Images of a palace said to have been built for the Fon of Nso in Leboudi, Yaounde, should unsettle us. Not because a traditional ruler owns property in the capital, but because of what it suggests: a palace displaced by fear. A throne moved away from its people.
This is becoming a pattern in the North West. Several Fons have abandoned ancestral palaces after threats and attacks by armed groups claiming to fight for Anglophone liberation. Whatever the slogans, the result is clear. Our traditional institutions are being damaged, sometimes deliberately, in the name of a cause that once claimed to defend our identity.
Traditional authority in the North West Region is not decoration. The palace is not just a building. It is where disputes are settled, where customs are guarded, where the living meet the ancestors. It is where children learn who they are and where they come from. When a Fon is chased away, the community does not simply lose a ruler; it loses a compass.
There is an uncomfortable truth we must admit. Over the years, some Fons crossed lines that should not have been crossed. Open involvement in party politics, public alignment with the ruling regime, and silence in moments when their people expected courage have weakened trust. In a conflict where the state is seen by many as hostile or indifferent, those who appear close to power are bound to be questioned.
But questioning authority is not the same as destroying it. No political grievance, however legitimate, justifies turning palaces into military targets or forcing custodians of culture into exile. There is a difference between holding traditional leaders accountable and treating them as enemies. The first is healthy. The second is reckless.
This moment calls for sobriety on all sides. Traditional authorities must reflect deeply on their conduct. Neutrality is not weakness. Silence in the face of injustice is not wisdom. If trust has been broken, it must be rebuilt through humility and closeness to the people, not through proximity to power.
At the same time, those who claim to fight for Anglophone liberation must draw clear moral lines. You cannot free a people by stripping them of their soul. You cannot claim to defend a land while burning its symbols.
If this continues, we may one day end the conflict and still find that something essential is gone. A people can survive many things. But when they lose their traditional institutions, they risk losing themselves.
Ndifor Richard M
SDF Deputy Secretary for Political Education & Training
