He was the most soft-spoken person we have known. A role model.
A cheerful soul who would always bring mirth and laughter to us.
We know you can no longer stay with us,
But we know you now watch over and protect us.
Although we cannot hear your jokes or see your smiling face,
We know deep down in our hearts that you have not left us.
You leave behind so many broken hearts,
But in our deepest despair, our greatest comfort lies knowing
that you are now at peace in Heaven.
As time passes our tears will dry, and our hearts will mend,
But our love for you will never end.

Rest in Power, Big Daddy!

Dad,

You were more than a father-in-law to us, your daughters and sons in law.

I first met you in March 1994 in Kousseri. You were then serving as Divisional Officer or, pardon me, Senior Divisional Officer for the Logone and Chari Division. I met a humble, cool, calm and collected person with a distinguished sense of duty to public service, to a peaceful and harmonious society/community, to family, and, above all, to God.

It is with a lot of humility and gratefulness that you would recount your long-standing experience in the civil service. Whether in your early professional career in West Cameroon’s civil service in Santa and Buea, or later in the central government of Cameroon at the Ministry of Public Service and further on across the nation in Dschang or Kousseri, you were consistently pleased to confirm and share your conviction that although we live in a context where most people come to seek a public service with the firm belief that nothing can be gotten without bribery and corruption, it  was and is still possible to serve righteously.

Besides, your tactful handling of community and social issues, notably the Arab Shoa and Kotoko conflict in the Logone and Chari Division, I believe, remains a major reference in conflict resolution in a nation where people are often tempted to see differences of all sorts (ethnic, linguistic,  religious, professional, gender, etc.) as impossible to reconcile. You, indeed, clearly demonstrated how people could successfully manage their identity differences and succeed in building a common and fair sense of togetherness.

You lived your life as a proud son of Nso, a feature you shared with Christian Cardinal Tumi, with whom you exchanged some two years ago precisely on the need for Nso people to preserve the Nso’ identity wherever they go, whatever they do and whomever they become.  Yet, beyond your love for your native land, your native tradition and culture, you blended this with your unflinching love of the nation, Cameroon. Beyond all ethnic and linguistic considerations your many children, both biological and non-biological, are a true reflection of your vision of a reunified, reunited and united Cameroon over and beyond political, linguistic, cultural, and other differences. All your children are indeed living examples or references of a truly bilingual and multicultural Cameroon, as they navigate so freely from French to English and the other way round without tears, to the extent that categorising them language or culture-wise as either Anglophone or Francophone would be neither fair nor correct in most instances. Thanks to you, they are role models of French and English bilingualism for Cameroonians. Your multifaceted legacy in this regard shall live on, far beyond any human acknowledgment.

In the same guise, your love for family far beyond biological bonds is unquestionably unique. Though from very humble parents, you and Mama Florence painstakingly built your home as an open space, with the strong commitment to the wisdom that where there is food for one, there is food for two. From Santa, through Buea and Yaounde to Dschang and Kousseri and back to Yaounde, you raised not only your biological children but also your brothers and sisters, your cousins, your nieces and nephews, your grandchildren, your children’s friends, and a host of other children you thought needed help that you could afford.  You have been a father beyond fathering and your house has constantly been, not like so much only as a people’s palace but as an open temple where all could seek solace under the protection of the father. Thank you for being a father to all those children, a father to many fathers, including all of us whom you continue to inspire.

Your attachment to all these precious values are definitely not unrelated to your strong commitment to the Roman Catholic faith. Faith in God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit as bequeathed to us by Jesus Christ in all his teachings. Faith in one God for all people, regardless of their origins. In this guise, you reminded me so much of my late father, insisting tirelessly on the need for all family life, actions and thoughts be placed under God's law, and more precisely under the gospels of the Lord Jesus Christ. Your commitment to Church activities, especially through the Franciscan Brotherhood, are more than a legacy bequeathed to us.

Thank you, Lord, for giving us Pa Peter Faison. We entrust him to you and ask you to receive him in your light. Thank you, Pa Peter, for showing us the right way, go and rest in peace.

Most Beloved brother-in-law, it is finally dawning on me that you have departed from our midst forever, and that I will never see you again. This stark reality has made you all the more precious and beloved than ever before. At best all I can hold on to are fading memories of the marvelous person that you were. There are countless of those remarkable scenes, too many to recount.

That Memorable Meeting at Melim.

Our last physical contact was at the funeral mass for the late father of Rev. Father Valentine Tatah at Melim in Nso. We were both over taken with joy and excitement having missed each other for long. You were exactly your old self, no wrinkles, no additional weight put on and no baldness, such that I remarked how little time and age had impacted on you largely owing to your simple lifestyle – never doing anything in excess given that you never smoked, and drank sparingly. You were soft-spoken, kind, open hearted, simple, joyful, gentle, humble and austere! God generously equipped you for His service even in the conjugal state.

Intuitively, my first question to you was whether you ever gave thought to the idea of becoming a lay Deacon. Although it was genuinely the sum total of the person I knew you to be, it was partly provocative, and I thought it would surprise you. Amazingly, you had a cut ready response, which rather put me squarely on the spot because you told me that you had already enrolled as a Lay Tertiary Franciscan! This was far more than I had bargained for and it was my turn to be shocked.

Spirituality, Your Best Element

This was typically you in your best element. Your spiritual life had always been rich, nourishing and inspiring. It had gradually taken a better grip of your being over the years such that in retirement you wholly dedicated yourself to service in the Lord’s Vineyard. My casual remark had been informed by the fact that as the Senior Divisional Officer of Menoua, you were also the Anglophone Catechist; a strange combination to the rest of us but perfectly normal to you. There was no pretense about it as you freely switched places from the highly respected position of the “Prefect to the lowly status of the Catechist without any qualms. In other words, your spirituality was instinct to the core and neither time nor holding high offices had diminished your passion for the ecclesial vocation.

A Model Prince Consort

As one married to a “Yah Yefon,” you were perfectly a square peg in a square hole. Every action of yours was well measured and full of chivalry and dignity, a veritable mirror of the Duke of Edinburgh. The entire Mbot royalty and population were happy and proud of your disposition and decorum as a Consort. You were a unique and noble example repeatedly cited for several decades.

Yours was an amazing demeanour that transcended spirituality, royalty and service in public life, where your humility, simplicity and honesty were remarkable. There were hardly any issues brought before you whether as SDO or Secretary General of the worrisome and dreadful Public Service, that left those who raised them feeling disappointed or disgruntled because you gave every situation a balanced and fair treatment.

Bequeathing a Triple Heritage

The best of you however was within the family circle, where your motto must have been “Love and Peace”. I cannot faintly recall any occasion when I heard you scold or raise your voice in discussions with your adorable wife, who for always was ‘Ya’ah’ or with your children and relatives. You could be firm but you were hardly ever harsh. It is my hope and prayer that your children and grandchildren who have for the most part taken after your example would maintain this triple heritage encompassing high spirituality, love, tranquility, humility, simplicity, and honesty.

Adieu! After a Life well Lived.

We are confident that the good Lord whom you served so diligently would as the author and dispenser of mercy, justice and compassion generously accord you the diadem which you so richly deserve. May He grant you a seat by the side of Pa Abraham your father in faith.

Fare Thee Well Peter.

May your gentle gentle soul Rest in Peace!