He is none of my relatives. He did not even know me. However, if there is any Lebialem indigene I have ever admired in politics then it is most respectable. He was never a prime minister, minister, director, board chairman or director general. He hadn’t big mansions in major cities of our beloved country Cameroon. This was not because he could not but because he had a beauty of character that most of his contemporaries lacked. His tenacity and convincing arguments on what he had a conviction for making him an extraordinary man.
He stood the test of time in his political career at a time when every gullible politician would have swung the pendulum to the ruling oligarchy. Some people may have seen his refusal to do so as an unwise decision; no doubt people say he died as a poor man. Yes in financial and material terms this is true to fact.
But in terms of putting his footprints on the political sphere, he did wonderfully well by keeping his convictions and inspiring many till God decided he go to the world beyond. I remember my infant days when this late Honorable gentleman will mount the pulpit at the Menji market square to talk, oh my God I saw a straightforward man whose incorruptible character will help him go miles. However, things turn out to be what they became in 2006. Even at that, while some gullible political bootlickers took the advantage of the squabbles within their house to go to the ever waiting camp, Prof stood his grounds despite much lobbying from the opposite camp.
He maintained his convictions of never eating what he had rubbished and considering everything to be vanity. He may have gotten weaknesses as a human but his political character was trustworthy. He will say the things as they are even on national radio.That is why he died a materially poor man but he died as millionaire through his political character of steadfastness and non gullibility. You remain my role model.
Legideon Magazine N°011 May-June 2018
