NGONNSO: THE CAGED GUIDING SPIRIT OF THE NSO PEOPLE

In recent years, there has been a call for cultural artifacts smuggled, looted and stolen from Africa to be returned to their rightful place and owners. Just like the "Bring Back Ngonnso" campaign we have today, a similar campaign was launched for the Afo-a-Kom in 1973. Kom and Nso do not only share a common Tikar origin; both groups were deprived of their guiding spirits that ended up in American and German museums respectively. While Kom succeeded in bringing back their revered Mbang, as It is fondly called, home in a publicised and well supported and endorsed restitution effort, Nso is bracing herself up for what seems like another legal and diplomatic set of negotiations.

Ngonnso is one of the most popular leaders of the Nso people. She was a great and remarkable leader whose deeds have earned a solid place in the history books and stories of her people. Her charisma and majesty are captured in this work of art. This sculpture embellished with cowries has the form of a lady gallantly seated in a typical royal pose. The piece of art venerates the guiding spirits that reside in the mystical sculptures.

It is worth noting that the Ngonnso sculpture has been in Germany for decades. The presence of the Germans in Cameroon during the colonial era was characterised by stiff resistance and hostilities in most areas they occupied in the grass fields of Cameroon. One of the long-lasting wounds they left was the unsolicited taking of some of our highly valued sculptures to their land to grace their museums. This is the case with the Ngonnso.

The original Ngonnso (left), and a recent copy (right)

Ever since the campaign for Ngonnso to be released and taken back home was brought to different social media platforms by cultural activists and culture enthusiasts, their messages have been boiling with a clarion call for the Ngonnso sculpture, in particular, and similar artifacts of similar value and importance to be restituted.

The #BringBackNgonnso campaign, according to Valerie M. Viban, remains a valid one because his voice and that of others are set to go louder till the effigy of their Matriarch, Ngonnso, that has been detained in Germany for so many years is given back. He further states that: “At the Crossroad of Identities. The global citizenship identity doesn't give as much fulfillment as it is hyped. While finding a path to reconcile my Cameroonian nationality and the scars the politics of the land has caused me, it is important for me to affirm that my loyalty to the Nso nation is fierce, fearless and full. That is why anything that has to affirm Nso renaissance and Africaness is a matter of priority to me.”

Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie at the Humboldt Forum (still on the subject) stated that:

“Obviously I don’t think everything should be sent back to the countries they came from. Not everything was stolen. But those things that are sacred, those things for whom people were killed … those things that have in them the stain of innocent blood should be returned. Obviously, we don’t have all the information. There are facts lost in unrecorded history but we can draw reasonable conclusions based on information that we do have.

We can deduce, for example, that Ngonnso the beautiful sculpture of the founder and the guiding spirit of the Nso people of Cameroon, a former German colony, couldn’t possibly have been obtained under benign circumstances because why would you willingly give up your guiding spirit? It’s also important to remember not all wounds are visible. Some wounds we carry in our hearts, inherited from our parents, pass onto our children. But this discourse is not just about the Humboldt Forum. It’s about museums all over Europe and France and Vatican and Britain and I must acknowledge that Germany is the first of the powerful European nations that have made a gesture towards returning …”

Although culture advocates and concerned people including members of the Nso community, in general, have expressed their concerns about the sculpture being caged in a German museum citing its cultural and historical value, some seemingly more “advanced'' people who fail to see the value of the relic and overzealous Christians still think the artifact is an old worthless piece of wood.

Sah Sah M. on his part equally raises another worry. He sees the campaign to bring back Ngonnso as a “misplaced priority.” He says: “Where will you be keeping Yaa Ngonnso? She is at peace in Europe. Kids are home without access to education and war has taken over the land, and our priority is to bring back the original Ngonnso from Germany? I cannot drum for such an occasion.” However, the socio-political crisis plaguing the region should not be an excuse for not doing what is right and expected. It's the responsibility of all societies to guard and preserve their cultural heritage (including artifacts) even in times of war.

No matter the diverse shades of concerns raised and the criticism that have sprung from it, it is important to reiterate that Ngonnso is not just a piece of wood covered with cowries. It is a history of a people and carries a great essence of their existence. If it is of no value, why is it comfortably reserved in a museum for decades?

The journey of the Afo-a-Kom sculpture to America and back and now the clamor for the Ngonnso sculpture to be given back to its people show the importance of these guiding spirits to the people. It shows how incomplete the Kom and the Nso people are without their guiding spirits. It is about cultural heritage and the need for people to be the custodians of their culture and history and should have the right to negotiate and regulate how such relics are to be accessed.

W. N.