Duniya Be Shieɣukam Da Naara
“Duniya Be Shieɣukam Da Naara” (Everything in the World Has an End)
This is Afa Ajura’s longest and most expansive piece, covering a wide range of topics, with the over-arching theme of morality as well as mortality. It references the history of the Dagbon Kingdom, African history, and world history; current events and events that were to come; proper behavior of children, women, and young men, and society more broadly. The title is taken from a common Dagbanli proverb, which notes that all things and people will pass away eventually. Afa Ajura lists off several great chiefs and warriors, asking “Where have they gone? They have passed, and so, too, will all of us.” Portions of the piece predict future circumstances that Baba Issahak, Saeed Dawuni, and Fuseini Abdul-Fatawu agreed had come to pass in Dagbon, and which were decidedly negative developments: Afa Ajura speculated that there would come a time when young men would wear shorts below their anus, walk with their hands in their pockets while smoking marijuana or tobacco; and that the day would come when young women refused to marry, kept and decorated their own rooms, and will have men visit her in her room.