Unveiling the Mystique of Gaani de la Gnon Kogui: 3 Key Takeaways
The Gnon Kogui Gaani concluded on Saturday September 21, 2024 at Nikki. Rituals, but also intellectual activities marked this issue. Here are the three highlights of the celebration.
Starting on September 19, 2024, Gaani y Gnon Kogui reached its peak on Saturday September 21. It was celebrated over three days and can be summarized in three stages.
The cavalcade
The cavalcade is the festive part of the celebration. About a hundred cyclists from Nikki, Parakou and other nearby towns put on a show in the esplanade of the Royal Palace. The latter, adorned in their noble attire, paraded with their horses in front of the traditional authorities including Emperor Nikki, His Highness Séro Torou Touko Sari and the Vice-Queen, Gnon Kogui.
The government was also represented in Gaani Gnon Kogui by the Vice President of the Republic Mariam Chabi Talata and Shadiya Alimatou Assouman, the Minister of Industry and Trade.
Rituals
Two essential rituals were performed during the Gaani of the Gnon Kogui. The Gnon Kogui baptized the new princes and princesses of the first Empire. As tradition says, the vice-queen was helped to perform the ritual. The ceremony included the shaving of the heads of future emperors and vice-queens Nikki.
La Gnon Kogui, Nikki’s vice-queen
During the cavalcade, all the princes and princesses of the Empire (old and new) marched in front of the Sacred Drummers. It is a ceremony where the griots are rewarded with various gifts.
Meetings between generations
More than 500 women from different political sides took part in the Meetings between generations between September 19 and 21, 2024, on the initiative of the Vice President of Benin, Mariam Chabi Talata Zimé Yérima. Female political leaders from Benin and other African countries, who were invited to these meetings, worked on the Gnon Kogui governance model and reflected on the strategies to be implemented. “for greater efficiency and visibility for women in public responsibility”.
The work led to the development of a document called “Women Leaders Final Statement”. This document presents Benin’s progress in promoting women’s rights, but also includes suggestions for improving the situation of women in the country. The women leaders spoke of additional efforts that the Beninese government and Parliament should make. They also hoped that political parties would take concrete steps to do so “recognising, promoting and rewarding women’s activism”.
These intergenerational meetings, organized on the sidelines of the Gaani de la Gnon Kogui, are in their second edition this year.
The Gaani of Gnon Kogui is a traditional festival that takes place a few days after Gaani the Emperor from the same city, Nikki.