIS are those that can ascend the skin from the ANDANI gate. What this simply means is that if you are an ABUDU or an ANDANI, you are a royal member of the Dagbon Kingdom and a potential king of Dagbon. The question I want to ask Ghanaians is whether every Dagomba is a royal member of Dagbon and for that matter a potential king of Dagbon? If the answer to this question is yes, then it is true that every Dagomba either belong to the ABUDUS or the ANDANIs. From the analysis above, it is clear that it is not true that every Dagomba must either be an ANDANI or ABUDU.

This impression is being created by our politicians for the purpose of creating niches for themselves and their parties. The consequence of this is a more polarized Dagbon with unending conflict. My caution to the youth in Dagbon is that we should not allow our politicians to destroy this powerful kingdom and our future for their selfish gains. While we are busily fighting our own brothers and sisters, they are seriously enriching themselves. Compare the status of the lowest grade of a politician in your area to yours and ask yourself whether you are the same. That Member of Parliament you voted for is he/she the same as he/she was? How are you gaining from your member of parliament? Answering this and other questions should tell you that no politician is worth dying for. If we fail to build our future, our children shall also follow the children of those we follow now, for the same small amounts of money while they develop themselves.

My advice to my fellow youth in Dagbon is that we should concentrate on our education and stop running after small amounts of monies from politicians. We should not sell our future for the progress of others and their families. Our common enemy is poverty and illiteracy. Let us unite and rid Dagbon off poverty and illiteracy.

To the 'REAL' royals of Dagbon, your power and authority is gradually being taking away from you by the very people you think they are your helpers. If any of you doubt this, I challenge you to compare your community chief to the party chairman and see who is more respected than the other. Our chiefs have little respect among their peers. They have been reduced to mere sellers of land. All this is happening because of ABUDU and ANDANI. Let us shame our real enemies, say the truth and do the right thing for once. There is no better time to unite than now.

Credit: Ibrahim Abudu
Ghana Developing Communities Association (GDCA)
Tamale.