This picture in particular means a lot to me. The reunion of Pa Nwana and Pa Eba children is so humbling and  emotionally heartwarming to me who had played my little role as Caretaker in their lives as kids, and witnessed the two families living side by side smoothly, interacting in peace, sharing christian love and care as both fathers were lecturers in CCAST Bambili while the mothers were our Primary School teachers in St. Francis School Bambili in the 60s and 70s. I'm particularly comforted and moved to tears of joy seeing Ma Magdalene Eba, Ma Najela Nukuna, Ma Nagwa and their friends stand lovingly hands on each other's shoulders to bid eternal farewell to one of their beloved parents. I don't doubt they did same to Mami Anna Eba who went ahead to the Lord a few years ago. I sincerely applaud this great legacy which they are leaving for others to emulate. This again is evidence of the greatness of our beloved Pa Nwana whom we loved and continue to love even in spirit so much. We know his way  to the Lord's Kingdom is open and straight with no obstacle. May his gentle soul rest in perfect peace. Amen. Pateh Asongwe. 

It was the summer of 1996. I had just completed undergraduate studies at the University of Buea and had been awarded the joint Guinness Cameroon - Chevening Scholarship for postgraduate study in the UK. Cameroon had recently joined the Commonwealth and along with its membership came the benefit of its citizens applying for Commonwealth scholarships. So this being Cameroon's first time of participating in the prestigious scholarship, the award itself was a big news making event in the country - broadcast on national TV. But this story is not about me or the award. It is about what Dr. Nwana did when he learned about it. A few days after returning from Buea for the awards ceremony, the event was broadcast on national news on CRTV. The day after the broadcast, Dr. Nwana made his way to our house. On foot! It was around midday. My siblings and I were surprised to see him because we had not heard the sound of a car. He explained that he had parked his car down the hill. (Our family home in Bamenda is precisely not the most easy place to get to especially during the rainy season. During this time, the road is at best muddy, and at worse impassable!) But the muddy and slippery slopes of the hills were no deterrent to his singular mission of leaving Njimafor that morning. When I'd opened the gate and welcomed him in, we exchanged pleasantries in Mungaka and I offered apologies for my parents absence (whom I assumed he had come to see). He smiled and explained that my parents had not known he was coming over (this was the time before mobile phones were a thing.)

"Ndǒ to mà chà'ti Ma lɛ yì bo kà na'ti i ma tv nì mbɔnyùm a " - "I came to greet the lady they showed on tv last night, " he explained.

I was stunned! But I had no time to hide my shock because he went on to ask which of us was the recipient of the scholarship. Still awestruck, I told him it was me. He grabbed my hand, lifted it up and told me how proud he had felt on seeing the news the night before. So much so that he had made the trip out to tell me just that. And it did not matter if his car could not make it up the hill, he knew the road so he could walk. It did not matter if my parents were home or not, he had seen the person he wanted to see.
"Ù ŋâ yi' kɨtɨ kǎ Na" - "You lifted us up/You made us proud", he continued.

He congratulated me on my achievement and again said how happy he felt to see that news on television. He asked about what I planned to study in England and he encouraged me to work hard, study further and accomplish more. Of all the things I recall about my receiving that scholarship, this very remarkable gesture from Dr. Nwana is still one of my favourite memories of that time. Here is why: Long before my brother Ni Lang met and married Dr. Nwana's beautiful daughter Ma Nah, we grew up knowing Dr. Nwana as a giant in Cameroon education with a stellar career spanning various sectors of the Anglophone educational system and an icon within the Bali community. I would later come to read his writings on Bali Nyonga, admire and be inspired by his and others' commitment to promoting knowledge and the documentation of our history and culture. He was deeply proud of his heritage as a Bali man. That someone of his stature walked on foot to my family's home just to congratulate a total nobody like me, showed me the measure of the man at the same time as it taught me a valuable lesson in humility and simplicity. He could easily have passed on the message to my parents to give me. But he felt it was important to come and extend his congratulations personally. That gesture and the encouraging words he gave me were so heartwarming and have stayed with me all these years. It captured the lifelong champion of education that he was. Dr. Nwana's departure from this world is a profound loss for the Nwana family, and the wider community that he lived in and served. His commitment to educating and mentoring young minds, his dedication to promoting education and his services to the community at large are a lasting legacy which we would forever honor and celebrate. My deepest sympathies to the entire Nwana families. Tenderly, may time heal your sorrow. May peace replace heartache and may your memories always be a source of comfort.
Fəti mbɔ̀ŋkɛd Ba. Jǐd nì bɔnì.

