Interestingly, I wish to share with my steemit family about our great history. In the North West Region of Cameroon is found the Kom Kingdom. It is one of the largest Paramount Fondoms of the region, with a great culture.
The Afo-A kom (fondly called The Kom Thing) was carved, designed and placed at the Kom palace by H.R.H Fon YUH 1 long before the colonial era, and each time a Fon went missing as fondly referred to( when he died) rituals were performed and the new Fon to be enthrone will on his final coronation day have the opportunity to greet this great Afo- Akom only once in his entire reign for if he does the second time, he will die. This statue was to help protect the Kingdom and often showed signs of bad situation in the land long before it could happen such that precautionary steps could be taken by the Fondom.
However, this is still been done today but unfortunately in 1966, during the reign of Fon Nsom Ngwe, events had to go bad as this statue was stolen from the palace by one of the princes with the complicity of some palace guards. It was the smuggled to Bamenda, the chief town of the North West Region of Cameroon and sold to an American tourist who later had it ferried to USA. In America, it placed at a Museum in California state, and history has it, the Afo-Akom for the period of seven years was destroying other artifacts, and so people were invited through the media and the horrors caused by this statue told. On the day of the event, one industrious son of the Kom Kingdom was among so he could identify the statue and thus told them it was from his Kingdom. During the period of its disappearance from the palace, strange things started happening until the chief custodian of the land was consulted and he revealed what has happened as well as diseases that affected those who took part in the hideous act, and after their horrible confessions they died.
The US State department for tourism had to inform the Cameroonians authorities in the US, who intend informed the Cameroon government- Led by Late President Amadou Ahidjo in 1973. Following that announcement on 11/12/1973, the Afo-Akom after spending seven years in a foreign landed at the Douala airport in a Chartered plane accompanied by a delegation of international journalists and was received at the airport by Cameroonian delegation led by Late President Amadou Ahidjo, H.R.H Fon Nsom Ngwe (middle kissing Afo- A kom), Ministry of culture who later referred to it as the ''Cameroon Thing''.
After the great reception and welcome back, the Afo-Akom was the ferried to Kom in the North West Region of Cameroon at the time known as province, where the Fon finally kissed it again and said ''I am not fit to go'' and few weeks later he went missing ( meaning died).
Till date in the Kom Fondom/Kingdom, the Afo-A kom is well decorated and stationed where it is not seen by anyone. It is only seen on the coronation day of the new Fon, and that is what makes us as a people great, strong and united by these cultural values.
Thanks for Reading.
