132
The other inspectors of education of the government schools who used to be in Bafut, they didnt take a lot of interest in [mother-tongue education]. They were
not Bafut. The current inspector is a Bafut man, and has been in his post for about 3 years. Inspectors are not generally assigned to their home areas, but in this case
he was. So we had these difficulties, but there is a big change now. So I have a document like this [a list of postings of PROPELCA teachers to local schools],
endorsed by the inspector himself, for headmasters to implement; before, we could not have this OI: Ambe 3 Feb 03.
Thus, the impact of the education authorities, both government and denominational, on formal use and instruction of the written mother tongue is significant. These authorities
may not wield much influence on local use of the oral mother tongue; but when it comes to the written mother tongue and mother-tongue education, they are highly influential. In the
words of Nso PROPELCA teacher Doris Wirngo, when the authorities make a remark on it [PROPELCA], you find teachers going to the training OI: Wirngo 27 July 03.
4.4. The role of the homeland in language use and attitudes
Although the Bafut, Kom and Nso homelands are not institutions in the way traditional authorities and government are, they nevertheless constitute an environment that
powerfully shapes attitudes and use of the Bafut, Kom and Lamnso languages respectively. It is therefore important to examine the composition and character of the homelands, and the
impact they have on local language use and attitudes. 4.4.1. Geographic and demographic context
The population density of the Northwest Province is among the highest in Cameroon, as a large proportion of the province is arable land. Amin 1999; see Figure 4.2 indicates
that urbanisation is affecting the province, with the urban areas experiencing 5-6 growth per year over the last ten years; nevertheless, rural areas are also growing in population. Even
with the steady growth in urban population over the past decade, the rural inhabitants in the province today outnumber the urban inhabitants by roughly two to one.
Figure 4.2. Population growth rates in Northwest Province by rural and urban areas figures taken from Amin 1999: 38-39, 41, 195
Northwest Province 1987
1990 1995
2000 projected
Urban growth rate 7.0
5.8 5.7
5.3 Urban population
272,810 327,809
433,951 569,381
Rural growth rate 1.5
1.5 1.3
1.0 Rural population
972,326 1, 018,428
1,090,823 1,157,587
133 This is significant because, although several towns in Bafut, Kom and Banso would
likely have contributed to the above statistics on urban population see section 1.4.1, the homelands are predominantly rural. The homelands of the various language communities in
the province, including Bafut, Kom and Banso, thus encompass the rural populations given above, and a certain proportion of the urban figures as well. Growth in the rural population
figures certainly indicates growth in the homeland population; at the same time, growth in the urban population could indicate growth in the homeland towns rather than a diminution of
the homeland population as its citizens move to cities outside its orders. Not only so, but the homelands remain the primary home of the Bafut, Kom and Nso
people. Although many of these people have made their homes elsewhere in the country or in the world, at least half the total population of Nso and Bafut are estimated to live in the
homelands.
133
Speaking of Nso, Karl Grebe, an SIL linguist, observed that
This is very controversial; there are no government figures. I presently use 150,000 for the Lamnso speaking population inside Bui Division. There may be
just as many outside of the region but I would not dare to put a figure on that. Grebe 12 July 03
Joseph Mfonyam, a Bafut SIL linguist, expressed much the same perspective:
I would say between 40 and 50 of the people are outside [the village], in other towns and nations of the world Mfonyam 13 July 03.
However, it should also be recognised that the homelands are after all fragile sociopolitical entities section 1.4.1. As urbanisation in Northwest Cameroon continues to
grow, it is possible that eventually the homelands will lose their demographic predominance. On the other hand, it is also conceivable that the difficulty of finding employment in the
larger cities could slow this population shift to urban areas outside the homeland. Nevertheless, the extent to which the homelands maintain their social significance to the
Bafut, Kom and Nso people depends partly on the ability of the traditional authorities and culture to maintain their relevance to people who no longer reside in the homeland.
4.4.2. Who lives in the homeland There is a significant range in the size and complexity of population centres in the
three homelands, from the largest urban centre, the Nso town of Kumbo, to the small villages accessible only by footpath. However, the three homeland areas do have characteristics in
133
No comparable estimate for Kom was available.
134 common. Each has facilities available such as primary and fewer secondary schools, a very
few tertiary institutions like seminaries and teacher training schools, clinics and a few hospitals. The industries most evident include small businesses, restaurants, trading,
transport, and cottage industries for such things as furniture, bricks, clothing, shoe repair, hairdressing and so on.
The inhabitants of these homelands tend to fall into three categories: professionals, i.e. teachers, clergy and medical personnel; tradespeople and small business owners; and
farmers. In fact, however, farming constitutes an additional occupation of many adults in the homelands.
