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26-617: Salvador Elá Nseng Abegue (1940 – 1 June 2022) was an Equatorial Guinean military leader, politician, and diplomat. Salvador Elá Nseng was born in Añisoc , a member of the Fang ethnic group. From 1963 to 1965 he trained at the General Military Academy in Zaragoza, Spain, along with other future leaders such as Teodoro Obiang and Eulogio Oyó . He came to hold the rank of captain. Elá Nseng

52-426: A mixture of palm oil and other seed oils. The heads are tied to the ideas of welfare and social power. Heads are an effigy and can be affixed to a wooden reliquary box/barrel. The bones and skulls of deceased leaders are kept in cylindrical boxes that are decorated with wooden sculptured figures. These bones are believed to have special powers that protect the well-being of the community. The bones are always within

78-721: A tradition of second language they developed during the Spanish colonial rule in Equatorial Guinea, the French colonial rule in Gabon and the German-later-French colonial rule in Cameroon. The Fang people are relatively recent migrants into the Equatorial Guinea, and many of them moved from central Cameroon in the 19th century. Early ethnologists conjectured them to be Nilotic peoples from

104-521: Is navigable from Ndjole to the sea . It is used to bring wood to the Port Gentil Harbour . The Ogowe Basin includes several major conservation reserves, including Lope National Park . The catchment area has an average population density of 4 people per km². Towns along the river include Ayem , Adané , Loanda , Lambaréné , Ndjole , Booué , Kankan , Maulongo , Mboungou-Mbadouma , Ndoro , Lastoursville , Moanda , and Franceville near

130-411: Is a chordophone with attached resonators. Often, one resonator is regarded as 'male' and the other as 'female'. Some mvet come with two, three, or even five strings. To become a master mbomo mvet takes years of dedication and sacrifice. The mbomo mvet will often pass through villages once a month to play at the council house where all members of the village will gather to be entertained. Members of

156-585: Is similar and intelligible with languages spoken by Beti-Pahuin peoples , namely the Beti people to their north and the Bulu people in central. Their largest presence is in the southern regions, up to the Ogooué River estuary where anthropologists refer them also as "Fang proper". They have preserved their history largely through a musical oral tradition . Many Fang people are fluent in Spanish, French, German and English,

182-486: The 1976 coup attempt  [ es ] . He was imprisoned at Black Beach , and was released by Teodoro Obiang at midnight on 2 August 1979. He was one of the imprisoned military men who joined the so-called " Liberty Coup ", being responsible for leading its troops in the city of Malabo . After the success of the coup and Obiang's consequent assumption of power, Elá Nseng became the Second Vice President of

208-699: The Supreme Military Council . He was also in charge of the Finance and Trade portfolios. During his tenure in these positions, he played an important role in establishing the first cooperation agreements signed with Spain and France, at the end of 1979. That same year he was decorated in Spain with the Order of Isabella the Catholic , together with Florencio Mayé Elá and Juan Manuel Tray. In 1979 he also served as Governor of

234-426: The 16th and 19th centuries. They were stereotyped as cannibals by slave traders and missionaries, in part because human skulls and bones were found in open or in wooden boxes near their villages, a claim used to justify violence against them and their enslavement. When their villages were raided, thousands of their wooden idols and villages were burnt by the slave raiders. Later ethnologists who actually spent time with

260-506: The Bank of Equatorial Guinea. In February 1980, he was dismissed from office and replaced by Eulogio Oyó, immediately assuming the post of ambassador of Equatorial Guinea to China . He remained in this position until 1986. He then served as ambassador to Ethiopia . In the 2013 legislative elections he was elected senator representing the Democratic Party of Equatorial Guinea (PDGE). He

286-446: The Fang people later discovered that the Fang people were not cannibalistic, the human bones in open and wooden boxes were of their ancestors, and were Fang people's method of routine remembrance and religious reverence for their dead loved ones. They have a patrilineal kinship social structure. The villages have been traditionally linked through lineage. They are exogamous, particularly on

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312-554: The Ogooué is non-navigable due to rapids . From the latter city, it runs west, and enters the Gulf of Guinea near Ozouri, south of Port Gentil . The Ogowe Delta is quite large, about 100 km long and 100 km wide. The Ogooué Basin is 223,856 km (86,431 sq mi), of which 173,000 km (67,000 sq mi) or 73 percent lies within Gabon. It mostly consists of undisturbed rainforest with some savanna grassland where

338-586: The community participate by keeping time while the mbomo mvet plays and sings praises to the ancestors. Ogoou%C3%A9 River The Ogooué (or Ogowe ), also known as the Nazareth River, some 1,200 km (750 mi) long, is the principal river of Gabon in west-central Africa and the fourth largest river in Africa by volume of discharge, trailing only the Congo , Kasai and Niger . Its watershed drains nearly

