The Dagaaba people are an ethnic group located north of the convergence of Ghana, Burkina Faso and Côte d'Ivoire. They speak the Dagaare language, a Gur language made up of the related Northern Dagaare dialects, Southern Dagaare dialects and a number of sub dialects. In northern dialects, both the language and the people are referred to as Dagara. They are related to the Birifor people and the Dagaare Diola. The language is collectively known as Dagaare, and historically some non-natives have taken this as the name of the people. One historian, describing the former usage of "Dagarti" to refer to this community by colonials, writes: "The name 'Dagarti' appears to have been coined by the first Europeans to visit the region, from the vernacular root dagaa. Correctly 'Dagaari' is the name of the language, 'Dagaaba' or 'Dagara' that of the people, and 'Dagaw' or 'Dagawie' that of the land."
Tamale is the capital city of the Northern Region of Ghana. It is Ghana's third largest city, with a population of 371,351 people. The city has been ranked as the fastest-growing city in West Africa. Tamale is located in the Kingdom of Dagbon, Ghana's oldest Kingdom. Major ethnic groups who resided in Tamale are Dagomba, Gonja, Mamprusi, Akan, and Dagaaba.
Yaa Naa Yakubu Andani II (1945–2002) was the King of Dagbon, the traditional kingdom of the Dagomba people in northern Ghana, from 31 May 1974 until his assassination on 27 March 2002. He was born in August 1945 in Sagnarigu, a suburb of Tamale in the Northern Region of Ghana. Yakubu II was killed on 27 March 2002 at Yendi, the capital of the Kingdom of Dagbon, by unknown people when clashes broke out between the two feuding Gates of Dagbon Kingship. For 600 years the Abudu and Andani clans, named after two sons of the ancient Dagbon king Ya Naa Yakubu I, cordially rotated control of the kingdom centred in Yendi, 530 kilometres (330 mi) north of Accra, the capital of Ghana. A regent acted as sovereign of the kingdom until 18 January 2019 when a new ruler is chosen to occupy the revered Lion Skins of Yendi.
The Dagbamba or Dagomba are an ethnic group of Ghana, and Togo. They number more than 3.1 million people. The term Dagbamba is originally extended to refer to other related peoples who were unified by Naa Gbewaa including the Mamprusi and Nanumba. The Dagomba country is called Dagbon and they speak Dagbanli language. Dagbanli is the most spoken language of northern Ghana and second most widely spoken local language of Ghana. Dagbanli belongs to the Mabia (Mole-Dagbani) subgroup of the Gur languages, a large group of related languages in West Africa. The Dagomba practises both patrilineal and matrilineal systems of inheritance.
The University for Development Studies, Tamale was established in 1992 as a multi-campus institution. It is the fifth public university to be established in Ghana. This deviates from the usual practice of having universities with central campuses and administrations. It was created with the four northern regions of the country in mind. These are the Brong Ahafo Region, Northern Region, Upper East Region and the Upper West Region.
Mahamudu Bawumia is a Ghanaian politician and former central banker who serves as the 5th Vice President of Ghana in the 4th Ghanaian Republic. He assumed office on 7 January 2017 as Vice President of Ghana. Bawumia is the New Patriotic Party nominee for president in the 2024 general election.
Bawa Andani Yakubu, MV was a police officer, politician and king. He was an Inspector General of Police in Ghana. He also served in the National Liberation Council (NLC) government. He was the Gushie-Naa or Gushie King until his death.
Naa Gbewaa is the founder of the Kingdom of Dagbon, in what is now northern Ghana. His sons and daughters are credited with founding several states, including the Mossi Kingdoms of Burkina Faso. He established a stable and prosperous kingdom. Naa Gbewaa's shrine is located at Pusiga, 90 km east of Bolgatanga. His descendants continue to pay respects at the shrine.
Savelugu is a town and the capital of Savelugu Municipal, a municipality in the Northern Region of north Ghana. Savelugu has a 2012 settlement population of 38,074 people. There are many villages under Savelugu kingship. Most of the villages are smaller.
Bimbilla is the capital town of Nanumba North District, a district in the Northern Region of Ghana. It is located in the East of the region, and is near the Oti River. The location is situated within the range of 8.5° north to 9.25° north latitude, and between 0.57° east to 0.5° east longitude. It borders five municipalities: Yendi Municipal to the north, Mion Municipal to the northwest, East Gonja Municipal to the west and southwest, Nanumba South Municipal to the south and east, and Zabzugu Municipal to the north-northeast.
The Ghana Institute of Management and Public Administration (GIMPA) is a public co-educational university spread over four campuses and made up of six schools, ten research centers located at Greenhill in Accra, Ghana.
Yusuf Soalih also called Afa Ajura (1890-2004), was a Ghanaian Islamic scholar, a preacher, political activist, and the founder and leader of a sect in Ghana. Afa Ajura was a proponent of Sunni Islam shunning pre-Islamic pagan practices, and whom some have referred to as a precursor to Wahhabi reformism in Ghana. He established the Anbariyya Islamic Institute in Tamale in the 1940s. He died in Tamale on December 22, 2004. He was succeeded by Saeed Abubakr Zakaria in 2007 as leader of the Anbariyya Sunni Community.
The Kingdom of Dagbon is the oldest and one of the most organised traditional kingdoms in Ghana founded by the Dagomba people (Dagbamba) in the 15th century. During its rise, it comprised, at various points, the Northern, Upper West, Upper East, Savannah Region and North East regions of present-day Ghana. It also covered portions of Burkina Faso, North East Ivory Coast and North West Togo. Since Ghana's independence in 1957, the Kingdom just like all of Ghana's kingdoms and ethnic states has assumed a traditional, customary role.
The Nanumba people are an ethnic group whose traditional homeland is in the southeast of the Northern Region of Ghana. They speak Nanugli, a Gur language.
John Abdulai Jinapor is a Ghanaian politician and a former Minister of State of Ghana. He is a member of the National Democratic Congress of Ghana and a Member of Parliament representing the Yapei-Kusawgu constituency.
Bukali II, known as Gariba II, is the current Yaa Naa, traditional ruler of the Kingdom of Dagbon in Northern Ghana.
Alhassan Andani is a Ghanaian economist and grandson of Naa Andani who ruled Dagbon in the colonial era. He serves as the current chief executive director of Stanbic bank. He holds the position of Chairman of Council for Scientific & Industrial Research, Chairman of SOS Children's Villages Ghana and serves on the board of Gold Fields Limited. Alhassan Andani is Independent Non-Executive Director of the company. Mr Andani is currently CEO and executive director of Stanbic Bank Ghana; the board chairperson of the Ghana Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR), a director of SOS Villages Ghana, and has held other corporate directorships in the past. He holds BSc (Agriculture), University of Ghana; MA, Finafrica Institute in Italy.
Ibrahim Mahama is a Ghanaian lawyer, and civil servant. He was Ghana's Commissioner for Secretariats and Departments from 1967 to 1968 and Commissioner for Information from 1968 to 1969.
Tamale Senior High School formerly Government Secondary School, Tamale, Gbewaa Secondary School, and more recently Tamale Secondary School is a co-educational second cycle boarding school located at Education Ridge, a suburb of the Sagnarigu Municipality. The school was founded in 1951 by the then British Colonial Authorities as the first second cycle institution of the Northern Territories.
