Some chiefs and elite at the ceremony
By Ngalame Élias
The Nninong community has celebrated their annual cultural festival called NDIEH. The 2025 edition that culminated with the Nninong Chiefs conference took place from 28 February to the March 1st 2025 in Muanjeken.
According to the chief of Muanjeken HRH Chief Masango Denise Mebune who is also ( senior technical advisor at CNPS) NDIEH is a thanks giving cultural ceremony where elders, custodians of tradition, and the population commune together to share a common meal, than God and the ancestors for their blessings to the community and also seek for more blessings in all fronts( economic, cultural, development, health, seed of the womb etc.
” Traditionally we celebrate NDIEH in the month of April when our school children are on holidays to enable them also participate and learn the culture . But this year we brought it forward because we had our Nninong Chiefs conference this February ending. We thought it will be cost effective to join the two activities ” Chief Masango Denise Mebune said .
Congregating at the secret site(Abon) to share a common meal together with the population and ancestors, make sacrifice rites and appreciation for Blessings to the land is key in NDIEH celebration.
WHY HOSTING IN MUANJEKEN.
Muanjeken is one of the ten villages in Nninong clan Bangem sub- division in Kupemuanenguba.
By some design the village has been at the heart of cultural activities in Nninong clan. It’s on this premise that NDIEH has always been organized there, he explained.
The major highlights of NDIEH celebration include the offer of varied traditional food items at the village shrine called ” Abondue” to feed everyone including the ancestors. This is accompanied by prayers to call for blessings and a successful celebration. The particularities of the NDIEH celebration proper include communication with the ancestors to seek for blessings to the land and it’s people, sharing of common meals and revival of the traditional values as established by the forefathers of the land.
The Nninong Chiefs Conference.
The Nninong Chiefs conference that held brought together chiefs from the ten villages who converged at the palace of the chief of Muanjeken. The chiefs during the conference discussed and strategized on major development issues in the clan including roads,health services, maintenance of peace, boundary issues etc. They also talked upholding traditional values, dressing code for chiefs,behons,elites etc
REVIVING LOST TRADITIONAL VALUES.
According to Samuel Nnah Ndobe President of Muanjeken Cultural and Development Association there’s need to revive and uphold the important tradition of the people as handed down by the ancestors.
” One major importance of the NDIEH celebration is the opportunity to talk about and examine our culture to see what the stakes are and make amends or correct what is going wrong. ” he said. .
Reviving old tradition with with natural diet eaten in those days by our forefathers. NDIEH provides the opportunity to share these meals with ancestors and the population
CHALLENGES.
According to Nnah Ndobe, most natural secret sites have been abandoned because of the influence of modernisation.
” We have lost precious food crops like ” colocasia” Cocoyam because of many reasons including climate change. Casava has taken the place of Cocoyam in preparation of esuba etc.”.
It’s against this backdrop that in 2022-23 the Nninong community decided to revive their main secret sites “Abundue” bringing back past traditional tenets and values like communing together annually, sharing naturally prepared food that was eaten by their forefathers like ” Ekoke”, ” Echen” and call on the ancestors to eat with them.
” There’s a clear relationship between strengthening the secret site and the type of of food we est during NDIEH celebration” Nnah Ndobe said. The ceremony also provide the opportunity for bridging the link between the young generation and the ancestors, a learning process of the culture which they are expected to promote and uphold.