Canute - Chronicles from the Heartland

WHERE HAVE THE GREAT MEN-WOMEN OF AFRICA GONE TO?

By Canute Tangwa

Africa used to have real great men. Men, who changed the course of history, shaped our reasoning and made life worth living. Almost every facet of human endeavour threw up men of timber and stature. In politics, sports, sciences, humanities, media, business, religion and entertainment there were personalities who made our hearts beat, made us feel like borrowing wings, kept us on our toes, made us wonder and dream (the dream of kings), and made us marvel at the way they unravelled knotty issues.

Indeed, there was once an Africa of great ideological debates, of big men who personalized ideologies, of unfettered scientific ideas, of imagination, of diplomacy in its subtlest form and as showmanship, of benevolent bullies, of bloody dictators, and of souls that made us see the grace of God through their words and deeds.

Africa once had its share of real women; Big women. Women who made us proud of our triple heritage (dixit Ali A. Mazrui). Amazons with a power of their own. A power that the inimitable Onwuchekwa Chinwezu highlighted in a treatise entitled: Anatomy of Female Power. Is it not proper and fitting that only a big man like the late Leopold Sedar Senghor described the African woman, the authentic one, in the most glorious and magnificent of terms? A magnificat of sorts to the African Woman:

Naked woman, black woman/Clothed with your colour which is life, with your form which is beauty!
In your shadow I have grown up; the gentleness of your hands was laid over my eyes. And now, high up on the sun-baked pass, at the heart of summer, at the heart of noon/ I come upon you, my Promised Land/ And your beauty strikes me to the heart like the flash of an eagle. Naked woman, dark woman/
Firm-fleshed ripe fruit, sombre raptures of black wine, mouth making lyrical my mouth/Savannah stretching to clear horizons, savannah shuddering beneath the East Wind's eager caresses/
Carved tom-tom, taut tom-tom, muttering under the Conqueror's fingers/
Your solemn contralto voice is the spiritual song of the Beloved.
Naked woman, dark woman/
Oil that no breath ruffles, calm oil on the athlete's flanks, on the flanks of the Princes of Mali/Gazelle limbed in Paradise, pearls are stars on the night of your skin/Delights of the mind, the glinting of red gold against your watered skin/Under the shadow of your hair, my care is lightened by the neighbouring suns of your eyes. Naked woman, black woman, I sing your beauty that passes, the form that I fix in the Eternal/ Before jealous fate turn you to ashes to feed the roots of life.

Things political are not the same again as in the days of Kwame Nkrumah, Haile Selassie, Julius Nyerere, Sedar Senghor, Houphouet Boigny, Gamal Abdel Nasser, Houari Boumedienne, Samora Marcel, Agostino Neto, Patrice Lumumba, Amilcar Cabral, Idi Amin, King Hassan II, Ahmadou Ahidjo, Yakubu Gowon, Murtala Muhammed, Sekou Toure, Modibo Keita, Kenneth Kaunda, Jomo Kenyatta, Thomas Sankara, Marien Ngouabi, Jean Bedel Bokassa, Mobutu Sese Seko, Ian Smith, Pieter Botha, Nelson Mandela, Chris Hani, Oliver Tambo, Joshua Nkomo, Um Nyobe, Felix Moumie, Ernest Ouandie, Ndeh Ntumazah and so on.

Things artistic and literary are apparently not the same again as in the times of Amos Tutoula, Chinua Achebe, Sedar Senghor, Wole Soyinka, Cheikh Hamidou Kane, Mongo Beti, Alioune Diop, Leopold Ferdinand Oyono, Bernard Fonlon, Camara Laye, Sembene Ousmane, Ngugi Wa Thiongo, Elechi Amadi, Mbella Sonne Dipoko, Christopher Okigbo, Ken Saro Wiwa, Bate Besong, Fela Ransome Kuti, Bob Marley, Manu Dibango, Ali Farka Toure, Myriam Makeba, Hugh Masekela, Nadine Gordimer, Naguib Mahfouz and so on. However, the matchless storyteller, Chinua Achebe says this of Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, author of Half of a Yellow Sun: “We do not usually associate wisdom with beginners, but there is a new writer endowed with the gift of ancient storytellers…Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie (’s)….experimentation with the dual mandate of English and Igbo in perennial discourse is a case in point.” Seemingly, all is not lost for when a Richard Bona strings a bass guitar and hums; the keen listener is taken back into the recesses of time!

