On The Origins of Creation and The Bantus: Part 1

Louis Egbe Mbua

A debate by Cameroonians in camnetwork, a popular Cameroonian discussion group, as to the origin of the Bantus was a heated and enlightened one with many open and inquisitive minds to the fore. Below is typical of that debate. The final part of this debate will dwell on the Origins of man and the Universe. Areas of the publications have been edited for ease of read; but the context have not been changed. Other participants were also involved but the quotations below captured the direction of the main argument.

The Bantu Migration patterns from:

http://encarta.msn.com/

The first to throw a fiery salvo was Kenneth Fru Ndeh also known as Pa Fru. He was relentless in his stance when he wrote:

I am not one who would point to official Cameroon Government sources as an accurate source of the POST-colonial history of Cameroon: Not at all. However, this narrative from the OFFICIAL website of the Prime Minister of Cameroon accurately describes the history of the peoples of Cameroon. It corroborates several other sources that I have been reading; and sources I have spoken to who know about the Equateur-Zaire connection. See what it says below about the Dualas.

http://www.spm.gov.cm/showdoc.php?rubr=6000&srubr=6104&lang=en&tpl=2


Meanwhile Dr. SAF challenged the contents of this citation saying:

There were no human beings during the prehistoric times. The PM's website is no source for academic reference. Just see the gaffe they have made.


Dr. Rexon Nting was also sceptical retorting stiffly that:

I think those sort of narratives endorsed by an untrustworthy regime cannot be relied upon.

Meanwhile Professor James Ashu, responding to Dr. SAF and Living Lights, thought otherwise by resorting to the origins of words; and writing:

Look at the definition of prehistory per Wikipedia. It is a term used to describe the period before people started to write history. You agree with Dr. Egbe Mbua that humans did not exist during that period. You still stand by it. Let me now ask you a question: Following that definition, do you mean that when history was not written, there were no humans? I do not know much about other groups of people; but I know a lot about Bayangi people. They started writing history only a few years ago. Does it mean the Bayangis started existing just a few years ago? May be less than 50 years ago? Please, look again at the definition below. You may disagree with that definition and provide yours. No problem.


Prehistory (Latin, præ = before Greek, ιστορία = history) is a term often used to describe the period before written history

The Living Lights questioned this idea stating that:

The "pre-historic times" did not exist. That is based on Darwinian assumption that man began from animals which has been proven to be a fraud. So, who recorded the "pre-history" ? Man or beast? How can one talk of pre-history when they were not there?

Dr. SAF did not fully agree as well and challenged this definition with an extract:

"For example, in Egypt it is generally accepted that prehistory ended around 3200 BC, whereas in New Guinea the end of the prehistoric era is set much more recently, at around 1900 AD."

The statement above indicates that the term "prehistory" is culture bound. That is why I said the term is vague. Besides there have been no archaeological or anthropological studies done in the Central South Province of Cameroun to determine that the pygmies were the indigenous inhabitants of that part of Cameroun. Regardless of whether they were the first or not, they are Bantus. Bantu migration to the South and East from West Africa dates back to about 3000 BC. If Pygmies are Bantus, and we know they are because of the language they speak, then there were no people in the Central South of Cameroun before 3000 BC.

And then added with gusto:

After reading Mbua's statement, I must admit to you that I misread it. My earlier posting indicated that the term prehistoric is vague. For Egyptians, Prehistoric means 3,200 B.C. For your people in Manyu, prehistoric means something in the 20th century. That is why I said the term was not apt in the PM's website. Not only was it not apt, it is misleading.

You know the Homo sapiens (modern man, that is) were born around 190,000 years ago in East Africa. The pygmies are descendants of the modern humans. How could they have been living in South Central Province of Cameroon in Prehistoric times when we know they are Bantus? We know the Bantus were located in West Africa at about 3000 B.C. Some of the Homo Sapiens from E. Africa migrated north to Asia and Europe and the rest migrated to West Africa where they lived for a very long time. The Congo Bantus constitute one of several waves of the homo sapiens who left East Africa about 70,000 y. a. Recent studies have shown that they (Congolese Bantus) were in West Africa at about 3000 B.C.

