*Insists unity is the way forward.
If Bakweri people, natives of Buea, were thought to have lagged behind in recent memory compared to their ancestors who had provided distinguished leadership, then the enthronement of Dr.R.E.M Endeley as the new Paramount Ruler of Buea has ushered in a new dawn of reawakening.
During his official presentation to the public at Buea Town Stadium, March 19, the 46-year-old Paramount Chief and son of late Dr. E.M.L. Endeley- a top politician and first premier of then British Southern Cameroons, made a clarion call for unity and leadership among his tribe’s people.
“It’s a great honor and an opportunity for me to lay out my vision for a new dawn in Mokpe land. The outcome of this coronation should be our unity; unity amongst us as Cameroonians but more so, unity amongst us the Mokpes,” he noted. “Unity is an intentional act to bring the best of each other together for a common purpose.”
He recalled that “Chief Kuva Likenye’s story of defiance and challenge to the German colonial endeavor was not because of his superiority in ammunition, but because of unity of the Bakweri during his reign.”
The Buea Paramount Ruler, named Chief Endeley V, told Bakweri people that they have the historical responsibility to show the same unity now.
“We can overcome our challenges with unity. We have the historical responsibility to show the same unity now, we can overcome our challenges with unity,” he said
Chief Endeley V promised to revive a yearly Bakweri cultural festival in Fako Division.
“One of the priorities of my reign is to see the return of our annual cultural festival called mbando.
“We can bring back our mbando with unity. It is our sacred bond, our unity,” he said emphatically, adding that it should be the one ritual ceremony that every child born of a Mokpe parent in any corner of the world looks up to.
He described the Bakweri as excellent people, who should always set high standards for themselves
The Paramount Ruler hoped that the re-launch of the cultural festival would be followed with the construction of a Bakweri Cultural Center, which should also house a museum and library.
This center, he said, “will be an ideal place for us to put the statues of some Mokpe prominent cultural and political icons” such as King Kuva Likenye, or Mola Njie Tama Lihvanje, the founders of Buea and its dynasty.
“All we need for this to happen is leadership. Nothing happens without leadership, nothing changes without leadership, nothing develops without leadership, nothing improves without leadership, and nothing is corrected without leadership,” said the new king of Buea, citing his late father Dr. EML Endeley,who as one of the outstanding Bakweri and nationalist leaders had a clear vision for the Bakweri man. “In 1952, he as a member of the CDC Board of Directors founded the Bakweri Cooperative Union of Farmers (BCUF) and concluded a market agreement with the CDC management. His vision was to empower the Bakweri and make them economically independent through the cultivation and export of Banana”
Chief Endeley V also cited Professor Dorothy Limunga la Njeuma who, he said, exemplifies excellency, notably in the public defense of Fako Lands against expropriation .
Addressing Fako Chiefs, the Paramount Ruler reiterated, “We must be bold enough to call out when something is …wrong and intelligent enough to provide solutions that solve problems.”
He urged them to go home “with a new determination, a rebirth of our mission to the Mokpe tribe, and a rekindled spirit of protecting all that belongs to the Mokpes jealously”
He warned that chieftaincy is not a race to become rich, but “an opportunity to serve your people”
The new king made it clear that he holds “no anger against anyone who either opposed me or challenged me on my journey to this throne.”
“I believe that if we have to reconcile as a family, reconcile as Mokpe men and women, then, that reconciliation and forgiveness of past wrongs has to begin from me as the custodian and spiritual leader of this tribe,” he said.
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