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An Encomium is a Latin word deriving from the Ancient Greek enkomion, meaning “the praise of a person or thing.” Another Latin equivalent is “laudatio”, “a speech in praise of someone or something”. This encomium is dedicated to one of my most cherished and highly esteemed educationist, erudite formator, in the person of Dr Jervis Kebei Kewi on the occasion of his nomination as “Secretary General” of the Cameroon Conference of Bishops. Dr. Jervis Kebei was officially nominated as Secretary General at the end of the 45th Plenary Assembly of the Bishops of Cameroon, which was held from November 3 to November 6, 2020, in Yaoundé, the capital city of Cameroon, the country of great ambition.

Education of Msgr. Dr. Jervis Kebei

From 1981 to 1983, Rev. Dr. Jervis Kebei earned a Bachelor’s degree in Philosophy from the Pontifical Urban University, Rome, Italy. From 1984 – 1987, he earned a Bachelor’s degree in Sacred Theology from the Pontifical Urban University, Rome, Italy. Father Jervis Kebei was ordained a priest by late Bishop Pius Awa in Buea on the 15 April 1987. He is a priest incardinated in the diocese of Buea. He celebrated his 33rd Priestly Anniversary last April 15, 2020.

Four years after his priestly ordination, his Bishop, Bishop Pius Awa sent him for further studies from 1991-1994; Rev Dr Jervis Kebei did his Master’s degree in Theology/Theological Studies at the Salesian Pontifical University, Rome, Italy, where he did a Master’s Programme in YOUTH PASTORAL AND PSYCHOLOGY.

When he returned from further studies in Rome, Italy in 1994, Dr. Jervis Kebei served as the Youth Chaplain of the Diocese of Buea before being appointed as the Rector of Bishop Rogan College in 1998. Rev. Jervis Kebei served as Rector of Bishop Rogan College from 1998 to 2006, a long period of 8 good years of fruitful service to the Diocese of Buea and to the Church. He also served as principal of Sasse College and Buea University Chaplain. With the creation of the Bamenda Catholic University, Msgr. Dr. Jervis Kebei was appointed at the Catholic University (CATUC) Bamenda, as Vice Registrar in charge of Students Affairs, CATUC BAMENDA from March 2010 – July 2016, a period of 6 years and 5 months. Dr. Jervis Kebei has an excellent and highly distinguished track record in Youth Affairs. He holds a Master’s degree in Theology with speciality in Catechetics and Youth Management. In addition, he served as Buea University chaplain before being appointed as Dean of Students’ Affairs in Bamenda Catholic University.

In April 2016, he was appointed as the Assistant Secretary General of the National Episcopal Conference of Cameroon. He served there for 4 years and 8 months before being appointed as General Secretary this month. From 2011 – 2019, He did a Doctorate Degree in Educational Psychology, at the University of Buea, Cameroon, and successfully defended in April, 2019.

Rev. Dr. Jervis Kebei: Appointment as Secretary General of the Cameroon Episcopal Conference

I got to know of the appointment of Dr. Jervis Kebei from one of my cherished classmates, in the person of Mr. Ngoumbah Leonard, who posted a two-page Final Communiqué of the 45th Plenary Assembly of Bishops of Cameroon in our “Bishop Rogan whats app group,” on November 9, 2020, last Monday. While reading through the Communiqué, at the end it noted inter alia: “At the end of their meeting, the Bishops made appointments, replacing those who have reached the end of their mandates: Secretary general: Dr. Jervis KEBEI KEWI; Assistant Secretary General: Fr. Jean ETOUNDI (cumulatively National Chaplain for Prisons)…”. This Communiqué was signed by Bishop Benoit KALA, General Secretary. It should be noted that Mr. Ngoumbah Leonard’s postings have been positively noted and appreciated in our “whats app group.” In addition, he has been an expert to the core in updating our “Bishop Rogan Class Whats app group” with daily updates from all works of life ranging from ecclesiastical News to world general news, including administrative documents and postings worldwide. I must openly appreciate him for this selfless duty to his classmates from this perspective. Continuing from where I ended before Mr. Ngoumbah Leonard positively distracted me, it would be of primordial and capital importance at this interval for me to kindly expound to you what an Episcopal Conference is, so that we may get to understand the magnitude of the appointment of Dr. Jervis Kebei as Secretary General.

