4Jul

Walter Gam Nkwi

Back to Faculty Menu

NkwiFACULTY:                      Arts
DEPARTMENT:             History
NAME OF STAFF:         Walter Gam Nkwi
E-mail:                         nkwi.walters@ubuea.cm
Secondary E-mail:      nkwiwally@yahoo.com
Tel:                               +237 675659814
GRADE:                        Lecturer

BRIEF EDUCATIONAL BACKGROUND
Walter Gam Nkwi was the first batch of the University of Buea, Cameroon where he obtained his BA and MA certificates. He obtained his PhD in the University of Leiden

RESEARCH INTEREST AREA
Social History and Cultural History, History of Science and Technology in Africa from the Pre-colonial times

MASTER DESSERTATIONS SUPERVISED
I have supervised 3 (Three) MA students:

1). “Ngie Female Migration to Coastal Cameroon, 1946-2005” by Cho Emilia Abirabe Njenwi. M.A. Thesis Higher Teachers’ Training College, Bamenda, Cameroon

2). “Schism in the Baptist Church in Kom, Cameroon” by Killian Ngong, M.A. Thesis Higher Teachers’ Training College, Bamenda, Cameroon

3) “The history of Road Construction in the British Southern Cameroon: The Case of the Bamenda Ring Road, 1922-1955” by Rukayatu Fanyuy

PhD THESES SUPERVISED
None

PUBLICATIONS
BOOKS:
1)Voicing the Voiceless: Contributions To Filling Gaps in Cameroon History, 1958-2009. Mankon, Bamenda: Langaa Research and Common Initiative Publishing House, 2010. (ISBN 978-9956-616-40-4)

2) Sons and Daughters of the Soil: Land and Boundary Conflicts in the Bamenda Grassfields of Cameroon, 1955-2005. Bamenda, Mankon: Langaa Research and Common Initiative Publishing House, 2011. (ISBN: 9789956578924 (216pages)

3) Kfaang and its Technologies: Towards a Social History of Mobility in Kom, Cameroon, 1928-1998. Leiden, The Netherlands: ASC Publications, 2011. (ISBN 978-90-5448-101-0) (219 pages)

4) with Professors Francis B. Nyamnjoh and Piet Konings University Crisis and Student Protests in Africa: The 2005-2006 University Students Strike in Cameroon (Bamenda, Mankon: Langaa Research and Common Initiative Publishing House, 2012. ISBN 978-9956-727-07-0) (335pages)

5) African Modernities and Mobilities: An Ethnographic History of Kom, Cameroon, c.1800-2008. Mankon, Bamenda: Langaa Research and Common Initiative Publishing House, 2015 (ISBN 9789956762729 (436 Pages)

CHAPTERS IN BOOKS:
6) “The Anglophone Problem in Cameroon” In Victor Julius Ngoh (ed.) Cameroon: From a Federal to a Unitary State, 1961-1972: A Critical Study. Limbe Cameroon: Design House 2004pp.185-209. ISBN:9956-26-030-

7) “From Village to National and Global Art: Whose art?”In E.S.D. Fomin and Foje W. John(eds.) Central Africa-Crises and Reconstruction(Dakar, CODESRIA, 2005):133-154. (ISBN: 2-88978-151-2)

8) “The Anglophone Problem in Cameroon: Towards New Insights” in Pierre Fandio and Mongi Madini (eds) Figures de L’histoire et Imaginaire au Cameroun: Actors of History and Artistic Creativity in Cameroon. Paris: L, Harmattan, 2007, pp. 153-160 (ISBN: 9782296038387)

9) “The Afo-a-Kom, Civil Society and Governance amongst the Kom and Her Neighbours, C.1865-1973” in Tangie Fonchingong and John Germandze (eds) Cameroon: Stakes and Challenges of Governance and Development (Mankon, Bamenda: Langaa Research and Publishing CIG, 2009):201-215. (ISBN:978-9956-558-45-2)

10) “From Elitist to the voice of Commonality of Voice Communication: A Social History of Telephone in Buea, Cameroon” in Mirjam de Bruijn, Francis Nyamnjoh and Inge Brinkman (eds) Mobile phone: The New Talking drum of everyday Africa. Mankon, Bamenda and ASC, Leiden: Langaa Research and Publishing and Publishing CIG. 2009 Pp.52-68. (ISBN: 9789956558537)

11)“Bimbia and its Environs in the Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade” in Einer Neimi og Christine Smith-Simonsen (RED.) DET HJEMLIGE OG DET GLABSLE: FESTSKRIFT TIL RANDI RONNING BALSVIK Oslo,Norway: Akademisk Publisering, 2009pp.155-171. (9-788281520257)

