So, last night was the fire festival of the Dagombas of the northern region of Ghana. I missed out on it because I wasn't feeling so good, and I was so tired. I went to bed at 8pm, so I just missed out. But, I was able to catch up on all that I missed out on this morning at work and from all the pictures that my friend @abu_risky posted on twitter.
Stories about people hurting each-other with cutlasses and guns were all that i heard though, and it saddened me that with all the appeal we made to the public asking them to be careful with their weapons and everything, people still went out with bad intentions; to hurt someone they had a grudge with.
This festival, I'm told has nothing to do with vengeance or hate or violence for that matter, it is a festival of hope. Of leaving behind the anguish and feelings of hopelessness and moving forward to beautiful and positive things.
If that is so, why then did I wake up to news of about 6 young men, all in the emergency and surgical units of the Tamale Teaching Hospital, being treated for deep cuts made from cutlasses and wounds sustained from gunshots; with one having taken a blow to his head almost smashing in his skull. We cry for development in our part of the country, yet we cannot observe our own traditional culture without tension in the air. What happened last night is a shame, to us and all of our leaders, we just proved the haters right; that we are a violent people, that we cannot hold our own forts down, that our traditions do not encourage peacefulness, that social gathering has to have some form of tension or the presence of the military.
I know we are better than this. I believe that moving forward, we will do everything in our power to prevent any future happenings of this sort. I have faith in our youth and their ability to be tolerant and solve their issues without making them headline news the next morning. xo
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