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This section of our website highlights reports, publications, mentions about the work we do. From top media houses such as BBC, Aljazeera, CNN to local media houses such as Cameroon New Agencies, the post news paper, we take pride in adding value to your time by gathering these in one place
Founder of Sysy House of Fame – Njobati Sylvie on issue 1/23 of LoNam Magazine in Germany. Here is the Magazine’s website. Discover them and discover Njobati Sylvie.
Fon Sehm Mbinglo II has expressed his desire to have some Nso sacred objects in exposition at the Linden Museum returned in February of 2023. He says “He is happy to see these objects, but sad to know that they are in a museum in Germany and not home in Nso. Sylvie Njobati (the activist behind the #BringBackNgonnso campaign) expresses her discontentment in seeing them displayed in museums.
“Bring Back Ngonnso,” a civil society initiative, has been campaigning for the statue’s return for years, as the Nso people say they have suffered numerous calamities since the statue was stolen.
“The Ngonnso’ has a central role for the Nso’, as she is considered a mother deity,” the foundation said in a statement.
Priceless artefacts removed and looted from African nations during Germany’s colonial period will be permanently returned, officials said. The Berlin-based Prussian Cultural Heritage Foundation, which manages the German capital’s many museums, said on Monday it had entered into negotiations on the returns of artefacts to Namibia, Tanzania and Cameroon.
I’m not surprised. I’m disappointed that it took so long for Germany to start returning these items. It’s a kind of realization that I’ve been expecting for a long time, since the world talks a lot about global justice and tries to fight other injustices. This should have happened a long time ago
It’s estimated that more than 40,000 Cameroonian objects are currently held in German museums, said Richard Tsogang Fossi, a postdoctoral researcher on Cameroonian cultural heritage at the Technische Universität Berlin. “Punitive expeditions are one of the biggest ways in which the objects were removed,” he said. Fossi is part of a Cameroonian-German research effort tracing lost Cameroonian objects in German collections.
Ngonnso is our identity. She is our history. She’s our culture. She is the essence of our existence today. When we look back, we don’t see anything because we are unable to see Ngonnso. Ngonnso makes us who we are and connects us to our ancestors. She gives us meaning and history to hold on to.
Fon Sehm Mbinglo II of Nso caught his first view of Ngonnso on November 12, 2022 after being on the throne for 30 years. Ngonsso alongside other Nso Royal objects have been held in the Ethnological museums since 1903. The Fon of Nso made this historic trip following a decision to return Ngonnso; Queen mother of the Nso people.
“We still think about this loss every day,” says Gad Semaiy Shiynyuy; Cameroon-born activist. “We believe that this object has divine powers and it’s the same object that our forefathers used to perform rituals to cleanse our land.”
Ever since their mother goddess was spirited away by a German general in 1902, the Nso people of northwest Cameroon have had a streak of rotten luck.
Crop failures, civil war and the premature deaths of their rulers have all been blamed on Berlin, where the tribe’s much-missed statue of Ngonnso has spent more than a century in exile.
Germany will return a statue of a goddess that was stolen from Cameroon 120 years ago, the Prussian Cultural Heritage Foundation said on Monday, part of a growing trend to return artifacts taken during the colonial era. Last year, Germany announced its intention to return the Benin Bronzes to Nigeria and apologized for its role in the massacre of Herero and Nama tribes in Namibia more than a century ago.
The female figure, known as Ngonnso’, will be returned to the kingdom of Nso’ in northwestern Cameroon. It was taken by colonial officer Kurt von Pavel and donated to Berlin’s Ethnological Museum in 1903.
“Bring Back Ngonnso,” a civil society initiative, has been campaigning for the statue’s return for years, as the Nso people say they have suffered numerous calamities since the statue was stolen.
The Ethnological Museum in Berlin is home to a statue called Ngonnso, taken from her home by German colonialists at the beginning of the 20th century. A tribe in Cameroon has been demanding her return for decades. And now, they may finally be granted their wish.
News from 06/27/2022
At today’s meeting, the SPK Foundation Council authorized SPK President Hermann Parzinger to conclude an agreement with the responsible authorities in Cameroon on the repatriation of the so-called Ngonnso’.
Baden-Württemberg has many cultural objects that were stolen from their countries of origin during the colonial period. Religious objects are also included. The country is also open to talks about restitution when a king from Cameroon, HRH the Fon of Nso visits.
His Royal Highness, Fon Sehm Mbinglo I, ruler of the Nso tribe in Cameroon’s North West region is currently in Germany for activities in the build up to the return of their sacred statue, the Ngonnso’. The traditional ruler touched down in the European nation on Sunday November 13, five months after the Prussian Cultural Heritage Foundation announced it was going to return the deity looted over 100 years ago by German colonial masters.
It’s a great victory that Sylvie Njobatie has just obtained. After long years of litigation, the board of directors of the Prussian Cultural Heritage Foundation (SPK), a federal body that oversees 27 museums and cultural organizations in and around Berlin, has just taken a historic decision for the Nso people. where she is from. Indeed, he consented to the return of the very famous Ngonnso statue which was looted during the great German migrations.
