Bambara language
Togola was born in Bougouni Cercle, Sikasso in 1948 to a Bambara village chief and one of his later wives who was thought to be barren; in the Bambara language, Téréba translates to "surprise" or "miraculous birth". For some time he worked as a teacher in the Kayes Region. After studying at the Ecole Normale Supérieure of Bamako, he was introduced to archaeology by Michael Rainbault in 1982. He was employed by the Institut des Sciences Humaines and began conducting archaeological expeditions to the Lakes Region. In 1984, he accompanied Rainbault in an expedition to Kawinza in the Timbuktu Region.