What is an Episcopal Conference?

An Episcopal conference, sometimes called a Conference of Bishops, is an official assembly of the bishops of the Catholic Church in a given territory. Episcopal conferences have long existed as informal entities. The first assembly of bishops to meet regularly, with its own legal structure and ecclesial leadership function, was the Swiss Bishops’ Conference, which was founded in 1863. (See Histoire : Les origines de la CES : première expérience au monde d’une conférence épiscopale nationale (in French), Fribourg : Service de presse de la Conférence des évêques suisses).

Eventually, more than forty Episcopal conferences existed before the Second Vatican Council (See McAleese, Mary (2012), Quo Vadis? Collegiality in the Code of Canon Law (Kindle ed.), Blackrock, Ireland: The Columba Press, locations 2463-2466). However, their status was confirmed by the Second Vatican Council and further defined by the illustrious Pope Paul VI’s 1966 motu proprio, Ecclesiae sanctae (See Christus Dominus: Decree Concerning the Pastoral Office of Bishops in the Church, 28 October 1965, §36–38; Ecclesiae sanctae, 6 August 1966; The Limits of the Papacy, p. 97, by Patrick Granfield, Crossroad, New York, 1987.

Furthermore, Episcopal conferences are commonly defined by geographic borders, often national ones, with all the bishops in a given country belonging to the same conference, although they may also include neighboring countries. Certain authority and tasks are assigned to Episcopal conferences, particularly with regard to setting the liturgical norms for the Mass. In addition, Episcopal conferences receive their authority under universal law or particular mandates. In certain circumstances, as defined by the Code of Canon Law, the decisions of an Episcopal conference are subject to approval from the Holy See. Moreover, Individual bishops do not relinquish (renounce) their immediate authority for the governance of their respective dioceses to the conference. (See, John Paul II (May 21, 1998), Apostolos suos; On the Theological and Juridical Nature of Episcopal Conferences, Vatican City: Libreria Editrice Vaticana, §19).

Finally, the operation, authority, and responsibilities of Episcopal conferences are currently governed by the 1983 Code of Canon Law especially canons 447- 459 (See Code of Canon Law, 1983, §447-459; John Paul II (May 21,1998), Apostolos suos; On the Theological and Juridical Nature of Episcopal Conferences, Vatican City: Libreria Editrice Vaticana, §5).

From the above brief illumination of what an Episcopal Conference is, we can now say sin dubbio (without doubt) that our own Rev Dr. Jervis has been nominated to a Verantwortung as the German would say (that is: responsibility), not only of utmost national importance in Cameroon, but also of universal prominence. Whenever there will be the next visit of the Bishops of Cameroon to Rome for the “quinquennial visit ad limina,” more fully “ad limina apostolorum” or simply an “ad limina visit,” which is an obligation of residential diocesan bishops and certain prelates with territorial jurisdiction (such as territorial abbots), of visiting the thresholds of the [tombs of the] Apostles, in Rome. Msgr. Dr. Jervis will coordinate and join the Bishops in the plane to the Holy See to visit the Vatican and to meet the Holy Father, Pope Francis. At this indefatigable interval, I would like to focus my target on my personal relationship with Rev. Dr. Jervis Kebei.

