bakwerirama

Unraveling Conflicting Narratives about the Origins of the Isubu of Bimbia

By Dibussi Tande

The Isubu (also known as Isuwu) like many other African peoples, have different and sometimes conflicting narratives about their origins. Although it is generally believed that the settlement of Bimbia was founded by Isuwu La Monanga, a native of Womboko, there are emerging alternative narratives which reject the Womboko connection. These alternative versions may be termed the “Duala narratives”, since they emphasize on real or imagined ancestral ties between the Duala and the Isuwu.

Bimbia in 1893: From Colonial Grandeur ...

Letter to the Contestants for the Royal Stool of Victoria (Limbe)

By Mola Njoh Litumbe, Bakweri Notable

There has been lately some discussion in the press pertaining to the succession to the vacant royal stool of Victoria, following the death of HRH Chief Ferguson Billa Manga-Wiiliams.  As potential aspirants gird their loins for the contest, they would do well to have the benefit of history, as it relates to  royal succession in the city of Victoria.

THE "REPUBLIC OF VICTORIA" IN THE 1870S; AN EYE-WITNESS ACCOUNT

Here is a very rare 126 year-old document-- an except from the memoirs of George Thomson, a Baptist missionary from Scotland, who arrived the Cameroon coast in 1871-- that tells us a lot about Victoria, its people and their diverse origins.

Thompson ultimately settled in what was then known as the "Republic of Victoria" and later became the chief magistrate of the Republic's Supreme Court. In a letter to his wife dated 16th Dec. 1873, he describes the ethnological makeup of Victoria...

August 21, 1858: Deed of Purchase of Victoria District, West Africa

An extract of Deed of Purchase of Victoria District, West Africa reads as follows:

"I William, Chief and known King of Isubu, and sole and lawful owner of a district contiguous to Isubu and known as War Bay and Amboise Bay and Islands belonging thereto, and known to natives as Foo Bay and [blank] Bay - and Islands Mondori, Ndami and Bobia.

Isubu/Bimbia Expressions and Phrases

MISCELLANEOUS PHRASES AND EXPRESSIONS OF THE ISUBU (BIMBIA)

The following thirteen phrases and expressions of the Isubu language spoken by the Bimbia people (Tiko sub-division in Fako division) originally appeared in the Isubu dictionary published by the Baptist mission in 1846-47. They were later included in,” Wit and Wisdom from West Africa ; or A Book of Proverbial Philosophy, Idioms, Enigmas, and Laconisms”, published in 1865 by Sir RICHARD F. BURTON, then British Consul for the Bight of Biafra and Fernando Po. The book was reprinted in 1969 by the Negro Universities Press of New York.