By Canute Tangwa
The late Hon. Nerius Nemaso Mbile and Ndeh Ntumazah are exceptions to an unenviable rule unconsciously laid down by past and present Anglophone statesmen: do not leave any written document for posterity lest generations would pry into our actions! Rather let generations of Anglophones continue to quarrel, bicker, speculate and tear each other over who did what, where and when long after our deaths.
Dr E.M.L. Endeley (with folder), first Premier of the British Southern Cameroons, did not write his memoirs. Behind him is Nerius N Mbile (left) who wrote his.
Simply, the former Southern Cameroons has no history. Personalities give meaning, life and purpose to history. A despoiled and emasculated people do not look up to institutions, structures and frameworks but to men of timbre in times of crisis.
The death of Hon. ST Muna brought me face to face with this mind boggling reality. I turned to Hon V.T Lainjo, the last of the Mohicans, to shed light on the Muna he knew. When I arrived at Pa Lainjo's Buea Town residence, one of his relations told me that Pa does not talk even to CRTV. I pressed on. Pa came out.
There was this startling revelation: he was the one who sized up Muna and found him good material for politics. He said he does not like to talk to the press because of an obscure event that occurred in Ibadan in the late 40s! What was his opinion on the new political dispensation and the Anglophone palaver, he was not forthcoming.
Apparently, Lainjo is the last of a stoic crop of Anglophone statesmen who saw and lived through the experiences of Southern Cameroons. Thanks to Muema Meombo (MM) of CRTV Buea, Anglophones learnt from the lips of Pa Lainjo that the popular Condemn Quarters in Buea housed the first Southern Cameroons House of Assembly and he was seemingly the first person who addressed that House.
At last Pa had talked to CRTV.
Arguably, besides Prof. Bernard Fonlon and a few others, the late Nzo Ekangaki, by dint of his education, stood taller than most of his political contemporaries.
At his death, Xavier Deutchoua of the French language daily Les Mutations (16/06/2005) wrote:
On the 6th of June 2005 … Nzo Ekangaki died in Yaounde without writing or saying anything… he has joined the world of the dead without writing his memoirs.
Thus posterity would not know his own version of the affaire that forced him to prematurely vacate the position of OAU Secretary-General in June 1974. Nzo Ekangaki has been silent as a grave up to his death". (Translation).
Mwalimu George Ngwane, in a seminal article in The Post No 0679 had this to say:
While other former SGs like William Eteki Mboumoua, Edem Kodjo, (late) Ide Oumarou and Salim Ahmed Salim still articulate national and continental issues, you chose the path of retreat and reticence.
It was a choice you made, but one, considering your diplomatic savvy and political astuteness that will impact negatively on the Africa that you will never see.
Indeed ,the list is long of Anglophone frontline politicians who have passed away in absolute silence: P.M Kale, A.N Jua, E.M.L Endeley, J.N Foncha, S.T Muna, E.T Egbe, Nzo Ekangaki and others (former ministers, politicians, businessmen, medics, military and police officers, trade unionists, dons, judges and lawyers).
Is there a connect between oral tradition that all of them were steeped in and their inability or refusal to jot down notes for posterity? Does their abhorrence to leave anything for future generations have anything to do with standing before the court of history? Is it due to a culture or outright negligence? To be fair, some of them were cut down in their prime or death took them unawares.
History, as they say, is the ultimate judge. But on what bases would they be judged? There are no personal references except hearsay, half-truths, declassified documents and academic dissertations by students. History would prove Mbile and Ntumazah right or wrong based on what they wrote.
Telling one's version of a story, especially as an active participant, is like presenting one's case; it is also a sort of mea culpa. Telling one's side of the story is part of the several blocks that make up an event that was witnessed by several people. When all the different sides of a story are pieced together then we can boast of a complete story or history!
(c) 2005 The Post
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