Encounter with Rev Dr. Jervis Kebei: How I was transferred from Sasse College

I met Dr. Jervis for the first time in 1998 when I betook myself with my mum to Bishop Rogan College for interview into the College. Before then, that is between September 1997 to June 1999, I was a student in the celebrated St. Joseph College, Sasse, a College where I had been admitted in 1997 by Msgr. James Toba. I must say that my admission to Sasse College was providential. I will elucidate that in another article entitled: “My Experience in St. Josephs College, Sasse College from 1997 to 1999.” I still remember trekking from Bongo Square to St. Joseph’s College, Sasse College on foot because we found no car going down to St. Josephs College, Sasse. To cut the long story short, while in St. Josephs College, Sasse as a form two student in 1998, I saw Bishop Pius Awa and Msgr. James Toba, having a conversation. It was easy for me to distinguish between a Bishop and a Monsignor. Do you know the difference? A Monsignor does not have the following: 1). a pectoral cross; 2). The zucchetto, in Italian, meaning small gourd, from zucca, meannig pumpkin, which is a small, hemispherical, form-fitting ecclesiastical skullcap worn by Bishops.

Well, Bishop Pius Awa had a Pectoral Cross, and a Skull Cap. I admired both of them from a distance. That was a Sunday. Later, Bishop Awa celebrated Mass with the students of Sasse College. I quite admired the demureness (decorum) and momentousness with which he celebrated Mass. That was in 1998, I was in form two in St. Josephs College, Sasse College. A day later, after evening Mass, as Msgr. Toba was strolling to his home, I ran up to him and disclosed: “Monsi, can I tell you something?” He answered: “Of course, George”. He had known me because I always sat just in front of his seat in the Sasse Chapel. So, I continued: “Monsi, I would like to be a Bishop like that Bishop who celebrated Mass last Sunday: Bishop Pius Awa”. I still remember vividly that Msgr. James Toba laughed aloud. I had never heard him laugh so loud. I was frightened. He then said: “come with me”. So, I went with him into the Sasse father’s house. That was the first time of entering that house. I was totally distracted by the wonderful smell from the kitchen. Msgr. Toba took me to the living room and said: “George, you really want to be a bishop?” I said: “Yes Monsi”. He said: “I will send you to Bishop Rogan College. That is a College for Bishops”. And he smiled. I also smiled with him. Later, at the end of that academic year, Msgr. James Toba transferred me to Bishop Rogan College in 1999 to begin form 3, and it was that year that I came in contact with Msgr. Jervis Kebei for the very first time in Bishop Rogan College. Well, I would say that I did not even know who a Bishop was. However, I did not end up becoming a Bishop, but I ended up mingling and living with most of them in Cameroon, Nigeria, and Italy. As young children, we sometimes have ambition when we do not even know what they are and their responsibilities. I came to realize that it was the worst ambition to have. I was still a young boy of 13. Being a Bishop is not a dream to ever have. It is a vocation to be surprised with by the Holy Father because it is indeed a heavy cross to carry. It was important for me to narrate this anecdote in order for you to understand how I was transferred from St. Josephs College Sasse to Bishop Rogan Minor Seminary, Soppo, Buea, South West Province of Cameroon.

First Physical Encounter with Msgr. Jervis Kebei in 1999

I met Msgr. Jervis for the first and last time in the year 1999. When we arrived Bishop Rogan College, we were asked by the Secretary to have a seat in front of the Rectors office. I could see the picture s of former Rectors of Bishop Rogan College. Then, after some minutes, we were led to Msgr. Dr. Jervis’s office. I still vividly remember that I quite liked Msgr. Dr. Jervis the first time I set my eyes on him for two reasons: 1). He was putting on glasses; 2). He had a bald head. As a child, I had always knelt down every day in prayer to ask God to give me two things: “a bow head and glasses.” This might seem funny but seriously, the very first missionary priest I met in my life was Fr. Katua from France, and he had a bald head and glasses on his face. As a child, he had told me one day on our way to an outstation that those with a bald head and glasses were extremely genius and intelligent people, intellectual to the core. Since then, I have always as a child asked God to give me glasses and a bald head. He gave me only one: “glasses.” I am still waiting for a bald head. Eventually, my first impression when I set my eyes on Msgr. Dr. Jervis was totally optimistic and absolutely admiring. I also enjoyed the Gregorian chant which was playing in his office. The environment looked absolutely solemn, and totally serene, like heaven. He greeted me and my mum and asked us to seat down and the discussion continued. During the conversation, I just smiled and spent all my time admiring “his bore head and the glasses he was putting on.” In fact, I do not even remember what he asked me because my mind and all my attention was fixed on his bald head and the glasses he wore. After the long-awaited interview, I was accepted and admitted into Bishop Rogan College as a form 3 student in 1999.

