Of recent the carting away of artifacts from Bamenda to the Natinal Museum in Yaounde has been making headline news in some newspapers. The reactions from diverse quarters have been mixed. While the traditional authorities of the NW especially NOWEFU purportedly received the news with a lot of apprehensions and hell, some people saw nothing wrong in the displacement of the artifacts from Bamenda to Yaounde. The bottom line in the whole saga is that many people are impolitely emotional in apportioning blames and have been blinded by bigotry.
Enter the Government Delegate
The problem of the Bamenda [provincial] museum is a protracted one which started as far back as 2008 when the Government Delegate to the Bamenda Urban council (BUC) as it was called then decided to seal the door of the museum located at the annex Hall of the then British Council Information centre for reasons best known to him. According a letter dated 27 October 2008; all attempts to let him open the doors for the museum by the [provincial] Delegate for Culture failed and the artifacts were moldering. The then Delegate of Culture, one Mr. Johnson Sone then beseeched authorities for the artifacts which were already in danger of disintegration to be maintained in the Hall Pending the completion to the structure of the provincial Delegation of Culture up station. This yielded no fruits and the artifacts estimated between 4000 and 6000 were packed in a disheveled room at the premises of the former museum behind the grand stand.
During the last visit of the Head of State President Paul Biya to the region, the Government Delegate to the Bamenda City Council (BCC) ordered the transfer of the artifacts from the premises to the Regional Delegation of Culture where the artifacts were forsaken in yet another unkempt room unattended to. At this moment it was clear that there was no space for the artifacts in the town, and some of the artifacts were not only being destroyed; some were being carted away by some individual.
Enter Minister Ama Tutu Muna
The minister of Culture, Her Excellency Ama Tutu Muna earlier on in a letter dated 29th November 2010 asked the Regional Delegate to seek the arbitration of the Governor of the Region in whatever procedure so that a lasting solution concerning the Bamenda Regional Museum could be found. According to the letter, the minister requested consultations between the Delegate for Urban Development and Housing, the Government Delegate to the Bamenda city Council and the Governor for concrete suggestions to be forwarded to his ministry for prompt action, yet nothing came out of it.
The Minister having been informed again about the precarious situation of such important relics and taking into consideration the importance of such artifacts to the North Westerner, wrote a letter dated 20th January 2011 directly to the Governor of the North West Region requesting for a permanent and convenient premises where the collection can be displayed for public enjoyment and research. Her request seemingly did not yield any fruits and the artifacts remained unsafe.
In this regard, the minister once more sent a fact finding and assessment team headed by Lukong Nee Tomla Ernestine to Bamenda whose report was sent to her on the 11th of May 2011 indicating that the artifacts were “a deplorable sight” and “urgent measure needed to salvage the situation.”
The minister then proceeded and sent an inspection team to the North West region. Their mission was to make a financial audit, evaluate performance and possible assistance to the delegation Art and Culture. The report of the team was not a good one. According to the reported dated 24th October 2013, there was laxity, indiscipline and lack of initiative on the part of workers at the regional delegation. The Regional Delegate admitted failure in the report stating that “she is unable to discipline her staff because they have the tendency of imitating what others in different services are doing.” None of the staff cares about mere dustingvof the artifacts dumped in a room. The Delegation itself lacked any plan of action and the Delegate was surprised when she was asked to provide certain documents to the inspection team.
What is worth noting is the fact that the minister since this crisis started has been on it up to date. Just last May 26th, 2014 funds were sent from Yaounde for the commission that ought to sit and attribute land for the construction of a befitting museum in the region. More so, of recent minister Ama Tutu Muna in order to preserve artifacts where ever they are originally found and well taken care of brought back to Babungo an artifact that represented the history of the people. This artifact was stolen and brought to Yaoundé where it has been for some time. Ama Tutu decided to take it back to its origin at Babungo palace because she was assured that the Babungo Museum is well taken care of with support from the Greek.
The “carting away” of artifacts from the North West regional “Museum” was therefore a measure to preserve the artifacts pending the construction of a good Museum in the region. The fact that all the artifacts were well identified and given numbers was an indication that the measure was temporal aimed at rescuing the region’s important heritage.
The letter dated 16th May 2014 asking for the transfer of the artifacts from Bamenda to Yaounde states clearly that while waiting for the construction of a museum, whose architectural studies are included in the Public Investment Budget (PIB) 2014, the artifacts should be taken to Yaounde for proper care and preservation. This transfer, the letter continues, is a temporal measure aimed at preserving national patrimony.
It is also worth nothing that the Regional Delegate of Arts and Culture in a confidential letter written on the 1st of October, 2013 indicates that she had hitherto proposed to the Minister that these artifacts be transferred to Yaounde for better preservation. According to the letter, the transfer option was received in the region with a lot of bitterness when some people heard of it. Though the artifacts were deteriorating and some being stolen by one retired lady (name withheld) who still had access to the room where the artifacts were abandoned many people thought that something else could be done. The minister of Arts and Culture basically respected her proposals to see that the artifacts were better preserved in Yaoundé since some were even being stolen, while a lasting solution was being sought.
Enter the Fons of the NW Region
According to reports in the newspapers, the transfer of artifacts from the Bamenda to Yaoundé, the FONs consider the act an abomination liable to be punishment by traditional edicts. The reaction of NOWEFU according to the paper has been violent with threats and ultimatums to the ministry of culture. They have given little room for reasoning and have failed to find out why and when a museum would be constructed inbthe region so that the artifacts are brought back. The question many are asking is whether the Fons did not know that the artifacts were in dire need of care and that some were being carted away by individuals. Could the Fons not have provide room for the artifacts if they did cherished them so much, at their Secretariat in Nkwen? How many times did these Custodians of tradition complain to the Minister who doubles as their “Mafor” to seek a lasting solution to the problems? NOWEFU seems to have misgiving in the words of the government represented by the Minister of Arts and Culture and behaved as if Yaoundé was in a foreign Country. They have failed to understand that their Mafor was acting out of love for the region and the culture of the people of which she is part. It was in an attempt to rescue the artifacts while waiting on government to allocate funds for the construction of a better museum in the region.
Affair a suivre
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