Huambo - Anthropologist and researcher Gregório Tchikola defended, Tuesday, the need to build a memorial in honour of the historical figures of the city of Huambo, which celebrates its 112th anniversary on the 21st of September.
Speaking to ANGOP about the city's anniversary, the university professor said it was important to build a monument to the martyrs of civil society and of the famous 55-day war between 9 January and 6 March 1993.
He considered that the city evolved with its people, who asserted themselves through political, economic, social, cultural, ecological and religious revolution.
In turn, he said it was necessary to portray the heroic deeds of kings such as Livongue and Wambu Kalunga, who fought the second Luso-Vimbundu war, and other legendary figures who gave their best for social and cultural development over these 112 years.
The academic pointed out that this procedure will help to eternalise the deeds of the heroes and the history of the city of Huambo, in order to pass the baton on to the next generation.
He recalled that this city was the scene of historical and political events of major national importance, where many of them are martyrs of civil and military society, albeit anonymous.
In the historical-economic field, he recalled that the city of Huambo once had sustainable economic power with the operation of the local industrial estate, which the government authorities are currently working to restore.
He explained that this industrial vision promoted social and economic development, as well as improving the living conditions of the population,
Gregório Tchikola suggested setting up traditional festivals that characterise the population, combining modernity with the traditional to keep cultural values intact.
A brief history of the city of Huambo
Once considered the city of life in Angola, the name of the city, founded by the then governor-general of Angola, Portuguese general and politician Norton de Matos, is due to the expert hunter Wambo Kalunga.
He came from the region of Seles, in the province of Kwanza-Sul, and settled in the 15th century in the territory of Caála, in this region of the Central Plateau, in the areas of Ussombo, Makolo and Kondombe.
Named Nova Lisboa in 1928, it regained its previous name after independence in 1975.
The city of Huambo has been a hub of economic, industrial and agricultural development and a centre of excellence in the academic field, particularly in the area of agricultural and veterinary research.
The municipality of Huambo, one of 11 in the province of the same name, has an estimated population of 900,000 inhabitants, spread over three communes (Calima, Chipipa and Sede, the latter with six sectors). LT/JSV/ALH/DAN/DOJ
