By Fai Cassian Ndi
Dr. Fuh Calistus Gentry, Secretary of State
for Mines, Industries and Technological Development in his eulogy described
late Emimi Emmanuel as a statesman, administrator and refined politician. He said
the former mayor was a good example of a patriotic Cameroonian who had served
the country and the international community in various capacities. To Dr. Fuh
Calistus, the passing away of Emimi Nnekwe Emmanuel was a great lost to the CPDM
party, the Mbembe people and the entire Ako/Misaje Special Constituency as a
whole.
Hon. Ntoi J.E.Kay testified to mourners that
late Emimi Nnekwe Emmanuel principally was his father, mentor, close friend and
a reliable political collaborator. To Hon. Ntoi, the departed hero was a common
denominator and a unifying factor that earned him numerous titles like “ICON, WHITEMAN MAYOR and UN” in Mbembe
land, Cameroon and across the borders. He
added that the late mayor of Ako died
as a devoted Christian, “infact a man
whose generosity was vertical and horizontal with no bias to age, gender,
tribe, political party, religion, poor and needy, colour etc. A political
figure, who had a reserved affection for the CPDM party he supported”. Hon.
Noti J E Kay in his concluding testimony emphasized that by human evaluation,
late Emimi was an upright man and the rest and more important is left to the
Creator, the Almighty God. “His death does not contradict God’s appointed time
as the greater teacher Ecclesiastes reminds us in his 3rd
Chapter-verse 2:- “There is time to be
born and time to die, a time to plant and a time to uproot”.
On his part, Hon. Abe Micheal Ndra summed the
life of the great man in three words: he was credible, transparent and
trustworthy man. “He has left a vacuum
that it will take the people of Mbembe time to fill. We will always feel his
absence in the life of this municipality”.
In the more than 10.000 people who attended
the funeral mass at the Presbyterian Church Ako, everyone had a story to tell
about the retire UN worker. Those who knew him when he was mayor of Ako for
close to 12 years 8 months had their own story while those who knew him when he
was in the Nigerian Police, Army and the Cameroon Army also had a story to tell
about the soldier he was. His party colleagues also had their own story while
the kids who always turn around him in his small store in his residence had
their own story. Even this reporter who braved the road from Bamenda to Ako to pay
his last respected to the Whiteman mayor as he was fondly called has his own
story. In fact as Ntoi Victor puts it, Emimi was a man of few words but he was
a man of action. He was a philanthropist of great magnitude who did not like to
see anyone suffering when he could help.
Nveya Ernest, YCPDM Section President for Ako
described late Emimi as a political giant. “When
Pa Emimi was ill, you saw what happened, the CPDM lost elections in Ako. It was
not because he did not deliver the goods but because he was the political
strategist that was able to read and understand politics. Ako will live to
remember him through his innovative ideas. He constructed the Ako Border market
that is second only to that of Kioy-si and above all, he is on record to have
constructed the first storey building in Ako town (our council chambers)”.
Njoh Jonathan, former Secretary General of
the Ako who worked with the late mayor for over 10 years described late Emimi
as an exemplary politician and municipal administrator. “He was very strict but compensated hard work, transparency and
truthfulness. I learned a lot from him. He was a man of exceptional charm that
pulled people because of his way of living, kind and full of humility. Since I
started working with him, I never saw him in any staff’s office and above all a
man of the people, father who would always give advice to the youth”.
Emimi
Nnekwe Emmanuel Whom I knew
Born on June 15, 1935 in Ako of father Nnekwe
Turura and Gimbiya Yarafa, young Emimi attended primary school at Abong Nigerian
border village and Takum still in Nigeria where he obtained his Standard Sixth
Passed Certificate. In 1951, he enrolled at the Government Secondary School
Katsina-Ala (Nigeria) and due to his job ambitiousness; he obtained brilliantly
the entrance into the Nigerian Police. While in the police corps, he obtained
entrance into Ikeja School of Post and Telecommunication where he graduated
with an International Senior Certificate as a wireless operator. In 1956, he
requested that he should be transferred to the Nigerian Army and it was
accepted. In 1960, served with the United Nations Peace Keeping Force in the
then Congo Leopole Ville, Kingshasa during late Prime Minister Patrice Lumumba
and TSOMBE Crisis. He was one of those who campaign for reunification. When it
finally happened, Emmi Nnekwe was transferred in 1961 to the Cameroon Army.
From 1966-1980, he served as Chief of Transmission Center in the following
military sectors, Bafoussam, Douala, Ebolowa, Bertoua and Buea where he retired
on December 31, 1980.
In 1981, obtained another lucrative job with
the United Nations High Commission for Refugees,
Cameroon Branch office where
he served as Chief of Service for Telecommunication for Central Africa. In 1992,
he requested for anticipated retirement with the UN and was granted pension
with the UN diplomatic status.
Back in Ako, he was the first CPDM sub
Section for the entire Ako Sub Division from 1993-1996 and from 1996 up to
March 21, 2013 when he died; Emimi was the Vice CPDM Section President. In 2002
the won the Ako Council and he was elected mayor. In 2007, he was again
reelected for a second mandate which he served up to 2013 when he fell sick.
Pa Emimi aka Whiteman mayor has received many
distinctions and decorations. He was decorated with the Public Force Medal and
the Cameroon Order of Merit. He was happily married and had 9 children and 12
grand children. He was perfectly bilingual.
When News Breaks Out, We Break In. Minute by Minute Report on Cameroon and Africa
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