DODE AKAIBI

Dode Akaibi was a woman head of state of the Ga-Dangme Kingdom.

She was a priestly queen and held in high esteem by both the old and young.

However, following bad pieces of advice by her henchmen she issued a decree for the execution of all the old men in the community.

However, a group of clever young men hid their grandfather in the bush and did not kill them.

Meanwhile, Dode Akaibi began a number of development projects in the kingdom. One of such projects came to a standstill because the young engineers did not have the technical skills or ideas to complete the work. They quickly went back to consult their grandpa.

The old man advised that the Queen be asked to provide the "extant blueprint for project!" Hence the Ga proverb: "Blema Kpaanɔ̃stsaa".

Immediately, the Queen realised that one of the old men was still alive.

The Queen saw this as a challenge to her authority. Therefore, she punished the offenders by asking them to dig a deep well with their bare hands. The convicts had no choice but to obey the wicked Queen.

After several days of digging they went to their grandfather for another advise on how to escape this wicked punishment.

The old man told them to tell the Queen that they had been stopped by somebody at the bottom of the well.

When the Queen heard this challenge, she rushed to the bottom of the pitch with blind anger. And per the hidden agenda of the people the Queen was stoned to death.

Moral lesson:

No leader can dispense with indigenous knowledge sources.
Therefore if a young man begins to boast of a wardrobe full of new and exotic dresses he must remember that the old man next door too has a good number of wornout clothes.