NKAMBE COUNCIL CLEAN CITY (NCCC): THE PROMISE OF A UNITED WIMBUM PEOPLE

 

Throughout history, words have carried meanings greater than the moment when they were written. Some words only record what happened, but others become messages that guide future generations. When Jesus was crucified, a sign was placed above the cross saying, “Jesus of Nazareth, King of the Jews.” It was written in Hebrew, Greek and Latin. In Latin, it became known as INRI — Iesus Nazarenus Rex Iudaeorum. Pontius Pilate, the Roman governor of Judea, ordered these words to be written as the official charge against Jesus. Some religious leaders wanted him to change the wording because they believed it declared Jesus as King. But Pilate refused and said, “What I have written, I have written.”

A message written during a moment of conflict became, for millions of people across generations, a message of faith and meaning. It reminds us that words are powerful. Words written today can become the vision that guides tomorrow.

Nkambe Council Clean City (NCCC) is such a word.

Nkambe Council Clean City is more than a project to remove rubbish from our streets. It is a vision for a new generation. It is a call to clean our environment, renew our thinking, strengthen our relationships and rebuild our villages. A clean city is not only a place without dirt. It is a place where people remove the barriers that prevent cooperation, creativity and progress. The deepest dirt in a society is not always found on the ground. Sometimes it is found in ideas, divisions and systems that people continue to follow without asking whether they truly represent who they are.

For the Wimbum people, Nkambe Council Clean City is also a call to clean our understanding of our heritage. It means protecting what is truly ours, respecting our identity and distinguishing our original traditions from systems and ideas introduced during different periods of our history.

Every generation receives a story from those who came before them. Our ancestors gave us our identity, values, traditions and systems of leadership built on relationships, responsibility and belonging. History also brought change. During the colonial period, foreign administrative systems introduced new ways of organising communities. Some structures and classifications were developed to make colonial administration easier, and over time they became part of public thinking, even where they did not fully reflect the original relationships, responsibilities and identities that existed among Wimbum villages.

Among these were ideas such as clans and clan heads, which became widely used in administrative and public life. Whether useful for administration in another era or later adopted by some associations, such concepts should not automatically become the foundation of how the Wimbum people understand identity, leadership and relationships today. Our heritage is older, deeper and richer than any administrative system.

The traditional Wimbum understanding recognises every Fon as the father of his own people, with a distinct history, identity, authority and responsibility. Fathers may cooperate, support one another and pursue a shared future, but cooperation does not require one father to become the head of another. Where a traditional authority freely accepts a subordinate office, such as a Kibai, Fai or subchief, that is a different traditional relationship and should be understood on its own terms.

This historical process can be compared to the mixing of metals. When iron and carbon are combined, they produce steel. Steel becomes stronger because it benefits from the qualities of both elements, yet iron remains iron and carbon remains carbon. Their identities are not lost simply because they work together.

In the same way, some external ideas gradually became mixed with our traditional understanding. The responsibility of the Nkambe Clean City generation is not to reject history, cooperation or progress. It is to understand our history clearly, preserve the strength of our own foundation and welcome new ideas that strengthen our people without replacing our heritage. If our heritage is the iron, then every good idea we adopt should help forge a stronger future without changing who we are.

 Our responsibility today is not to reject history, but to understand it. Just as we clean our environment by removing what does not belong, we must also clean our cultural understanding by recognising our authentic heritage, learning from history and building our future on a foundation of truth, dignity and mutual respect.

An autonomous traditional authority does not lower his royal staff and crown to stand under another traditional authority simply because villages cooperate or are placed together under an administrative arrangement called clan. In the same way, a President of a nation does not lower his national flag, surrender his identity or place his country under another nation simply because nations work together.

Cooperation does not mean surrender. Unity does not mean becoming the same. Respect does not require one throne to claim authority over another.

The strength of Wimbum communities has always been found in relationships, responsibility and mutual respect. Our Limbum wisdom reminds us that identity comes from people, history and belonging.

 Rather than asking, “Which traditional authority stands above another?” let us ask the greater question:

 “What are we building together for the children and generations that will come after us?”

 The word has been written. The responsibility belongs to us.

 Nkambe Clean City is a call from our roots and a promise for our future. It calls us to clean our environment, renew our thinking, strengthen cooperation and create opportunities for our children.

 Let every village protect its identity.

Let every traditional authority maintain its honour.

Let every citizen become a builder of tomorrow.

The palace honours yesterday. The people build tomorrow.

The Wimbum story is not a competition between villages to find one Fon who stands above all others. It is a story of heritage, dignity, cooperation and shared progress.

 The future will not be shaped only by what we inherited. It will be shaped by what we choose to build together.

 Some systems and approaches introduced during the colonial period, and later repeated through some development and cultural associations, may have served another time. They belong to another chapter of our history. The Nkambe Clean City era calls us to build a new chapter—one founded on unity, dignity, cooperation and respect for every village and every traditional authority.

 Our heritage is our iron. Our future is the steel we build together.

 Now is the time to write the next chapter.

Tfurndabi Tawong