Another Milestone of Asogli State Yam Festival

A GNA Feature by Maxwell Awumah, Hohoe Correspondent.

Hohoe (V/R), Sept. 14, GNA - A year has revolved and the Chiefs and the people of the Asogli State, comprising more than 30 communities in the Ho Municipality of the Volta region, are feverishly preparing to celebrate again their annual yam festival, which had become a rallying platform for evolving socio-cultural and economic development.

This year's festival, themed: "Attitudinal Change - An Important Prerequisite for Prosperity" and scheduled to take place between September 18 and October 2 would be presided over by the Agbogbomefia of the Asogli State, Togbe Afede XIV and the distinguished patronage of Okyenhene, Osagyefuo Amotia Ofori Panin and representatives of governments and chiefs and people from other traditional areas within and outside Ghana.

Clearly, the event, apart from serving as an annual stocktaking and thanksgiving by the citizens of Asogli both as individuals and a group, the festival would also be a fulcrum for mobilizing both human and material resources of the Asogli State for jobs and wealth creation. It would, furthermore foster the requisite unity amongst the people of the area through the performance of rites to engender the spirit of forgiveness, reconciliation and a re-affirmation and renewal of allegiance by all chiefs and subjects in the Asogli State to the Agbogbome stool.

Significantly, this year's celebration has been carefully planned to showcase the rich cultural heritage of the area, to be climax on October 1, with a grand durbar, to honour distinguished citizens for their sterling contributions towards the development and progress of the Asogli State and a State dance to add grandeur and pageantry.

Other major highlights of the fiesta include the Asogli Congress, which would provide the platform for exchanging ideas and fashioning out strategic concerns on the common socio-economic and cultural advancement of the area, Voltaxpo, an exhibition of traditional crafts, artefacts and indigenous Ewe materials and relics, in addition to adanukofe, to portray traditional music and dance, folklore, proverbs, parables and poem sessions.

Of course, there would be the usual customary/rituals rites, which normally heralded the festival, mini-durbars, and traditional cuisines cooking contest, a football match between Asogli Stars versus Akyem Abuakwa Eleven with the Agbogbomefia and Okyenhene jointly taking the kick-off.

ACHIEVEMENTS

Reminiscent of last year's events, two important facilities were launched at the Volta Congress, the 20-million dollar Volta Venture Capital Fund (VVCF) and a 10-billion cedi Volta Development Fund (VDF) to support small and medium enterprises.

This Congress was an initiative of the Agbogbomefia under the auspices of the World Bank and the Volta Forum Trust (VFT) brought together all stakeholders in the Region's socio-economic development programme would be high on this year's agenda.

The Asogli State consequently made some historic strides in forging cordial relationships between it and other traditional areas in the country and beyond, which translated into visits to Notsie in the Republic of Togo, the ancestral home of the Ewe speaking people, the Ga traditional area, the Okyenman and the Manhyia Palace under the distinguished patronage of Otumfuo Osei Tutu II, the Asantehene towards cementing intra-cultural trust, unity and peace needed for cohesion and national development.

Interestingly, Togbe Afede, who envisages an accelerated socio-economic breakthrough for his people led a 22-member delegation of businessmen and Asogli State officials on an investment trip to China where several memoranda of understanding were signed between them in the areas of cellular phones, television set factory, estate development, hair products, agriculture, mining and in the tourism sectors. Hopefully, the fruit of his toil would begin to filter through to create wealth in the Asogli state of the Volta region and the country at large.

BRIEF HISTORY

The Asogli people like most Ewe speaking people, trace their origin from a place called Abyssinia in what is now Ethiopia. Migrating with other Ewes from Abyssinia to Yorubaland, Western Nigeria. From Oyo they migrated to Ketu in Dahomey (now Benin) before settling at Notsie in present day Togo in the 12th century.

Oral history has it that in their settlements at Ketu and Notsie, the Ewes lived in walled cities called Agbome, literally meaning "within the fence wall". At Notsie, a tyrant king Agorkoli, whose sadistic reign is reported in the historical records of all Ewes, ruled the Ewes including the people of Asogli with iron hands. Of course, the Asoglis naturally detested the rule of King Agorkoli and under the leadership of Togbe Kakla; they broke through a portion of the fortified wall through which all Ewes escaped, this they did by softening the wall through a planned and persistent splashing of water.

The conspiracy included a deceptive plan under which the escaping subjects walked backwards out of the wall city. The objective was to create the impression that the footprints they left were those of people who had rather entered the city. That strategy confused the King's soldiers and by the time they realized what had happened, most of the subjects had escaped into freedom.

THE ORIGIN OF YAM CULTIVATION

Oral history taught that a hunter on his normal hunting expedition discovered the yam crop in the forest, also known as "ete" in Ewe, literally meaning swollen. It was during a period of famine but instead of taking his newly discovered tuber home, that hunter decided to hide it in the soil for use some other time. To his dismay the tuber had germinated and grown bigger, giving credence for its cultivation ever since.

Since the cultivation of yam is labour intensive, hazardous and energy sapping, the forebears always sought the guidance of the ancestors and gods of the land for bumper harvest hence the institution of the festival. 14 Sept. 05