Yendi (Northern Region), 20 Nov 1998

Ya-Naa, Yakubu Andani the second, paramount chief of the Dagbon traditional area, has appealed to the Iranian embassy in Ghana to help establish an Islamic teacher training college in Yendi. The Ya-Na made the appeal when the Iranian Ambassador, Mr Ikiiamar Fotouhi Ghiam, paid a courtesy call on him at his palace at Yendi as part of a tour of the Northern region. He said his appeal is meant to address the perpetual teacher shortage in schools in the area in particular and the Northern region as a whole. The Ya-Na said the establishment of such a teacher training college will produce Muslim teachers who will be willing to teach in the largely Muslim rural communities of the region. He expressed the gratitude of the chiefs and people of the area to the Iranian government for the assistance it offered them during and after the 1994 ethnic conflict. Mr Ghiam assured the Ya-Na that his request will be given due consideration, adding ''it is significant that the Ya-Na, as a Muslim, is the first paramount chief I am meeting since assuming office'' and prayed that ''God will use him to promote peace in the area''. The Yendi district chief executive, Mr Mohammed Alhassan, recalled assistance given by the Iranian government through the Agricultural and Rural Development (ARD) programme. He said the ARD is providing tractor services for women's groups in the district to cultivate cashew, apart from establishing a vocational institute in Yendi to equip girls with professional skills. Mr Alhassan appealed to ARD to expand the vocational institute to enable it to admit more girls.