As-salamu alaykum
I am truly honoured to have the opportunity to join this famous family to celebrate the life of one of the historic figures of modern Ghana, an illustrious son of the North, the late Tolon Naa, Alhaji Yakubu Tali.
I am truly honoured to have the opportunity to join this famous family to celebrate the life of one of the historic figures of modern Ghana, an illustrious son of the North, the late Tolon Naa, Alhaji Yakubu Tali.
I
salute the family and all those who, through diverse efforts, have
ensured that this event has been successfully put together. It is a
happy coincidence that this ceremony is taking place on the eve of the
National Delegates’ Conference in Tamale of the New Patriotic Party, the
political party whose forebears he served with such distinction. It
has enabled the leadership and members of the Party to be present here
in Tolon on this occasion, to add our voice to the commemoration of
this hardworking, most praise worthy man, whose life continues to
inspire us.
The
late Alhaji Yakubu-Tali was born in 1916 at Tali, a village 32
kilometers from Tamale, to the late Tali Na, Alhassan Sulemana, and
Madam Ayishetu. Through both parents, he belonged to the royal families
of Tolon and Kumbungu. Like myself, dare I say it myself, in his
youthful days, Na Yakubu Tali was a good footballer.
He
started school at the age of nine. At the time, students were
identified by the names of their villages. This served as a means of
distinguishing between students who bore similar names, hence the name
Yakubu Tali.
In
his youth, the policy of the colonial government was to ensure that no
student from the Northern Territories, no matter how academically
sound, was allowed into the secondary division of Achimota school.
However, he could not be kept out, and Yakubu Tali became the first
Northerner to attend Achimota School in the 1930s.
On
leaving Achimota in 1937 and for a period of nine years, he taught in
several schools in the then Northern Territories, where he was a most
effective teacher. Wherever he went, he became an inspiration to
parents and students alike.
His
political life begun in 1948 when he was elected a representative of
the Western Dagomba District Council to the Northern Territories
Council. He was elected as the President of the Northern Territories
Council six times in succession from 1952 to 1958, when it was finally
dissolved. He served as a member of the historic Coussey Constitutional
Committee in 1950, whose constitutional proposals provided the roadmap
for Ghana’s independence in 1957.
The
late Tolon Naa was a special member for the Northern Territories in
the Legislative Assembly of the Gold Coast in 1950. He won the 1954 and
1956 parliamentary elections for Dagomba South, first as an
independent candidate and, then, as the candidate of the Northern
Peoples Party. He remained in Parliament until 1965.
In
1954, he participated in one of the seminal events of the new Ghana –
the formation of the Northern Peoples Party, which was established to
advance the interests of the North in the new political atmosphere of
the 1950s. Together with other great political personalities of the
time such as S.D Dombo, Mumuni Bawumia and J.A. Braimah, Yakubu Tali
helped draw up the constitution of the new party, which was approved by
the delegates; officers were elected; and various local branches
established. He was specifically tasked to build a solid machinery for
the Northern Peoples Party in the great Dagbon Kingdom, a task he
successfully executed, which led to the organisation of the first
congress of the Northern Peoples Party here in Tolon on the 10th of
April, 1954. The party was outdoored the following day, the 11th of
April, the very day, 60 years ago, on which we are holding this
commemoration. The distinguished S.D Dombo was elected Chairman and the
highly respected Mumuni Bawumia, the father of my brilliant running
mate, Mahamudu Bawumia, was elected Vice Chairman, with Fuseini Dramani
as General Secretary, and the fearless Imoro Salifu as Propaganda
Secretary.
Alhaji Yakubu Tali was a
very effective and eloquent debater. It was not for nothing that he was
known as the Golden Voice of the North because of the clarity and
fluency of his expositions. He was a frequent visitor to my father’s
house, and I had the privilege, as a young man, of listening to that
memorable, unforgettable voice. He worked closely with political giants
like the late Mr Victor Owusu of most blessed memory, then MP for
Agona Kwabre. He later became Deputy Speaker of the National Assembly
in July 1960. He was a member of the Ghanaian delegation to the United
Nations General Assembly in 1960, 61 and 69.
After
leaving Parliament in 1965, he embarked on a new career as a diplomat.
He was appointed Ghana’s High Commissioner to Nigeria from 1965 to
1968. He was Ghana’s Ambassador to the then Yugoslavia during the
Second Republic. In 1972, he was recalled and appointed Ghana’s High
Commissioner to Sierra Leone, and was also accredited to Guinea as an
Ambassador. He was a member of the 1979 Constituent Assembly, which
prepared the Constitution of the short-lived Third Republic. He was a
founding member and the first National Chairman of the Popular Front
Party, PFP. Victor Owusu selected him as his running mate for the 1979
presidential election, which, unfortunately, they lost, thereby
depriving our nation of a potentially great presidential team.
Ladies
and gentlemen, you will all agree with me that this was a great man
who led a full and varied life, worthy of celebration. Politician,
diplomat and statesman, Alhaji Yakubu Tali was also a chief of high
traditional standing. An educated and cultivated man, he was an admired
teacher of many of the young Northerners of the time. He was a person
of deep-seated faith, a trait respected by all. He was a true
embodiment of the dignity of tradition and chieftaincy in Ghana. He
skilfully blended his faith, tradition and public service much to the
admiration of his contemporaries. He belongs to the ages and
represented the best elements of this noble tradition, the
Danquah-Dombo-Busia political tradition of Ghana, reflecting integrity,
loyalty to principle, selflessness, and commitment to honest public
service in the highest degree.
We,
therefore, have a duty, as beneficiaries of their toils and as loyal
members of the political tradition these great men left behind, to be
part of the celebration of the life of the Tolon Naa, Alhaji Yakubu
Tali. As we commemorate the life of this noble Ghanaian from the North,
I want to use the occasion to remember and recognise as well his
compatriots from the North for their individual and collective
sacrifices to the building of modern Ghana. We will continue to hold
S.D Dombo, Mumuni Bawumia, J.A Braimah, Imoro Salifu, Jato Kaleo, Naa
Abayifa Karbo, B.K Adama, C.K Tedam, who, happily, is still with us and
Chair of this occasion, and the many others in high esteem. Pioneers
in the struggle, against great odds, to establish Ghana as a democracy,
where there is respect for the principles of democratic
accountability, human rights and the rule of law, their labour has not
been in vain. It is bearing fruit. They traced the path that our nation
is following today. May their souls, and the soul of Alhaji Yakubu
Tali, Tolon Naa, continue to rest in perfect peace in the bosom of the
Almighty.
I thank you for your attention.
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