I have seen, read, and listened to some concerns about the idea of building an Igbo Village in Ningo, Ghana.
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I have also read a petition from the Ningo Prampram Traditional Council to the Interior Minister over the matter.
I personally, as a businessman in the real estate industry, have seen nothing wrong with the proposed a 50-acre Igbo Village in Ghana with an Igbo Chief leading the Igbos in Ghana once it is done in accordance with the laws of the country.
In my view, such initiatives should be welcomed and encouraged for the development of our country. What am not sure of is whether the intention of the Igbo Village is the same as what others are calling the Igbo Kingdom in Ghana – a kingdom is a different thing that cannot be encouraged.
Even in Ghana, we have an old town in Kumasi called Anloga covering over 300acres, which is a suburb of Oforikrom with an Ewe Chief called Torgbui Fugah. This does mean the Ewes in that town have overshadowed Otumfuo and the Ashanti. Infact, any time Otumfuo is celebrating his Akwesidai, the Ewe chief and his community are invited and they fully participate in the programme.
Also in Somanya (a Krobo Land), there are three notable Ewe communities with their Chiefs. Hodor Kofe – means Hodor Village, located at Ogome, currently has one of my cousins as the Ewe Chief.
Anytime the Ogome Chief (Krobo) has ceremonies, he invites the Ewe communities to join. There are these two deities in the Yilo Krobo land called Kotokro and Kofi Dade, located at Kplande and Trowm, respectively. Anytime there is an annual festival, the Chief Priests invite the Ewe traditionalists, and we even participate in roofing the shrine, which is a very sacred exercise – this is the extent of peaceful coexistence and trust the Krobos and Ewes have for each other in Somanya.
Komatsi (where the new Yilo Krobo District Hospital is located) is also one of the Ewe communities led by an Ewe Chief called Torgbui Alordzi. It goes on and on.
Elsewhere, in The Gambia, there is a town called “Ghana Town”.
Ghana Town is a small coastal fishing town in western Gambia. It is located in Kombo North/Saint Mary District in the Western Division. As of 2024, it had an estimated population of approximately 1,500.
Ghana Town was established in The Gambia in the year 1961 by fishermen from Ghana who wanted to go fishing in Senegal but ended up in Gambia.
With the above, it is not new to have another country’s citizen creating a town and naming same in another country.
Therefore, the unhealthy words from some Ghanaian social media users against the Igbo Chief in Ghana, forcing him to issue a statement clarifying that the idea was natured as far back as 2013 but could not materialise, is not the best.
In everything, we must look at the positives first while we discuss how to reduce the negatives.
It will be a great opportunity to have the Nigerian community in Ghana; Africana-American in Ghana and other Forign nationals in Ghana to explore the possibilities of partnership in building our proposed 3,000 acre multiple-purpose Volta Citythe in the Volta Region of Ghana – there, we can have Igbo Villages, American Village and International Village in the city for growth and development of Volta Region and Ghana as a whole.
Let’s stop the xenophobic and tirbal sentiments and focus more on how we can unite to develop as nation and continent.
By: Mawuli Korsi Senyo
CEO, Senco Global Developers Ltd
senyo@sencodevelopers.com
