Walter Wilson Nana
17 March 2008
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Journeying to Akwaya in Manyu Division, Southwest Province, is like a trip to hell. A sister subdivision to Eyumojock, Upper Bayang and Mamfe Central, Akwaya has 99 chiefdoms, divided into five court areas.
The people have christened Akwaya South as the forest and Akwaya North as the grassland. Although located in Cameroon, one can only reach Akwaya by passing through Nigeria. Once you get to Mamfe, then to the border town of Ekok, the Cameroonian and Nigerian emigration and customs officials give you a pass.
In Nigeria, the route back to Akwaya passes through Ikom, Obudu and Amana. From Amana, a town between Nigeria and Cameroon, a bumpy road takes one cross the Mete River in Nigeria and the Amele River along the border.
Akwaya is just an ordinary district with a Divisional Officer, Stephen Ebombe Ngonde, a Mayor, Martin Ekwale, and a Brigade Commander with four elements at his disposal; a police post and religious outfits - Saint Joseph Parish, with Fr. David Fomanka as parish priest, the Presbyterian Church of Cameroon, as well as schools.
But what makes Akwaya rather extraordinary is that it is a forgotten part of a much larger country. This, however, does not deter the people, who are mainly farmers, from their activities. There are also petty traders, especially from the forest zone who deal in cash and food crops - cocoa, coffee, cassava, rice, groundnuts, honey and more.
This reporter was informed that 20 percent of food and cash crops in Cross River State, Nigeria, come from Akwaya.
Expectations
The people of Akwaya would quickly tell you that their main worry is inadequate education. They expressed the need for more schools. The health facilities in Akwaya also leave much to be desired.
Begging For Bridges
The Mayor of Akwaya echoed the nightmare of the Amana-Akwaya road to the Nigerian Consul General, imploring him to get the governments of Nigeria and Cameroon to bridge the Amele River. According to the Mayor, if this is done, life would experience some improvement in the enclave.
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