the Gonjaland commended the people of Dagbon, especially the Kuga-Na and his elders and those of both the Andani and Abudu Gates, the government, the Committee of Eminent Chiefs and all stakeholders who played diverse roles towards the peaceful burial of the late Ya-Na, Yakubu Andani II.

"The association is optimistic that the maturity and understanding manner demonstrated by the people of Dagbon would guide through the rest of the milestone in the memorandum of understanding agreed upon so that finally, the needed peace for development would return to Dagbon in particular and Northern Region as a whole", he said.

The National President noted that the peace in Gonjaland and the long-standing credible and reliable chieftaincy institution was gradually being threatened with pockets of disputes.

He said the Association had taken upon itself to identify some of the factors contributing to disputes to address them.

Alhaji Ewura said non-compliance with the laid down principles and procedures in the selection and enskinment of chiefs, over reliance on oral literature in decision-making, the non-involvement of kingmakers and queen mothers in the selection of chiefs had given room for manipulation.

The abuse of veto power as well as bribery and corruption and the involvement of the youth was gradually creeping into the system, which had to be addressed to bring sanity to the chieftaincy institution.

Alhaji Ewura said the Association would embark on educational forums and workshops for chiefs to upgrade their knowledge on some of the principles in the selection process, adding that, it would come out with a comprehensive document on succession and lineage of skins in all the gates in all the divisional areas.

He said the Association was also working out a programme with the Gonja Traditional Council to constitute a standing committee with representatives from the five divisional areas to properly research into disputes and advise the Yagbonwura appropriately.

Alhaji Ewura said it would also embark on awareness creation on the envronment this year to minimise degradation while efforts would be made to collaborate with the district assemblies to construct mini palaces at Nyange near Sawla for the five royal gates

to serve as a temporal places of residence during the enskinment or

burial of Gonja Kings.

He called on the people of the Gonjaland to take advantage of the government capitation grant to send their children to school and to offer counselling and guidance to students.

The National President appealed to the youth to help to sustain peace in the area by creating an enabling environment for development to reduce poverty, which he described as their "number one enemy".