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“Abela” is a simple form of greeting strangers and familiar people among the Ngemba people of Cameroon. It is usually interpreted as “How is it?”. The response is “abongne” meaning “It is good”. This is a common expression among the Ngemba from the Northwest Province who live in several important towns in Cameroon. Nearly comprising 2 million they are the inhabitants in Tuba, Mankon, Nkwen and other towns in Western Bamenda Province.

Among the Ngemba speakers are various groups who use “abela” as a greeting. They are the Pinyin, Mankon, Awing, Bambulewie, Bafut to name a few and to these people the word “abela” has an ancient meaning attributed to the interactions with strangers and other people. It signals recognition of the person in as much as to ignore another human being is considered the breaking of the taboo. Thus it is a vile act of neglect and disrespect.

Abela being a simple form of greeting has no other ritualistic origin; however as a way of initiating conversation or generating familiarity and friendliness, it fosters social coercion among the Ngemba and outsiders who use it. The term is so popular that even people from other ethnic groups now use the term for greeting whenever they meet an Ngemba person. This is a sign of hospitality and politeness, and it is part of the grace of demonstrating connection, togethernes and respect.

A typical greeting only begins with the expression “abela” and continues with questions about individual members of the family, relatives and even animals. To really know “how it is ” one must interrogate the entire universe of the person that you are greeting and therefore it is not an easy quick raising of the hand and moving onward. It must be a sincere question and the questioner usually receives a full and complete answer. This is the nature of reciprocity in the Ngemba culture.