Ban on noise making has benefits
The Ga Traditional Council yesterday announced this year’s ban on drumming and noise-making in the Ga state for a period of one month. The ban is to take effect from Monday, May 14, 2018 to Thursday, June 14, 2018.
The season of Homowo, the revered traditional festival of Gas, starts with the ritual sowing of corn and yams with the coming of the first rains in early May and ends in late September when the crops are finally harvested.
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Right after the ritual sowing, there is a period of quiet and servitude when the benevolence of the spirits, with respect to the growth and harvest of agricultural produce and fish, is solicited.
In times past, there were skirmishes between the traditional authorities and people who flouted the ban, leading to the destruction of properties and injury to a number of people.
For a couple of years now, however, the period of the ban has been tranquil.
This is as a result of the engagement of people of especially other faiths that has made communication on the festival open, bringing about more understanding and acceptance to especially some churches, as well as measures that have been put in place to prevent people arrogating to themselves the authority to whip in line people they consider to be flouting the ban.
During the announcement yesterday, the Ga Traditional Council warned persons who impersonated the city authorities to perpetrate crime during the period of the ban to desist from the act.
The Daily Graphic associates itself with the caution, but adds that when such culprits are caught, chiefs and traditional authorities should not go to plead for such hoodlums.
We also urge residents to endeavour to give due respect to the traditional beliefs of the land by observing the ban on drumming and noise-making.
The Bible, in Romans 13:1, says: “Everyone must submit to governing authorities.
For all authority comes from God, and those in positions of authority have been placed there by God.
This is in line with what the Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) said: “Whoever obeys me, has indeed obeyed Allah; whoever disobeys me, has indeed disobeyed Allah; whoever obeys the leader, has indeed obeyed me; whoever disobeys the leader, has indeed disobeyed me.”
On the basis of these two teachings from the Holy Books of two major religions, we encourage adherents of the two major faiths to join hands with their traditional counterparts to make this period peaceful and memorable.
It is in this that we see unity in diversity and we know that if these three religions agree on a common purpose, the result will be phenomenal.
The Daily Graphic also wishes to draw the attention of the concerned authorities to learn something from tradition, so that they will wake up to their responsibility of ensuring manageable sound levels, such that citizens will not have to wait for a whole year during the Homowo period to have sound sleep after working hard the whole day.
We should not lose sight of the serious health effects of noise which include hearing impairment, sleep disturbance, hypertension and heart diseases.