More than 70 dance groups display at the esplanade of Lenale Ndem Royal Ralace
By Martin Nkematabong
Over 4500 persons including administrative officials, tourists, legendry paramount rulers, fleets of warriors, nobles and commoners on Saturday, March 6, 2010 converged at the royal palace of H.R.H Fonjinju of Lenale Ndem to celebrate the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization's (UNESCO) newly created club at Melong, in the Moungo Division.
The Lenale Ndem UNESCO club, which was launched on 22 October 2009, has been reinforced with a magnificent museum, which currently contains 2,800 artifacts, vividly designed to portray the treasures of kings and monarchs, the myth of secret societies, the pomp of heroism, the grandeur of war and conquest and the artistic heritage of African art, music and Cameroon history.
Addressing the multitude, the assistant senior divisional officer (SDO) for Moungo, Tapca Albert, who cut the symbolic ribbon, said “Cameroon's heritage is a key component of its identity, and called on the population and public authorities to make it a moral obligation to ensure that the truth engraved about the past on stones and woods is truly safeguarded.”
He congratulated the chair of the Moungo UNESCO Club, HRH Fonjinju Tatabong Alexandre, on his relentless effort to immortalize the story of Cameroon through art galleries and monuments, intimating that the armories, masks, musical instruments, antic containers and furniture that array the esplanade of Lenale Ndem royal palace do not only vitalize the affluent culture of the country, but also give past experiences a lucid meaning.
In corroboration, Fonjinju said the museum basically aims at satisfying the quest of a hundred tourists and archaeologists who troop into his palace every summer for studies and leisure, support of children of Moungo, their families and communities in the socio-culturaI and intellectual spheres, as well as support government's effort to sustain and promote tourism in Cameroon.
The traditional ruler called on the administrative authorities and the population of the Moungo to work hand-in-glove to overcome eminent challenges facing community museums in Cameroon. The main difficulties, according to Fonjinju, include the lack of expertise to collect, conserve and preserve artworks, and inadequate finances to recruit qualified staff for effective educational services.
The esplanade of Lenale Ndem palace did serve as a veritable picaresque of the Cameroonian traditional culture. Some 22 para-mount rulers from the West, South West, north West, the Littoral and the Northern regions of Cameroon were buoyantly ushered into the ceremonial ground by hubs of warriors and fIre dancers, who charged and darted from one part of the palace to another, ripped the air with the tips of their swords and ruffled every heart with chafers of gunfire. For more click on http://camlinknews.blogspot.com and http://uk.youtube.com/camlink99/
Martin NKEMATABONG is a
Senior Socio-Cultural Journalist
