Bafaka Balue
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Bafaka Balue
Bafaka Balue (also known by natives as Bonaliomo) is a town (village) in Cameroon situated in the Ekondo Titi sub-division of the Ndian division of the South West Region.
Satelite map of Bafaka Balue overlooking Bioko Island in the Atlantic Ocean
Population[edit]
In the 2005 national census, Bafaka had 3,149 inhabitants..[1]
History[edit]
The ancestors of this Bantu village, perched on the Rumpi Mountains, trace their origins to a man named Ngoe wa Mbongo(also called Nambongo, Nembongo or Nebongo) and originally from Kota, in the former Kingdom of Kongo[1]. Like all other Bantus, the primordial ancestors of Bafaka may have originated from the Ndian area between Nigeria and Cameroon. Oral historical accounts however say that Mbongo probably migrated from the Sudan and settled in Kota (present day Gabon). Edwin Ardener however writes that Mbongo may not have existed as a real historical figure[2]. Shirley and Edwin Ardener describe Mbongo as either a legendary or mythical character in the oral histories of the Sawa or coastal peoples of Cameroon[3]. According to several oral traditions, common among the Cameroon coastal peoples, Mbongo had several children, namely: Mbedi, father of Ewale and ancestor of the Duala; Mukuri (Mokwele), father of the Bakweri and Ekumba, father of Nfoni and ancestor of the Bafaw and Balong[2]. It is not clear whether Ngoe was the same person as Ngoh. However, the Bakossi and other Mbo speakers collectively lay claims to Ngoe, with the various tribes of the Oroko, as their ancestor.
The people of Bafaka Balue, including other Mbongo-descended peoples, probably emigrated to the Rio del Rey area from the Congo or the island of Bioko, off Equatorial Guinea, around the 13th century[3]. According to a 1668 document by Dutch writer, O. Dapper, Samuel Blommaert, a Flemish/Dutch merchant, encountered a people called the Kalbongos at the Rio del Rey. He wrote: "The people who live higher up the river [from a coastal trading settlement], by them called Kalbongos, are bold men, but villainous rogues."[4] Ardener has argued that the Kalbongo were probably predecessors of many coastal Cameroonians who lay claims to Mbongo as a common ancestor.
Bafaka oral tradition holds that Ngoe was the father of Esoe or Esoje, Nasako, Eta, Elume, and Ekozi. Esoe brought forth the Balondo ba Nanga; Nasako was the father of Nosueli and ancestor of the Ngolo/Bima; Eta became the father of Nakoba and ancestor of the Batanga (and perhaps Bakoko); Elume was the father of Nangenoa and Naliomo, ancestors of the Balue and Molukule and Bakoma, ancestors of the Ekombe and Mbonge; Ekozi was the father of Nilaze and ancestor of the Bakundu[4] (who are probably confused to be descendants of Ngoh of the Bakossi/Mbo line[5]). Naliomo, the son of Elum' a Ngoi is claimed as the direct ancestor of the Bafaka Balue people. The name Bonaliomo (literally, descendants of Naliomo) is derived from this grandson of Ngoe.
The people of Bafaka Balue say they migrated from Bateka (around the Bakassi Peninsula) alongside the Ngolo, Bima and Batanga (Oroko) peoples. They travelled through Beboko and Madie, finally settling with other Balue (Elume) people in Betenge Balue. A dispute between Naliomo and Nangenoa split the two brothers at Betenge. Nangenoa’s group went north and founded the Balue ba Ngenoa villages (Bonji, Betenge, Bona, Itende, Ebobe, Dikome, Mofako etc) while Naliomo moved south towards the coast to found a settlement at Oŋa Mboka (literally, up town or the village on the hill), some 10 kilometers away from present day Bafaka Balue. The current settlement of Bafaka was founded by a young hunter, Nefenda Itoe ŋ’ Ifaka sometime between 1850 and 1870[6].
Between 1996 and 2006, joint Franco-Cameroonian military contingents settled in Bafaka Balue as part of the efforts to contain the border crisis between Cameroon and Nigeria over the oil-rich Bakassi peninsula[5][7].
Culture[edit]
Bafaka Balue belongs to the ethno-linguistic group called Oroko[6]. The Oroko exist in about 10 different tribes, each one of which speaks a distinct dialect of the Oroko language. Lolue is the Oroko dialect spoken in Bafaka and 26 other Balue villages and towns. Bafaka Balue shares similar cultural features as most coastal peoples of Cameroon, including the Bakweri, Douala, Mongo and the other Oroko communities.
