User:Mesape Clevis

TEHO I VILLAGE COMMUNITY

Teho I is one amongst the many villages in Bangem sub division and one of the most popular in the Muetan Clan. The village is known for it's socio culturaland historical diversity in addition to its soil fertility that exposed it in the early 50s and in the late 60s. This Village was known economically, socially and culturally. Culturally, the Teho I village harbored the most important and historical shrines where very important cultural festivities took place. (Ndieh) that was known by the Bakossi people to be a cultural activity that brought about food sufficiency and other development in the land was found there. Also, during this cultural festival (Ndieh) women who faced challenges in reprocreation were as well blessed by the gods of the land with the fruit of the womb thereafter. Again, in times of any calamity in the land, the notable «besaa be mbwog» custodians of the land of each village that were in charge of this great shrine came together to do some incantation to avert any form of calamity that could befall the land as a result. Socially, the church that served the village communities around was found in Teho I. The officiating minister(pastor) always visited the congregation once every month especially during communion services. Sundays were also known to be the day when members of the community visited each other either to fellowship in family meals or exchange important information they couldn't diseminate during the couse of the week. Still on the social aspect, the only lone nightclub that was usually organized on Sunday every week was in Teho I where youth left areas like Enyandong, Mualong, Muadelngoe, Komuin, Mejelid just to name this few to meet with one another. Economically, Teho I was known in Bangem sub division as the hurb in the production of cocoyam and other economic crops. During Bangem market days, traders who came from different areas would be found sported around (squares), the Bangem central town that also serve as a junction, all focused southward to the road leading to Enyandong targeting farmers or villagers with cocoyams,who came from such areas passing through the narrow paths to sell their goods in Bangem and at times Enyandong in order to be able to acquire other home needs for their families. Teho I is one of the villages that witnessed the German rule in Cameroon where some of its indegenes or founders played an active role during the transatlantic slave trade and subsequently the expulsion of the Germans in Cameroon in the 1918s. Because of the difficulty in transporting food and cash crop to the nearby markets due to the unavailability of good farm to market roads in the region, the inhabitants of this beloved village and other neighboring villages were forced to leave the area In-search of other good places where there was facility enough for them to freelly carry out their civic rights unpeturbed and equally commercialise their goods at reasonable prices. In a bit to achieve this, the Teho I people left Bangem in the upper Bakossi area and went down south to Tombel were they settled at Ekep after they had turned down some two offers. The two areas first suggested to them included Bongue in Tombel and Mungele between Nyasoso and Ngusi respectively from the then paramount chief of Bakossi in the person of HRM chief R.M Ntoko of Nyasoso (late). Their present settlement (Ekep) where they finally accepted and are presently living was given to them by the then chief of Mbulle in the person of late chief Mesunge, the then clan head of lower Muetan which is still the Muetan inheritance. Here, they carried out all their investments activities like the cultivation of cocoa and coffee farms which was also one of the pull factors that led them abandon their ancestry which they visited twice or trice in a year to appease the gods of the land. The rich natural endowment of the area (Teho I) has enabled even the descendants of this noble settlement to continue the culture of the annual visitation to the site handed down to them by their forefathers till date, They do this every November being in the dry season. Giving the geographical location of the area, the village harbors almost half of the land earmarked for the Bakossi national park, that is, Teho I is situated at the center of the park. It is bounded in the nord by Elum Nninong II, in the East by Nkwodeb which is today called Muetan. Worthy to note is the fact that the name Muetan isn't the name given to any specific village but the name of a clan. In the west, it is bounded by Mualong village and in the south by Muedimel Bajoh, Mejelit and Komuin villages respectively. It has a population of about 550 to 700 inhabitants scattered all-over the globe with a landscape of over 3500 hecters.