12) With Henry Kam Kah, “Colonial Boundaries and Disintegration: A Study of the Boki Nation of the Cross River Region of Cameroon and Nigeria” In Daniel Abwa; Albert-Pascal Temgoua; E.S.D. Fomin and Willibroad Dze-Ngwa (eds)Boundaries and History in Africa: Issues in Conventional Boundaries and Ideological Frontiers-Festschrift in Honour of Verkijika G. Fanso. Mankon, Bamenda: Maryland Publishers, 2011).pp44-53 (ISBN: 9789952621099)

13) “Patriarchy Turned Upside Down: The Flight of the Royal Women of Kom, Cameroon from 1920 to the 1960s”pp. 61-76 in Mirjam de Bruijn and Rijk van Dijke (eds) Social Connectivity in Africa ( London: Palgrave Macmillan, 2012) (ISBN: 9781137278012)

14).”From Foot Messengers to Text Messengers in Kom, Cameroon” In Mirjam de Bruijn; Inge Brinkman and Francis. B. Nyamnjoh (eds), Side and Ways: Mobile Margins and the Dynamics of Communication in Africa (Mankon Bamenda and ASC Leiden: Langaa Publishing Common Initiative Group, 2012). (978-9956-728-76-3)

15) “Mungo: A River of Many Cultures In Cameroon History, C.1884-1969”pp.77-95. In Fandio Pierre (ed) Popular Culture and Representations in Cameroon : the Journey across the Mungo River ( Kansas City, MO: Miraclaire Publishers, 2013). ISBN-13:9780615873374

16). “colonial Boundaries and the Disintegration: A study of the Boki Nation the Cross River Region of Cameroon and Nigeria” pp.55-73 In Daniel Abwa; Albert –Paschal Temgoua; ESD Fomin & Willibroad Dze-Ngwa (eds) Boundaries & History in Africa: Issues in Conventional Boundaries and Ideological Frontiers. Mankon, Bamenda: Langaa Research & Publishing CIG, 2013 (ISBN: 979-9956-791-01-9)

17) “The Changing roles of Traditional Institutions (Bamenda Grassfields, Cameroon) in Conflict Management: a Historical perspective” pp. 167-180 In Akanmu G. Adebayo, Jesse Benjamin and Brandon Lundy (eds) Indigenous Conflict Management Strategies:Global Perspectives (Boulder, Colorado:Lexington Books, 2014) (ISBN:976-0-7391-)

18) With Mirjam de Bruijn, “Life is so summarised’: Society’s memory in the digital age in Africa” In Terry Barringer and Marion Wallace (eds) Africa in the Digital Age. Leiden, The Netherlands: Brill, 2014). (ISBN:9789004272309)

19) “Shifting Identity towards Cameroon’s National Football Squad: Indomitable Lions to Tamed Lambs” pp.155-164 In Chuku Onwumekili and Gerard Akindes (eds) Identity, Football and Nation in African Football: Fans, Community and Clubs (New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2014),.ISBN-9781137355805

ARTICLES IN REFEREED JOURNALS
20) “The Political Activities of Anlu in the British Southern Cameroons Politics,1958-1961:The case of Kom Fondom” Epasa moto: A Bilingual Journal of Arts, Letters and the Humanities, University of Buea, Vol.1, No 6 (2003): 154-175

21)“Elites, Ethno-regional Competition in Cameroon, and the Southwest Elites Association (SWELA), 1991-1997”African Study Monographs, Vol.27, and No.3 (2006):123-143. (ISSN: 0285-1601)

22). “Folk-Songs and History amongst the Kom of Northwest Cameroon: The Pre-colonial and Post Colonial Periods” Humanities Review Journal, Vol.6 (2006):62-76. (ISSN:008675-754)

23)“The Dilemma of Civil Society in Cameroon Since 1990: Which way forward?” African Journal of International Affairs, Vol.9, Nos.1&2(2006):91-106. (ISSN: 0850-7902)

24) “Boundary Conflicts in Africa: The Case of Bambili and Babanki-Tungoh, of Northwest Cameroon, c.1955-1998” Journal of Applied Social Science: A Multidisciplinary Journal of the Faculty of Social and Management Sciences, University of Buea, vol.6,nos.1and 2 (2007):6-41

25) “The Voice of the Voiceless”: Telephone and Telephone Operators in Anglophone Cameroon. epasa moto: A Bilingual Journal of arts, Letters and the Humanities, University of Buea, vol.3, no.2 (December 2008) :187-206.

26) “Football and Politics of Belonging in Cameroon” Journal of Applied Social Science: A Multidisciplinary Journal of the Faculty of Social and Management Sciences, University of Buea, vol.8, nos.1 and 2(2009):125-155.