Msgr. Jervis Kebei appoints me as Assistant Spiritual Prefect in BIROCOL (2000)

The following year that is in the year 2000, in form four Msgr. Dr. Jervis appointed me as the Assistance Spiritual Prefect of Bishop Rogan College. I assisted Rev. Fr. Dr. Benedict Ehinack, who was the Senior Spiritual Prefect, who is presently in the United States of America. With this post, I became a bit closer to Msgr. Dr. Jervis. This was due to the fact that I had to submit weekly reports to him about the spirituality of the Minor Seminarians. In my report to him, I did not fail to write in details and to mention the names of notorious seminarians who constantly came late to the Chapel or those who constantly made noise after the magnum silencium (great silence), or those who constantly made noise in the Chapel. As a Spiritual Prefect in form four, I knew all the noisy students and the quiet and disciplines ones. Magnum Silencium: great silence had to be respected. My duty as a Spiritual Prefect among other things [leading prayers in the Chapel] was to go around the dormitories after every Compline to find out those who did not respect this rule. That is why students in Bishop Rogan adjusted whenever they saw me especially after compline. Suffice it to say that I was awarded the price of the most frowned student in that institution by Msgr. Dr. Jervis Kebei, Rector in 2002. Why was I awarded that price? Why was I always frowning as compare to today when it cannot be understood why I am doing just the opposite, that is, constantly laughing? As a Spiritual Prefect in Birocol, I had to frown almost all the time so that some notorious students would adjust. I still have the price which was given to me: a lovely book.

All those who went through Bishop Rogan College at that time knew me very well. I remember I was given a blow by one Upper Sixth students in 2003 for having written his name and submitted to the Rector as I normally did in my report because this Upper Sixth Student was noted of constantly making noise in the Chapel. This blow almost shattered my glasses. As far as Spirituality was concerned: relationship with God, there was no joke about it. I was stern – strict, and I handled all the culprits accordingly who did not respect the rule of silence in the Chapel and Magnum Silencium.

Msgr. Jervis Kebei appoints me as Spiritual Prefect in BIROCOL in Lower Sixth (2000)

Msgr. Dr. Jervis Kebei appointed me for the second time as Spiritual Prefect of the institution. I guess he was impressed by my duty as an Assistant Spiritual Prefect in form four. So, I continued with my way of administering to the students as far as spirituality was concerned and worked closely with Fr. Basil Sede and later with Fr. Emmanuel Epie. As a Spiritual Prefect in Form four and Lower Sixth, my sight and frown made students to adjust and follow the rules on spirituality accordingly. If students had constantly seen me smiling, they would not have taken me seriously. That is why I frowned most of the times as a student in Birocol, especially in the Chapel.

Msgr. Dr. Jervis Kebei: An Empathetic Administrator

After the G.C.E Ordinary Level results had been published, those who had passed had come to Bishop Rogan for interviews to be admitted to high school. As usual, I travelled to Bishop Rogan from Mbalmayo. When I arrived Bishop Rogan, I was totally elated to see my classmates. After the interview with Msgr. Jervis, I was admitted and accepted for formation in high school in Bishop Rogan on one condition, which I had to pay 120,000 francs as deposit to reserve my place. The money had to be paid in some days, and I knew that I would not be able to pay then. It was August.

I took the letter of admission stating the condition and left for Mbalmayo. I was aware of the financial situation in my family. Normally, my parents gave us our complete school fees only after the Rentre (That is when Schools begin, because they needed that capital to buy books and resell them in our Bookshop, which was the only Bilingual Bookshop in Mbalmayo at the time). I did not want to explicate all these to Msgr. Dr. Jervis. So, I left for Mbalmayo and did not inform my parents about it. I was very sure that Bishop Rogan was my place and that nothing will make the Rector or the administration to give up my place to anyone. I was just confident about myself. One month later, Bishop Rogan resumed and I was there in the evening around 5 pm and behold, I did not find my name in the list of lower sixth students. I had no dormitory.

