29-year-old Barnabas Ahialey a.k.a. ‘CBwoy Majik’ has embarked on what he calls the ‘Ancestors Walk’ in honour of Anlo.
Master Ahialey honoured his ancestors by taking a 50-kilometre walk from Dzodze to Anloga in 8 hours, a journey that should have lasted almost 12 hours.
In an exclusive with OnuaOnline, the sculptor, fashion designer and musician said the meaning of the festival –Hogbetsotso –is the historic journey their forefathers took from Sudan through Mali to Ille Ife, Benin before finally settling in Ghana.
The Dzodze Adagbledu indigene paid a courtesy call on the Anlo Traditional Council upon his arrival and delivered the message he brought them.
The entire Anloga township was in a frenzy when he arrived as the young and old, male and female all followed him to the chief’s palace.
“I’m on a mission which I named the ancestors walk. It’s actually a walk that I’m doing to honour our forefathers –who actually walked all the way from Sudan to Mali to Ille Ife, Nigeria back to Dahomey, the place that we are calling Benin today. But they were not okay there so they had to move to Notse, inside Togo. Then we were told we were under the rule of King Agorkorli and due to one or two things, they had to move from Notse again and basically that’s the essence of the Hogbe festival.
“Hogbetsotso means ‘moving out of the wall’ so I decided to use this day to honour those forefathers of ours who actually walked all the way from Hogbe to where we are now,” he narrated.
Ahialey, who strongly believes he is a reincarnation told OnuaOnline the message his ancestors told him to deliver to the traditional authority which they also received in good faith.
“I believe in reincarnation and personally I believe I’m not just a normal human being. I’m someone that reincarnated into this form so I’m doing it to honour that same person.
“I brought them (the chiefs and elders) a message that I want us to go back to out roots, –a day that we’ll all go back to celebrate at Notse and they told me they will take it and work around it,” he disclosed.
“From Dzodze to Anlo is 50 km according to Google map and I’m supposed to use 12 hrs 10 mins but fortunately I used exactly 8 hours. I started exactly 5 am and 1 pm, I reached my destination,” he said of his journey.
By Felix Anim-Appau|Onuaonline.com
