BIOGRAPHY OF Papa FORNGANG ALPHONSUS NDENGE
Pa Forngang Alphonsus Ndenge spent his early life in the village, for the most part babysitting his siblings, and hunting. In 1935, the Catholic Mission project of opening a primary school in Bafut was abandoned; Ntambeng in Mankon, that was virgin territory, became the preferred site. The area had never had a school before then, and most parents were skeptical about the benefits a school would bring to them. All children above five years of age were invited for enrollment. Thus it was that, at age eleven, Pa Forngang Alphonsus Ndenge showed up on the opening date at the new school premises. Pa and two of his quarter friends (late Pa Atanga of Mile 8 Mankon, and Pa Sylvester Tibuiy) were outrightly rejected on grounds that they were a lot older than the majority of the enrolled kids; they were considered too old for school! They left the premises, happy to be free, and went playing and hunting around the bush track that led to the school. It so happened that a certain teacher who was on his way to school, and who happened to be friends with one of Pa’s playmates, after listening to their excuse for not being in school, marched them back to the Ntambeng school premises. They watched him in a close discussion with probably the school headmaster, and then he came back and ordered them to join the others in the Infants One Class.
School was quite a different experience from life in the village. The school was designed as a boarding school, and all pupils slept in make-shift dormitories. This was necessary so that the kids who came over from neighbouring Bafut should not feel abandoned to themselves. The pupils participated actively in the construction of houses for the teachers, and other structures. At an early age, pupils were assigned tasks of responsibility, for example taking turns to guard and clean the teachers’ houses when the teachers went back to their families at weekends. The teachers were Nigerian-trained, and included Pa Clement Donga from Bafut, Pa Ako from Bagangu, and Pa Paul Muforza from Nkwen.
Pa was one of the track and field athletes selected to represent his Ntambeng village school during the Empire Day festivities (Queen Elizabeth I’s Jubilee) that held at Up-Station, which then was the main town and administrative centre. After march-past, games were usually organized in which the different schools of the area competed against one other, and for which shields, and cash prizes were offered. Pa took his position on the line when his track event was called. Pa was overwhelmed at seeing such a “large” crowd, in contrast to his village school setting. He knew he carried the reputation of his school in his feet and was determined to meet the challenge. At the sound of the pistol being fired in the air, the runners took off. Pa took all he had in his feet to catch up with the main group of runners. The excited crowd that had lined the track kept cheering and trying to race along too.Somewhere along the line, the crowd ran into the track, cutting off Pa and a few other runners.Pa got lost in the crowd and spent a good part of the rest of the day trying to locate his school members, with whom he would have to travel back to Ntambeng.
In 1937, a new and bigger Catholic school was opened in Big Mankon, that would include Standard I, Standard II, Standard III and Standard IV classes. As the Ntambeng school was not yet ready to open the higher section after Infants II, Pa and other pupils who graduated from Ntambeng were transferred to Big Mankon. Pa was thus part of the pioneer batches of both Catholic School Ntambeng and RCM School Mankon. The Catholics encouraged all their pupils in Government School Up-Station to switch and fill the first three classes in Big Mankon. Here too, the pupils participated actively in putting up school buildings and setting out the layout. Pa was a good football player in his school days, a gift he passed on to all his sons.
The school in Big Mankon went up to only Standard IV. So, in 1941, Pa Forngang went over to Njinikom where he graduated from Standard Six in 1942. The journey to and from Njinikom was done on foot; raw foodstuff was the main head-load. There too in Njinikom, the pupils had to build their individual huts where they slept and cooked for themselves. Upon graduation, Pa was appointed to teach Class One.
In 1944, Pa was selected to be part of the pioneer team to start the Grade 3 Teacher’s Training program in Njinikom. In 1947, he was posted to teach in Catholic School Bali, together with his future wife’s stepbrother, Barnabas Forsuh. Then came 1948, when Pa got posted to Akum as Headmaster of the Catholic school.
Pa got married in December of 1950 to wife Lum Agnes of blessed memory, who had just returned from training in Nigeria as a teacher. The year after, Pa was admitted into Teacher Training College Kumba where he obtained the Grade Two Certificate in 1952. He was afterwards posted to Banso where he taught from 1952 to 1954. Pa talked often of the strong influence the culture of the Banso had on him.
