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.
