THE MBUM AND THE TIKARS

The Mbums are a sub group of Tikar. The Mbum of the Adamawa Region were the leaders of the Tikar migration out of Bornu. The migrations continued and ended with the Tikar groups settling in the place they called Ndobo, Rifum or Kimi. This place is near to present day Tibati and Banyo. The last migration of the Tikar took place in the seventeenth century. They moved from Tikar (Kimi, Ndobo or Rifum) to their present locations. Today some of the Cameroon groups which claim Tikar origin are Bamoun, Baba, Bambili, Bamesing, Bamessi, Bamali, Bamuka(Ndop), Bangolan, Nkwen, Bafut, Nso, Mbum and Yamba. These groups have so many things in common. The first thing that the Tikar have in common is that their languages are more closely related to each other than to languages outside the Tikar group. However, there are differences because the languages separated a long time ago even before their last migration. The Mbum speak Limbum.

            The second similarity that Tikar groups have is that their political traditions and customs have a common pattern. They all have kings or chiefs. The Tikar see their kings as semi–gods. They refer to their kings as, Sun, Noble Leopard, Great Buffalo, Tiger, Lion and Mighty Elephant. The third thing that the Tikar’s have in common is that their system of administration is uniform. The system starts from the top with the king (Nkfu–Fon or Nfor). Below the Fon there is the council of state (Bkibai Ntufu, Samba etc) made up of the six, seven, etc Great Lords of the chiefdom. The village/quarter heads (Btarmllah) are below the Bkibai. The Tikar also have the similarity of the throne on which the king sits. The throne (kabaraab) which is fashioned out of tree trunk and or metals is considered very sacred by the Tikars. Only the king may sit on it.

            Finally the Tikar political system also has societies which take care of law, order and defence. The Nwarong and Ngiri are societies responsible for law and order. Defence is in the hands of the Mfu under the leadership of Nformi, which is the military arm of the administration.