Dr. Alhaji Abubakari Sidick Ahmed
Residents of the La-Nkwantanang-Madina Municipality have been called upon to allow calm to prevail following the nomination of a Municipal Chief Executive Officer for the municipality.
Dr. AlhajiAbubakariSidick Ahmed of MadinaZongo, who many put their bet on to be nominated, made the call in the face of grumbling by his disappointed supporters.
“I wish to formally use this medium to respectfully appeal to my teeming supporters, sympathisers and admirers, especially the youth who feel disappointed because I did not get the nod, to respect the President’s choice and remain calm,” he said in the statement.
Continuing, he said,“I have personally, as a sign of respect and goodwill, on the evening of Monday, 21st September, 2021 called the appointed MCE, Hon. Jennifer DedeAfagbedzi to congratulate her on being renominated and also assured her of my full support and collaboration during her second term in office. It is this noble gesture of goodwill that I want all my supporters to emulate, so that together, we can help in bringing the needed development to Madina.”
Acts of violence, he went on,
“are uncharacteristic of Dr. (Alhaji) AbubakariSidick Ahmed.”
Madina, he recalled, has a very rich history. “A village that grew to become what it is today through the combined effort of the Institute of African Studies, and the Sociology Department both of the University of Ghana and backed by survey lecturers and their students from the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology through the invitation of the founderSeiduKardo of blessed memory.”
The then village was named after the Holy City of Madina,the locationof the Mosque of the Prophet. It is the second holiest site in Islam found in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Even though the name Madina was upheld by the Paul TagoeCommission, the reality of having two separate names (Nkwantanang and Madina) in the same vicinity was not feasible, thus the fusion of the names La-NkwantanangMadina, he added.
The acceptance of all parties to the new name was as a result of mutual understanding, respect for each other, cooperation and tolerance. It is this spirit of fostering peace among peoples that is worthy of emulation by residents he called the attention of his supporters to, adding that “this is akin to the famous Madina Charter signed between the Prophet Mohammed (SAW) and peoples of other faiths and ethnicity (Jews and Christians) in Madina.”
He charged his supporters and others tohonour the memories of the then La MantseNiiAnyeteiKwakwaranya II and the chiefs and peoples of La-Nkwantanang, their forebears and SeiduKardo, the head of the settler community who together toiled and nurtured Madina, by not engaging in any acts that will discredit their names and heritage.
By A.R. Gomda