 |
|
Mr/Mrs
BARNABAS CHUNGONG BONU
|
Tubah Council is
made up of four villages. They are: Bambui, Bambili, Kedjom Keku and Kedjom
Ketinlguh. The Kedjoms have a common culture. They speak one language; rituals
in marriages, birth, death and enthronement are similar.
Bambui and
Bambili speak almost the same language except tongue twisting. Beginning with
the village names, they are same. Bambui is known as Mbaand Bambili is called
Mbsli. There is also oneness in names of citizens-Amuhngwa, Azunishie, Tamukum,
Tanjong, Fobejung, Fobalang, Saanui, Ngweni, just to name a few. The eight days
of the week are almost the same: Yienti-Bambui, Yentigi-Bambili,
Yieko-o-Bambui, Yekho-Bambili etc. All the eight days begin with “Ye”. In fact,
they were one but are now separated by politics and tongue twisting in
speaking.
Ethnically, one
may say that the Tubah Council has three ethnic groups: The Kedjoms, Bambui and
Bambili.
UNITY
OF THE ETHNIC GROUPS
Apart from the
small populations, which have brought the villages under one Council, the
villages are united by a Watershed (Tubah Watershed). Water emanates from the
Watershed and serves the villages of Bambui, Kedjom Keku and Bambili. The
streams flow westwards, joining the Menchum River then to the Katsina Allah
River and continues to the Benue River in Nigeria. Eastwards, streams emanate
from the Watershed, pass through Kedjom Ketinguh, join the River Nun and enter
the Sanaga.
Formerly, this
Watershed had montain forests, which were rich in wild life like Chimpanzees,
buffalos, antelopes, baboons, birdlife like Turaco whose red feathers serve as
traditional decoration in the North West fondoms. Unfortunately, a good part of
the forest has disappeared as a result of uncontrolled farming method by surrounding
villagers. Some villages go as far as to set up structures, which pollute the
water sources. The consequences are numerous e.g. biodiversity is upset, climate
change, and other ecological impact. Graziers take their cows into the patches
of grassland in the forest and contaminate the sources.
In fact, the
Watershed is extremely rich. It is foreseeable that the authorities of the
Bamenda City Council will search for additional sources of water. Only the Tubah
Watershed will give the answer. The Watershed needs protection. It is the livelihood
of the Council, distant villages, and the nation. Water is life. Inter-village squabbles
on the Watershed need a halt. Think of the future, the coming of the Bamenda
University with Tubah as the host subdivision calls for a change in mentality
as'far as the Watershed is concerned.
PAST
ATTEMPTS BY THE FONS OF TUBAH (STAKE HOLDERS)
In order to
avert the destruction of the Watershed, the four Fons of Tubah-viz Angafor
Mombo-o III of Bambui, Vugah Simon Vibangsi of Kedjom Keku Viyuoh Nelson of
Kedjom Ketinguh and Awemoh II of Bambili together with the then Mayor of Tubah
Council, Loh Mufi Emmanuel signed a Constitution on 22nd January 2011. It appears
the terms of the Constitution have not been implemented. A follow up is important,
NUMBER OF COUNCILLORS
There are 35
Councillors. Bambui has nine (09) Bambili nine (09), Kedjom Ketinguh (09) and
Kedjom Keku eight (08). Bambui and Bambili (University Centre) are becoming
cosmopolitan; Babanki Tungoh has Sabga, which is made of Mbororos, while Kedjom
Keku is virtually indigenous.
MAYORSHIP
Tubah Council
was created in 1996. Formerly, Bafut and Tuhah had one Council called “Bafut
Area Council”. When Bafut became a subdivision in 1992, the Bafut Council was
also created.
After the Tubah
Council elections in 1996, the controversy was on the first Mayor to lead the
Council. Each village wanted to give a Mayor;'in fact, the Mayorship was highly
contested. Finally, the Councillors arrived at a rotatory Mayorship meaning that
every village must take its turn after every five years. It was a TACIT agreement (not written down
and not recognized by the National Party hierarchy nor the supervisory
authorities), consequently, Mr. N^huh Ntang from Kedjom Keku took first turn
from 1996-1999 but died without completing his mandate of five years. Mr. Loh
Muffi Emmanuel from Kedjom Ketinguh completed Nshuh Ntang Godfrey's turn and
was ri^-elected. He began in 1999 and ended in 2007 The third Mayor was Meji
Stanislaus Sofa from Bambui. He started in 2007 and ended in 2013. It was now
the turn of Bambili. Following the tacit agreement Mr. Tanjong Martin
Meshongong worked hard to get the majority votes (26 out of 35). If the tacit
agreement were known by the authorities that would have been a panacea for political
and administrative upheavals, which erupted after the Mayor's election. Now,
the sad atmosphere is still prevailing to the detriment of the Council area.
In four years
time, it will be the turn of Kedjom Keku to start a new round. Kedjom Keku will
make sure that it grabs its turn by hook or by crook. A reflection into councils
like Nsaw, Bafut, Bali have Mayors who have been on seat for 10, 15 or 20
years. Their populations are homogenous”, the citizens reason as one while Tubah
has ethnic groups with ‘hecterogeneous’ mentality.
Unless ethnic
tendencies are discarded, the Council will be “dabbling” with imperfection in
discharging development projects. When ethnic groups in the majority sway one
way, democracy becomes a sham. Since ideas build a society, this article is for
exploitation and consumption.
Parliamentary wise,
Tubah and Bafut have on constituency, if each village in Tubah wants to put in
a candidate, there will be little chance of winning. A united front is
necessary.
SUGGESTION:
The four tons
should come in as a unifying factor to review the tacit agreement no matter
which party takes over the Council
No comments:
Post a Comment