I went straight to see Msgr. Dr. Jervis in his office to complain that I had not seen my name in the list. He asked me: “You did not pay the deposit which was a condition”. I then expounded to him the reason why I could not have paid the money before August. He looked right into my eyes and asked: “I am sorry George; your place has been taken”. He asked me to wait outside his office and I went outside in mental prayer, knowing fully well that Divine Providence will safe me, and it did save me. Some 15 minutes later, Msgr. Dr. Jerivs called me into his office and asked me if I had the deposit with me. I retorted: “I have brought the complete school fees: That was about 350, 000 Francs”. My parents always preferred to pay the complete fees for all their 8 children during the “Rentre season”, which was the only time we sold many books. I removed the 350, 000 francs and showed him. He asked me to take it to the bursar. The bursar gave me a receipt. Msgr. Dr. Jervis asked me to go to the dormitory which was just opposite the clinic. I remember that it was there that I got to know Prosbert Arrey very well. We spent a year in that dormitory. That was how I began lower sixth in Birocol, in God’s providential hands. From this experience, I came to know Msgr. Dr. Jervis as a human being in toto (totally). As a person who is empathetic, who feels for others. The fact that he made it possible for me to be admitted into lower sixth after I had not paid the deposit was a clear sign that Msgr. Dr Jervis was an empathetic educator and formator to the core.

Msgr. Dr. Jervis Kebei: The Erudite Disciplinarian

Msgr. Dr. Jervis Kebei is an erudite Disciplinarian: a person who believes in or practises firm discipline. I have an anecdote to narrate an incident that happened in 2003, while I was in lower sixth in Bishop Rogan College. One Friday morning, as a lower Sixth student in 2003, and Spiritual Prefect of Bishop Rogan Minor Seminary, seventeen years ago, I decided to brush my teeth in front of St. Kitts Dormitory because the bath room was so full of other students. I did not know that Msgr. Dr. Jervis had seen me brush my teeth outside from a distance. Those his glasses could see quite well from a long distance. After Mass that day, in his usual short conferences after Mass, he came in front of the Altar and began his speech by saying: “Nchumbonga, were are you? Could you stand up where you are?” I immediately urinated in my “celebrated apaga trousers” and my legs were trembling like the legs of a cow in a slaughter house. Then he continued: “What were you doing today in front of St. Kitts Dormitory?” And the entire students turned and looked at me in awe. I was confused. I did not know what to say. What had I done this morning that was wrong or incorrect? I began brainstorming like google. Then he continued: “I saw you brushing your teeth today in front of St. Kitts Dormitory this morning like a village farmer, true or false?” I retorted like a baby in front of spilt milk: “True Father:” He continued: “That should be the very last time that I catch you brushing your teeth in front of the dormitory. Teeth are brushed in the bath room”. And I retorted: “Yes Father.” and the court interrogation ended. I never ever made that mistake again. This is to illustrate how Msgr. Dr. Jervis Kebei inflicted discipline on us his students. He never spared the rod to spoil the child. He took note of almost everything that we did and was always ready to correct us and put in in the right track for the future.

Msgr. Dr. Jervis Kebei: The Illustrious Homilist and notable Orator

Msgr. Dr. Jervis Kebei is an eloquent and highly skilled public speaker, a celebrated orator. In addition, he is an illustrious homilist during Eucharistic celebrations. Msgr. Dr. Jervis Kebei is one of the priests of the Diocese of Buea who preaches well. He is gifted in oratory. He can hold an audience “spellbound” for hours because he knows how to convey his message to whatever audience. “Being spellbound is when your attention is caught by something, and you just can’t look away, almost as if you were bound by a spell”. Msgr. Dr. Jervis Kebei is a good speaker and excellent preacher. I hardly ever saw him preach by reading a piece of paper. His homilies are well prepared, pregnant with Scriptures and they flow from his well-prepared mind. He always has the exact words and story to tell to pass across his message. As a student in Bishop Rogan College, I always wrote down all his homilies in an exercise book because I each word that came out of his mouth was wisdom. In addition, my aunt in Yaounde made the following comment: “Father Jervis is a wonderful preacher. I just can’t miss his Masses. His homilies are very practical and extremely touching”.

