Summit Magazine

Summit Magazine: The venue for the celebration of the 50th anniversary after reunification is hanging on the air pending the announcement of the Head of State, Paul Biya. Some people talk of Buea, others say Kumba, Bamenda and Foumban. As a historian where should the celebrations take place? Professor Victor Ngoh Julius: Well I think it should be m... ade absolutely clear, the reunification event was between British Southern Cameroons and the Republic of Cameroon. At that time the centre of power of authority in British Southern Cameroon was in Buea. All negotiations between Ahidjo and Foncha which took place in British Southern Cameroons took place in Buea. So there is absolutely no place of saying Kumba, Bamenda or Foumban should host the event. He was a man who never got the recognition that he deserved in his native Cameroon, even though he was one of the countrys most internationally acclaimed writers, with poems and novels that were celebrated across the globe; he was a man whose political choices infuriated and confused many of his fans who believed that he had turned his back on his people; he was a man who shunned Western religion for his own indigenous religion called Esimo ya Mboka; he was a man who would rather be labeled as mad than change his appearance to conform to societys expectations; he was a man who went out of his way to live a very basic and even Spartan life, devoid of the trappings of materialism, in a society which worshipped wealth to the point of insanity. That man was Mbella Sonne Dipoko, the poet-novelist, politician and traditional ruler of Missaka, who died last December 5 in Tiko in the Southwest region of Cameroon. In this commemorative issue, Summit Magazine revisits and celebrates the colorful and controversial life of a literary giant and a political maverick whose passing has left a huge gap in the countrys literary, cultural and political landscape.Read More