In the past few days, social media became awash with sharing comments of Lawyer Anokye, the historian, on how Sir Gordon Gussisberg’s deliberate policy of denying northern Ghana formal education delayed the progress and development of the area for ages.
Obviously, the colonial administration policies, such as those Lawyer Anokye described as being deliberately implemented, treated northern Ghana as a labor reserve for mining and cocoa farms in the Southern part of Ghana, thus creating an imbalance that influenced migration patterns that contributed to shaping social perceptions.
Article 17 of Ghana’s 1992 Constitution is explicit; All persons shall be equal before the law, and no one shall be discriminated against based on ethnic origin, enshrining equality before the law and prohibiting discrimination on grounds of ethnicity.
Yet still, social discrimination is beneath the radar of expressed laws, manifesting in mockery of accents and casual yet insulting slurs disguised as humor.
The continuous use of words like ‘eseremnim or eseremfou’ reinforces a divisive narrative that southern Ghana is inherently superior to northern Ghana. Such language does not exist in a vacuum.
It does reflect and reinforce hurtful stereotyping rooted in economic imbalances, uneven development, and historical migration patterns. Ghana has faced structural disadvantages in infrastructure, education, and industrial development. Weaponizing such disparities through derogatory labels is a demonstration of insensitivity in the face of the injustice suffered by Northerners.
Esere is the Akan word of a wild grass commonly known as Cogon or Spear grass found in bushy or uncultivated areas. It is a perennial rhizomatous grass known for being highly flammable, growing rapidly, and having sharp-pointed leaves.
It is commonly used for thatching roofs in northern Ghana and elsewhere, as a folder for animals, and in traditional medicine. ‘Eserenem or Eseremfou’ therefore refers to northerners and by extension saying we are bush people.
That description shifts from a botanical reference to an ethnic insult that implies northerners are bush dwellers, uncivilized, backward, or less sophisticated.
The message is clear in its use; you are lesser and not fully accepted. Such a psychological hurt cannot be dismissed as banter.
Reducing any group of people to a caricature rooted in geography is unacceptable, especially when Northern Ghana has produced distinguished scholars, military leaders, judges, entrepreneurs, academics, public servants, and so on, who have contributed and continue to contribute immensely to national development, thus being integral to Ghana’s progress.
Be informed, rural does not mean backward. Northern Ghana contributes to feeding the country through farm produce that nourishes the country and beyond.
I bet most people, including politicians and some Northerners, do not even know the meaning of those words. I have had to refer to myself as Eseremni a couple of times, but desisted after learning the meaning. I think it was confined to the Akan areas to describe northerners and later became common use, nonetheless, derogatory.
Words can wound and heal. Inclusive language should be encouraged.
A collective effort is required to end derogatory language. The word seeks to diminish northerners in the eyes of those using it. It has no place in respectful discourse.
We ought to let go of such words. On a lighter note, as the ‘Duke of Nogsenia’, a co custodian of our culture and traditions, if any of my Akan friends or in-laws refer to me as such, we would not solve it the ‘Kassena Nankana Way’. The ‘Builsa Way’ SHALL not depart from my actions then and then.
By Jonathan Balinia Adda, Esq.