Sport is art in the sense of winning in style and not at all cost. Thus, sport is seemingly not like it was in the days of Miruts Yifter, Henry Rono, John Akii Bua, Kipchoge Keino, Ben Jipcho, John Ngugi, Billy Konchellah, Paul Tergat, Juma Ikanga, Abebe Bikila, Gebre Selassie, Said Aouita, Nawal El Moutawakel, Amadou Dia Ba, Francis Obikwelu, Mary Onyali-Omagbemi, Innocent Egbunike, Roger Milla, Abedi Pele, Yusuf Fofana, Kalusha Bwalya, JayJay Okocha, Thomas Nkono, Aziz Bourdeballa, Abega Theophile, George Weah, Stephen Keshi, Mahmoud El Khatib and so on. Of course there is apparently no break with the past. But it must be admitted that talented African ball jugglers like Eto’o, Drogba, and Essien send crowds into frenzy in stadia in Europe rather than in Africa.

Africa needs self-examination. What snapped? Fortunately, Libyan leader Muammar Khaddafi is presently touring Africa and drumming support for an African union government, NOW! His idea is the brightest and the best. Through him political things might become interesting again. Let’s wait and see.

Posted at 05:29 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Christian Cardinal Tumi: Loved by Many Loathed by Some

By Canute Tangwa

No Catholic prelate, in Cameroon, since the late Bishop Albert Ndongmo, has been both loved and loathed like Christian Cardinal Tumi.

He was loved and venerated by those who looked up to him as a moral authority, a peace crusader, a human rights defender and a champion of free thought and speech; loathed and dreaded by those who saw him as an impediment to their Machiavellian and sinister designs to despoil and emasculate the masses and the downtrodden, to stifle free thought and to bayonet free speech.

The cleric was held in awe by fence-sitters, buccaneers, profiteers and tribal man Fridays since he was well above their mercantile and clannish schemes.

Within the academy, the university, he cautioned freshmen and graduates at the University of Buea on 21 December 1998 to defend the truth irrespective of the circumstances. It was a landmark discourse that expounded on ontological truth, ‘defined as the conformity of objective reality with its divine ideal, with its corresponding idea in the mind of the creator,’ which, put simply, is the correlation between what you think and say. Otherwise, it is a lie!

Within the purview of his pastoral calling, his political theology, at variance with liberation theology, based on the virtues of fortitude, temperance and justice as well as Catholic dogmas (Vatican II, Social Teachings of the Church), universal declaration of human rights, the Augustinian just war theory coupled with his Bishopric motto (Lord I have Come To Do Your Will) was bound to clash with State authorities and the corrupt-bankrupt banditti.

As a moral authority, he shot the first salvo that brought in its stead ‘suspicion, surveillance and slander’ from the State when he was appointed Rector of the Major Seminary in Bambui in 1973 by Monsignor Paul Verdzekov, Bishop of Bamenda who ‘invited him to start an ecumenical group to study the bible and seek guidance on political changes that plagued the country. In response, Tumi and a group of Christian intellectuals and lay leaders formed The Christian Study Group (CSG) to analyse socio-political events in our country in the light of the Gospel of Christ.’

The immediate upshot of their reflection was the publication of a pastoral letter on the Fight Against Corruption by the Bishops of Buea and Bamenda, which as Elias Kifon Bongmba avers, ‘(constituted) a detailed and unusually frank discussion of the crisis of corruption in Cameroon that appealed to all Christians to examine their conscience and fight corruption. This document, which remains one of the boldest pastoral letters in Cameroon’s ecclesiastical history, called on Christians to be the light of the world, in a context where corruption had already infected all sectors of the country.’

In reaction, the then Minister for Territorial Administration instructed Governor David Abouem A Tchoyi to arrest members of the CSG following the presentation of the contents of the pastoral letter at a public forum in Bamenda. History records that Abouem A Tchoyi refused to arrest members of the group on the grounds that they did not perturb public order!