For one year, in 1955, the Rural Education Training College in Bambili, an affiliate to the Department of Agriculture of the University of Ibadan (present day CCAST Bambili campus), was home to Pa Forngang Ndenge. From there, he and his wife were posted to Catholic School Big Mankon, where he spent the next nine years. In Mankon, Pa was known to be a disciplinarian of a higher order; one who never spared the rod. His interest in the school farm and school fish-pond was more of a dedication. You could also see him at the centre of singing lessons and working tirelessly to train the school band players. Meanwhile, as was the custom, three years after graduating from the Rural Education Training College in Bambili, Pa automatically obtained the Grade I Teacher Training Certificate, on account of his performance on the field, his overall training and his years of service.
While at Big Mankon, Pa wrote an exam, organized by Government to select teachers, including those from the private sector, for a one-year course on education in London. Pa was the lone Catholic teacher in his area who passed, and who was selected. Unfortunately, Pa’s employers never got to inform him in time for him to join the others (Presbyterians, Baptists, etc) in London.
In his constant quest for knowledge, Pa Forngang Alphonsus Ndenge was one of the seven selected pioneer students of the newly created ENS Bambili school in 1966, whose principal was late Sylvester Dioh.
In 1970, Pa was sent to teach at the Bambui Teacher Training College, which had just been transferred from Njinikom. It is on record that Pa personally mapped and carved out the beautiful grass lawns we now see at the Bambui Major Seminary.
With the decision to open a Major Seminary in Bambui in 1973, the Bambui Teacher Training College was transferred to Tatum. Pa, with a big family of eight children at the time, was not comfortable with the idea of moving to Tatum, which was still very rural and isolated. Pa could not understand why most of the much younger teachers who had just graduated from ENS were being posted to Bamenda Town rather than being sent to such rural areas like Tatum. When attempts to have his transfer reversed by the Catholic Mission were turned down, Pa turned his attention to the government. During the mid-term break in Tatum, Pa rushed to Yaounde to file his application to join the Public Service. Thanks to the help of his former classmate (Vice-Minister Luma) who was in the Ministry of Education in Yaounde, his application into the Public Service was granted immediately, in 1973. Government postings had already been made, but the Ministry was still able to find a place in September for Pa at Lycée Polyvalente de Bonabéri (Douala) that had just been setup by Canada. Pa was to replace a teacher who had failed to show up at the school. Unfortunately, that teacher suddenly finally showed up, and with good excuse. Pa was then told to wait for the next year’s postings.
Pa returned to Tatum to round up the year. He finished his class program, and then resigned as a Catholic Mission teacher.
In 1974, Pa Forngang Ndenge was posted to Government Grammar School Mamfe, and was welcomed by Pa Ako Arrey, the Principal. Pa Forngang’s family stayed behind in Mankon. In Mamfe, he worked tirelessly and with dedication. His students remember him well for his jokes and unique teaching style. After class, you would usually find him wearing a straw hat to beat the Mamfe sun, holding a spade in one hand, pacing the virgin school land, counting his steps as he made measurements of distances that separated specific locations, he dug to plant trees or shrubs. His activities on campus sort of mused both staff and students. Yet, Pa went about his daily field routine (-even on weekends) quietly and unperturbed, just murmuring to himself as he counted the paces. Here he would plant a line of coconut trees, there he would plant a line of orange trees, over there some shrubs, and so on. He traced out grass lawns too. It did not take long for the students to come up with a nickname for Pa. For the rest of his stay in Mamfe, Pa was fondly called “Boxer”, as the horse character in George Orwell’s novel, Animal Farm, that worked voluntarily and tirelessly without complaining and with the firm conviction that its efforts were contributing ultimately to the success of the revolution. Today those trees Pa planted are still there, and the school yard is a real beauty.
Pa got transferred to work in the Education Office in Bamenda in 1976. He was sent to start GTTC Atuakum, which was later transferred to Nkwen. There too, Pa’s Biology students labelled him with the nickname “Pa Hashish”. Following government’s suspension of the Teacher Training Program, Pa was transferred to GBHS Bamenda, Ntamulung where, for 2 years, he taught Biology. His nickname in Ntamulung was “Pa Baiyo”. When the Teacher Training Program was re-started some years later, Pa was sent back to GTTC Bamenda, where he taught until 1996, and then retired from teaching for good.
Two of the school books Pa wrote were titled “Science for the Beginner”, and “A Simplified Guide to Classroom Teaching”.
Pa Forngang Alphonsus Ndenge, the Culture Man.
Pa’s first contact with the Mankon Palace came when Fon Ndefru III crowned him successor to his grandfather (Tatah Forngang), who had a seat in the Palace, while Pa was attending primary school (Infants 2 Class) in Ntambeng in 1936.He was too young to handle matters of succession, and his own father was charged with holding the seat for him, until he would be of age to handle things for himself.