Papa, Papa as I fondly know and call you. I cherish every moment I spent talking to or listening to your softly spoken cautions about life and living. I can never forget your praises of my progresses in life. You thanked me for the successes of the children, just like you will rebuke any misdeeds. Thank you Papa for the encouragement you showered me with. Thank you for the push you gave me to pursue my studies. Papa how I wish you could just talk to me again! How I wish you were understood by those you toiled to assist. God understood and took care of you Papa. Fare well Papa, son of the most high. Intercede for us where you are now. You will for ever be my yardstick. I love you even more than ever before. Thank you Papa.

We learned the sad fact from family circle that Dr. Elias Nwana departed this life on the day he was programmed to be discharged from the hospital. Our deepest condolences to the Nwana family and farewell Dr. Nwana.

Dr. Nwana will be dearly missed in Bali in particular and in Cameroon as a whole as an elite, an intellectual and as a respected community leader. Dr. Nwana encouraged research into all aspects of human knowledge and assisted researchers who frequently consulted (or interviewed) him.

Dr. Nwana will be mourned (and missed) by the entire Education Department of the State of the British Southern Cameroons. He served first as Executive Vice-Principal and later as Principal of the Cameroon College of Arts Science and Technology (CCAST) Bambili which had been established and modelled after the Nigerian Colleges of Arts Science and Technology by the Southern Cameroons Government. All of the Nigerian colleges of Arts Science and Technology soon developed into full Universities but CCAST Bambili was instead downgraded to a high School following the political association of British Southern Cameroons with the Republic of Cameroon. CCAST Bambili remained prestigious and special among the Anglophone High Schools. Dr. Nwana also served as Cultural delegate in Buea before retirement.

His service in education without mentioning his contribution to education during the Anglophone “fight” for the creation of the GCE Board to handle secondary school examinations for the State of Southern Cameroon, are outstanding and a leave a legacy for which our community will be forever grateful. Together with Dr. J.N. Foncha and Madame Foncha and a team of Anglophone university professors, Dr. Nwana and this team worked for two years on the studies to open a private University of Science and Technology in Bamenda which was approved and called the Bamenda University of Science and Technology (BUST).

In AS YOU LIKE IT, ACT 2 SCENE 7, LINES 139-40 Shakespeare says

“All the world's a stage, / And all the men and women merely players”

Dr. Nwana has played his part and left the stage. Farewell Dr. Nwana “We are such stuff / As dreams are made on; and our little life / Is rounded with a sleep”

— THE TEMPEST, ACT 4 SCENE 1, LINES 156-58;

May God bless and welcome Dr. Nwana home. Farewell.

My dear uncle, Papa, Dr. Nwana, will forever remain my guardian angel. The very first time I met Papa was when he visited me in Queen of the Holy Rosary college, Mamfe. Our principal at the time, Reverend Sister Siburus, sent a student to call me urgently. I left immediately, running up to the Convent as it was our tradition when you were summoned by the principal. When Papa saw me, he opened his arms to welcome me with such a warm smile and embrace. I turned first to the principal who introduced Papa to me as the principal of CCAST Bambili and she nodded her head thus giving me permission to go ahead and embrace my uncle. I rushed into Papa’s arms feeling very privileged and at the same time trembling in fear like a child in the arms of a tiger, as by that time, he was just a principal and I was in awe of him. Behold, my imaginary tiger turned out to be a dove.  I will never forget this meeting as students gathered around me with envy knowing that my uncle was the principal of a renowned school.  The first thing that came out of Papa’s mouth was that he had discussed with his brother, Pa Moses Nwana, our father, that during the holidays I will move straight to Bambili to live with him and continue my education.  That is when I knew that matters were serious.  

In Bambili I was given a wonderful reception. I had come into a home full of loving people, children, cousins, uncles, house help, you name them, a total of about fourteen people. Yet to these humble parents, the house was never full.  Discipline, care, and concern were upheld for everybody.  Papa will check on everyone when he left the house and when he returned. The education of everyone was his primary concern.  With love he encouraged and appreciated each one’s endeavor.  

Papa encouraged me to join the teaching field, remarking that I will make a good teacher, which came to pass. He invited his friend, Dr. Tambo, and they gave us lectures during our College of Preceptors, London, classes.  One interesting thing that used to happen during our lectures is when papa will pause, doze off, and as soon as he stirred, will continue his sentence where he ended.  The students will make remarks to me like -  my uncle, Dr. Nwana, was not just a genius but a special person.  