134
An additional category of inhabitant, small perhaps in number but a source of frustration to community leaders, are the young people who have left the homeland for
further education or to find work, but failing to find employment have returned to the home community. The divisional delegate for the Ministry of Youth and Sports in Boyo Division
Kom area noted this problem as one that he himself has to deal with:
There are too many secondary schools open now, too many graduates to absorb, and quality is not good enough. So kids go to the city for their education and then
cant find work. They come back to the community because they have no jobs, and because living in the city is too expensive. But once they get home, they often turn
to crime - juvenile delinquency is a big and growing problem here. They are not trained to do anything, and have no skills that are useful in the community OI:
Mbaswa 30 July 2003.
The problem surfaces in Bafut as well, as Joseph Mfonyam, a BALA executive committee member, observes:
People who go to secondary school, they think they will have a job in an office. Then they dont get one, and they come back and are roaming the streets. They
don’t know how to handle a hoe They live in Bafut, but they start stealing OI: J. Mfonyam 28 Nov 02.
However it should not be inferred that this cultural dislocation characterises young people in the homeland. As part of the current study, an oral survey of 36 young adults aged
19-30 living in or near the Kom and Banso homelands
135
asked them about traditional customs and whether they continue to abide by those customs. See Appendix 3 for complete
responses. After naming a variety of customs characteristic of their communities, all the
134
Nineteen of the 36 adults aged 19-30 questioned in the PROPELCA alumni survey 53 gave farming as a primary occupation. Seventeen of the 48 adults aged 30-87 questioned in a parent interview series 35
reported farming as a primary occupation. See Appendix 2.
135
The PROPELCA Alumni Survey. See appendices 1-3 for more information.
135 respondents claimed to share in some or all of those customs. One respondent who claimed to
maintain all the traditional customs explained:
They are a sign of respect for the elders and the norms of society PAS: Nso 01.
Another, less enthusiastic about the traditional ways, implied that the Cameroonian national governance system is preferable:
I have given up some of them [traditional customs] like many other people. This is because the political system in Cameroon has made people to follow up with
governmental rights more than their traditional rights PAS: Nso 15.
Those who reported having given up some of the traditional ways mentioned most often the customs of traditional religion, marriage and inheritance. Forsaking traditional
religious ways was not uncommon, as for example this young Christian woman reported:
I have given up the belief in the [traditional] gods because as a Christian I am made to understand that there is only one Almighty Father PAS: Kom 04.
The data also show that fewer of the Nso young people interviewed have maintained the traditional ways entirely; this corresponds with my own observations that the Nso are
generally more cosmopolitan than the Kom. Still, the responses of these young homeland- dwelling Kom and Nso people show significant adherence to the traditional skills and
customs of their culture. 4.4.3. Language choices in the homeland
The prevalence of the mother tongue as the predominant language of the homeland was demonstrated in several ways in the course of this study. One of the strongest indicators
was the monolingualism observed among nonschooled children and village women. Another indicator arose when it became clear that interviews of parents and PROPELCA alumni in the
homeland would have to be carried out by local-language speakers. This indicated, if not complete monolingualism among those populations, at least a greater facility and preference
on their part for speaking the local language. This issue of language preference rather than competence was repeatedly evident to me, as homeland residents who were able to
communicate fairly well with me in English consistently chose to interact in local language when not speaking to me directly.
On the other hand the print environment, where it existed, was observed to be almost entirely in English. Road signs, the names of shops and offices, advertising posters and
warning signs all used written English. An exception observed was a set of three AIDS awareness posters written in Pidgin, which I saw in the Kom towns of Belo and Njinikom. In
136 interacting with highly literate Bafut, Kom and Banso residents, it was evident that mixing
oral mother tongue with written English is not considered at all unusual; for example, group meetings held in the mother tongue are generally minuted and documented in English.
136
In working with the three local-language speaking research assistants on procedures for
collecting interview data, it became clear to me that they were also accustomed to recording in written English the content of oral interaction they had in the local language. Specific
details of print use, in English and in local language, are discussed in chapter five. Wherever a group is not linguistically homogeneous, even in the homeland, members
tend to switch to a language understood by all. This happens, for example, when non- speakers of the local language come to the homeland for development project visits,
government meetings or church services. Peter Yuh, a member of the KLDC executive committee, observed:
Almost every development meeting has an argument at the beginning about what language to use. If there are outsiders, lets use Pidgin or English. The language
policy is decided at the start of every meeting We say, What will work in a given context? OI: Yuh 26 Nov 02.
Thus, the homelands function as supportive environments for the oral use of the local language. Written mother tongue appears in few environments - the church and the
PROPELCA classroom, in particular - and it is less certain that the homelands serve today as a supportive environment for written mother tongue. Certainly that is the goal of the language
committees; but as Martin Yunteh, a member of the NLO executive committee observes, writing the mother tongue is not something people are accustomed to:
It is actually a process, because for long we have not been very used to reading and writing Lamnso. All along we have been educated in English or French, and we
have not been used to reading and writing the local languages and the mother tongue. So it is a development that many people who are educated are also getting
used to. And sometimes they find it very difficult to get used to OI: Yunteh 11 March 03.
4.5. The elite
