The Ewe female warrior. Mama Yakagbe stood shoulder to shoulder with the great warriors of Anlo State.
They were outside on a cool evening. She could hear the sounds of waves of the Atlantic Ocean. She looked over to the left and caught a glimpse of the vast beach.
She turned slightly to the right to view the lagoon on the other side. She was ready to protect this land between the Ocean and the Lagoon.
Her forefathers had given up so much. She suddenly woke up from her daydream.
The warriors were still discussing the issues at stake. There was a war to fight. She was ready. She had several tools in her magic bag. She had spoken with several people and collected a lot of data. She knows that she needed to draw a histogram. The issues at stake had to be prioritized in order of frequency. “The Pareto analysis would be an excellent tool to use,” she thought to herself. The 80/20 rule chart would help identify and prioritize the problem areas.
According to the Project Management Institute (2018), “The format of a Pareto diagram helps demonstrate the 80/20 principle whereby 80% of problems can be related to 20% of the causes”. (p. 69). She knew it was also essential to identify the vital few contributors that account for most of the problems. She knew that using Pareto analysis will help her show the other warriors a visual of how 80 percent of problems are due to 20 percent of causes. The variables described by the histogram would show the order by frequency of occurrence.
The year was 1866, and it was the Datsutagba or Gbedzidzavu war still playing out in front of her. She had fought side by side with the gallant male warriors of Anlo State. It was sunset, and she was still standing. She was proud she had made data collection a priority, and that it had paid off. Today, Mama Yakagbe’s stool is at “Atokor and is regarded as one of the most powerful stools of Anlo” (Agbotadua, 2016, p. 34)!
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