History of Origin
Speakers of Engwo and related dialects all trace their origin to the Widikum (Tadkon) ethnic group. The village name of the reference dialect (Ngwo) was taken from the first son of the founding ancestor Nkwedi and his wife Ekpàbyě. When they entered the village from Andek-Ngie through Mbe, they gave birth to three sons: Ngwo, Etse and Afli.
The name Ngwaw is used to refer to the clan which involves all the villages of Njikwa Sub Division with the clan head being the Ngwo fondom known as the paramount fondom. The paramount Ngwaw fondom with its customary court at its Sabli palace acted as a powerful unifying authority such that the whole of the Ngwaw clan was moving towards speaking a single language (Engwo) with very limited dialectal differences. The intervention of the colonial forces became a serious check to its unifying activities. This clan territory goes beyond linguistic boundaries because it includes Oshie village with a separate language (Ngishe). It is important to note here that the Oshie people are now claiming autonomy from the Ngwaw clan. The clan would then be limited to its linguistic boundaries which cover all the other villages of Njikwa which are listed as dialects of Engwo (Ngwo). The other names - NGUNI, MINGUHNI, NGUNU and ENGWINI mean the same thing used by neighbouring villages or poorly written by the colonial authorities as a result of communication barriers or mispronunciation in their attempts to spell the name of the village. Some neighbouring villages still use these names to refer to Ngwo, though the Ngwo people see such usages as pejorative. The name of the Sub Division which is ‘Njikwa’ means ‘road to the farm’ in the Ngwo language because the people lived basically on farming.
