Batibo
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Batibo is a town in Cameroon, Africa. Along the Trans-African Highway, 27 miles west of Bamenda and about 100 miles east of Nigeria lies Batibo the economic, social, political and cultural heartbeat of Moghamo as well as the Greater Widikum tribe. Batibo, formerly referred to as Aghwi, is home to a hardworking people inding farmers, traders, craftsmen and professionals of diverse dispensations.
Batibo Village is southwest of Bamenda in the northwest Region of Cameroon, along the Bamenda - Mamfe road; some 40 kilometers from the City of Bamenda. It is located between latitudes 575 and 590 north of the equator,[1] longitudes 975 east of the Greenwich meridian,[clarification needed] and at the transition between the equatorial forest in the south and the savannah to the north.
Climate
Batibo like most of the region experiences two seasons, the rainy and the dry seasons and the average number of rainy days is 165 within a calendar year, with annual rainfall recorded at approximately 2500 mm.
Statistics
- Timezone The time zone id for Batibo is Africa/Douala.
- Population Estimated at twenty-thousand people.
Culture
Batibo is blessed with a vibrant culture that portrays itself in rhythmic music, traditional outfits, captivating artwork, moving folklore and traditional rites that all sum up to a bounteous culture.[2] Batibo is sandwiched between the savannah and the tropical forests. It is inhabited by a unique people who continue to make optimum use of this land adorned by palm trees, ever-present greenery, criss-crossing streams and waterfalls navigating their way through beautifully undulating hills, slopes and valleys. This transitional climatic and vegetation zones have endowed the people with so many subsistent and cash crops. These varieties of crops include numerous types of yams, beans, corn, peanuts, cassava, potatoes, tomatoes, bananas and plantains. Also cultivated in Batibo are perennial trees that produce palm nuts, plums, cashew nuts, kolanuts, coffee and cocoa. There is also an endless list of fruits and vegetables grown here which include pineapples, passion fruit, guava, sugar cane, monkey kola, berries, okra, Bitter leaf, leeks, oranges, avocados, water melon and pawpaw.
Wine
According to the BBC World Service, Batibo and its catchment area of Moghamo is also the palm wine capital of the world. This sweet asti-like white wine is tapped from the raffia palm tree. The white wine locally referred to as Fitchuk is a staple at all occasions including birth celebrations, engagements (knock-door), weddings, funerals and others. Fitchuk, a third income earner is a profitable occupation for many from this area. This white wine is exported to all the other nine regions of Cameroon with areas as far as Yaounde and Douala. Fitchuk hardens with age and has actually been frozen and shipped to Europe and the USA where it is used to grace birth and marriage celebrations.
Food
The types of food grown there are numerous. Nang-tari is a delicious pourish made of coco-yams, vegetables and a dicey source[clarification needed] that brings your taste buds alive when followed with palm wine. Huckle Berry vegetable (Njama Njama) and cocoyams is a frequent meal. The over twelve types of yams are cooked in diverse ways with meat, fish, chicken, vegetables and spices. Their blend perfected through generations culminates in different types of spicy and dicey dishes that keep the Batibo indigene contented. Other foods consumed by the Batibo people include: rice, fufu, ndole, eru, achu, miyondo, koki, garri.
The indigenes of Batibo also engage in animal husbandry. Animals raised in Batibo and Moghamo in general include goats, sheep, cows, rabbits and pigs. Pigs are commonly eaten on social events. In addition to those animals, chickens are also raised both in poultries and as free range.
Music
It is an indigene of Batibo who originated the famous quote "Music is the fruit of life's creative and rhythmic juices".[citation needed] A visit to any cultural occasion in Batibo will reveal the reality that rhythmic culture truly flows through the society, just as blood flows through the body. The Batibo indigene and their catchment area of Moghamo have a culture that is rife with music, folklore, dance, all woven around beats that will string tenderly to your soul. The traditional dances include the Tiwara, Nchibi, Mareway, Ambolo, Njang, Ngo, just to name a few, but not forgetting the Royal dance and towering musical sensation called Nere. The traditional dances and diverse forms of music form a moving and weaving melody during birth celebrations, church services, funerals, engagements, weddings, coronations and numerous other social occasions.
