Barely a week to celebrate this year's Hogbetsotso Festival of the people of Anlo, the town of Anloga is set agog with paraphernalia and other decorations to welcome home thousands of citizens and tourists who are expected to troop to the area to witness the occasion. Traditional drumming and dancing, reconciliation, mini durbar of schools in the 36 states, games and recreation will herald the grand durbar of chiefs and people of Angloga on Saturday, November, 5 at the Hogbe grounds The people Anlo have not celebrated the festival for over a decade, following the death of Togbui Adeladza II, the immediate past Awoamefia of Anlo, due to a protracted chieftaincy dispute over the legitimate heir to the throne. A couple of months ago, the Anlo people decided to put the past behind them and therefore installed a new Awoamefia under the stool name, Togbui Sri III. The festival which is on the theme:"Reconciliation, Peace, Unity and Development, The Way Forward" is significant in many ways, not for the Anlo people alone but the nation at large and the ancestral home of the Anlos-Togo and Benin. The importance of festivals in the promotion of national cohesion and socio-economic advancement of nations could not be overemphasized and the people leave no chance to have this manifest. In order to make true of the above, the chiefs from the 36 states of Anlo met at Keta where they resolved to open a new chapter in the state's development efforts, giving priority to education. They expressed grave concerns about the fallen standards of education in the area and fashioned ways of addressing that disturbing development. Dumega Francis Segbedzi, an Anlo elder told the Daily Graphic that this year's Hogbetsotso festival was special because "all the Anlos including those in the Diaspora are excited that the festival is here again." He said the festival, which commenced last week, would be used mainly to foster unity and reconcile the whole Anlo State to enable it regain its position among the traditional areas nation-wide. "Unity and development towards nation building is what we cherish. The festival will not be for fun-fare only but for general reconciliation," Dumega Segbedzi said.