Papa, you were blessed with that brain of yours, the energy you had, and the virtues you exercised, how you touched everyone’s life you encountered.  We enjoyed our visits with you in Njimafor.  We will miss your warm embrace and smiles.  I remember how you followed up your brother, Papa Moses’s health concerns, made sure he received baptism and holy communion before he passed on.  This made him qualify to be buried at the Catholic Cemetery in Bali.  Thank you, Papa.  

Papa, how can I thank you enough.  You introduced me to so many educationists which uplifted me and greatly contributed to what I am today.  What a humble man you were, yet a giant.  Your sight may have faded, but that did not dull the light you shone on everyone around you.  We thank God for your life on earth. Please greet all you meet on the other side.  May your soul continue to progress through all the realms of God.  Rest well, Papa. 

~By Ma Bea Nwana Ambe

There is that eerie feeling you get when the phone rings in the wee hours of the morning. Bambot turned around and told me “we have to go to the hospital” The 30 minute drive felt like an eternity. There we met papa lying so peacefully, however, motionless and for the first time I did not hear him say Mamun Yvonne as he fondly called me. For real it was not an April fool’s joke as I had initially asked Bambot.
           Writing a tribute to a parent is painful, this is the third parent I am writing a tribute to and my heart sinks into my stomach as I am writing this. Your absence has left a deep wound in my heart. Papa took me for a daughter and I never for once felt like a daughter- in-law. Papa was a well-established scholar, distinguished gentleman yet very humble. I am very fortunate to have spent almost two decades with him and I learned many life lessons from him. The only time papa will scream at me was when I will insist on making up his bed or washing his plates and silverware. So many fun memories to talk about him. We used to sing together, I would engage him in dancing Zumba with me during my workout sessions at home. When my mother passed away in 2016 papa stood as my rock. Your love and peaceful memories shall remain as our guide. We lost a giant on earth but heaven has gained another saint. Papa, you ran a brave marathon and you have now crossed the finish line. I Will always remember you in the present. Rest well my beloved father.

 Your daughter Mamun Yvonne Ade Nwana

TRIBUTE TO DR. ELIAS MUTIA NWANA 

I first met Dr. Elias MUTIA NWANA in January 1949 in Sasse College Buea. We were classmates. He came from a School in Mamfe and I came from St. Joseph’s School Mankon (now Big Mankon). During socials he taught us some Bali Songs and Dances. One of the songs was something like this “Mooh Kepad Ngwashi-Pala Pala Ngung Ngung Pala”. He was very adventurous. We had a Nigerian Science Teacher called Mr. Okeke. He started a boxing club and Dr. Nwana was one of the very few to venture to be a member. I remember the coach sparring with him and we started cheering him. He then gave Dr. Nwana an upper cut and he started bleeding from his mouth. Dr. Nwana in great pain cried out “my mouth Sir”, and the coach in reply said “go and wash your mouth”. From that day we nick named Dr. Nwana “my mouth Sir” (laughter). This episode scarred many of us from enrolling in the Boxing Club. He had the leadership quality and behaved maturer than many of us.

Since he had lived and schooled in Mamfe we took advantage of his connections to stay with him whilst transiting to and from Bamenda during our long vacations. He had a rich uncle, a retired policeman, who was also a transporter. His passenger truck was called “God feeds His people”. Mamfe was a junction town with many passenger trucks converging in Mamfe park from Bamenda Kumba and Onitsha. In those days Mamfe was a very important Commercial Centre. It also had a river port owned and managed by the United Africa Company (UAC).

My friendship with Dr. Nwana paid off richly. It was during one of my transitional stops in his uncle’s house that I met my wife to be, who was also on her way to Queen of the Rosary College Onitsha, since there was not a single college for girls in the then Southern Cameroons. That eventful meeting in Pah Nwana’s house blossomed and we got married in London in 1961. Dr. Nwana was elected the Senior Prefect of Sasse College in 1953. In Sasse this was and it is still a very prestigious post. The Senior Prefect was the bridge between the administration and the students. Most of the teachers were Mill Hill Father from Mill Hill London. The Principal was Rev. Father Francis Woodman. His high handedness provoked the first strike by the entire school, with Dr. Nwana as Senior Prefect. To have dared to strike was like a mortal sin in those days. To imagine that students had the guts to strike in the only Secondary School in the country was unimaginable –yes! But it happened. The students boycotted classes and Church services and the refectory for 3 days. At one point form one students who could not tolerate it anymore, gathered those volcanic pebbles with many of them around the campus and were ready to storm the glass windows of the presbytery. It required the intervention of the White Education Officer, the Chiefs from Buea and the diplomatic prowess of Dr. Nwana (the Senior Prefect) to calm the storm. It was all centered around bad food at the school restaurant. The students took their plates of garri and dishes of watery soup floating with oil and arranged them neatly infront of the father’s residence. When Fr. Woodman got up from his siesta about 3pm and saw the spectacle coupled with the entire school population singing, he could not believe his eyes. He removed his eye glasses, wiped them and wore them again and stared in bewilderment. 