The principal ancestral religion of the Bafaka people is Molimi which venerates fertility and rebirth through the worship of Obase wa Loba (God of the Sky) as Almighty. Secret socio-religious societies abound such as the Malle, Dior, Ekpe, Ku, Kore, Diangi, Maloba and Mbara cults[7]
Like many Bantu communities, Bafaka people practice matrilineal succession. Children mostly identify with their mother's family although they bear the name of their fathers.
Economy[edit]
The economy of Bafaka is mostly agrarian. Cocoa is the main cashcrop. Banana, plantains, vegetables, peppers, wild spices and cocoyams are the major staples which are also used as market products.
Gold and other minerals have also been discovered to be present on the territory of the locality of Bafaka. Their exploitation has howver not begun[8].
Education[edit]
The primary school in Bafaka was opened as a private feeder school to the Roman Catholic Mission School of Ekwe Balue by Michael Noto Ngoe, a teacher of Bafaka origin in 1968. The school and its founder were taken over by the government of the United Republic of Cameroon in 1970. Bafaka Balue has a high school (English speaking) which hosts classes of 1st and 2nd cycles and a government nursury school[9].
Rulers[edit]
| Name of Ruler | Reigned begins | Reign ends[10] |
|---|---|---|
| Mori Monene Naliomo wa Elume | c.1790 | c.1830 |
| Mori Monene Mofa mo Nekenoa | c.1830 | c.1875 |
| Mori Monene Ewanga Numa Mofa | c.1875 | 1926 |
| Mori Monene Esubu Ngerime | 1926 | 1961 |
| Mori Mofa mo Namakia | 1961 | 1978 |
| Mori Martin Massa Moleke | 1978 | 1995 |
| Johanes Mofa | 1995 | 1995 |
| Mori Hon. Martin Massa Mokube | 1996 | 2000 |
| Regency of Marius Itoe Sakwe | 2000 | 2002 |
| Mori Engelbert Efamba Nongoh | 2002 | 2003 |
| Mori Dr. Ahmadou John Mokube | 2003 | Present |
Notable Bafaka People[edit]
| Figure | Known for |
|---|---|
| John M. Etongwe Eyalo | Economist, politician |
| Martin Massa Moleke | Public administrator, politician |
| Michael Noto Ngoe | Educator |
| Ahmadou John Mokube | Medical expert, scientist |
| Clementine Ebenye Nanje | Pharmacist, philanthropist |
| Martin Massa Mokube | Politician, educator, economist |
| Ebenezer W. Motale | Journalist |
| Blessed E. Ngoe | Author, scholar, human rights activist |
| William Elangwe Itoe | Educator, public administrator, politician |
| Evelyn M. Namaso | Oil and Gas |
| Gregory Sakwe Mokube | Architect |
| Peter L. Itoe | Public Administrator, politician, economist |
| Peter Sakwe Masumbe | Professor, political scientist |
| Emmanuel L. Nefenda | Medical expert |
References[edit]
- ↑ Répertoire actualisé des villages du Cameroun. Troisième recensement général de la population et de l'habitat du Cameroun, Bureau central des recensements et des études de population, vol. 4, tome 7, 2005, p. 420
- ↑ Ardener, Edwin (1996). Kingdom on Mount Cameroon: Studies in the History of the Cameroon Coast, 1500–1970. New York: Bergahn Books
- ↑ Ardener, Edwin, and Ardener, Shirley (1996). "Preliminary chronological notes for the Cameroon coast". Kingdom on Mount Cameroon: Studies in the History of the Cameroon Coast, 1500–1970. New York: Bergahn Books.
- ↑ Dapper, Dr. O. (1668). Naukeurige Beschrijvinge der Afrikanische Gewesten. Amesterdam
- ↑ Ngoe, B.E. (2015). The Conspiracy to Expropriate Lower Balue Native Lands in the Ndian Division by the Government of the Republic of Cameroon. A Statement Issued by Blessed Efilo wa Ngoe, National President of the Bafaka Students’ Union (BAF.S.U) to the Students and People of Bafaka Balue on the 14th and 20th of July, 2015
- ↑ Friesen, Dan T. (2002). Oroko orthography development: Linguistic and sociolinguistic factors, University of North Dakota, Grand Forks, 154 (M.A Thesis)
- ↑ Ngoe, Blessed Efilo. (2015). Negotiating Ecoviolence and the Politics of Existence in Oroko Oral Narratives. University of Buea, Buea (M.A Thesis)
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