In 1948, when a United Nations delegation came to Bamenda to see for themselves the condition of the Trustee Territories, Pa who was Headmaster at the time in Akum, was sent by the local elites to collect camwood from the Mankon Palace for the welcoming ceremony. Fon Ndefru III discovered, through this encounter, that Pa could be of great service to him.So, from that time onwards, the Fon often had Pa come to the Palace to see him. At the death of Fon Ndefru III in 1958, with all the princes gathered around in mourning, one elderly Pa of the Palace asked Pa Forngang to go immediately bring along the present Fon Angwafor III, the pretext being that he wanted to send the prince on a personal errand. When Pa Forngang brought the prince, the latter was snatched and taken away to be prepared as successor to his late father. The next Fon in line, enthroned as Angwafor III, counted too on Pa’s diligence and trustworthiness.The Fon often requested Pa’s services and technical advice on some specific issues concerning Mankon. As a teacher, Pa developed a passion for in-depth research on the history and culture of the Mankon people. He went on to write a couple of publications and books to this effect. Three of his books are: “Mankon Royal Dynasty and its Legends”, “The Treasure of the Mankon Kingdom”, and “Mankon, the History of a People”. Anthropologists and university lecturers often consulted him on issues concerning the Mankon culture and history.
For over twenty years, Pa was the pioneer Chairman of the Mankon Traditional Council (MTC). He was very instrumental in the organization of certain big events in Mankon, like the “Nukwi” (- a feast in commemoration of the previous Fon by the present Fon) and the 50th Anniversary celebration of the enthronement of the present Fon, Angwafor III. Pa spearheaded the project of setting up the Mankon Museum at the Palace, in association with a certain Italian lady researcher. He documented most of the artifacts, writing down the history behind them. He traced and sketched the line of all the Fons that have ruled over Mankon, giving dates and each one’s history.
Pa designed and set up the present structure of Quarters and the election of Quarterheads in Mankon based on their fervent dedication to local development and the ideals of the Fondom, rather than merely being a son of the soil.
Pa was usually among the team of ambassadors the Palace sent out to other Fondoms to represent the Mankon people. He made official announcements during traditional ceremonies in the Palace. He has a handful of TV interviews and presentations on the culture of the Mankon people.
Pa Forngang Alphonsus Ndenge and the Church.
Our father lived and died as a dedicated Catholic Christian. He made it a habit of attending daily mass, and was part of his local Christian Community, St Martin. At home, he spent close to an hour each morning after morning mass, and before breakfast, meditating and praying. He was very discreet in his works of charity towards the community. Every day, at three o’clock, he would be saying Divine Mercy prayers.
Pa was a member of the St Joseph’s Catholic Men’s Association (CMA), Cathedral Parish. Even as age caught up with him, he struggled to attend their meetings. Sometimes the members collectively visited him at home. He went to all lengths to get, from Douala, his own piece of their new CMA uniform and CMA wrapper fabric to decorate the church on the group Patron Saint’s feast day, St. Joseph. Pa was also a patron of some church choirs.
Whenever he visited his children overseas in the USA or Europe, Pa found great pleasure in visiting religious sites like churches, pilgrim centres and libraries. A good part of his return-home luggage was mainly books on religion; he would wrestle with his children over the issue of costly extra-kilos on the flight, but always won in the end.
Pa was involved in the allocation of land to the Church (Catholic, Presbyterian Missions) in Mankon, serving often as a go-between between the Fon of Mankon and the Church. The case of the present Small Mankon Catholic Church location is worthy of note.
Pa Forngang Alphonsus Ndenge’s Health & General Issues.
Pa was a very social person. He was an active member of traditional, quarter, church, and other social groups. Many a young couple came to seek his advice on this or that problem they were facing. He reached out often to the needy but remained very discreet about that. He stayed on top of trying to solve family problems, and continuously interacted with family members. He found pleasure in his interactions with the grandchildren especially.
For most of Pa’s life, he never ever took seriously ill, probably since he played football a lot, and his Raleigh bicycle was the main means of displacement around, in his early teaching days. He used to ride from Kumbo town to Wainama just to hang out with friends, and then ride all the way back. Pa’s eyesight was good, on average. However, during his last few years, there was a noticeable degradation in his ability to read small print, which made him get reading glasses.
His appetite remained excellent from birth to death. He loved good food, especially meat, which he ate copiously in all forms (roasted, boiled, smoked), yet he never developed gout. At old age, he developed a particular liking for roasted pork meat harvested from young, tender piglets. He loved palm wine and took alcohol with moderation. He loathed the cigarette, tobacco. His teeth remained all in place, white and strong.
