My trip to Togo and my learnings on the history of West Africa
Travel is much more than seeing. It’s about living.
On December 23rd 2018, I left Lagos, Nigeria for Lomé, Togo on a three week professional exchange to work on a project between AIESEC in Nigeria and AIESEC in Togo, which entailed developing a cultural integration program for foreign students studying French in the University of Lomé. This engagement afforded me the opportunity to spend three weeks in the city of Lomé, the capital of Togo.
Togo is one of the countries in West Africa, which shares borders with Benin Republic and Ghana. The official language spoken in Togo is French, and this is as a result of its colonisation by France. The impact of this colonialism is also evident in the country’s architectural design of its structures and way of life. The currency used is the Togolese Franc (CFA Franc).
During my stay in Togo, I lived with a lovely host family who lived in Agbelepedogan, not so far from the University of Lomé, which was my primary place of assignment.
My stay in Togo was awesome and relaxing. It felt great to be away from the noise and crowdedness in Lagos. The population of Togo is about 8 million people, with a land mass of about 56,000 kilometers square, a population lower than that of Lagos (with a population of about 20 million) which has a land mass of about 1,200 kilometers square, so you can imagine how less crowded it was. For the first few days I was reserved and didn’t feel so comfortable going out on my own, particularly taking into consideration the fact that my French wasn’t at its best level (“mans” couldn’t afford to get lost). However, after a while I became comfortable and was able to take regular evening walks, which happened to be very peaceful, calm and safe. There was no fear of being “obtained”, though sometimes there was the fear of being lost😬. Also, I mastered the phrases and sentences necessary to communicate with the locals, who mostly spoke French, with my most used phrases being “Je ne comprends pas” (meaning I do not understand), “Tu comprends Anglais ?” (meaning Do you understand English?), “Combien ?” (meaning How much?) and “Je parle Français un peu (meaning I speak a little French). With these few words in my pocket and my Google Translate app, I was adequately equipped to take on the streets of Lome every evening. I must state that the locals were very friendly and ever willing to help, particularly when they knew my French wasn’t fluent.
Thanks to my friends Daniel and Frank, I had the opportunity to visit a lot of places, including landmarks. I visited the major market. The market has an area where African prints and artifacts are predominantly sold, which I love.
I also visited the beaches, Place de L’indépendance (Independence Square), Palais des Congrès (Congress Place), Foiré Quinzaine Commerciale (a trade fair), and Musée National (National Museum).
The most memorable place I visited was the National Museum, as I not only had the opportunity to see and touch historic items, but I also had the opportunity to learn about the history of Togo, West Africa, and the interconnectedness of the countries within the region.
At the museum I made friends with Selasi, a Ghanaian, and his friend, Oyinkan, who were in Togo to spend the weekend. From him I learnt a lot about Africa and our history. At a point in time in history, Benin and Togo used to be one, called Dahomey, but were separated as a result of colonialism. Togo was first colonised by Germany, but after Germany lost the World War, it lost its colonies in Africa. So since Togo was one of Germany’s territories, it lost it. Togo was then divided into 3 factions. One-third was taken over by Britain (and this was the part close to Ghana). The remaining part being 2/3 was taken over by France (For context sake, it’s important to note that Togo is in between Ghana and Benin Republic). This separation was very harmful for many families, as many families were separated, especially people of the Ewe Tribe.
The former part of Togo that’s now in Ghana is called the Volta region. After the independence of Ghana, there was a referendum as to whether those in the Volta region wanted to remain in Ghana or they wanted to go back to Togo. The result of the referendum was in favour of those who wanted to remain in Ghana. Many believed the results were rigged because the then President of Ghana wanted the benefits of the Volta Region for his country. In the Volta Region, many indigenes speak Ewe, which is also spoken in Togo.
So how are we interconnected? Many tribes in Benin Republic, Togo, and Ghana migrated from Nigeria, particularly Ife, which is shown in the map below. The migration started from Nigeria and moved down to Ghana overtime (So yes, the Togolese are our siblings🙂).
Also, I got to learn about slavery for the perspective of another country, which was disheartening. I learnt about the horrific conditions slaves lived in at the Slave Castle, Ghana. They stayed in a small over packed room, standing throughout and being unable to sleep (because they were obviously standing, and had no space to even breathe or move). They were also fed from two holes, being the only holes in the room. The slaves had to fight amongst themselves for the food. If any one of them slumped and died, the others just climbed the person and continued living, so you can imagine the sight and stench.
As is expected of every foreigner in a new country, I experienced some culture shock during my stay. First, it was to see petrol sold in bottles in some places, as filling stations are not as many as should be. Another thing I found shocking was the absence of potholes on the roads I plied. Though not all the roads were tarred, those which were tarred lacked potholes and seemed to be properly maintained, which I admired. The most shocking was the overwhelming number of motorcycles used in the city. I remember asking my friend about the major occupation in the city, and he said motorcycle riding (Yes, the “Okada” we both know). The number of motorcycles used far outnumbers the number of cars. Almost everyone seemed to have a bike. I later got to understand that one of the factors influencing this is the cost of petrol, which is high, and motorcycles do not use as much fuel as cars.
It was also shocking not to experience traffic, except at traffic light stops. This is actually partly owed to the predominant use of motorcycles compared to cars. The city also enjoys constant power supply, which was surprising for a country not as developed as Nigeria.
It was exciting to try new foods. Some foods were similar to Nigerian foods, but just cooked in a different way. By the way, an average Togolese loves pepper (You think you’ve eaten Yoruba stew, LMAO. You dunno…).
So remember I stated earlier that I stayed with a host family. So my hosts happened to have a dog and 2 cats, which I found very surprising, because I know dogs and cats to be enemies. But oh well, this relationship seemed to be different. Coming from Nigeria, I had this notion about cats, which you probably know too😏, so I tried to keep my distance. But after a while, I realised it was just a notion I had carried for a long time, so as time went by, our relationship got better. I shared my food with them and admired them from a distance. I however didn’t carry them because our relationship had not reached that stage.
I must say, I enjoyed my experience. It was awesome working with AIESEC in another country, interacting with people from a different culture, making friends, and adjusting to a new reality. I got to reflect, learn more about myself, and had my mind opened in new ways.
