By Genevieve Azelama
This is the legend of Queen Pokou, a tale older than the drums of Baoulé that still beat across the Ivorian land. It is a tale of love, leadership, loss, and a woman whose sacrifice gave birth to a nation.
Queen Abla Pokou was of royal Ashanti blood, a descendant of mighty rulers she was a princess of the Kumasi Empire and a niece to Osei Kofi Tutu I, a formidable king who was the co-founder of the Ashanti Empire, thus she was born with greatness and a willful spirit of leadership flowing through her veins. 
In the 18th century, the Kumasi Empire faced succession and expansion conflicts, leading to the assassination of her brother, Dakon Poku; however, this great loss shattered her world. Instead, she channeled her fierce strength and determination, choosing to lead some of her people who defected from the Ashanti Empire westward. The journey was long and arduous, fraught with uncertainties and challenges. Yet, these obstacles were no match for Poku’s fierce drive and vision. Guided by her resilience, she led her loyal followers through forests and famine, driven by a promise of peace and a future for her people.
Then came the river.
The mighty Comoé, the seemingly insurmountable obstacle in the path of Poku and her people, the Comoé, was swollen and impassable, crashing and flowing with such a ferocity none dared to cross. In response to this obstacle, Poku and her people prayed, chanted, and pleaded with the gods for a solution and a clear path to their land of hope and dreams, but sadly, no answer came.
The people offered sacrifices and gifts of gold, cattle, ivory, and much more, but the river never calmed; rather, it roared louder. Then Queen Poku, in her immense knowledge and intuition, sought the counsel of their priest, who spoke of an ancient demand: a noble sacrifice.
Queen Poku knew what had to be done; it was a sacrifice of enormous proportions and consequence on her part, but she knew that the fate of her people rested on her shoulders. Legend says Queen Poku picked up her son, carrying her beloved child, her blood, her name, and future without a word and driven with purpose she walked to the edge of the Comoé river, placed a kiss on the forehead of her beloved child and then cast him into the traitorous waves of the Comoé thus making the ultimate sacrifice for her people.
The river swelled no more; instead, it shimmered in reverence of the ultimate sacrifice Queen Poku had just made. And then, silence
And then, silence.
Some legends say a chain of hippos formed a living bridge for Poku and her people to cross over, while others tell a tale of a Others whisper of a tree that bent its branches into steps for Queen Poku and her people, how they crossed over we do now know what we do know is the gods provided a way for Queen Poku and her people in reverence of the enormous sacrifice made by Queen Poku.
With a rich culture based on this very narrative, the Baoulé are currently one of the major ethnic groups in Côte d’Ivoire. Children are told the tale of Abla Pokou by firelight, and it is memorialized in sculpture and film, danced in rites, and sung in dirges. It is a tale of the past that is simultaneously timeless.
Queen Pokou is not just remembered but also held in high regard in contemporary Ivory Coast. Schools and monuments are named after her. Her story has been recreated for new generations by authors such as Véronique Tadjo. And in 2013, the 3D animated movie Pokou, Princesse Ashanti, which brought her bravery to African screens, brought her legend to life.
However, the story’s essence is still present at the water’s brink, in the quiet before the sacrifice.
