Nanung Celebrates Dagbon Reunification

Laini Taylor once said “Hope can be a powerful force. Maybe there’s no actual magic in it, but when you know what you hope for most and hold it like a light within you, you can make things happen, almost like magic.” Today, Dagbon is a new world. Many prominent sons and daughters of Dagbon threw in the towel, and I had the same fears that Dagbon will never resurrect. Many tried hard to bring Dagbon back to its glory but success eluded them. Some of these people have joined the path of their ancestors without any hope of resolution of the Dagbon chieftaincy impasse.

However, many Dagombas and non-Dagombas hoped and today comes the results of their hopes. I join the good people of Ghana to congratulate Ya-Na his majesty Abukari Mahama II and to thank the Almighty God, the Committee of Eminent Kings led by His Majesty Otunfou Osei Tutu II, the former presidents and the current president, H. E. Nana Akufuo Addo. I must also thank the Abudu and Andani Royals especially the two former regents and the northern regional minister Hon. Salifu Sa-eed.

While I congratulate Dagbon I wish to throw a challenge to Nanung and Nanumbas to follow the compromising spirit displayed by Dagbon. We killed and maimed our own and we have also destroyed property of our own all because we disagreed over who becomes our paramount chief. We have been in the business of killing and maiming for the past fifteen years.

Whilst we destroy our own, chieftaincy billionaires continue to enrich themselves and families. Any step towards resolution will see resistance from these heartless individuals. But we have to get to a point where, for the education of our people, our fight against poverty and diseases say that enough is enough.

For now, we may either prepare to continue to kill one another-which I detest- or embrace peace. I made this point in the past and I will repeat it here although I received threats from people. There’s no way the white man’s court system will bring finality to issues about tradition. You may want to know why.

Before the curse that befell Nanung, it was a common knowledge that you become Bimbilla Na either by becoming a Dakpam-Na (Bang yili) or Nakpa-Na (Gbuma yili). We also knew that one needed to move from one skin to the other before passing through either of these two skins to Bimbilla.

My understanding of the court ruling is that, the promotional system (from one skin to another) does not matter. It means that any royal can mobilized any form of support and launch a bit for the Bimbilla paramountcy once it’s the turn of his gate. This is a recipe for chaos. And I think we need to address this before anything. So, there’s still work to do. My worry is the attempt by stakeholders to think that the matter will die a natural death. Please, let’s not adopt the wait and see attitude.

Dear colleague Nanumbas, let’s leave personal grudges of the past and work together. We are Nanumbas and nothing changes this. Nobody can solve of challenges better than we doing it. I beg Nanung Nabihi (royals) to look beyond today. Don’t forget that we are ‘ngyu yaa nima’.

N mabia, we would have been better off today if we had not allowed people with parochial interest to break our front. Where is the one-time vibrant Nanumba Youth Association? Is it defunct or it’s in coma? Opportunities are now on the basis of ‘zong pela or zong sabla’ and not Nanuna.

This is my second call to the Royals of Nanung and I’m extending same call to those of us who claim to be supporters. Majority of us are Muslims but many of us will visit Jahannam if we don’t reunite as Nanumbas. There’s accountability after death including what we say and do regarding the dispute. Are you preaching peace or war?

The fact is that either faction needs the other to function and there are examples in Bimbilla town for us to see. You can do it all alone. It should not be a shame or sign of defeat for the factions to say sorry to each other. Please Muslim brothers and Nanumbas, let’s think about God and what He says about people who bring divisions among other people.

We have lost our energies to fight for what genuinely are ours. Look at our roads, hospitals, schools and our pride as Nanumbas. We have no idea the kind of blessings we have in our land and so have no passion of benefiting from those blessing. It’s sad that we are unable to solve our problems.

God bears me witness that I have invited you to make peace. You must also join the movement for Nanung reunification.

Salifu Yumza Adam