The Pro Vice Chancellor of the University for Development Studies (UDS) Professor Seidu Alhassan has observed that the quest of the youth for power, money and glory has contributed largely to the lack of peace and stability in Dagbon.
Speaking at the Northern Youth Conference organized by the Youth Network for Sustainable Development (YNSD) last weekend, Professor Alhassan, Prof. Seidu said the youth of today will go to any length to be powerful and wealthy to the detriment of Dagbon
The conference which brought together young people across the region was under the theme “Projecting the North as Heaven of Peace, the Role of the Youth”. The UDS Pro Vice Chancellor who was the chairman for the conference noted that the “Sakawa” menace which is a classic case of the young people desire for quick money threatens the peace of the area.
Reverend Father Thaddeus Kunsah, the Northern Regional Executive Secretary of the National Peace Council, on his part, called for a paradigm shift from the culture of silence by the youth to draw the attention of traditional authorities to the effects of the absence of peace in Dagbon and Nanum.
He said until the youth and traditional authorities in the two kingdoms resolve to repair the damage that has engulfed the areas for decades, the peace, unity and friendship the region desperately yearns for will remain a mirage.
In a related development, the Regent of Dagbon Kampakuya-Naa Abdulai Yakubu Andani attributed the upsurge of violence in the region to its high illiteracy rate.
The regent said after his enskinment in 2006, he observed that many parents had no interest in investing in the education of their children, adding that He he also noticed there were few educational institutions especially at the tertiary level particularly in the Yendi enclave. This, and many other challenges he indicated have resulted in uneducated youth with the propensity for violence.
The regent who spoke to Zaa News in an exclusive interview said in his quest to address the high rate of illiteracy , he partnered government and the Catholic Church to establish the College of Education, and improved and expanded infrastructure at the nursing and midwifery training college in Yendi.
He criticized the media for always engaging in negative reporting about Dagbon and urged journalists to do due diligence, that is check and cross check their facts on the ground before reporting.