Use Hogbetsotso to rally indigenes for development - Semekor Fiadzo
A Deputy Chief Fire Officer (DCFO), Semekor Kwaku Fiadzo, has called on the people of Anlo to use this year’s Hogbetsotso Festival to rally citizens to contribute towards making Anlo great again.
“Let us move forward in unity, as development can only thrive in an environment of unity and among people committed to a common purpose and agenda,” DCFO Fiadzo, who is also an indigene of Anlo, added.
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DCFO Fiadzo, who is also the Director Research and Information Technology of the Ghana National Fire Service, was speaking at the launch of the 2022 Hogbetsotso za in Tema yesterday[September 21, 2022].
The festival is celebrated by the people of Anlo and its affiliates in the southern part of the Volta Region.
Hogbetsotso, undoubtedly the biggest event on the calendar of the people, which also features prominently on the country’s tourism calendar, is used to commemorate the historic migration of the Ewes from Notsie.
It is also used to remind the people of the values, norms and traditions on which the Anlo State was founded.
This year’s festival, which will be climaxed on the first Saturday of November with a durbar at Anloga, is on the theme: “60 years of Anlo Hogbetsotso za: Uniting for development, sustaining our unique cultural commonwealth for future generations”.
History
DCFO Fiadzo retraced the history of Anlos and how the area used to be the centre of commerce, education, farming and fishing.
“All Anlos must resolve to contribute to making Anlo great again. A great Anlo makes all Anglos great, and a weak Anlo makes all Anlos weak. There is no exception to this rule. So let us contribute our ideas and resources to the Anlo State,” he said.
On education, the Deputy Chief Fire Officer said: “Every household and individual must resolve and make it a point to facilitate our children’s acquisition of education, for education is one thing no one can take away from you.”
He further advised the people to cherish and protect the beautiful environment they had been entrusted with.
“Indiscriminate bush burning, the destruction of water bodies, the wanton killing of animals, cutting of trees and destruction of the ecosystem are crimes against nature.
“We must stop the destruction of nature and protect the land God has entrusted into our hands,” DCFO Fiadzo added.
Activities
Activities lined up for the festival include a congress of chiefs, a health screening, the Hogbe Marathon, street arts festival, a durbar for schoolchildren and the Miss Hogbe Beauty Pageant.
The Spokesperson for the Awoamefia, Togbui Agbotadua Kumassa, in an overview of the events, said the festival was returning this year after a two-year break due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
He said Ewe values and heritage were being lost and the festival presented an opportunity to create awareness of them.
He added that while the area had its fair share of under-development, the people believed that reviving their heritage would go a long way to influence growth.
The Chairman for the event, Torgbi Gbordzor III, the Dusifia of Anlo, called on well-meaning citizens of Anlo to make financial contributions to support the various activities lined up for the festival.
The Ewefia of Ashaiman, Torgbi Exa Foli Aheto, stressed the need for unity among leaders within the Anlo State.
