Halting Words for Nab Azantilow Ayieta IV

Photo Credit: Franz Kröger

All over the land of Buluk, over hills and fields 
Where long grass grows and stout trees thrive  
The trade wind comes racing, swelling about the trees  
What news from the north, Oh hurrying wind?  
What tidings do you bear in your dusty breeze?  

Have you seen Azantilow the tall and mighty  
By sun, moon or by starlight bright?  
Where now is he, the bold, the ancient, the brave?  
Maybe you have heard the horn of the son of Ayieta.  
Echoing in the hills and vales of the land

Upon azagsuk, long I stood and listened

Under the shade of acham I tarried in vain

Tell me not that he is no more!

But alas, his horn is silent, and his feet are cold

The north wind is still, impotent with tears

                            Read: Village Boy Impressions - The Song of Atuga

Towards akumcham ever shall I gaze

There our foes fled in dismay

Before its dying stump, ever I sigh

Under its withered crown ever I wait,

O, Ayieta biik, will you not return?

A trumpet-voice, jealous in honour, 

A deadly sword, a burning brand, 

A chivalrous heart, quick to love,

A lord of wisdom enthroned upon the skin of Ayieta
A living landscape fair and bright

Your name is cast in gold in the annals of history

Lord of Buluk, skilful genius that made us heroes
A visionary, with eyes that look deep and far

A weary pilgrim on the road of peace and unity

Oh that I were a master of words unchained

My halting words would paint you back to life

Oh, that I were a bird with tongue unbound,

To loudly sound your praises everlastingly.

That I may rouse the hearts of men with words of thee

And Buluk would once more flock to your banner

To drink deep of your ancient lore.

Read: Village Boy Impressions - Feok, the hallowed festival of the Bulsa

But alas in a corner of the rich earth of Buluk

There lies forever concealed, a richer dust, 

A body of Buluk, born and bred therein

Blest by the fiery suns and the dusty winds

There you rest, entombed under a Bulsa heaven

But though much is gone, much now remains

For that which we are, we are still

One heroic heart, strong in will to conquer

That in days of old moved heaven and earth 
And inspired emulous missions among the gods.

Sweet repose my lord, rest thee well my liege

For thy labour upon the fields is done

In our midst your deeds stand, a mighty baobab

Undimmed by shadows of night or clouds of grey 

Shedding light and incense upon the infant crop.

Statue of Nab Dr. Azantilow Ayieta at the forecourt of the palace in Sandema

The late Nab Dr. Azantilow Ayieta was born in 1900. He ascended the throne by succeeding his elder brother Nab Agaasa Ayieta, as Sandem-Nab and consequently paramount chief of the Bulsa in December 1931. Though Nab Dr. Azantilow did not have the benefit of formal education, he championed the social, political, educational and economic development of the then Bulsa District.

He mobilized his people to build the first-ever native authority primary boarding school in Sandema in 1935, which was opened in 1936. Surprisingly, he refused an offer of a loan from the British colonialists and rather offered £10 from his own resources to make up the £15 that was needed to complete the school project. He also led his people to build a Dispensary at Sandema in 1937. By 1948, he had expanded primary educational facilities to other areas of the district including Siniensi, Fumbisi and Chuchuliga, all of which were built through communal labour. 

He fought for the building of the first middle boarding school in Sandema in 1952 and was instrumental in the building of the Sandema Secondary Technical School in 1976. He introduced the Feok Festival which has become the embodiment of the culture and history of the Bulsa nation in 1974.

His people, the Bulsa, were noted for their bravery, so in 1942, he was called upon by the governor of the then Gold Coast to give a word of encouragement to the Gold Coast Regiment (which included his own people) stationed in Kumasi before their departure to the war front in Abyssinia and Burma. This regiment is praised in many historical records for their exploits in the Togoland, the Cameroons and East Africa. In 1945, he again addressed the whole West African regiment in Accra.

A good number of his people were part of the group of ex-servicemen who marched to the castle on 28^th February 1948 to protest to the governor.  In fact, one Salifu Kanjarga was said to be the assistant of the British Head of Police at the Castle, Superintendent Imray. Supt. Imray ordered him to shoot at the protesters but he refused and shot in the air whilst shouting orders to his men in the Hausa language not to open fire on the protesting ex-servicemen who were marching to the castle. Frustrated, Imray grabbed the gun and shot into the crowd, killing the three ex-servicemen. What would have happened if the good Salifu Kanjarga had not disobeyed the order and issued a counter order which was obeyed is anybody's guess. Unfortunately, when the events leading to the 1948 riots are recounted, Salifu Kanjarga's name is not mentioned at all. 

As Sandem-Nab, he was the President of the Builsa Traditional Council from 1931 - 2006. He was Vice President of the Northern Territorial Council with its headquarters at Tamale. In 1960, when the Upper Region was carved from the Northern Territories, Nab Azantilow became the first Vice-President of the Regional House of Chiefs and from 1966-1972 he was the President of the Upper Region House of Chiefs.

Nab Azantilow was well known and greatly admired beyond the boundaries of Buluk and the shores of Ghana and received several awards and commendations, some of which include:

v  King George V. Rex and Emperor No. 29

v  King George V. and Queen Mary (1935)

v  King George VI. King and Emperor

v  King George and Queen Elizabeth Medal

v  Queen Elizabeth Medal (1953)

v  Grand Medal of Ghana (1969)

v  Order of the Star of Volta (1971)

v  Medal from the Major of Gelligan Germany (1972)

He was a leading signatory to the irrevocable agreement of the Northern Territories to join the rest of the Gold Coast for independence on 30th May 1956 at Tamale. He assisted the former Head of State Ft. Lt. J.J. Rawlings to commission the National Electrification grid to the Upper East Region in 1989 at Bolgatanga.

In 1997, an armoured car was commissioned in his honour by the Ghana Armed Forces. In February 2005, the University for Development Studies (UDS) awarded him an Honorary Doctor of Letters for the pioneering role he played in the promotion of education in northern Ghana. He was also posthumously honoured on 5th November 2010 by the people of Upper East Region on the occasion of the 50th Anniversary of the region for his distinguished traditional leadership and his promotion of regional and community development through agriculture.

Beloved by his people as a brave and progressive monarch and a symbol of peace and stability in the Bulsa nation, he passed peacefully into eternity on 14th November 2006. He is much missed as a repository and an embodiment of the history and lore of the Bulsa people. These halting words do not do him justice by a long road!