African history is endless that ones curiosity may never be satisfied. Taarifa takes you into Cameroon’s Bamoun kingdom- one of Africa’s oldest kingdoms with rich history.
This Sunday, October 10, 2021, a new king for the Bamoun kingdom was enthroned at a colourful traditional ceremony.
At the age of 29, Nabil Mbombo Njoya sat on a throne wearing a unique traditional and royal outfit reserved only for the king in this territory.
The Bamoun, a powerful kingdom of western Cameroon boasts of a population of 2 million people.
The latest United Nations data indicates that Cameroon hosts a total of Cameroon is 27,386,702 inhabitants.
Nabil Mbombo Njoya succeeds his late father, Sultan Ibrahim Mbombo Njoya who Designated Nabil in his will. Nabil is the first son born after his fathers enthronement.
Very close to his father, he was brought up in the Bamoun tradition, educated at the American school in Yaoundé before studying in the United States and at the National School of Administration and the Judiciary of Cameroon.
He was appointed after an initiation conclave led by the notables of the kingdom and becomes at 29 years old, the twentieth in the line of Bamoun kings.
His Royal Highness Nabil will occupy the Royal Palace of Foumban of the Bamoun dynasty which dates back from the 14th century in history.
The Palace was renovated and completed in 1917 after which the belongings of previous Sultans were arranged and kept for tourist attraction.
Foumban city is one of Cameroon’s major attractions and an important centre of traditional African art. Some of the major important things found in the palace include a multitude of royal gowns, arms, musical instruments, statues, jewellery, masks and colourful bead-covered thrones carved in the shapes of the men who sat on them and seat of power for the Bamoun people.
There is also the Musée des Arts et des Traditions Bamoun which is not far from the Palace. This extensive collection has exhibits on Bamoun history and art, including cooking implements, musical instruments, pipes, statues, masks, gongs and an ornately carved xylophone.
A graduate of Enam in 2018, Nabil Njoya was, some time before his induction, head of the legal division in the services of the governor of the southern region.
Having become a traditional chief, the new sultan is now forced to abandon all civil engagement. Nabil Njoya should therefore abandon his office in Ebolowa, in the south, to settle permanently in those he now holds in the sultanate of Foumban.
