Tourism for All: A Trip to Njikwa

Njikwa Council
Njikwa Council area corresponds to Njikwa Sub Division in Momo Division, North West Region. Like its sister councils in Momo, it lies astride the savannah of the Western Highlands and the forest belt of the South West of Cameroon. The main town, Njikwa, lies about 64km from Bamenda, some 40 km from Mbengwi, the divisional headquarters of Momo. Njikwa Council shares its boundaries with Menchum Division in the north, Mezam Division and Mbengwi Central Sub Division in the east, Widikum Sub Division in the West and Ngie Sub Division in the South. The surface area of the Sub Division is about 685 km², for a population of 16,634.

Historically, Njikwa Council used to constitute part of the defunct Momo Council Union that also included Mbengwi, Batibo, Ngie and Widikum. Today, the council executive is led by Mayor Itambi Tagyen Andrew. The council has 25 councillors

Peopling and Economic Activities

Njikwa is made up of 09 villages: Oshie, Ngwo, in the South, then Konda, Bassa, Bakwa, Ikweri, Banya, Ekwebo, and finally Bako in the northern most limits of the Sub Division. All these people are believed to be of the Widikum Tribe, but speak different languages. The migration balance here clearly favours emigration as youths quit the enclave in search for greener pastures or sensational urban life, and this is worsened by the difficult access to electricity outside the main town of Njikwa, and an almost inexistent road network.

The main activity is subsistence farming, and Njikwa is famous for its cocoyams, in addition to goats and sheep which are evacuated to Bamenda by middlemen and women known as “Buyam Sellams”. The hills are the fiefs of Fulani herdsmen, thus making cattle one of the main products from Njikwa, which accounts for a large percentage of the cattle sold in the Acha Tugi Cattle Market.

By virtue of the fact that it is a transitional zone between forest and savanna, the agricultural output is varied but there is a dominance of root or tuber crops over seeds and grains. Therefore, staples here include cocoyams, yams, cassava, bananas, plantains, corn, beans, groundnuts, etc. The oil palm and the raffia palm are omnipresent in the landscape, and in addition to cooking oil, yield the culturally irreplaceable nectar: palm wine, which is a very popular drink in this part of the country.

However, in the words of the Mayor himself, addressing Njikwa elites in Buea in 2014, the “difficult road network, non-electrification of the entire municipality, youth boredom and unemployment, insufficient health facilities, disenclavement of most villages with very rich agricultural potentials just to site a few” all constitute challenges” which are motivating the municipal executive.

What to see

Though getting to Njikwa is a feat in itself due to the impractical road, any trip there will be incomplete without a visit to the Kagwene Gorilla Sanctuary. According to an online article on sciencedaily.com, “The Kagwene Gorilla Sanctuary is a small reserve—only 19.5 square kilometers in size—in a mountainous region of Cameroon. Nevertheless, it contains a genetically important segment of the entire Cross River gorilla population; it is estimated that the sanctuary currently contains approximately 20 individual animals.While many populations of gorillas are threatened by poachers, the gorillas of Kagwene have been protected by the local belief that the apes are people and therefore cannot be hunted or consumed.” It is a beacon, beckoning for nature lovers to visit Njikwa.

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