27) With Martin Sango Ndeh and Henry Kam Kah, “Political Pluralism and Violence in Cameroon: The Experience of the 1990s”. African Journal of Social Sciences, vol.1, No.3 (2010): 121-138

28) “Road construction in the Cameroons province under the eye of a colonial officer, 1922-1947: Historical Critique of the colonial agenda” Tropical Focus: The International Journal Series on Tropical Issues, Vol.11, No.3 (2010): 174-190. (ISSN: 0038-06682)

29)“Telephone Operators’ Resistance to British Colonial Administration in the Cameroon Province” Lagos Historical Review Journal, Vol. 10, (2010): 50-67 (ISSN:1596-5031)

30) “Christianity Encounter Royalty: The Fleeing women of Kom, Cameroon, c. 1920-c.1960s”Orita: Ibadan Journal of Religious Studies, Vol. XLIII, No.1, (2011):111-130. (ISSN:0030-5596)

31) “The Counting of Votes that Have Never Counted: Reading into the 2011 Presidential Election in Cameroon” Online Cameroon Journal of Democracy and Human Rights, Vol.15, No. 2, (2011): 1-17. (Accessible on: http//www.cjdhr.org)

32)“Motor Vehicle (afue’m a Kfaang) in Kom, Cameroon: a social history of a technological artifact” African Journal of Humanities and Society: A Multidisciplinary Journal of Humanities, Vol.12, No.2 (2011) pp.171-191 (ISSN: 0038-06682)

33)With Henry Kam Kah and Martin Sangom Ndeh, “Carriers and Porters as Pillars of British Colonial Administration” African Journal of Social Sciences (AJOSS), Vol.3, No. 4 (2012): 143-164 (ISSN: 00235-8896)

34)“Western Democracy In Africa as a failed Project: Which way Forward?” East West Journal of Humanities, Vol.4 (2013): 111-125 (ISSN: 2074-6628)

35) “Etwi, Ntul, Nkwifoyn and Foyn: Sites, Objects and Human Beings in Conflict Resolution in Pre-colonial Kom (Cameroon)” Conflict Study Quarterly, Babes-Bolyai University, Issue 3, (2013): 33-51 (ISSN:2285-7605)

36)“Gender and Mobile Phone Communication in Cameroon” Epasa Moto: A Bilingual Journal of Arts, Letters and the Humanities, University of Buea, Vol.1, No. 1 (June 2013): 77-96 (ISSN: 2304-6120)

37)“One Finger Dip in Palm Oil Soils The Others: Activities and Consequences of Boko Haram in the Central and West Africa (Cameroon, Niger and Chad)” African Journal for the Prevention and Combating of Terrorism, Vol.4, No.1 (June 2013): 41-63.

38) “Too much to carry: The perception and ramifications of Boko Haram’s Activities on Cameroon” Conflict Studies Quarterly, Issue 5, (2013): 67-87(ISSN:2285-7605)

39) “Migration and Encounters with Different Environments: The Case of “Coast” and salt wata Stories amongst the Kom of North West Cameroon” KALIAO:Revue pluridisciplinaire de L’Ecole Normale Superieure de Maroua (Cameroun), Volume.6, Numero 1, (2013):117-133

40)“Domestic Servants in the Labour History of Colonial Cameroon from Early 1930s to Early 1960s” Ghana Social Science Journal, Volume 11, No1, (2014):77-103 (ISSN: 0855-4730)

41) with Professor Richard Talla and Ignatius Song Womai,“Negligent Attitude Towards Cameroonian Works of Art: The Need for Appropriate Attention” The Journal of Humanities and Social Sciences. Photon 125, (2014): 290-295 (ISJN: 8243-3265)

42)“Putting Nigeria Together: The Internationalisation of Boko Haram Conflict” Conflict Study Quarterly, Issue 8, (2014):13-30 (ISSN: 2285-7605)

43) “Cell phones, Migration and the ambiguity of borders in Bamenda Western Grassfields (Cameroon)” Analele Unversitati Bucaresti, No8 (2014): 21-34, Faculty of Business and Administration, University of Bucarest, Republic of Roumania (ISSN: 1842-9327)

44) With Mirjam de Bruijn,“Human Telephone Lines”: Flag Post Mail Relay Runners in British Southern Cameroon, (1916-1955) and the Establishment of a Modern Communication Network” International Review of Social History, Vol. 59, Supplement S22 (2014): 211-235 (ISBN:978-1-1075-2117-9)

45)“Ghii’ki Kfaang : Women, Modernity and Modernization In Colonial Kom, Cameroon, C.1920s-1961” Cahiers Ivoriens d’Etudes Comparees (CIEC), Vol.1, No.3 (2014): 39-56 (ISSN:2312-3729)

46) “Gender, Sustainable Development and Mobile Phone Culture in Cameroon, c.2000-2010” Journal of Sustainable Development in Africa, Volume 16, No.8, (2014).44-60 (ISSN:1520-5509)

