Power/Authority in an African Grassland Kingdom?

Power and authority in an African grassland kingdom do not (should NOT) come from a colonial construct. We can agree to disagree on that, but as far as the reality on the ground goes, since the 1700s the leadership of our kingdoms has been encapsulated in INSTITUTIONS. In the Kom Kingdom, for example, the Fòyn is the leader of these institutions and a special high priest connecting living Kom citizens with the ancestral world: a physical and spiritual responsibility.

Once the ghelɨ ghɨ báŋnɨ and the ghelɨ mɨ̂ndzɨ realized how awesome this position is, their goal from day one has been to chip away at this power and authority until it can only serve the interests of the ghelɨ ghɨ báŋnɨ and/or the ghelɨ mɨ̂ndzɨ.

One Kom citizen asked: "Would it not be proper for the Fòyn and the custodian of Kom tradition (KwiFòyn) to draw a line and set a limit…?"

Nchînɨ̀Kòm is built on love, not dictatorship

Here is what I learned from my GrandPa: Nchînɨ̀Kòm is built on LOVE, not dictatorship. That's why, when a Kom citizen hears itaŋíKom spoken anywhere in the world, the reflex is to call the speaker wâyn nà wom ("child of my mother"). This traces back to the mother, founder and matriarch of the Kom family in the 1700s: Nandóŋ. It has sometimes been said that Kom citizens are children of one mother: NANDÓŊ.

Of course, I am not speaking for the Fòyn here. But the Fòyn and the KwiFòyn cannot be effective in their responsibilities if all the children of Nandóŋ are not in accord with each other on many basic issues of concern in the Kom Kingdom today, like the Kom Kingdom's institutions.

Entitlements as citizens of a kingdom come with responsibilities

So I will turn the responsibility card around to the Kom people and ask: as a Kom citizen, how much Nchînɨ̀Kòm, and how much nchínɨ ghelɨ ghɨ báŋnɨ (and/or nchínɨ ghelɨ mɨ̂ndzɨ), makes a good recipe that can benefit our indigenous Kom communities?

I think it's for Kom's children to make up their minds on that subject. I may be wrong. But I am not sure the Fòyn or the KwiFòyn have enough time or means to go round each village or nte' to see what every Kom child is doing or not doing. There is already a framework for that; the only question is whether anyone is using it. And if the framework is not being used, the appropriate question is: why not?

Artificial divides: a total waste of time

Some of our major problems in Kom should NOT actually be problems. But when citizens create artificial divides (CPDM vs SDF, Catholic vs Baptist, Jehovah's Witness vs Naija "born-again Christians", vs Fulani vs Hausa, etc.), what I personally see is a WASTE of time and a penchant for ENTERTAINMENT, not REAL DEVELOPMENT.

From talk-talk to a read/write Kom culture

If you ask me again, the challenge for the rest of the century in Kom should be to get every Kom citizen to READ and WRITE, instead of talk-talk. Oral tradition is good, but a READ/WRITE culture is what separates the "winners" from the "losers" of civilization today.

Yvɨ kɨtî

Wayn | Afo a yɨnɨ-a | Nyam ngvɨyn

— Wanaku Verdzekov