Mola Mbua Ndoko: Wisdom and Ways of the Bakweri People

51. “Wonja ndi e-gbwi motoko”.

It’s no event.  It is the heir to the estate that has accidentally damaged a valuable property in the estate.

Yasi nanu: On the occasion of the e-yuu for Mola Mwanja  mo  Njiya of Molyko, Mwengele sent palm wine (mimba) in a large calabash (motoko mo koova) to his friend Mosongo-songo, a brother to Mola  Mwanja  mo  Njiya.

After the ceremony when, Mwengele's son, Lifamba was returning home he filled the now empty motoko  mo  koova with water from Koke spring.  It was a good idea.  As Lifamba was walking out of the stream, he unfortunately stepped on a slippery stone.  The motoko mo koova slipped from Lifamba's head, dropped on the rocks, and was broken into pieces.

50. “Njoku asa litise i-mbangu jeni”.

An elephant does not feel the weight of its tusks.

Maito, maito  kaii:  Tales of the Animal World.

Njoku/Njoka  Nyame = an elephant. 

mbangu = a tusk

sala-la = to parade. 

Njika/Njika  Nyame = a wild cow that lives in the forest.

Yasi nanu:  Njoka Nyame was resting on the ground when his friend Njika Nyame attempted to lift one of Njoku's tusks. Njika realizing the heavy weight of the tusk exclaimed:

“Taata  e !  i-Mwai !
I am surprised that you parade the forest so easily with these heavy tusks.
Don't you feel their weight”  ?

49. “Vekoka, osi-ve kii-ya o-joo-ngo” !

(vekoka should not be rejected outright when they are still lying inside a pot).

vekoka = food that has remained in a pot over-night.

joongo = a pot.

kiya = to reject.

Yasi nanu:  Isume's mother sent Isume early in the morning to deliver a message to his maternal uncle, Mola  Nalionge.  Mola was very pleased and excited to see Isume who had been away in far away Womana in Womboko.  Mola then asked that Isume should share a bowl of “vekoka” with him  .

Responding, Isume said:
“jae !”.= no.
(“Mola, I am not interested in “vekoka”).

48. “isi-ji kovene, ijo-ngene, iso no wa, isi-kovene ngundeli,ijo-ngene”

You and I have never been together in setting traps.
You should not therefore expect to accompany me when I am visiting my traps.

 

Yasi nanu: Members of a Youth Club for setting traps for birds were routinely always together whenever they were setting traps and whenever they visited their traps. However, Mulungu preferred not to join the club.  He set his traps alone and visited the traps alone. 

During one of his visits to his traps he was frightened when he came face to face with a marauding young elephant. Thereafter, he abandoned his traps, and then regularly joined members of the Youth Club whenever they were roasting birds they had captured.  Following tradition, Mulungu was always served with the share reserved for gate crashers (va-teeme).

On one occasion, after he had eating a slice of a bird meat Mulungu informed members of the Youth Club that he would henceforth accompany them whenever they were going out to visit the traps they had set.

277. An appeal for Rehabilitation of Bakweri traditional names

An appeal for Rehabilitation of Bakweri traditional names that are either being distorted or are suffering relegation.

By Thomas Mbua Ndoko

There are distortions in the pronunciation of ancestral names of some Bakweri villages and persons.  The abnormality has resulted in ancestral names being erroneously pronounced and spelt with strange prefixes: “Ba, Bo, Bona Bu, Di, Mu”.  Examples:  Vatoke, Wokova, Wonjongo, Wolifamba, Wonakanda, Livanda, Mosaka, are now respectively pronounced and spelt: Ba-toke, Bo-kova, Bo-njongo, Bo-lifamba, Bona-kanda, Di-banda, Mu-saka.

Buea station in the 1890s during the German colonial era

It is common knowledge that names of several families and villages are derived from the names of the founders of the families/villages concerned. Bakweri names have meanings attached to them. This fact highlights the significance of the prefixes “va, wo, woli, wona, wonya” to names of Bakweri persons, families and villages. 

To a Bakweri person the prefixes “va, wo, woli, wona, wonya” suggests the name of the founder of the family or village as well as the meaning of the name, since the meaning of the prefixes “va, wo, woli, wona” is “wonya” that is, the children or descendants of... Examples:

276. Ancestral Pronunciation / Current Pronunciation Or New Name.

Herewith a list of the names of villages in the then Victoria Division (currently Fako division). I have shown in respect of each village its traditional name, and where applicable, the distorted name. The list is an extract from Bulletin No.5 (Cameroons Province) of the Population Census of The Eastern Region of Nigeria, 1953.

Click here to print, download or read the complete list of Bakweri villages in PDF format

Ancestral Pronunciation               Current Pronunciation Or New Name.

                  Buea Village Group.Bakweri Native Authority(N.A)
01.  Buea                                                            Buea
02.  Gbassa                                                        Bwassa
03.  Bwiyuku                                                      Bwiyuku
04.  Ewonda                                                       Ewonda
05.  Kombo                                                       Kombo,
06.  LikombeL                                                    ikombe
07.  Likoko  Membea                                          Likoko  Membea
08.  Membea  or WokpwaongoMembea    or      Bokpwaongo
09.  Meveo                                                        Meveo
10  Sasse                                                            Sasse
11.  Sofa  Mokongo or                                       Sofo  NdeneGreat Soppo.
12.  Sofa  Wonganga                                         Soppo   Wonganga
13.  Sofa  Woteke                                             Soppo  Woteke.
14.  Sofa  Wovila                                               Soppo Wovila.
15.  Sofa  Likoko                                               Soppo  Likoko.
16.  Wokoko                                                      Wokoko
17.  Wolikawo                                                    Wolikawo
18.  Wolikova                                                    Wolikova
19.  Wonganjo                                                  Wonganjo
20.  Wonakanda                                                Bona-Kanda.
21.  Wonya  Nango                                            Wonya  Nango
22.  Wotolo                                                      Wotolo.
23.  Wova                                                         Bo-va
24.  Wullu                                                         Bu-lu