Tamale Nachimba: Enough Of The Persistent Indiscipline

Amongst all the conflict or security hotspots in Ghana, Tamale is perhaps the hottest spot. The one time cleanest city in the country is now one of the dirtiest environs or suburbs in the North. Sorry to say, that Tamale boasts of a greater percentage of the country’s most intolerable youth. The youth [nachimba, in Dagbani] of this city, by all standards, top the list of vandals nationwide. Statistics of teenage pregnancies/mothers, prostitution in all forms as well as internet scam in recent times is also on the increase in Tamale. 

In fact, all manner of negativities are gradually being associated with Tamale. Therefore, one is right to conclude without hesitation that this historic city is the most indiscipline or lawless place in mother Ghana. After all, is it not the late Northern Regional Chairman of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) party Alhaji Abukari Sumani who once said reportedly that “The only law that works in Tamale is man for not enter woman en bathroom and woman for not enter man en bathroom.” 

But, is that the best compliment for a largely religious city like Tamale to carve for itself? Please, enough of the indiscipline or lawlessness persistently being perpetuated by the youth of Tamale!

What am I driving at? Just last week, specifically on the dusk of Thursday January 17, 2012, a youth group of the ruling NDC in Tamale outrageously burnt down and destroyed almost every signboard and billboard as well as other party paraphernalia that bore the portrait of the leader of their party and President of the Republic of Ghana H.E John Dramani Mahama.  

Any reasons why this happened after the country managed to pull off a very peaceful general election few weeks ago without any mayhem in Tamale of all places? The answer is, they were peeved because the President refused to appoint Haruna Iddrisu, legislator of Tamale South Constituency and outgoing Minister for Communications as the Minister for Energy and Petroleum, following mere rumours that he [Haruna] was tipped for that job.

Haruna Iddrisu, MP

According to this so called NDC youth group, Haruna shored up the votes of President Mahama in Tamale to enable him win the December 7, 2012 presidential election and instead of him rewarding his effort, he [the president] decided to heed to the shallow threat of the Western Regional House of Chiefs, that they would not approve of anyone as the Minister of Energy and Petroleum unless one of their own –something Kofi Buah (forgotten of his full name) is appointed to protect their interest in the oil resource which is being extracted in their region. 

Many people including me believed and still believe that the gentleman who has now been handed the job of Minister of Energy and Petroleum [Kofi Buah] ran to those chiefs and wrongfully influenced them to come out and yell out threats to the President to get him  nominated. I also believe that Haruna wrongfully influenced the Tamale youth to do what they did last week in order to get him nominated for a ministerial post. But, is that the right way to go when it comes to lobbying for positions or jobs? Hell no! 

Besides, doesn’t the constitution of Ghana states it clear that any natural resource located in any part of the country, whether on the surface of the earth, beneath it or in the sea, belongs to all Ghanaians in totality? Or, is Kofi Buah the only qualified Ghanaian from the Western Region that can occupy the position of the Energy and Petroleum Ministry? Now some tribes including Fantes who I understand constitute the major ethnic group in that region is reportedly peeved with the way and manner the Awulaes of Nzemaland have conducted themselves. I believe Dr. Kwame Nkrumah of blessed memory who came from that area is by now turning in his grave because of this development. For President Nkrumah never stood for such behaviours which could best be termed as unpatriotic. 

Similarly, I want to ask whether Haruna Iddrisu is the only qualified indigene from Dagbon that should be treated special? Is he the only intellectual from Tamale who by his association with the NDC has been able to rise to the top as former National Organiser and Minister for Communications? I have gathered that he is eyeing the Presidency in future. If that is anything to go by, he should better advise those youth of Tamale who owe allegiance to him, otherwise he’ll see Canaan but his legs will not carry him there. President Mahama until his ascendancy to the presidency was not associating himself with louts as he [Haruna] is currently doing.   

Indeed, in the last seven years of my stay in Tamale as a practicing journalist, I’ve come to realized that the youth of the NDC idolize their legislators and renew their term of office on the basis that they are vociferous on the floor of parliament anytime they get up to speak. Isn’t that too petty? So even if vociferous means senseless, it’s passable.  

For God sake, Haruna was elected to go to parliament and represent the people of Tamale South as a lawmaker and not to be appointed minister. He was privileged and I repeat, privileged to be appointed as Communications Minister under the Mills-Mahama Administration from 2009 to 2012. He wasn’t so special, and neither was he super intelligent to be considered for that job. Besides, what will those who think that it is now their turn to also serve in the Mahama-Amissah-Arthur Administration do when eventually they are not appointed? Should they go and burn the Gulf of Guinea? Hell no! 

I hear Haruna has since come out to apologise on behalf of those uninitiated youth who succeeded in soiling his reputation for him. He should know by now, that appointments to ministerial portfolios are at the discretion of the President even though he does consult other groups and officialdoms. Seriously, if I were Haruna I wouldn’t have accepted the nomination for Minister for Trade and Industry since it will not add any honour to his reputation, considering the portentous circumstances under which it came. 

Kofi Buah, MP

As for Kofi Buah, the least said about him, the better. He has succeeded through his chiefs to get nominated, but failure to achieve good results will forever seal future opportunities that could have come the way of other Westerners who are more capable than him. Besides, he should know that when he finally gets the approval of parliament, he will not dance to the tune of the Western Regional House of Chiefs but the President of the republic who calls the shots.    

Nonetheless, President Mahama should be praised so far for not appointing any member of his tribe or family member. This means that no one should view him as a president elected to serve only a particular group of people, but Ghanaians as a whole. This also doesn’t mean that there are no qualified people or intellectuals in Gonjaland. But what it means is that, Gonjas are being patient and waiting for what will be given to them by their son at the appropriate time, and that is what is expected of all Northerners, not demonstrations or violent protest.

For President Mahama, I say be careful the way you’ve started allowing interested groups like the Western Regional House of Chiefs to twist your hands and tell you how you ought to do your work. So far, majority of Ghanaians have commended you for the quality of your appointees. But for the coup d’état, former President Hilla Limann would have done better. So now that you are on the seat as the second Northern President in almost four decades, all your Northern brothers and sisters are expecting you to leave a positive indelible mark by the time you finish your term of office. Please Mr. President, leave us a legacy that will forever be remembered in our oral history.

To the youth of Northern Ghana especially those in Tamale, our attitude and actions now will determine how we will end in life in the future. Don’t be surprised if you apply for a job somewhere in the country either than Tamale, and you’re denied it although you may have the qualification. I am saying this because, some of us [youth] are being denied job opportunities and other privileges simply because of where we come from. Can you imagine attending a job interview one day only for you to hear later on that you were denied the job because you’re a resident or native of Tamale and therefore, they [employers] think you might be a violent person?