Pa’s first major health crisis came in June 2016, when he complained of progressive tiredness and unexplained weakness. After multiple consultations in three local hospital centres in Bamenda, Pa was referred to Shishong Catholic Hospital Cardiac Centre. There, the diagnosis was a heart problem, a failing heart. Pa urgently needed a pacemaker. Pa’s children responded immediately. Thanks to God, the dexterity, the care of Doctor Cabral and the hospital staff of the Shishong Cardiac Centre, the operation went successfully well. There we found Pa, just a couple of days after the operation, in top form, joking and laughing, with a sling he wore that held the bent left arm close to the chest; which arm position he had to maintain for the next three months.
Pa also took a lot of local teas and herbs, some of which he massaged his legs and feet with, after his morning bath. When asked why he had so many bottles of different traditional medicines on his table, he usually jokingly would reply that, his being in good health means that at least one of them is working, though he might not know which one in particular.
Pa had a condition called Essential tremors, which as the name implies, causes different body part to shake.His trembling hands worsened during the last decade. In spite of this, he would insist to hold the cup himself while drinking his tea or water. Alzheimer was never the cause. His hearing too dropped slightly, but he heard well at close range. Pa’s mental state and his reasoning faculty remained sharp throughout his life. He still participated and directed family meetings. He still reasoned and debated issues logically. He could still recite his school-day poems and would quote you dates in his narratives without blinking. He remembered names of his teachers, his school mates, and colleagues. He remembered historical dates. Yes, he was a living library!
During his regular medical checkups at the hospital, it was thought that Pa was developing diabetes. A blood sugar tester/monitor was got for him. His blood sugar level was on average okay, after proper techniques were instituted to measure his glucose levels.Pa caught a nasty cold about two weeks before his death, and practically came out of it. That was one of the rare occasions when he completely lost his appetite! We knew then that it was serious business, so we stepped up the controls and monitoring: daily routines of temperature, blood pressure and blood sugar measurements. His vital signs were okay, but Pa had to be controlled for almost an hour each time before he could have a bite of any food.
On the afternoon of Saturday, February 27th, 2021, Pa complained of severe tiredness. An elderly neighbour with a gifted eye, Ma Sophie Atang, who visited him that afternoon, called for the priest who came straightaway and administered the Sacrament of Extreme Unction (“Last Oil”) to Pa, who also passed his confession and received the Sacrament of Holy Communion. He was tired, but walked by himself to meet the priest, participated actively in the prayers, and even chatted light-heartedly with the priest. Afterwards, Pa had a light meal, and then went to bed to rest. One of Pa’s step-sisters who happened to visit Pa that afternoon, related to us after Pa died, that Pa had told her that he was feeling his time was up, and that she should pray for him; that she would probably not see him again.
Later on in the evening, Pa’s daughter, Mrs. Immaculate Formambuh visited him, and vital signs were checked again around about 6 pm, with the readings being okay. Pa continued to complain of extreme tiredness and so his daughter offered to take him to the hospital but he down-played the event citing that there would be no doctors at the premise during the evening hours anyways. She then helped pa to bed and before going to her home, promised to check on him the following day.At about 11:15 pm, Pa walked out of his room and sat on his favorite parlour chair, and told Gerard, his trusted help and driver (who usually slept next door to Pa) to accompany him to the toilet. After helping him in the bathroom, Gerard only then noticed that Pa was sweating and slumping over, getting weaker, so he panicked and called Mrs. Formambuh who advised that he should take Pa to the hospital, and she would meet them there. Gerard then sought the assistance of Fru, another of Pa’s children in the house, and they both struggled and put Pa into his jeep, which they drove to the Bamenda Regional Hospital that Saturday night. Pa arrived at the emergency section of the hospital, and was met by his daughter, Mrs. Immaculate Formambuh and a few minutes later, around 11:55pm, Pa passed. Pa took everyone by surprise. We had not paid enough attention to the details that he had been giving to us about his imminent death. However, one thing for sure, Pa had his wish granted: to die peacefully, without enduring pain and suffering to himself or to his entourage.
Pa lost his wife on May 22, 1986, and never got remarried. Together, they had nine children, five boys and four girls. Pa’s seventh child (John) passed on a few hours after birth, in 1965. He Lost his first grandchild, Funiba Ndenge-Che in 2001. Pa buried his first son, Niba Jude Thaddeus Ndenge in 2017. Pa was proud of his several grandchildren and great-grandchildren. He lived a simple, but full and fruitful life. We thank God for his long life; 97 years on earth!