Some time around 3000 B.C., there was a population explosion in West African, resulting in Bantu Migrations to the South and East of Africa. These migrations were not linear. Some bands of migrants made several U-turns back to their home of origin. That may explain why the Doualas who are a Bantu people think they came from the south. These are returnees. As I indicated earlier, not all Bantus migrated. Some stayed. Do you think all the Doualas left their home in the Congo? I am more than certain that some stayed behind. Those returnees came back to meet their cousins. Finally, no one knows for sure when the Bantu Pygmies left West Africa for the Congolese Forest and the South Central Province of Cameroun. It will be presumptuous of any one to think they were the first migrants because no studies have shown that they were the first bands of Bantus to leave West Africa for the Congolese forest.

Professor James Ashu asked two crucial questions:

Let me now ask two questions to tickle our minds:
(1) Was Bantu migration unidirectional?
(2) In the case of the Bakweries, Orokos, and Bakongo (Congolese), is it not possible that after 3000 BC, the Bakweris and Orokos migrated back from the Congo? (Around 450 BC)?

And again Dr. SAF answered:

Please keep in mind that during migrations, not every one from the same ethnic group migrates. Some stayed behind. It is also true that some of the migrants, in this case the Bantu speaking people in the Congo, after spending some time in the south migrated back north. The basic premise of the discussion here is that Bantu Migrations were from the North to the south. My people for example came from the north of Cameroon. If you listen to our oral history it will give you the impression that we came from the south. True, but that was a U-turn from the overarching migratory path we took from the north.

But according to Mola Richard Moki Monono:

The Coastal Bantus of the Cameroon as Dr Ardener stated constitute the northern most community of Bantus in Africa, the bulk of the Bantus are actually in Central, East and of course Southern Africa. I don't know if the Coastal Bantus migrated from Congo . However, we Bakwerians or Doulas do not find anything shameful about being related to Congolese. Any Bakweri migration which existed must have occurred several centuries ago. I must point out that the migrations of the Chambas, the Nsos and the Bamouns from Nigeria are very recent. Even the Fulbes of North Cameroon migrated from Nigeria and established thier mastery over the indigenous Kirdis only a short time before french colonialism became entrenched, once more by using horses. These groups of Northern Nigerian origin were able to establish their hegemony over the area as a result of their mastery of cavalry raids and the use of horses. Pa Fru Ndeh, if we are congolese you are also Northern Nigerians. Pa Fru Ndeh and friends: do a bit of research even if you are not historians; and be more scholarly.

The Gulf of Guinea: A Bantu Origin Viewed from the Top

Louis Egbe Mbua

A recent debate in http://groups.yahoo.com/group/camnetwork/, has given room for thought as to the origins of the Bantus in Africa and, subsequently, the origins of man. The first part of this argument will dwell on the genesis of the debate; while the second part will dwell on the origins of the Bantus and life as opined by the diverse and able participants.

It all began with the author suggesting that there is no smoke without fire; and therefore the Chariot of the Gods may indeed be eponymous; and that the natives themselves believe that there are gods living on the volcanic massive. While the native Bakweris may not have complete evidence of this supernatural belief, there are indications that the mountain erupts to announce an important event or to foretell a possible arrival or departure of non-natives for good or bad.

In 1909, the German Kamerun was in its full colonial gear, conquering and subjugating from the Chariot's of the Gods to Garoua and Lake Chad, the most Northern point of Cameroon. Having subjugated the native Bakweris, they made a point by establishing their capital in Buea. Living in a vantage mountainous point, they sure dreamt of the new Roman empire until 1908 when the Mountain erupted, spewing lava through Buea and on to the coastal City of Victoria, where they originally began their colonial pursuit.

