nfu -europe
“We are each other’s harvest; we are each other’s business; we are each other’s magnitude and bond. “
Gwendolyn Brooks
about Bongkintati Ireland
Narrating the story of the birth of the precious jewel “Bongkintati Ireland” is meaningless without recounting the story of the birth of the Irish Free State which enabled Ireland to become a magnet for immigrants.
History has it that the Irish state came into being in 1922 as the Irish Free State. This was a dominion of the British Commonwealth, having seceded from the United Kingdom under the Anglo-Irish Treaty. It comprises 26 of the island of Ireland’s 32 counties. The 1937 constitution renamed the state Ireland. In 1949 it explicitly became a republic under the terms of the Republic of Ireland Act 1948, definitively ending its tenuous membership of the British Commonwealth. In 1973 it joined the European Communities and in asserting itself as an independent nation tried to forge ties with foreign countries especially in the religious field sending hundreds of Irish missionaries across the world especially Africa. This is evidenced in the huge numbers of Irish nuns and priests in the education sector in the Southern Cameroons and Nigeria since the late 1960s.
Changes in the 1930s removed many of the links of the Irish State with Britain established under the Treaty and Ireland’s neutrality in the Second World War demonstrated its independence in foreign policy matters from Britain.
In the 1990s and 2000s, Ireland experienced an economic boom known as the Celtic Tiger, in which the country’s GDP surpassed many of its European neighbors. Immigration also surpassed emigration, bringing the state’s population up to over 4 million. However, since 2008, Ireland has experienced a severe crisis in the banking sector and with sovereign debt. The resultant economic slump has deepened the effect of the world recession on Ireland.
From 1937 to 1998, the Irish constitution included an irredentist claim on Northen Ireland as a part of the national territory .However the state also opposed and used its security forces against those armed groups principally the Provisional Irish Republican Army who tried to unite Ireland by force. This occured in the 1950s, throughout the 1970s and 1980s and has continued on a reduced scale .Irish governments meanwhile tried to broker an agreement to the conflict know as the at Troubles within Northern Ireland from 1968 to the late 1990s. The British government officially recognised the right of the Irish government to be a party to the Northern negotiations in the Anglo-Irish Agreement of 1985
In 1998, as part of the Good Friday Agreement, the Irish constitution was altered by referendum to remove the territorial claim to Northern Ireland and instead extend the right of Irish citizenship to all the people of the island should they wish to have it. This was the icing on the cake and the opportunity for the “To Be ” new Irish. Loads of people oppressed in their countries or simply looking for better life in the West took to Ireland as a favoured destination. Along came WonNso, who either remained undocumented immigrants or succeeded in getting residence as parents of Irish-born children, refugees or simply professionals in their fields. Loads of unmarried immigrant pregnant women flooded the streets as that was the golden grail for potential legal residence and eventual citizenship.
Around Q1 2011, during the wedding of one of our brothers, and sitting and having conversations in lamnso (dialect of the Nso people), a senior visiting aunt of one of our brother (Aunty Martha Njoka) for whom Bongkintati Ireland would always remain grateful, inquired if there was an existing grouping of WonNso in Ireland. The answer was no. Without hesitation, she encouraged those present to reach out across the national territory and start assembling WonNso.
In the months that followed, the ground work was done and the first ever meeting of WonNso in
Ireland was held in April 2011 in the residence of Sylvester Wongbi. Those present during this maiden meeting were as follows: Aunty Martha Njoka, Sylvester Wongbi, Eunice Wongbi, Eric Njolai, Vera Njolai, Kiru Gideon Suiven, Divine Verbe, and Corinne Verbe essentially 4 families.
During this session, members were requested to brainstorm for a name for the association and during this exercise, the name Bongkintati Ireland was suggested by Mr. Kiru Gideon which was unanimously agreed by members present and was adopted as the official name of the association. It was then resolved that Eric Njolai was to prepare a draft constitution and circulate to members prior to the second meeting so that an executive committee could be put in place to manage the operations of the association. Members were urged
to go out and search for all other WonNso who might be living in Ireland. In the days leading to the second meeting, a draft constitution was prepared and circulated. The meeting was held on 7 May 2011 at the residence
of Dr. Divine and Corinne Verbe. Fruitful deliberations were carried out to review and adopt the draft constitution. Recommendations were made for amendment with a view of adoption during the third session. The third session of the meeting was hosted by Mr. Kiru Gideon and during this session, there was increased number of attendance with Shetu, Late Flora Ngah, late Bongyu Hilary and family joining the Bongkintati Ireland family. During the period that followed, members were notified that one of the families had decided to
withdraw from the association for personal reasons. With this
withdrawal and the existence of the monthly North West Associsstion meeting in Ireland. The members then decided to take some time off until a reasonable population of Won Nso would be present in Ireland.
During the NFU-Europe convention hosted in Brussels in 2015, members of Bongkintati attended and found themselves lumped under “Others” as they were an unregistered association within the NFU-Europe. Thishumiliation was not taken lightly and they resolved to get back to base, reignited by the desire to be counted as proud WonNso and relaunched Bongkintati Ireland.
Today, Bongkintati Ireland is proud to count itself as a reconstituted and fully registered member of the NFU-Europe association. It continues to hold quarterly meetings and strives to bring together all sons and daughters of Nso living in the Island of Ireland.