As Bishop of Yagoua (1979) and later Archbishop of Garoua, he was often on a collision course with State and public authorities. At Yagoua, his first pastoral letter ‘urging Christians to remain strong in their faith in Christ’ did not go down well with Governor Ousmane Mey who ‘summoned Tumi to a meeting…and accused Tumi of engaging in subversive activities and stated that Tumi could be sent to jail like Monsignor Albert Ndongmo.’

There was no respite with the appointment of Fon Fosi Yakum Ntaw as Governor of the North. When the Governor accused ‘the Catholic Church of subversive activities because the church was building chapels without the permission of the state − a reference to a 1928 colonial law that required all groups, including religious groups, to get state permissions before they constructed any properties,’ Tumi hit back stating that ‘Northern Cameroon is not predominantly Muslim. There are Christian churches in the region and at the time there were two other Catholic bishops in Northern Cameroon, who themselves were indigenes.’

Reacting to the Governor’s ‘charge that Catholics were constructing church buildings without permission, Tumi argued that the government ought to congratulate the Catholic Church for its social services to the people. He also told the governor that Muslims were building mosques without permission. But the governor argued that Islam was a traditional religion and did not need permission to build. Tumi countered that the state of Cameroon was a secular state and the government could not favor one religion over the others.’

As two-term president of the Episcopal Conference of Cameroon (1985 and 1990), public authorities were always nervous, vilified the prelate and saw his hand in every communique or pastoral letter critizing poor government economic policies and actions published by the Episcopal Conference under his tenure.

Suffice to note that the government lobbied hard for him not to be elected a second time as president of the episcopal conference but the bishops stood their ground. The State then unleashed a fiery media campaign against the prelate through CRTV that posted journalists to the North according to Robert Abunaw ‘to frustrate the cardinal media wise.’ The former Director of Radio, Antoine Marie Ngono holds that CRTV contributed greatly in the demonization of the prelate…fortunately it belatedly changed course.

Pope John Paul II ‘appointed him to the College of Cardinals and he was consecrated Cardinal on 28 June 1988 in Rome.’ He was received with a lot of pomp by the Christian community, Cameroonians in general and the government. The Head of State dispatched a presidential jet to pick up the cardinal from Rome to Yaounde and then ferried him to Garoua. The President offered him a Mercedes Benz.

However, when the supreme pontiff transferred him from Garoua to Douala in 1991 just when the floodgates of multiparty democracy were opened in Cameroon, the government became jittery for he was seen within power circles in Yaounde as a spiritual guide of the opposition. Indeed, he came on hard on the government for violently attacking the launching of the Social Democratic Party in 1992 and made it clear that it was the constitutional and legitimate right of any Cameroonian to form a political party.

Government fears were apparently ‘confirmed’ when the opposition swept almost all seats in local elections in Douala. This is the more so because as Kifon Bongmba posits, ‘the Catholic Bishop’s Conference had written a letter to all the Christians in Cameroon in preparation for that election and he, Tumi, read it openly in the Cathedral in Douala.’

His stance on issues like the use of condoms was quite controversial but revolutionary within the Catholic Church. In order to curb the spread of the HIV/AIDS pandemic, he advocated the limited use of condoms by couples! However, he did toe the line regarding Catholic teaching on abortion and homosexuality. In short, he was pro-life and pro-family in the catholic sense of the word.

As a defender of human rights, he railed at the extra judicial and targeted killings of ordinary Cameroonians by the operational command put in place by the State to fight organized crime, armed robbery and banditry in Douala from 1999 to 2000 following the killing of a French butcher by armed robbers.

It came to a head when nine persons were picked up arbitrarily in the neighbourhood of Bepanda and the operational unit could not account for their whereabouts. The cardinal called for the dismantling of the unit. He also wrote a letter to armed robbers and men of the underworld urging them to change their ways. For his efforts in the defense of human rights in Cameroon, he was awarded the Sergio de Mello Human Rights Prize on 27 May 2005.

As a champion of free speech and thought, he set up Radio Veritas and the Catholic printing press, MACACOS. However, these came at a prize because certain authorities in Yaounde including some members of his entourage did everything to frustrate the creation of these structures.

Interviews granted by the cleric to local and international media were often critical of government policies and actions relating to the economy, conduct of elections, governance, security, freedom of expression, tribalism, marginalization (particularly the Anglophone minority) and this often drew the ire of State authorities who accused the prelate of having presidential ambitions and of being anti-patriotic amongst other accusations. The cardinal often responded via open letters to the State authorities that were published in local papers. The ping pong between the cardinal and public authorities via local media became a recurring decimal.