Msgr. Dr. Jervis Kebei: A Man with a Great Memory

Msgr. Dr. Jervis Kebei has a great memory. I use to wonder how he remembered the name of almost all the students in Bishop Rogan College. No one could escape if caught out of bounds in Bishop Rogan. Msgr. Dr. Jervis will sought you out by name. In addition, during his homilies in Bishop Rogan College, it was very easy for him to call the students by name if he caught them sleeping while he was delivering the homily. He truly has a great memory, and till date, when he sees his former students, he can call them directly by their name. I had this experience with him last Sunday, October 4th in Yaounde. When I went to the Sacristy after Mass to greet him at the Benedictine Monastery in Mont Febe, when he saw me coming, he said almost immediately: “Nchumbonga, what are you doing in this part of the world?”This shows his great memory.

Msgr. Dr. Jervis Kebei: An Erudite Youth Chaplain

Msgr. Dr. Jervis Kebei is well-known as an erudite Youth Chaplain nationally in Cameroon and internationally. He served in the Diocese of Buea for some years as a Youth Chaplain. In addition, he travelled to the ends of the Diocese of Buea to organize the world day of youth in the Diocese before he was appointed as Rector of Bishop Rogan College. Four years after his priestly ordination, his Bishop, late Bishop Pius Awa sent him for further studies from 1991-1994 in Rome, Italy. Msgr. Jervis Kebei did his Master’s degree in Theology/Theological Studies at the Salesian Pontifical University, Rome, Italy, where he did a Master’s Programme in YOUTH PASTORAL AND PSYCHOLOGY, specifically in Youth Development and Management. This study prepared and equipped him for youth chaplaincy. He serves for many years as Youth Chaplain of the Diocese of Buea and as Youth Chaplain in the University of Buea. No wonder he was later appointed at the Catholic University (CATUC) Bamenda, as Vice Registrar in charge of Students Affairs, before being nominated as Deputy Secretary of the Cameroon Episcopal Conference. From all indications, Msgr. Dr. Jervis supervised the construction of the University of Buea Church in Molyko to cater for the spiritual life of the Students of that University and he worked there tirelessly as a University Chaplain of the University of Buea.

Msgr. Dr. Jervis Kebei: An Erudite Educationist to the Core

Msgr. Dr. Jervis Kebei is a priest – scholar, educationalist. An educationalist is a person who has a special knowledge of the principles and methods of teaching. As a priest, after his ordination, Msgr. Jervis did not stop learning and updating his educational qualifications. He served as an educationalist: rector of Bishop Rogan College, principal of Sasse College and Buea University chaplain. Last year, in April 4, 2019, Msgr. Dr. Jervis defended his doctorate degree Doctorate Degree in Educational Psychology at the University of Buea, Faculty of Education, and Department of Educational psychology. His doctorate topic was titled: “Transition of Emerging Adutls (18-25 years) from Home to University: Implications for Moral Adjustment to University Life in Cameroon, By Jervis Kebei Kewi, (ED106734).” His main supervisor was the Emeritus Professor Therese M.S. Tchombe, and his Co-Supervisor was Dr. Joseph Lah Lo-oh.

