I WAS born and bred in Tamale. I grew up with various children of various ethnic backgrounds, including those of mine. I saw - and still see - all Dagombas as one, because, apparently there was nothing that proved that were Dagombas in different categories. Of course, we were from different families; no human being on this earth is "familyless;" at least he or she had a mother. It was just in 2002, somewhere in March, when suddenly it came to my understanding that my ethnic grouping had two main separate families, created as a result of the quest to occupy the cherished position of the overlord of Dagbon. Maybe those who raised me were not interested in that issue and never discussed it. Well, today I have come face-to-face with this issue and would have to or commercial purpose barely reap the profits of their labour. Apart from the lack of capital and logistics to improve and upgrade the value of their output and the competition from foreign manufacturers, their farm produce are not bought at prices which can earn them income to educate their children, seek adequate health care and improve their standards of living. Come to think of it, most of our youth complete secondary school and cannot continue to the tertiary level. Many even enroll at tertiary schools they would not have liked if they were supported to do better. Today, the world revolves round information and technology, and the youth in Dagbon also need skills in computer science to catch up with their colleagues in other parts of the country and the world, but what are we doing for them? Also, many of the youth need avenues to showcase and benefit from their talents. Many of them have talents that could make them big time actors, journalists, broadcasters, fashion designers, engineers, creative artists, musicians, sports personalities and many more. Today, tourism has become the third foreign exchange earner to the nation; how much are we as a people contributing to it? How do we exploit the rich Dagomba cultural heritage to the benefit of our people and the entire country; talk of our traditional pottery, architecture, palaces, dance, hospitality, symbolic drumming, historic sites and many more. Are all these going to suffer the brunt of this needless "intra-Dagbon" conflict? Today, the world is looking up to new challenges; talk of global warming, digital and information divide, globalisa1lion, corruption, maternal and child mortality, etc, what are we as a people doing to surpass these challenges that are rife in our own yard? What do we gain as a people by killing each other, all in the name of seeking justice and fairness? What is more justified than preventing the deaths of innocent Dagombas who through no fault of theirs, were born into either of the two families? It is clear that in every conflict each side may offend and mistreat the other, but at the end of it all it is important for both sides to sit and agree to forget the past and move on as a people. If either side wants to have its pound of flesh, then never would there be a lasting solution to the conflict. Is it only after we have killed most of the dedicated and hardworking sons and daughters of Dagbon that we would think of resolving the conflict? Indeed, researchers have indicated that in most conflicts, an end of the conflict is usually preceded by the deaths of many people of both sides. I think it is high time we drummed the message to all our people that Dagbon is one and we should consider a more peacefull ans sustainable way of succession; one that would advance the cause of Dagbon as a whole. The world is changing and so must we change; not for the worse but for the better. In Rwanda, for instance, the Hutu-Tutsi inter-tribal conflict came to an end only after the conflict had resulted in genocide in which about 800,000 to 1000,000 Rwandans were killed. And it was neither Hutus nor Tutsis alone who died. I do not want to believe that we the people of Dagbon would fashion out a lasting solution to the chieftaincy crisis only after most of our citizens have been killed. In any case, the 2000 Census of Ghana estimated that out of the total Ghanaian population of about 22 million, the Mole-Dagomba ethnic group, which includes Dagombas, Nanumbas, Moshies and Mamprusis formed only about 15.2 per cent. How many Dagombas, therefore, would remain if we kill many of our people because of chieftaincy? Who will the chosen king rule? It appears native politicians seem more interested in political gerrymandering which focuses on exploiting the very foundations that give us an identity i.e. our cultural heritage. One would expect that political leaders and all elites of Dagomba descent would use their positions to advocate unity and not take entrenched positions. This is because it is they who know better, the consequences of needless inter and intra-ethnic conflicts to every human society. It is they who have been educated to an, appreciable level and are respected by those below them. Therefore it is they who are seen as having the wisdom of today and not yesterday and thus should be leading not following. If our Members of Parliament, ministers, graduates and heads of institutions of Dagomba descent cannot sit together and agree on how to convince the larger Dagomba population that they are one people, then it is regrettable. It is completely wrong for our politicians to capitalise on this division in their attempt to win political power. Politicians who do this do not have Dagbon and Ghana at heart; such politicians are dishonest and irresponsible, and are only concerned with how to win and reap the benefits of political power, regardless of its consequences. The actions of such politicians bring more division to our society; they leave citizens in a more polarised, retarded and confused state, and sometimes even remorseful, as some wish they had done something better with their lives. If our politicians cannot compete on the basis of who has the best development plans for the northern part of the country, then they had better stop calling themselves politicians. I am so particular about the role of our political leaders considering how irresponsible political leadership has fuelled tribal conflicts in other parts of the world. For example, Orville Boyd Jenkins, in an article he titled: "Tutsi, Hutu and Hima - Cultural Background, (published November 1994, Afri-com, Vol.7 No. 1), explained that the conflicts between Tutsi and Hutu in East Africa had been fostered by the colonial political powers, who ruled through a local elite. "Some claim the colonial approach actually created the social or tribal distinction between Hutu and Tutsi," he also wrote. In fact, years after this division created by the colonial political authorities, we were all witnesses to the genocide that took place in Rwanda, Burundi and Tanzania following the clashes between Hutus and Tutsis. Also, in "Ethnic Conflicts In Africa"(l998, pp. 417), the authors explain that in countries like Nigeria, Burundi, Rwanda, Cote d'lvoire, Ghana and Kenya colonial powers utilised the segmentation of ethnic groups to their advantage. "The divide-and-rule policies of colonial administrators assured the docility of different ethnic groups and thus shielded them from the menace of insurrection. In other words, it was feasible to divide ethnic groups and pitch them against each other so that they could focus their energies on fighting one another rather than overthrowing colonial government. " Today, it is we Africans who are in charge of our own lives and not the colonialists. Why then should we keep dividing our people? It is sad that in a post-mortem of the Ivorian crisis, Peter Takirambudde, Executive Director of the Africa Division of Human Rights Watch, observed that though Africans had often been victims of racism, "they can also be its perpetrators". Mr Takirambudde was drawing his observations from events that followed Gbagbo's election victory, when security forces targeted civilians solely and explicitly on the basis of their religion, ethnic group, or national origin. In fact, we have seen several instances where ethnic conflicts have either been started or exacerbated by the actions of dishonest politicians who would want to be seen as championing the cause of some particular group. We do not want to see that situation in Dagbon as we have already seen enough. I think it is high time we drummed the message to all our people that Dagbon is one and we should consider a more peaceful and sustainable way of succession; one that would advance the cause of Dagoonl1lil a whole. The- world is changing and so must we change; not for the worse, but for the better. By Salifu Mohamed Nurudeen-Daily Graphic