Noni People

Dr Nfi Joseph Lon

“Noni people were the first indigenous settlers in Bui”

Dr. Nfi Joseph, Head of Division for Research and Cooperation at the Higher Institute of Transport and Logistics at the University of Bamenda has among other startling revelations declared that Noni people were the first indigenous settlers in what is today known as Bui Division. 

Among other things, this Noni son from Djottin said it was time for Noni to emerge and that to succeed in this direction a stronger Umbrella Organisation could be one of the ways to start the process of emergence. He was interviewed by Francis Ekongang 

Excerpts

 

Who is the person behind the personality publicly known Dr. Nfi Joseph Lon?

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I am Nfi Joseph and I was born in 1966 in Djottin-Noni where I received my Basic or call it Primary Education. I went to the defunct Bui College of General Education BCGE Kumbo for my secondary education. After five years in Kumbo I left with the GCE Ordinary levels to pursue my High School studies at Lyce Bilingue d’Essos in Yaounde. After two successful years I obtained the GCE Advanced Level and enrolled in the University of Yaounde. It is there that I obtained the Bachelor Degree, the Master and terminal degree the PhD.

But before then I’d worked at Saint Beads College in Ashing Kom. I served as a teacher in several secondary schools in the Northwest Region. I can remember GHS Bali, GHS Mbengwi, GHS Mbatu. I also served as pedagogic Inspector in the Southwest in Buea before being recruited at the University of Buea where I served for three years before being appointed Head of Division for Research and Cooperation at the Higher Institute of Transport and Logistics at the University of Bamenda. Nfi Joseph is a very humble product of the Djottin Community. I call myself a product of the Djottin Community because I was brought up by practically every person of that community.

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Many people are of the opinion that the Noni Subdivision is still problem riddled. What is your take on the place Noni holds in Bui Division today?

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Let me start by thanking you for that question. Noni is one of the Subdivisions of Bui Division with a lot of peculiarities. First, the Noni people are very peculiar from their brothers the Nso people and the Oku people. They have an entirely different culture and an entirely different language and permit me to say a different civilization. They are a people who fortunately or unfortunately were divided into about six village chiefdoms some with even two Fons you can imagine. Maybe that’s an expression of Democracy among the people. The Noni people happen to have settled the area called today Bui. In fact they were the first indigenous settlers in Bui Division. Due to Colonial Administrative Pressure, they were part of the Nso Native Authority Area. That probably did not permit them to establish and blossom as a distinct people whom they are. With that type of administrative structure, they were certainly a minority consequently they remained riddled with a lot of problems. Development Infrastructure came late especially education, health and the rest. But I will say here that thanks to the Catholic Church that was quick to identify Djottin and Nkor as centers that could serve as parishes. They were able to have a Health Center in Djottin. We were able to have a primary school in Djottin that stopped the frequent movement to Tabeken or Shisong for Primary Education. As we talk today, Djottin is hosting a Catholic Secondary School which is wonderful. Apart from this, there are many Government Secondary Schools in all the villages. I will probably say that this is time for every Noni son and daughter to think about the emergence. Before Cameroon should emerge in 2035, we can let Noni emerge first.

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How can Noni emerge?

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By projecting the identity of its people, by marketing it’s asserts, its culture, the language, and marketing what makes Noni distinct. In fact you may like to know that Noni serves as the bread basket for Bui Division. The fertile Bamti-Mih-Nkor plain is very productive when it comes to the basic stables that we need. Corn, cocoyam, groundnuts and what have you. Djottin and Tvuh produce food crops. It is a place that if given the due consideration, the problems that the people are facing will rapidly disappear. But again, the Noni man should be the first to help himself. They can help themselves by working as one, by having a strong umbrella organisation. To be honest with you, up till now I do not see the Nshii Noni or NODECA to be as strong as one would have expected because there are still people hesitating to be part of this movement.

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With all these problems at the back of your mind what sort of message can you dish out to the Noni youth?

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Firstly Noni people in the Diaspora; out of home in Cameroon and out of Cameroon should remain attached to their home. There is a big dichotomy between the reality at home and the people out of home. We can only do that by having a strong Noni Development and Cultural Association. We should be proud to be Noni peole. We should identify with our culture. I think the initiative of Noni News is highly welcome because it is going to be a channel for us to market our ideas, market our culture and maybe disseminate information that may be useful to the younger generation. I am calling on the youth to take up the challenge because as they say, the future lies in their hands. They should be proactive and be ready to seize the opportunities that exist in Cameroon today. Whether we like it or not, we are part of a global village and we need to be industrious and enterprising. There is no sector in Cameroon today that does not pay. Agriculture, craft and all of those things that are done in rural areas are marketable and they can sustain our communities. While the Noni youth is pursuing education, those at home should not feel that it is only by traveling out of the village that they will make it.

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Do you have any particular message?

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I pray for peace, solidarity and unity among the Noni sons and daughters. I will invite them to think about investing home and relating with their brothers and sisters at home. I invite those who are at home not to be too interested in what is taking place in the cities. They can tap from the cities by exploiting the soils back home. 

Interview was first published in December 2018.

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