Former President, John Dramani Mahama has asked Ghanaians to engage each other with decorum and without prejudice to one’s tribe or language.
He reminded Ghanaians to eschew stereotypical prejudices and ethnic biases and work towards realising a collective and shared vision for a prosperous Ghana.
Mr Mahama was speaking at the World Hausa Day celebration marked on the theme“Hausa, an indispensable tool for Ghana’s development,” in Accra last Friday.
World Hausa Day is an internationally recognised day set aside to celebrate the culture and language of Hausas globally and their contribution to global peace and development on every August 26.
Mr Mahama noted that one’s language and background should not be the measure of his access to opportunities, public goods or services in any nation.
“I do not think it serves our collective conscience right as a people for persons of Zongo ethnicity including Hausas to face challenges including open discrimination when they try to register for their voters ID card, National Health Insurance card, passport or the Ghana card,” he stated.
“Tribe or ethnicity is not the defining criteria of cizenship as we are a nation that is united and great as a result of our diversity,” he added.
The former president urged all to strive for unity of purpose and coexistence as we were all Ghanaians with a common destiny
“When we travel abroad we don’t travel with an Ashanti passport or Dagomba passport we all travel with a Ghana passport we must endeavour to work together to resolve all conflict amongst our people,” he added.
An executive member of Hausa Youth Ghana, Rabiu Maude said the Hausa culture could be properly packaged and exported, adding that the African Continental Free Trade Area afforded the country a huge market for marketing Ghanaian products and services through the Hausa language.
He said that the adoption of the Hausa language into mainstream education could go a long way to bridge the gap in education in Zongo communities as there were over 1000 Zongo using Hausa as lingua franca.
“A conscious effort of affirmative action where Zongo indigenes are given opportunities to enter the Ghana Police Service, Immigration and Army will go a long way to bridge some mistrust gap that apparently exists,” he stated.
“The council of chiefs should be included in the national house of chiefs to contribute to better understand the complexities of same in order to remove some prejudices against them,” he added.
Mr Sarki Salisu Maude, Chairman of the event and Youth Chief of Zongo Communities who launched the day and likewise reinstated the significance of Hausa called on all to support the Hausa culture and language to harness global development.
He said the day marked the turning point in the country’s history, to take opportunities available to them and serve the country.
Mr Baba Sheriff Abdulahi, Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Marhaba FM who recounted the history of some Hausa communities across the country noted that Hausas had played an immeasurable role in not just the development of the country but worldwide for which reason the Hausa language was recognised globally.
BY ABIGAIL ARTHUR