The incident so unnerved the new masters that they had to hurriedly transfer their Capital to Douala, present day economic hub of West Africa and economic power house of Cameroon; and renaming the city Kamerunstat -- they possibly thought this will either appease the gods or most probably escape further punishment. This turned out to be a misplaced move. They never returned to Buea because eight years later, in 1916, they were driven out of the territory.

1922 was the period of reconciliation between the World Powers after the Treaty of Versailles in 1919. The former German Kamerun has now been partitioned and mandated to the League of Nations: the West was mandated to the United Kingdom while the East was a French mandate. While the French amalgamated their former colonies into the French Equatorial Africa, the British were busy dividing their own share of the British Cameroons into: the Southern Cameroons and the Northern Cameroons. The Chariot of the Gods again reminded them of her power. Before this decision was executed, the volcanic giant erupted again in 1922 pouring lava into the sea at the west coast of Cameroon as Hanno had described 2500 earlier.

The Southern Cameroons and the Northern Cameroons were to part for ever. After a doomed administrative co-habitation with Nigeria, it was time for the Southern Cameroons to become autonomous. After this was achieved in 1953, a government was set up in Buea with Dr. Endeley, a native Bakweri, as Premier in 1954 when the Fako Mountain again erupted.

In 1959, elections were held to choose a new Prime Minister. The Chariot of the Gods again roared, erupting. The most intriguing aspect was that Dr. Endeley, and indigenous to Buea was defeated in a democratic election by Dr. John Ngu Foncha: a victory many today have come to consider as heralding the suffering of the people of this region of Cameroon; both the natives and the entire English speaking Cameroonians.

In 1982, there was an earth tremor and a mild eruption at the Chariot of the Gods which was followed by the sudden resignation of Cameroon's first President, Ahmadou Ahidjo; and the death of the Chief of Buea thus paving the way for the present President of La Republique du Cameroun, Mr. Paul Biya, to begin his long and questionable rule in Cameroon.

In 1999 the Cameroon government attempted to privatise and sell the Cameroon Development Corporation complete with the disputed Bakweri land which caused a war with the Germans in 1891. After international pressure and the rallying of the Bakweris the world over: opposing such blatant land theft, the Fako Mountain again erupted in 1999 -2000. Fearing reprisals, the Biya government experimented on co-opting the Fako elite into high positions in government to obviate militant actions that might follow. He reneged on this shameful policy of land theft but began a systematic abuse of the land by stripping it piece by piece, with the Cameroon Development Corporation as partners in crime, and selling the partitions to non-indigenous people especially people from the French Cameroun. The received wisdom is that this is a pre-meditated action founded on greed, evil and the insanity of unaccountable and absolute corrupt power: designed to drive the natives out of the land to be replaced by non-indigenes from his own part of the country.

The conclusion of the matter is that the Chariot of the Gods appears to have proved itself as a harbinger for the arrival of significant events to come and persons-- good or bad-- arriving or leaving its venerable vicinities; and that when it begins to smoke with fire, it is time for malevolent intruders with evil intent to leave the people alone; treat them with respect; sue for peace and integrity or return to where they came from so that peace might reign since the gods may be preparing their chariots for their appointed task as guardians of the Gulf of Guinea.

In addition, the mystery of the Chariot of the Gods is that it is further linked to the birth place of the Bantu tribe of Africa; and the beginning of their relentless and unstoppable match and subsequent settlements from the deepest point in the Gulf of Guinea to Cape Town in South Africa: spreading their language and culture throughout East, Central and Southern Africa. This will be the subject of subsequent exploration in the Living Lights.

