Ghana: Gadangmes Asked to Save Their Heritage, Language-gctid28978

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Ghana: Gadangmes Asked to Save Their Heritage, Language

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 Ghanaian Chronicle (Accra)
 Ghanaian Chronicle - Online : The current time is 11:00:30 PM on 6/25/2008
 November 7, 2006
 Posted to the web November 7, 2006
 
 Naa Norley
 
 A FORMER Pro Vice Chancellor of the University of Education, Winneba
 has called on GaDangmes to start being innovative in order to save
 their heritage.
 
 The Professor, Jonas Akpanglo-Nartey noted that the culture of the
 GaDangmes was being lost while " our indigenous language is dying off".
 
 Prof. Akpanglo-Nartey was delivering this year's Fifth Nene Azu Mate
 Korle-Ako Adjei Memorial lecture in Accra.
 
 The lecture, organised by the GaDangme Students Association of the
 University of Ghana, Legon was on the theme, "Greater Accra has become
 cosmopolitan- Is this a blessing or a curse to indigenous GaDangmes
 and culture?".
 
 Prof. Akpanglo-Nartey said the inheritance of the GaDangmes was
 rapidly dwindling, "our children are not doing well in school, and
 subsequently, in life, stressing that, " I am of the opinion that we
 are doing something wrong - especially in not being unified".
 
 He said as true GaDangmes citizens, " we must rise above the problems
 and start being innovative in order to save our heritage" and called
 on GaDangmes to unite simply because "there is strength in unity".
 
 Prof. Akpanglo-Nartey said it was evident that " our own attitude is
 our downfall. The GaDangmes have been a very proud people; the only
 ones who were able to stop the further spread of the Asante Empire.
 Yet we are losing it all, our language, our heritage".
 
 He cited the Macmillan Atlas for Ghana 3rd Edition -1987- "showing on
 page 22 that the Asante Empire in the 19th century- which includes
 almost all the South. But the GaDangmes people were never dominated by
 the Asantes" and asked for the whereabouts of the great warriors of
 the GaDangmes.
 
 Prof. Akpanglo-Nartey touched on many issues involving the GaDangmes
 including the GaDangme culture, language, naming conventions,
 clan/family names, about God, puberty, marriage, inheritance, death
 and burial.
 
 Mr. Peter Ala Adjetey, who chaired the function, noted that GaDangmes
 would continue to lag behind if the youth were not encouraged to take
 education seriously.
 
 He said the GaDangmes area was endowed with natural resources but
 protracted chieftaincy disputes were drawing the Region backwards and
 appealed to the Chiefs of the area not to mortgage their legacies by
 selling out the lands of the Region.
 
 Mr. Ala Adjetey, a former Speaker of Parliament, asked the GaDangmes
 to respect their Chiefs and to stand firmly behind them.
 
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