On the evening of the third day of the strike with the pleading of Dr. Nwana, students went to the chapel and prayed and sang the Hymn of St. Joseph the patron Saint of our School. Even though the students had been starving for 3 days they mustered all their energy and sang like angels. The principal was at the Sacristy listening. Then he mounted the podium and apologized and promised to form a food committee to improve on the quality of food. He offered a cow and then arranged with the native hunters at the forest at the foot of the mountain for a weekly supply of antelopes for the school kitchen.

Dr. Nwana had cautioned the students to stay calm and no betrayals. The Mill Hill Fathers carried out investigations to fish out the ring leaders for dismissal. All their investigations came to naught and not a single student was dismissed. Come to think of it, the poor principal had also budgetary problems, imagine the fees were 12 pounds (15.000FCFA) per year for Books, lodging and tuition). After our graduation a similar strike took place and all the Form 6 students were suspended from Campus and they came from town to write the Senior Cambridge School Certificate of London. They did not have a leader of Dr. Nwana’s caliber to outwit and outplay the Mill Hill Fathers.

On graduation, whilst many of us opted for greener pastures Dr. Nwana decided to teach in Sasse College, went to Nigeria for teachers training and finally to the USA for his PhD. On his return he joined the civil service, was Principal of CCAST Bambili (a very prestigious appointment in those days). He impacted the lives of many many students who are now the pillars of the civil service and the private sector. Dr. Nwana and his wife gave me the honour to be the God Father of one of their children.

I last saw him in Baltimore Maryland during the SOBA American Convention. We had enough time to revisit our old days in Sasse College. He was coherent and was still able to recall incidents that happened donkey years ago.

On his retirement he was very lucky to build his house about 50meters from the Njimafor Parish Church. He had the privilege to attend daily masses. Parishioners always surrounded him especially after Sunday Masses to pay homage to a man who had impacted their lives in various ways. 

In our commencement class of 1949 and the same graduating class of 1953 (the coronation year of the present queen Elizabeth II) I can only remember Mgr. Clement Ndze, Professor Boniface T. Nasah and my humble self still standing and struggling in our declining years. We have lost a great educationist, a great and glorified pedagogue, a simple and humble moral giant. May the Good Lord have mercy on his soul!

Student N° 444 (1949 class)

Senior SOBAN

Simon SOH AWASUM 

 Yaounde

Yes I knew  papa growing up during my last year as a final student in Our Lady of Lourdes Secondary  school Bamenda and my husband a first year student in CCAST Bambili in the North West Region. Papa was not only my husband’s principal but will be the one who played a very important role  in our relationship that has lasted for more than forty years. I will leave my husband to continue where I left. Papa you did not only appear and disappear in our lives for some time but you reappeared again the second time not as principal but as a father inlaw to my youngest sister in the family. Over the years you were not only  our father inlaw but our papa and mentor. As your sight started failing you,  your hearing became stronger and you would recognize my voice and shout if that was Mamoun Anna and Ni Joe. We had good times together as we shared jokes and laughed together. I thank God for the good times we had in Bamenda and here in Maryland. I even remember every time you ate the okra I made for you, you would say  that was diplomatic okra soup. Yes papa you faught  a good fight and I remember a video of you a few days before your departure reciting the rosary. You were a good man and this is the reason  God decided to call you home on Holy Thursday so you too should rise with the Lord. Adieu Papa as you dance and rejoice with the angels. Extend our love to your in-laws and neighbors of Njimafor, Papa William Ade and wife mama Jeanette