As a peace crusader, the cardinal together with other religious leaders called for an Anglophone Conference in order to address the Anglophone problem in Cameroon but was frustrated by the government and local lackeys due to suspicion. The team produced a four-hundred-page document on the crisis that was forwarded to the presidency but the latter responded by setting the Grand National Dialogue, which did not deter the cardinal from attending and proffering solutions to the crisis. For his pains he was abducted by separatists and later released.

Cardinal Christian Tumi was an emblematic personality with many facets. He was often misunderstood. He was quite pragmatic and tolerant but could also be dogmatic to a fault. He was a pastor of souls who he did not lose sight of the fact that ‘though man cannot live by bread alone he cannot equally do without it.’ His works, spiritual and physical, bear witness to a ‘man who saw tomorrow.’

Posted at 05:06 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Trip to Awing: Encounter with Separatist Fighters

By Canute Tangwa

Hi Folks: Up kontri (North-West Region of Cameroon ); countryside-landscape blues and tourism.

Far, far from the madding, hustling and bustling crowd.

Quite refreshing but....the menacing cum threatening environment (Three so called amba boys where taken out barely 15 minutes to our arrival and their mangled dead bodies displayed for all to see) would make the sincere wince...

Then our encounters with criminal-tribal gangs who have virtually hijacked a struggle was quite chilling...(story for another day)

Posted at 05:23 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

One day in my life at the UNIYAO Ngoa-Ekele Campus: Lisette Elomo Ntonga

By Canute Tangwa

The business of memory is quite rich in anecdotes, truths, half-truths, experiences and perceptions.

The business of memory informs the business of history which in turn analyses and appraises the actions, perceptions, behaviour and interactions of actors within defined theoretical and methodological frameworks.

Hence, memory and history thus become encapsulated into a scientific construct.

Over thirty-two years ago, fresh and bubbling with perceptions of my own, I walked into the campus of the lone university at the time and enrolled at the Faculty of Law and Economic Sciences.

First of all, I was taken aback by the teeming student population; secondly by the off-handed and laissez faire attitude in treating freshmen complaints/requests; thirdly by the overbearing and domineering French language on and off campus; fourthly by certain buzzwords such as Anglo, Frog, Partiels, Epsi, Cops etc; fifthly by the crammed amphitheatres; and sixthly by the dress code within campus.

I was impressed by the calibre of teachers (Law): Stanislas Melone, Augustin Kontchou Kouomegne, Carlson Anyangwe, Bipoun Woum Joseph Marie, Simon Munzu, Maurice Kamto, Aletum Tabuwe, Ephraim Ngwafor, Fomudey Ngu Kisob, Dion Ngute, Fonkam Azu, Pougoue Gerard, François Mbome, Gabriel Nlep, Peter Yana Ntamark, Nicole Claire Ndoko, Diane Acha Morfaw and so on.

However, as a freshman I was disappointed and I would say let down by persons I thought would understand me better because we spoke one language and invariably shared the same values and culture.

Yes, the famous ‘Partiels’ exams had come and gone and the results were staring us in the face. But I had a peculiar problem; I effectively wrote all the courses but on the noticeboard I realized I scored zero in almost all the courses offered during ‘partiels’.

First reaction: I dashed to the Dean’s office; he politely told me in French that I should go-see the head of Anglophone Private Law, which I did. I explained to him my wahala. He looked at me beneath thick glasses and asked how old I was and he said something like repeating a class would not be a bad idea. I lost my cool. Then he ushered me into a hall where tons and tons of marked scripts were kept and asked me if it was possible to search and find my script. Stunned, I walked out.

Next stop; the famous, ‘poulailler.’ (housed teachers’ offices). There, I stumbled on one of ours but was rebuffed in these terms, “So you come and see me only when you have problems?” Haba! Ngaya! I did not know. Gbam!! I thought I was dreaming but it dawned on me that my fate no longer lay in the hands of ‘my own’ so to speak. Should I adopt the “shiddon look” attitude? No.

The image of my mother blocking the door and telling me not to run away but to face the bully came to my mind. Yes, it was one of those rare visits to the village with my parents. I did turn back and my teeth did the rest leaving the bully falling and crying in pain; then I pounced on him.

