Dagbon New Agenda; CAN WE START PLANNING DAMBA NOW

Photography; by Mandeiya Michael
Article by; Rahamatu-Lahi Zakaria

Festivals in this new age have become a source of revenue mobilisation for chiefs and citizens to help develop their towns. Most festivals have also become a time for sons and daughters to return home and help in the development agenda of their land. Festivals have also become a tourist destination for families and friends across the globe.

The euphoria that comes with the celebration of festivals is gradually dwindling in the northern region especially in the urban areas. If this pattern continues, a time will come when the new generation will not know anything about our festival and the traditions attached to them. Most people, myself included, only get to know of the celebration of Damba or Bugum festival at the 11TH hour. This practice I think, is not good for the cultural preservation and also selling the customs and traditions of the land.

With the creation of the Deima Nanima, one would have thought that, they were going to champion the promoting of our arts and culture including our festivals but little can be said about that.

Maybe, we can pardon our revered Deima Naninma for not having strategic plans to promote our festivals because of the chieftaincy dispute that engulfed our land for the past decade and also fact that, we did not have substantive Yaa Naa. Now, we have a Yaa Naa. So they have no excuse if they cannot turn our festivals into a tourist destination and revenue mobilisation for the development of our land.

Most cities in the world are known for the colorful festivals they have annually. Calabar in Nigeria is known for its street Carnival as well as the Chinese New Year celebrations. These places have been turned to a tourist destination and people all over the world have marked this date down in their calendar.

The Dagbon traditional council have to start the planning of the next Damba now to help showcase to people who we are. This will also help sons and daughters to come closer to the traditions and customs of the land. A new and structured way of celebrating Damba can also be a gaming changing narrative for the land as it can be another way of luring investors to aid in developing the people.

We can have a series of activities at the celebration of the Damba festival. For instance, organizing clean up exercise, health screening, blood donation exercise, fundraising, etc. and also accompany it with the screening of movies brewed in the region. Also, have durbars of chiefs to showcase our dances and regalia that makes us unique. This will help in the showcasing and promoting of our creative arts industry and creating employment for the teeming youth.

This will also create an avenue to raise money for the development of the region without waiting for the central government or a benevolent foreigner to come to our aid.

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