He once received a pretty generous monetary gift from an organization while living with me and my wife, whom he affectionately referred to as mamun Yvonne.  When we handed the cashed out donation to him, he did something which was very typical of him. He strenuously raised up from his reclining chair, grabbed his walking stick which he kept close by, stretched his extended hand out, took the parcel, blessed it traditionally by blowing air on to it, before bursting into his trademark royal dance moves. This was followed by a series of very contagious and infectious renditions of “njika yin njamu” (thank you all very much) for all you do for us.  And then he did the Unthinkable; well, to those who may not know him. He graciously handed it back to me with these words that have remained edged in me and which constantly ring in my ear with piercing clarity: “You and mamun, take and use this as contribution from my wife and I for our upkeep in this house. We have been a burden to you and your siblings for a while now and this will help with some of the bills.”  We implored him to keep the money and that we really did not need it. He gently shoved it back into mamun’s hands, turned around, pitched his cane in front of him, laid both hands on the grip, and continued with his quintessential  dance steps.  ( He often enchanted people with his off-tune singing, and transfixed them with his trademark fancy footwork.) 

He was a man armed not with the brawns of a soldier, but with the brains of an intellectual. He nursed and nurtured children from his extended family and his students from far and wide. He refined and reshaped their minds. To him, education was a lever of upward social and economic mobility. Not having an education to him was rationally inexplicable and morally unjustifiable.  He was not obsessed with the trimmings and trappings of fame and riches; neither was he enthralled or amused by those who came to power as chiefs and went out as thieves. He sought to transform, not conform, to mend it, or end it. He had no obsession for possession, always willing to give than receive, to serve than to be served.  To him, money and property was for the needy, not for the greedy. He always sought to organize, not agonize.  Without rancour or rage, haughtiness or hypocrisy, pride or prejudice, shame or scruple, he lived a simple, fulfilling, and purpose-driven life; one of utility, not futility.  He reveled in the expression of kindness lavishly given to everyone.  And yes, he was heavily imbued with a sense of naïve benevolence and childlike innocence that kept him always looking fresh, flawless, and ageless. He was INNOCENCE, pure and simple, Humility personified, Grace exemplified, Modesty epitomized. 

Bambot Nwana (son)

I was just 11 and I still remember it like it were yesterday. My sister was 8 and my brother 5 so often it was just my sister and I who would visit Njimafor from my grand father's, Pa Moses Nwana's, house in Azire where we often spent the holidays.
We loved to visit the house in Njimafor with its peaceful grounds and beautiful flowers. I hoped that Vincent would be there but sometimes he was away and we will just visit with papa and mama. One vivid memory I have is of reading. Papa loved for you to read something to him. He would ask me to go fetch a book from his vast library and come read to him as he sat back in his chair, eyes closed, soaking in the fresh air. As I read, he would sometimes doze off and my voice would trail off as I wondered if I should stop. Some moments of silence would follow. And then papa would awaken and calmly tell me where I left off and bid me continue. At my age I used to marvel at how he did that. Papa gave me several books to read over the years and always stoked my curiosity and prompted active reading. Above all, he was very kind and gentle and always welcoming. When I saw him recently in 2014, more than two decades later, I felt again that warm and fatherly vibe he always exuded. And I don't know if he could quite remember me, but he held me and talked to me with that warm and gentle smile like I was his long lost daughter. His loving and giving heart is something I'll always remember. I am thankful to God, Papa, that I was able to learn from you and continue to learn from you through your brilliant children. Thank you. Rest well and greet my grandpa and grandma for me.  

Growing up as kids in Buea in the mid 70s,we knew the name of this Cameroon's pioneer educationists, Dr. Elias Nwana without knowing the person. Don't ask me how. He neither thought us in RCM station or came visiting in school.Not to my knowledge. The name Nwana Élis still brings memories of my youthful days in Buea. I knew Augustin and Augustina with whom we were classmates and from thier behavior,one could tell who thier father was,an educationist and a deciplinarian. Some of us gained a lot from associating with them. Pa Nwana indirectly marked my childhood in Buea.I still have memories of him holding the board of the 1949 class of SOBANS and matching in front when we celebrated the 40th anniversary of SASSE college. I said waoh, so I am attending the same school as this icon.I am privileged. A great SOBA is gone to the world beyond just like his fellow classmate Prof Lantum a few months ago. Adieu Icon. Your legacy lives on. 

Papa. I just woke up to the sad news of your passing and I just thought of the day I had to receive my first holy communion  at the njimafor church and you got up and made I and Ma Jacenta a hot bath ,we played in the bath tub and went late for our classes. That is the first time I ever had a hot bath in a bath tub and I remember telling self that I needed to work hard so I can have a bath tub when I grow up.   Rest easy Papa.