Thus, I “gathered courage” and went up to the strikingly beautiful and reserved Lisette Elomo Ntonga. She was coming down the stairs of the main block when I accosted her. She listened attentively and asked me to write a complaint which I hurriedly did and handed to her. She dismissed me.

Two weeks or so later, I was idling around the famous Batiment H when a friend ran towards me shouting…Boy an additional list has just been put up and I have seen your name.

Christ, we ran together to the office block like the two apostles (hearing that Jesus has risen). Indeed, I saw my name. We concerted and was advised to go thank Madam Lisette Elomo Ntonga.

Just as I was about knocking her door, she came out. She looked at me and frowned. I shivered. She gave me a lecture on her role as teacher in the university; a teacher’s role is to assist, guide and orientate students. She ordered me to go prepare my orals rather than rushing to thank her….

Posted at 06:24 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

One day in my life at the UNIYAO Ngoa-Ekele Campus: Lisette Elomo Ntonga

By Canute Tangwa

The business of memory is quite rich in anecdotes, truths, half-truths, experiences and perceptions.

The business of memory informs the business of history which in turn analyses and appraises the actions, perceptions, behavior and interactions of actors within defined theoretical and methodological frameworks.

Hence, memory and history thus become encapsulated into a scientific construct.

Over thirty-two years ago, fresh and bubbling with perceptions of my own, I walked into the campus of the lone university at the time and enrolled at the Faculty of Law and Economic Sciences.

First of all, I was taken aback by the teeming student population; secondly by the off-handed and laissez faire attitude in treating freshmen complaints/requests; thirdly by the overbearing and domineering French language on and off campus; fourthly by certain buzzwords such as Anglo, Frog, Partiels, Epsi, Cops etc; fifthly by the crammed amphitheatres; and sixthly by the dress code within campus.

I was impressed by the calibre of teachers (Law): Stanislas Melone, Augustin Kontchou Kouomegne, Carlson Anyangwe, Bipoun Woum Joseph Marie, Simon Munzu, Maurice Kamto, Aletum Tabuwe, Ephraim Ngwafor, Fomudey Ngu Kisob, Dion Ngute, Fonkam Azu, Pougoue Gerard, François Mbome, Gabriel Nlep, Peter Yana Ntamark and so on.

However, as a freshman I was disappointed and I would say let down by persons I thought would understand me better because we spoke one language and invariably shared the same values and culture.
Yes, the famous ‘Partiels’ exams had come and gone and the results were staring us in the face. But I had a peculiar problem; I effectively wrote all the courses but on the noticeboard I realized I scored zero in almost all the courses offered during ‘partiels’.

First reaction: I dashed to the Dean’s office; he politely told me in French that I should go-see the head of Anglophone Private Law, which I did. I explained to him my wahala. He looked at me beneath thick glasses and asked how old I was and he said something like repeating a class would not be a bad idea. I lost my cool. Then he ushered me into a hall where tons and tons of marked scripts were kept and asked me if it was possible to search and find my script. Stunned, I walked out.

Next stop; the famous, ‘poulailler.’ (housed teachers’ offices). There, I stumbled on one of ours but was rebuffed in these terms, “So you come and see me only when you have problems?” Haba! Ngaya! I did not know. Gbam!! I thought I was dreaming but it dawned on me that my fate no longer lay in the hands of ‘my own’ so to speak. Should I adopt the “shiddon look” attitude? No.

The image of my mother blocking the door and telling me not to run away but to face the bully came to my mind. Yes, it was one of those rare visits to the village with my parents. I did turn back and my teeth did the rest leaving the bully falling and crying in pain; then I pounced on him.

Thus, I “gathered courage” and went up to the strikingly beautiful and reserved Lisette Elomo Ntonga. She was coming down the stairs of the main block when I accosted her. She listened attentively and asked me to write a complaint which I hurriedly did and handed to her. She dismissed me.

Two weeks or so later, I was idling around the famous Batiment H when a friend ran towards me shouting…Boy an additional list has just been put up and I have seen your name.

Christ, we ran together to the office block like the two apostles (hearing that Jesus has risen). Indeed, I saw my name. We concerted and was advised to go thank Madam Lisette Elomo Ntonga.