47) “Men Stay at Home while women move out: New Trends of mobility to China amongst Bamenda Grassfield women (Cameroon)” Modern Africa: Politics, History and Society, Vol.2, Issue 1 (2014): 95-113 (ISSN: 1842-9327)

48) “Getting Smart and Scaling Through: Narcotics/Prostitutes’ Trafficking as Organized Crimes in Colonial and Post Colonial West Africa, c.1920-c.1998” Conflict Study Quarterly, Issue 10, (2015): 1-27(ISSN 2285-7605; ISSN-L 2285-7605)

49) “A Disease of will among African states: The separatist agenda of Southern Cameroon National Council (SCNC), c. 1995-2004” Conflict Study Quarterly, Issue 12 (2015): 3-18 (ISSN 2285-7605)

50) “Post-war Societies (Africa)”pp, 3-19 In: 1914-1918-online. International Encyclopedia of the First World War, ed. by Ute Daniel, Peter Gatrell, Oliver Janz, Heather Jones, Jennifer Keene, Alan Kramer, and Bill Nasson, issued by Freie Universität Berlin, Berlin 2015 )

51)“Cell Phone Repairers in Cameroon, 2000-2013”.Journal for the Advancement of Developing Economies, Vol. 1, Issue 1, (2015): 6-18 (ISSN:2161-8216),

52). “ An African Perspective on Science and Technology” African Viewpoint: Journal of the British Society For the History of Science, No. 98 (2012): 7-11 (ISSN: 1751-8261)

53) “From Letter Writers to Call Box Attendants: Communicating in a Marginal Community in Cameroon Grassfields, 1940-2000”pp. 185-198. In Francis Nyamnjoh and Ingrid Brudvig (eds) Mobilities, ICTs and Marginality in Africa: Comparative Perspectives (Cape Town, South Africa: HRSC Press, 2016) (ISBN (Soft Copy: 978-0-7969-2516-9; ISBN PDF: 978-0-79-69-2531-2)

54) “ Contesting the Margins of Modernity: New Women, Migration and Consumption in the Western Grassfields of Cameroon” In Chinyere Ukpokolo (ed) Being and Becoming: Gender, Culture and Shifting Identity in Sub-Saharan Afriv Africa (Spears Media Press, 2016) (ISBN: 978-1-942876-07-6).

55). “The Migration of Bamenda Grassfieklers (Cameroon) to Diasporic Spaces and Cultural Encounters: Post Colonialial
Period” Cameroon Journal of Studies in the Commonwealth, Vol. 3, No.1 (ISSN: 2308-5967) Forthcoming 22

Walter Gam Nkwi holds a Ph.D in Social History/ Social Anthropology from the Universiteit Leiden, The Netherlands. He is teaching Social and Labour History at the Department of History, University of Buea, Cameroon. He read African and Cameroon history at the undergraduate and Post Graduate Levels at the University of Buea. Dr. Nkwi has a passion for social, indigenous conflict management, pre-cultural history and global labour historical issues of Africa. He was a Visiting Research Fellow at the International Institute of Social History (IISH), Amsterdam from 1st September 2012 to 31st January 2013. Within this time Dr. Nkwi was opportune to visit the Institute of Conflict Studies, Babes-Bolyai University, Romania, where he lectured the Post Graduate students on pre-colonial mechanisms of conflict resolution in the Bamenda Grassfields of Northwest Cameroon, a lecture which was further published in the Conflict Studies Quartderly. In January 2015 Dr. Nkwi was made the Faculty Officer of Engineering and Technology, University of Buea, Cameroon.Dr Nkwi belongs to several intellectual associations which are the following: Member of Council for the Development of Social Science Research in Africa (CODESRIA);South-South Exchange Programme for Research on the History of Development, (SEPHIS);Member of the Public Record Office, Archives, Kew Gardens, London; European Social Science History Conference (ESSHC);West African Research Association (WARA); International Society of Oral Literature in Africa (ISOLA); World Economic History Congress (WEHC);International Institute of Social History, Amsterdam (IISH);Fellow Community Member of the African Studies Center, (ASC) Leiden, The Netherlands since 2011;Member of the Board of Directors, Netherlands Organization for Scientific Research (NWO), vici scheme headed by Professor Dr. Mirjam de Bruijn, Leiden University; Association of Friends of the Archives and Antiquities of Cameroon ,(AFAAC); Research Network for Domestic Worker Rights (RN-DWR); Associacion Latinamericana de Estudios de Asia y Africa (ALADAA) with headquarters at Argentina; The Central Africa Research and Innovative Management Association (CARIMA);Pan African Anthropological Association (PAAA) since August 2014; British Society for the History of Science and Technology

Back to Faculty Menu