Ngonnso 2012: The Call for Boycott, Boycotted

 Fai Cassian in Kumbo

Ngonnso: The Legend

There was euphoria and trumpet blast at the Nso Palace Court yard where thousands gathered to commemorate to the uniqueness of being the offshoot of a female legend, Ngonnso who founded the Nso fondom some 700 years ago. The 2012 Ngonnso Cultural Festival that kick-started on December 23 and ended on December 30, 2012 has gone into history as a success story. Even though some detractors wanted to give a dog a bad name in order to hang it, the dynamic people of Nso from far and near stormed Nso land to glorify, dance, sing and pay loyalty to their rich cultural heritage which is being guarded by Paramount ruler of Bui, Fon Sehm Mbinglo.

However, we gathered that the few misguided Nso elite (names withheld) maneuvered in the dark for the cultural fiesta to flop but their call for boycott was extremely boycotted by the population who on the contrary showed proof of loyalty to their costumes and tradition. This obnoxious plan to frustrate Ngonnso 2012 we were reliably informed was masterminded by a handful of elite based in Yaounde. This extremely mind bugging call for boycott failed woefully as majority of the Nso people showed their love for the Paramount Fon of Bui through massive participation. Hitherto, thousands stormed the Nso palace to commune with Fon Sehm Mbinglo in order to listen to him venerates daughters and mothers of Nso land. However, many Nso people of goodwill and conscience have been asking whether something is not wrong with some of their elite. To many, the funny story of asking people to boycott the celebration of the legendary Ngonnso is an unfathomable and a joke of a very bad taste. Reasons why many shied away from the call to travel from far and near to join their fon and the Nso Development Association-NSODA to build a better future for the betterment of all. According to what we gathered, Fon Sehm Mbinglo is capable of everything that can make Nso stand on her feet, all the same, majority intimate that Fon of Nso and NSODA executive have excelled profoundly to the point that misguided elite are very uncomfortable with their successes.

However, since the success of any event of such magnitude depends on the personality who organizes, the President General of NSODA, Shey Bambuh defeated his detractors by showing that he is exceedingly an intelligent mobilizer and a proactive workaholic. Since conventional wisdom holds that when you transform neglected things into an enviable art, others will want to dislodge you to reap the fruits of what they did not plant, Shey Bambuh we gathered rendered Ngonnso as well as NSODA enviable through his hard work and transparent management of both human and financial resources. It is common knowledge that when the Fon of Nso took drastic measures against some nwerong members, it latter revealed that they were just dancers in the middle of the road while the real drummers were in the bush. What is curious is that these drummers are people who society look at them as intellectuals but yet they carryout obnoxious practices. In raising eyebrows, giving the integrity and public credibility that Fon Sehm Mbinglo and Shey Bambuh command, history had it recorded that all plans to frustrate 2012 Ngonnso Cultural Festival did not only flopped but sent warning signals to the detractors who are being unmask one after another.

Shey Bambuh: President of NSODA

In assessing the socio-economic and cultural impact of the festival, the President General of NSODA, Shey Bambuh said within ten days, the local economy has been booming. He said a year ago when the events were launched in Jakiri, assessment showed that more than FCFA 7 million was pumped into the town. “It was for that reason that we thought we should start from other places as well. Economically I think it is great that we have been able to bring thousands of people to Kumbo and imagine that each person spends only 2000 FCFA per day, it impact will go a long way to build this city”. On the cultural impact, Shey Bambuh said it has been a success giving that youth participated massively. “The fact that you see youths dancing, singing and running after the mabuh, wanmabuh etc is a mark of grandeur and gives a lot of connotation to this year’s theme that ties with youths”. By so doing he said “they are already inculcating their cultural values” which he added will go a long way to sustain the Nso culture. “It has therefore being a successful Ngonnso” he further explained.  “One of the things we are trying to do is to pass our cultural values to a younger generation and in fact I am happy that we are succeeding”.

Harping on the major challenges of this year’s Ngonnso, Shey Bambuh said the first challenge would not surprise anyone is that fact that there are a handful of Nso elite from outside Bui who do not see why they should be doing what they are doing. “It is no more a secret that some nobles of the inner cycle of nwerong and ngirri, who have done a good job serving the Nso people, had a misunderstanding with the fon, and the sad thing is that as we go deeper and deeper, we are discovering that they are not actually the faces behind the mask. They are wearing the mask but the faces behind are very educated, enlightened and people who know the law”. According to the President General these faces behind the mask have a hidden agenda because they even went as far calling on the population to stage a boycott, but the people spate on their faces to turn out massively. “It was a big challenge but they have failed”. Harping on the number of challenges, Shey Bambuh also lamented that they could not have many sponsors but expressed satisfaction to MTN Cameroon, Brasseries du Cameroon and others who participated. “Maybe our detractors scared them of coming but if they succeeded in that aspect this year, they will never succeed again” he hammered. Shey Bambuh concluded that this year’s mobilization has beaten that of last year and they are determined to always beat their previous records. “We are telling our detractors that we know them and that they will never win the undeclared war”.

We are aware that those who did not participate in the 2012 Ngonnso Cultural Festival are fighting among themselves. According to information gathered, the few individuals who were fighting the fon of Nso have started back paddling and confessing that they were being deceived. It is however clear that the problem in Nso is not the fons, it is those elite who ferment things to divide traditional rulers in Nso land.
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