As per a civil society initiative, named “Bring Back Ngonnso”, which has been campaigning for the statue’s return for years, the Ngonnso’ has a central role for the Nso’, as she is considered a mother deity. The Prussian Cultural Heritage Foundation said that the Nso people have suffered numerous calamities since the statue was stolen.
The goddess Ngonnso’ is believed to be the founder of the Nso dynasty.
After the agreement on the return of a revered figure – Ngonnso from Cameroon by the Prussian Cultural Heritage Foundation, the Fon of the Nso people is hoping to get back all existing Nso royal “objects” looted from his people in the colonial era.
As per a civil society initiative, named ‘BringBackNgonnso’, Ngonnso has a central role for the people of Nso in the North West Region of Cameroon. She is considered a mother deity. The statue was stolen by colonial officer Kurt von Pavel and donated to Berlin’s Ethnological Museum in 1903.
SPK President Hermann Parzinger said that although the stay in Kumbo of Kurt von Pavel, the German colonial officer who donated the statue to the Ethnological Museum of the National Museum in Berlin in 1903, was exempt from hostilities, we must not rule out the unequal balance of power and the structural colonial violence that prevailed then. Indeed, Officer Kurt von Pavel was accompanied by armed soldiers and porters with the intention of having an intimidating effect on the Nso.
On the 27th of June 2021, the Prussian Cultural Heritage Foundation (Stiftung Preußischer Kulturbesitz((SPK))—a German government organization that manages 27 German museums and cultural organizations—announced that it will return the statue to Cameroon as calls for the restitution of stolen artefacts in the possession of former colonial forces continue to gain momentum.
After the agreement on the return of a revered figure from Cameroon by the Prussian Cultural Heritage Foundation, the king of the Nso people hopes to get back all existing objects from his kingdom. King (Fon) Sehm Mbinglo I said on Thursday during a visit to the Linden Museum in Stuttgart that it is not a question of museum works of art that should be presented. Rather, they are spiritually and traditionally important to the well-being of his people. “They only make sense together,” said the king. “Taking one and leaving others behind is not an alternative.”
The Cameroon News Agency (CNA) reports the visit of Fon Sehm Mbinglo II on November 12th to 18th in Stuttgart and Berlin – Germany after the announcement of the return of Queen Mother, Ngonnso and over 27 other “objects” looted 120 years ago and taken to Germany by the Kurt von Pavel. CNA states Fon Sehm Mbinglo II plans to take Ngonnso away from public exhibition in the Linden museum and have talks with the ministries of science, research and arts; towards the return of Ngonnso nabbed from the Nso people. This comes after a four- year campaign led by the Sysy House of Fame under Sylvie Njobati, a Nso born and activist residing in Cameroon.
Ahead of the visit of Fon Sehm Mbinglo II of Nso to Germany, Mimi Mefo Info a Cameroun news outlet took interest in the Fon’s visit and asked a pertinent question – “ will the Germans also pay reparations for unethical and inhumane acts done to the Nso people or just return Ngonnso to the people as if nothing ever happened?”.
The meeting between Fon Sehm Mbinglo II of Nso after 30 years of negotiations for the return of Queen Mother of the people of Nso has been described as a moment of spirituality. He reinstated the glory of Ngonnso after some incantations and libations in Lamso. According to Sylvie Njobati, the Cameroon activist behind the “#BringBackNgonnso campaign, she says it is a real problem for these objects to be exposed in European Museums as they represent the identity and spirituality of a people.
The Ngonnso Statue is finally set to be returned to the people of Nso more than 120 years after it was illegally taken away by the Germans during the colonial era.
Ngonnso is a female statue and founder of the Nso people, in Bui Division, in the North West Region of Cameroon.
The news of the return of Ngonnso has been seen by the Nso people as a massive victory and a well deserved reunion with ” their mother”. To these people, the statue ” is the very essence of what they incarnate as a people and their cultural identity”.
Ngonnso is a symbol of peace and hope as it is believed that Ngonnso in her lifetime ensured the peace and growth of her people. The statue represents the very essence of the people, good fortune and their cultural identity. The unrest and ill-luck that is believed to have befallen the people of Nso, spreading to the entire North West region of Cameroon, is attributed to the absence of Ngonnso.
Chimamanda Ngozi, famous Nigerian writer and powerful speaker, joined her voice to that of the Nso people to call on the Germans to return the Ngonnso, as she addressed the Humboldt forum in Germany. “Obviously I don’t think everything should be sent back to the countries they came from… but those things that are sacred, those things for whom people were killed, those things that have in them, the stains of innocent blood those should be returned. Obviously, we do not have all the information… but… we can deduce for example that the, Ngonnso… could not have possibly been obtained under benign circumstances… Because, why would you willingly give up your guiding spirit?”
The people of Nso (Banso) have taken to the streets of Berlin Placards requesting the immediate release of their Founder Ngonnso. The Statue of Ngonnso was Stolen by the German General Von Pawelsz in 1902. Later taken to Germany in 1903 and kept at one of their museums.
