December is the month that signifies celebration. In some villages in the Northwest region, the month was always an opportunity to celebrate the end of the year. People, especially those abroad and in cities, used to return home to celebrate life with loved ones.
That is because Christmas, which celebrates the birth of Christ, comes every December 25, and no person could think of where to celebrate other than rushing back to the family in the village.
Take the Northwest region and Bui Division in particular. The people have a culture of doing fundraising for developmental activities just immediately after Christmas.
That is when most villages used to vibrate. Football used to be the major uniting factor. Families bond with loved ones they have not seen for a year. Before the D-day competitions are taking place already.
In Nkum Subdivision, people already knew that this and so date was for this village.
26 were for Nseh, 27 for Ngondzen, 29 for Nkeng, and the first January was for Kuvlu. These are villages with dates of fundraising, as one could hear names like KEDU, which is the Kuvlu Elements Development Association, just like others.
On these days, there would be a marathon from one village to the village hosting the event. Take, for instance, the 1st of January in Kuvlu. A marathon used to start from Tarkijah, which is the junction point linking Ndu in Donga Matung Division, Nkor Subdivision, and Kumbo in Bui Division. When it was around 8 am, the people of Ngondzen, Mbohbvem, Sembdzen, Takov, Mbohlive, Kah, and Mission stood on the roadside cheering the athletes. It used to be a fun event; some people would participate in the marathon, not because of money but because of the ambience.
When the marathon was over, these villages started preparing to go to the host village. The young and the elderly would trek on earth roads filled with dust. They had been saving money for enjoyment on such a day.
Avenue for Business
The celebrations were also avenues for business. People who sold food, Alaska, sugarcane, soya, palm wine, shah, and beer used to make a lot of money at that time.
In Kuvlu or Nkeng, sugarcane was the cheapest thing one could get. With just 1000 FCFA, a child was okay for such events. They will eat and drink to their satisfaction and have what to take home just from that amount.
Football as Uniting Factor
When it was semifinal or final, the population used to turn out massively at the end of the year. That was when local football stars were born. People used to cheer with all the energy they got. Another thing too was the use of black magic. The teams during the final will play and exhaust prolongation without a winner. There were instances where individuals were subjected to beatings for practicing black magic and maintaining the same tie. When the winner finally emerged, and without a round fight disrupting the competition, it was amazing. The winner used to take home around 100,000 FCFA, but it was highly appreciated.
From there, the village that won will take the cup and start singing and going home to go and hand the achievement to the village head. They would sing songs of victory, one that would not leave you indifferent to the celebration. When they finally reached the village, those who were unable to go to the competition would join them, and the ambience amplified.
However, that was not all. The host village will continue with the gala night. That is when people will drink and get drunk and meet new boyfriends or girlfriends for the first time. And when it was morning, everyone was sleeping from the enjoyment dose the other day.
Then, Crisis came
In 2016, a crisis broke out in Cameroon’s Northwest and Southwest regions. By 2017, it had escalated into an armed conflict. Even those in town who used to return to the villages were no longer safe. People who used to go home at the end of the year to celebrate life and commune with loved ones were returning in coffins.
The guns had smoked life out of them. Back in the village, the situation was not much different. Young boys who used to animate the 26s, 27s, and 29s and first January started picking up arms in the quest for a new nation called Ambazonia. Governments tagged them terrorists and began raiding villages. Some have been raised to ashes. People could not escape to the towns or the villages; nowhere was safe. End of year is of no interest again.
Families Separated
Some manage to escape to neighbouring Nigeria as refugees, while some escape to Francophone Cameroon, where they become new to French. Families have been separated and torn apart. Fathers don’t know if the children arrested and taken to Yaoundé are still alive or not. Siblings don’t know whether the other running in the bushes is alive or not. Every day it is misery upon misery. The youths carrying arms started killing their own people as well who did not buy their ideology.
Families have been caught in the crossfire. Every passing day, one person dies. Exploitation for protection is recorded between the military and Amba. Those who were breadwinners have become breadbaggers.
Mounting roadblocks
Roads are blocked to major cities, and farm produce, which gives them income, gets bad. Poverty and hunger are causing malnutrition. People who used to celebrate yearly events have now become enemies because so-and-so self-styled Amba General is from this village, or this village is collaborating with the military, and so on. Now that it is December, nobody remembers home again because there is nothing. Families behind have been killed, and houses have been destroyed. Going home, you are kidnapped for ransom or tagged a blackleg (betrayer) for going back to commemorate the end of the year.
Life before Crisis Resurfaces again
As the conflict has begun to calm down, people are returning to mend the broken ties and revamp the once joyfully celebrated events.
Despite the conflict, they are putting differences aside and still celebrating what is left of them. In Kuvlu currently, there is an ongoing football competition geared for the first of January. The event continues to manage to pull together villages like Tatum, Banten, Nseh, Mah, Tarkijah, and Takov, among others.
Though it will not have that kind of celebration before the crisis, it is worth it. At first, the elites of the village will return home. But now, people like the Nkumprominent politician, Andrian Yenawuni, who is the daughter of Kuvlu, can’t participate like before.
But that has not stopped the people behind it from raising funds and rebuilding and opening roads left to decay by the crisis. They do so, hoping that one day things will return to how they were before the crisis and the end-of-year celebration will have meaning again.
