A GNA Feature by Caesar Abagali

Tamale, May 4, GNA - A glimmer of hope and goodwill that could be pursued for the restoration of total peace, development and progress in the Northern Region has been lighted. If kindled, the Dagbon hotbed could become a cooled hearth where the dog could to find a sleeping place.

The soft-spoken, affable and unassuming Alhaji Abubakar Saddique got appointed as the Northern Regional Minister at a time when Dagbon was regarded as volatile, irreconcilable and a no-go area. Following the assassination of the Over Lord of Dagbon, Ya-Na Yakubu Andani II and the killing of 30 others, the area was declared "a conflict zone" and hordes of security operatives were rushed there to create a semblance of peace which was so tenuous that it was thought it could snap at anytime.

Dagbon was known and regarded generally as a place to fear, strife-torn and doomed due to the chieftaincy conflict. Sceptics regarded Dagbon as a place, which could not be properly managed by this young and humble man.

Before his appointment as a Sector Minister, Alhaji Boniface had seen the recent burial of the King of Dagbon and the installation of a new regent.

Though mistrust might still be smouldering; a feat has been achieved. Peace has returned to Dagbon.

As fate would have it and due to the wisdom of the Committee of Eminent Kings headed by Otumfuo Osei Tutu II, the Asantehene, an intractable situation has been resolved through the brilliant style of leadership exhibited by Alhaji Boniface.

His short stay in the Region has led to a remarkable improvement in the rather bleak perception that people had held when he was first appointed as the Regional Minister for the political hotbed of the ruling New Patriotic Party (NPP) and the major opposition party, National Democratic Congress (NDC].

Using his sense of balance and good judgement he calculated the equation well and got his answer right.

Alhaji Boniface had an NDC tag but was compelled to go independent when that Party failed to organise primaries in the Salaga constituency to enable him to contest Election 2000. He won the seat and entered Parliament as an Independent Candidate and as events turned out the ruling NDC went into the opposition and the NPP quickly lured Alhaji Boniface to their side by appointing him first as a Deputy Minister of Trade and later in a ministerial reshuffle he became a Deputy Minister of Tourism and the Modernisation of the Capital City.

In Election 2004, he again won the Salaga seat; this time on an NPP ticket! He got the chance to serve his people as the Northern Regional Minister when the area was "burning."

Those who had had the opportunity to interact with this 46-year-old Economist would testify that there is no word in any English Dictionary that could aptly describe Alhaji Boniface, who is always referred to simply as "Boni" in Gonjaland, his land of birth.

The Minister's affability made it easier for him to interact with people on both sides of the political divide - NDC and NPP. Alhaji Boniface would not end any public address without drumming home the need for peace to engender development in the Region just as Cicero ended his speeches in the Roman Senate with "Cartage must be destroyed". Such are the true and reflecting qualities of a good leader.

Indeed, he has actually served the people and this is the time for him to reap the results of good leadership. If he were in Rome, he would be called an "Honourable Man"; if he were a Christian, he would be called a "Redeemer", if he were a British and he would have been knighted in shining armour but as a Muslim and a Ghanaian, he deserves to be called a 'Sheikh' and should be regarded as such.

His elevation to a Sector Minister status comes as good news to some people in the Region and in Ghana as a whole. Good news because they attributed his achievement to a dint of hard work and the leadership role he exhibited in the Region. Some saw his elevation as bad news to the Region because they hold on to the view that no one can manage the Dagbon situation as Sheik Boniface and that he should have been left there to finish solving the Dagbon problem. Mr Clifford Abdalla Braimah, Northern Regional Secretary of the NPP, described Sheik Boniface's elevation as a big loss to the NPP and the Region as a whole.

He explained that Sheik Boniface could coexist with members of all the political parties in the Region and thereby reducing the political party conflicts and expressed pessimism that his successor might not be able to hold the centre together while managing the Region. Alhaji Imoro Issifu Alhassan, Deputy Northern Regional Secretary of the NDC, said "Alhaji Boniface came to the Region as an NPP Minister with a difference. Since he never lived above his position as a Regional Minister, all of us in NDC would be missing his leadership style". He said the only area the Minister did not perform well was that he did not offer NDC contractors in the Region contracts but that he had performed better than any Minister he had interacted with in the Region since NPP assumed office in 2001.

He described him as humble, down to earth and soft to approach Minister and wished him well in his new appointment. Sheik Boniface's team on the Northern Regional Security Council and all who made sure that he succeeded in the Region should extend the same cooperation to his successor.

In an interview with the GNA, some stakeholders from the Region, the Kpan-Naa, N. B. Bawa, chief of Kpano, in the Savelugu/Nanton District, described Sheik Boniface as very simple and unassuming young man, who held himself more of a person of the people than a Minister of State.

"Sometimes, Alhaji Boniface goes down to greet some chiefs from the Region particularly from the Gonjaland despite his status as a Minister."

He said these attributes made him to win the admiration of all in Dagbon leading to the successful burial of Ya-Na Yakubu Andani II and the subsequent installation of his regent. The Kpan-Naa said, there was "religious feeling" in Sheik Boniface and that he was a man who would never spit and turn back to lick his saliva.

"He is a man of truth and principles. His exit from the Region is a big loss. It is good he is elevated. I am happy that he will become a Sector Minister."

It is said that there are five calibres of people in Dagbon, with whom the Minister dealt. There are the sympathizers of the Abudu Gate and Andani Gate, who are engaged in a chieftaincy conflict. There are those in the NPP and NDC who are perceived to be supporting two of the Dagbon Gates while the last group of people are those who have nothing to do with politics or chieftaincy.

However, the Minister never recognised the existence of any group but saw all of them as Ghanaians and citizens living in the Region. His duty as he often said was to serve the people but not for the people to serve him and never at anytime recognised himself as an NPP Minister.

This is how Mr Albert Atutiga, Northern Regional Chairman of the Convention People's Party (CPP) saw Sheik Boniface: "The Minister has proved all sceptics in Dagbon including me wrong, since we doubted his performance when he was first appointed".

Dagbon and Northern Region need a unifier and not an extremist. The Region would be wishing Sheik Boniface a farewell with the hope that he would continue to make available his rare qualities available for the total development of Ghana. 4 May 06