Chariot of the Gods and The Den of Thieves

Louis Egbe Mbua

When the Carthaginian -- from Carthage (Tunis) with exactly the same geographical longitude as Theon Okhema, Mount Fako -- explorer, Hanno, arrived the Gulf of Guinea in 600 BC, he recorded a frightfully amazing scene while he was at sea. There have been disputes as to exactly where he actually stood to witness the present day Mount Fako, Cameroon, erupting, pouring lava into the sea. It was surely not in Buea or even Victoria, Cameroon, as the peak of this volcanic giant cannot be seen from these locations since they are part of the Mountain. As Equatorial Guinea could be seen at any vantage point from these cities and coastal areas in Cameroon, one must assume that a view from Malabo, Equatorial Guinea, would reveal the power of this Mountain; and that the most likely location of Hanno's observation of lava pouring into the Atlantic ocean was just off Malabo's waters.

The awesome power of Mount Fako, Chariot of The Gods, Theon Okhema, Cameroon, as viewed by Hanno, the Carthaginian (Tunisian), from Malabo.

Hanno, watching red hot Lava pouring onto the Atlantic ocean while the peak was exploding with fire; and feeling the unsustainable heat, was so frightened that he ran away believing that the gods (It is still the belief of the Bakweri natives of Fako to this day) were living on the summit of this Mountain: he was aware that it was the Chariot of the Gods and immediately left without looking back.

Almost 2500 years later, the Germans also arrived the scene, climbed from Victoria and reached Buea so as to take this Mountain for themselves. They failed because the natives put up a fight, routed the German army, and sent them parking. The Germans, having been humiliated mobilised their forces from Germany, and parts of German Africa, rounded up the natives into concentration camps, killed a large number and then seized the lands of these brave natives to create plantations for themselves without any consideration of who actually owned these lands -- The Bakweri natives. The Germans were then sent parking from the land after their defeat of the World War 1 at the hands of the British -- and the French. The British acted sensibly, amalgamated the German owned plantations; and seeking permission from the indigenous Bakweri leaders, who actually regained the land, they formed the Cameroon Development Corporation in 1947. After Independence, a new kind of administration arrived these lands -- They came from French Cameroun. This administration is so cruel and corrupt that they do not even acknowledge the natives as being present in their own land.

The corrupt regime of Mr. Paul Biya and other right wing members of his government, mostly, from French Cameroun natives, East of Mount Fako, Cameroon are in the process of carrying out the worst kind of subjugation, massive theft and the most frightening land grab from the natives since the Germans left. The problem here is that these people are Africans with so much greed that surpasses understanding. The Cameroon government, in tandem with the Cameroon Development Corporation, continue to grab these lands; dividing it amongst themselves and thieving government officials in clear violation of the African Commission on Human and Peoples Rights' ruling that the land belongs to the ancestral Bakweris; and that the Cameroon government must not touch it. The first scenario is that they have expropriated nearly all lands at the coastal regions from Victoria, where Mount Cameroon rises suddenly from the sea; and now they have reached the Mountain itself. All recent indications are that their insidious objectives will not spare even the Mountain with all its awesome power.

Recently, February 2009, the Mount Cameroon Race of Hope was organised in Buea, the City on this Mountain. Reliable reports reaching us state clearly that corrupt officials from Yaounde, French Cameroun, used this race to embezzle funds, ruin the race by massive dishonest officiating; and refused to hand in running materials to genuine registered athletes but gave French Cameroon natives the required materials; and that the person who won the race cannot provide enough evidence of his full ascent to the visible summit of Mount Fako. We must, therefore, conclude that the theft has now reached the peak. When a man is pushed so that his back is on the wall and has nowhere to run, the author believes it the time to strike back on the intruder with enough force as to send him packing without delay. We must recall that it was at this Mountain town of Buea that the native Bakweri began the fight to take back their land from the Germans; and all indications are that this is where the fight will end. Hanno, while watching from the Atlantic coast about 30 miles off Cameroon, wrote :

"Sailing rapidly, we passed by a fiery region filled with vapours, from which great torrents of fire flowed down to the sea. The land could not be approached because of the heat. We sailed away very quickly, being struck with fear."

Hanno came and left hurriedly. He was a very sensible man indeed. Only a complete fool will tempt fate. The corrupt Yaounde regime has tempted fate; and they will receive their comeuppance for poetic justice will prevail at the Den of Thieves.