364-413: The community will continually visit figures and rub them with oil so they maintain their protective powers. It was during colonization that many of these reliquaries had to be destroyed due to missionary and government pressure. Music plays a central role to the oral history of the Fang. The mvet is a musical instrument popular in the Fang society, which is played by the mbomo mvet . The instrument

390-717: The entire country of Gabon, with some tributaries reaching into the Republic of the Congo , Cameroon , and Equatorial Guinea . The source of the Ogooué River was discovered in 1894 by Mary Kingsley , an English explorer who travelled up the banks by steamboat and canoe . The river rises in the northwest of the Bateke Plateaux near Kengue , Republic of Congo . It runs northwest, and enters Gabon near Boumango . Poubara Falls are near Maulongo . From Lastoursville up to Ndjole ,

416-591: The father's side. Polygamy was accepted in the culture of the Fang people. The independence of villages from each other is notable, and they are famed for their knowledge of animals, plants and herbs in the equatorial forests they live in. They are traditionally farmers and hunters, but became major cocoa farmers during the colonial era. Under French colonial rule, they converted to Christianity. However, after independence their interest in their own traditional religion, called Biere , also spelled Byeri , has returned, and many practice syncretic ideas and rites. One of

442-535: The mid-year dry season is longest. It is home to a high biodiversity. All three species of African crocodile , for instance, occur in the river: the Nile crocodile , the dwarf crocodile , and the slender-snouted crocodile . It is also the type locality for the catfish Synodontis acanthoperca . The Mpassa River is a tributary of the Ogooué River. The Ndjoumou River is the main tributary of Mpassa River. Distance from river mouth *River in confluence The Ogooué

468-533: The north and the wars of sub-Saharan Africa. Their migration may be related to an attempt to escape the violence of slave raiding by the Hausa people , but this theory has been contested. Using glottochronology , historians have situated Proto-Fang speakers in the Southern Cameroon rainforest more than 4,000 years ago. The Fang people were victims of the large trans-Atlantic and trans-Saharan slave trades between

494-541: The possession of the deceased leader's family and it's kept hidden from the eyes of the uninitiated and of women. Throughout Gabon, these figures serve as talisman or guardian to protect the remains of ancestors. Known as bieri, byeri or mwan bian , these reliquary figures widely range in style, but most common characteristics are: Some earlier figures had cavities in the abdomen as a place to store bones of ancestors. The figures aren't completed until they are ceremoniously presented and rubbed with palm oil. Members of

520-555: The syncretic traditions among Fang people is called Bwiti , a monotheistic religion that celebrates Christian Easter but over four days with group dancing, singing and psychedelic drinks. The art works of Fang people, particularly from wood, iron and steatite , are regionally famous. Their wooden masks and idol carvings are on display at numerous museums of the world. The art works of Fang people, particularly from wood, iron and steatite , are regionally famous. Their wooden masks and idol carvings are on display at numerous museums of

546-530: The total population of Equatorial Guinea, concentrated in the Río Muni region, the Fang people are its largest ethnic group. The Fang are also the largest ethnic group in Gabon, making up about a quarter of the population. The Fang people speak the Fang language , also known as Pahouin or Pamue or Pangwe. The language is a Northwest Bantu language belonging to the Niger-Congo family of languages. The Fang language

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572-454: The upper Nile area. The people of Modern-day Gabon, and the Fang themselves have a commonly shared belief that the Fang, as well as their language, are not Bantu . Scholars such as Cheikh Anta Diop support this claim. Opponents of the claim typically rely on linguistic studies. A combination of evidence now places them to be of Bantu origins who began moving back into Africa around the seventh or eighth century possibly because of invasions from

598-463: The world. Discovery of Fang artwork was source of inspiration for much of the European avant-garde artwork created during the 20th century. Much of the art is either used for their masquerades, or function as reliquaries and effigies. All are primarily made by the men of the village. There is reason to believe that many of these reliquaries were made during the Fang's migration as a form of burial which

624-402: Was also portable. One of the most popular art forms attributed to the Fang culture are the wooden reliquary heads, many of which contain the skull or bones of ancestors. There is a characteristic heart-shaped, concave face and large bulbous forehead. The heads are very abstract and focus on geometric form and covered in a black patina . Some appear to 'cry', which is streaks of resin made from

650-458: Was key in the dismantling of the 1969 coup attempt  [ es ] , when he notified President Francisco Macías Nguema of the attempt and helped him to quell it militarily. During the dictatorship of Macías Nguema, he served as governor of Río Muni , and was a prison official in Bata , responsible for the execution of several political prisoners. He fell out of favor after being implicated in

676-750: Was part of the Permanent Commission of Foreign Policy, International Cooperation, and Integration, and of the Permanent Commission of Defense and State Security. He had a close relationship with President Obiang. He died on 1 June 2022 in Doctor Loeri Comba Polyclinic in Malabo after an illness. Fang people The Fang people , also known as Fãn or Pahouin , are a Bantu ethnic group found in Equatorial Guinea , northern Gabon , and southern Cameroon . Representing about 85% of

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