Peace Beckon Dagbon State

By Yakubu Abdul-Majeed

Regarded as highly impossible for a new months ago, it is now a reality. The funerals of late Ya-Na Mahammudu Abdulai and Yaa-Naa Yakubu have taken place in Yendi, capital of Dagbon Traditional area.

Amazingly, a new Yaa has been nominated and enskinned without any raising a finger. All sides have accepted the nomination of Selegu Na Yo-Naa Abubakar Mahama as the new overlord of Dagbon to replace the late Yaa Naa Yakubu Andani II.

Many people including Dagombas themselves were initially very skeptical about the road map that was crafted by the three Eminent Chiefs Mediation Committee under the leadership of the leadership Otumfuo Asantehene Osei Tutu II..

Although the road map was signed by representatives of the both the Abudus and the Andanis some still doubted and labeled it once again as camouflage, maintaining that it was not going to be possible.

These skeptics were not doomsayers but just expressing genuine fears because of the countless agreements signed previously by both gates but failed to materialized.

Indeed, in the past, many deadlines were given for the performance of the funerals of the two Overlords of the Dagbon but on all the previous occasions, they all collapsed and elapsed.

So when on the November 22, 2018 the Asantehene Osei Tutu and his Eminent Chiefs came out with a road map many dismissed it and some simply concluded that once again the chieftaincy "contractors" were going to use it to their advantage.

Frankly, it came as a big shock and surprise to many when Abudus and indeed entire Dagbon performed the funeral of the Ya -Na, Mahammudu Abdulai, at Gbewaa Palace, in Yendi without any

That was unthinkable and implausible attendance at the funeral is something else.

Many people within and outside Dagbon see this as a gargantuan step toward amicable resolution of the intractable conflicts that claimed many precious lives in the Dagbon Traditional Area.

So, many people with bated breath also saw the performance of the funeral of the late Yaa-Naa yakubu Andani II which enskinners of a new Yaa Naa.

A new down has arrived. The age old chieftaincy conflict between the two brothers, Andani and Abudu has ended. Although many have lost their lives and some losing their property because of the protracted conflicts, it is comforting that members of the two gates can live in peace.

The extraordinary success of the performance of the funeral underline the fact that cool heads are now prevailing within Dagbon and all must help the peaceful wind blowing now in the area.

Bringing finality to this intractable conflict would not only ensure accelerated development in the area but would also help restore Dagbon's lost prestige and glory.

Of course, the successful performance of the two funerals could not have been possible without the role played by the Eminent Chiefs led by the Asantehane Otumfuo Osei Tutu and his colleagues chiefs supported by the President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, Northern Regional Minister Mr. Salifu Sa-eed as well as the Minister of National Security, Albert Kan-Dapaah for their zeal and tenacity towards the resolution of the crisis.

The tireless efforts by of the aforementioned personalities and those behind the scenes heave yielded the result that the entire country was yearning for.

What is now needed now is the will and support for the Eminent Chiefs and the government to ensure the smooth and successful implementation of the entire road map.

There would be challenges and bottlenecks in the implementation of the final leg after road map but the Eminent Chiefs and the government must remain steadfast and stay focused in order to cross the finishing lines.

It is prudent for Dagbon to heed to the appeal of the Northern Regional Minister, Mr. Salifu Saeed, that all should put their shoulders to the wheel to see to the full implementation of the road map to the resolution of the Dagbon chieftaincy conflict..

Mr. Saeed in an interview with the writer last Friday made a passionate appealed to all, especially the youth of Dagbon to support the process to succeed.

"I am pleading with all particularly the youth of this area to support our chiefs and leadership of the Abudus and Andanis to complete these funerals," he appealed.

The minister emphasised that the youth would be the beneficiaries of the performance of the funeral for it would ensure absolute peace which would attract businessmen and women both local and international to invest in the area.

Indeed, with new head to superintend the affairs of one of the great kingdoms in the country, it is only a matter of time that Dagbon would take its rightful place in the Dagbon, and for that matter, the whole Northern Region must take advantage of the new dawn and put behind them two decades of protracted dispute so that all citizens can benefit from the new peaceful win blowing in Dagbon.

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