After 120 years spent outside its land, the “Ngonnso” statue will return to Cameroonian territory. The valuable work of art will be returned to Cameroon by Germany, the Prussian Cultural Heritage Foundation announced on Monday June 27, 2022 in a press release published on its website. This colonial relic will find its place within the Nso kingdom in the North-West region, where it was stolen in 1903 by the officer Kurt Von Pavel of the former Prussia which became a German territory. The female figure decked out in cowries had been handed over by the Prussian officer to the Ethnological Museum in Berlin, where it had rested ever since.
Germany will return a goddess statue that was stolen from Cameroon 120 years ago, the Prussian Cultural Heritage Foundation said on Monday, part of a growing trend to give back artefacts taken during the colonial era. The female figure, known as Ngonnso’, will be returned to the kingdom of Nso’ in northwestern Cameroon. It was taken by colonial officer Kurt von Pavel and donated to Berlin’s Ethnological Museum in 1903.
Ngonnso was taken from the Nso people during the reign of Fon Sehm. It was stolen by the then German Governor, Hans Karl George Curt Pavel in 1902. It which is now about to return to its original home is just one of many other priceless heirlooms left in Europe such as ‘The Njoka Throne’ and ‘The Queen of Bangwa’
A civil society effort called “Bring Back Ngonnso” has been advocating for the monument: Ngonnso’s return for years since the Nso people claim that various tragedies have befallen them since the statue was taken.
“The Ngonnso’ has a central role for the Nso’, as she is considered a mother deity,” the founder of the campaign said in a statement.
A years-long negotiation with Cameroonian authorities has concluded with the return of Ngonnso’, a female figure taken from the historical region of Nso’ (northwestern Cameroon) by colonial officer Curt von Pavel, who gave it to the Ethnological Museum in 1903. The dialogue around the future of the object was accelerated by the group Bring Back Ngonnso, led by activist Sylvie Njobati.
Among the artifacts is a shell-studded statue of the mother goddess Ngonnso’, which holds great spiritual significance for the Nso’ people of northwest Cameroon, the Prussian Cultural Heritage Foundation said.
The statue has been part of the collection of Berlin’s Ethnological Museum since 1903, after it was “donated” by a German colonial officer who had taken it from the Nso’ by force.
Germany has agreed to return a sacred statue stolen from Cameroon at the beginning of the last century.
The Prussian Cultural Heritage Foundation, which manages the museums in the capital, Berlin, said it would return the female figure, known as Ngonnso, to the Nso community in north-west Cameroon.
The statue was taken by a colonial officer and donated to Berlin’s Ethnological Museum in 1903.
Njobati Sylvie, a resolute restitution activist, could not hide her joy and reprieve after Germany’s Prussian Cultural Heritage Foundation made the announcement that Ngonnso has been given the green light to return home.
Ngonnso is a mother deity of northwestern Cameroon’s Nso people. She was taken by Kurt von Pavel, a colonial officer in Cameroon, who subsequently donated her to Berlin’s Ethnological Museum in 1903.
The Fon of Nso in a press release made public informs of the establishment of a newly created committee headed by Pr. Verkijika Fanso and assisted by Dr. Tardze Adamou. They are in charge of coordinating the construction of the Nso Palace Museum to accommodate Ngonnso when she returns to Cameroon from Germany.
As part of a growing movement to return artifacts taken during the colonial era, Germany will return a goddess statue that was stolen from Cameroon 120 years ago, the Prussian Cultural Heritage Foundation announced on Monday.
The kingdom of Nso’ in northwest Cameroon will receive the female statue known as Ngonnso’. Kurt von Pavel, a colonial officer, took it and gave it to the Berlin Ethnological Museum in 1903.
The kingdom of Nso’ in northwest Cameroon will receive the female statue known as Ngonnso’. Kurt von Pavel, a colonial commander, took it and gave it to the Berlin Ethnological Museum in 1903.
A civil society effort called “Bring Back Ngonnso” has been advocating for the monument’s return for years since the Nso people claim that various tragedies have befallen them since the statue was taken.
The drive to return Artifacts like the Ngonnso of the Nso people in Cameroon, some items from Tanzania and Namibia is considered as ways to foster cooperation ties in the field of cultural heritage. Hermann Parzinger, president of the Prussian Cultural Heritage Foundation says “This has laid down a marker that will be taken note of internationally,”
According to earlier information from the ministry, the Linden Museum has a total of around 45 objects from the region in its inventory, including chains, hoods and a throne stool. Last June, the Prussian Cultural Heritage Foundation decided to return the statue of Ngonnso, which is revered as the mother goddess. The figure comes from the historical kingdom of Nso and came to the collection of the Ethnological Museum of the State Museums in Berlin in 1903 as part of a gift from the colonial officer Kurt von Pavel.
Fon of Nso arrived in Germany to collect royal objects alongside the Ngonnso. His Royal Majesty, Sehm Mbinglo II, Paramount Fon of the Nso Kingdom has touched down in the German city of Linden. His arrival in Germany is the first concrete phase for the return of the Ngonnso, goddess of the Nso dynasty looted by the Germans over a century ago from the Nso Palace.
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