Msgr. Dr. Jervis Kebei: Man, of Didactic Conferences

A didactic conference is a conference intended to teach, particularly in having moral instruction as an ulterior motive. Msgr. Dr. Jervis delivered his conferences every Sunday before lunch in Bishop Rogan College. Almost every good student in Bishop Rogan College was always eager to attend his conferences because he always had something fruitful to tell us. His conferences were like a film show in the sense that, whenever it ended, I always felt sad, because they were very totally thought-provoking, absolutely stimulating and incredibly remarkable. During his conferences, Msgr. Dr. Jervis impacted in us a holistic formation. As far back as 1999, in his conferences, Msgr. Dr. Jervis narrated to us his experiences in Europe, from one country to another, the importance of taking our studies seriously if we wanted to know the world. Little did I know that he was preparing us for the international world. During his conferences, he taught us how to brush our teeth, how to take our bath well, how to look clean. He taught us to take our studies seriously. He taught us to take our spiritual life very seriously. He formed us holistically to integrate well into the society. Most of the students who did not follow the directives of Msgr. Dr. Jervis Kebei did not fit in well into the society. This is a message of encouragement to all the students in Birocol to take their holistic formation in Bishop Rogan very seriously, so that they do not regret like those who did not take their formation seriously. I have decided not to give a summary of the conferences which Msgr. Dr. Jervis delivered to us while we were in Birocol here because I do not wish to make this encomium very long. I will dedicate a treatise entitled: “My Holistic Formation and Experience in Bishop Rogan Minor Seminary, Soppo, Buea”. There, I will give a summary of some of the conferences he delivered to us. I had an exercise book in which I always wrote a summary while was delivering his conferences. Msgr. Dr. Jervis Kebei gave as a balanced formation, in which he made us to become noble men in the society.

I would like to conclude this encomium by first of all thanking God for the life of Msgr. Jervis Kebei Kewi. Without God’s Divine Providence, Msgr. Jervis Kebei would not have been able to form so many Youth and students in different parts of Cameroon. Secondly, I would like to sincerely pray for God’s guidance and protection to Msgr. Jervis Kebei as he undertakes this new position of primordial and capital importance in the Church of Cameroon, and the Universal Church in general. May God bless him with long life, good health, constant peace, joy, happiness as he carries out this function. Dear Msgr. Jervis Kebei, be rest assured of my prayers for you as you continue to serve as a selfless priest in the vineyard of God. May you be blessed both now and forever. Amen.

Written by Nchumbonga George Lekelefac

This treatise is dedicated to Professor Bernard Nsokika Fonlon, M.A., Ph.D., (Nui) Dip. Ed. (Oxon), who was born 96 years ago, on 19 November 1924 in Nso, North West Region of Cameroon, died 26 August 1986. He was a government minister and leading intellectual of Cameroon. A man of diverse abilities, Fonlon was characterized as the Cameroonian Socrates. He was a major promoter of bilingualism, as reflected in the Journal Abbia: Cameroon Cultural Review that he founded in the early 1960s.

Dr. Prof. Bernard Nsokika Fonlon is the first English speaking Cameroonian to earn a Doctorate Degree in 1961 at the University of Ireland. The first French Cameroonian to earn a Doctorate Degree was Reverend Father Jean Zoa in 1953 in Biblical Studies at the Pontificia Universitas Urbaniana, in Rome, Italy. Prof. Dr. Fonlon did his secondary school education at Christ the King College, Onitsha Nigeria from 1942 to 1945. Later, he studied in Bigard Memorial Senior Seminary, Enugu, Nigeria from 1948 to 1953. He was among the pioneer seminarians at Bigard Memorial Senior Seminary in 1948, together with Monsignor Alphonsus Aghaizu, who happens to be the oldest living Monsignors in South-East Nigeria. He is presently 95 years old and is retired at St. Paul’s parish, Owerri. Fonlon’s one and only desire was to become a Catholic priest. Just before the sub-diaconate, Bernard experienced the greatest crisis of his life. He was informed that he would not be admitted to Major Orders, and that there was no likehood of that decision being changed in the future. This happened in November 1953 at Enugu, in Nigeria. In the midst of the darkness of that crisis, with his hopes for ordination completely shattered. Msgr. Aghaizu describes the scene on August 20, 2020 in his humble contribution to the cause for the beatification of his close friend Dr. Fonlon:“I was due for sub-diaconate ordination with Fonlon 1953 but he was dropped the morning of the ordination, but he maintained his cool, and went with me as previously arranged for a month’s holiday to Msgr. P. Meze’s parish at Maku. The authorities arranged for him to teach at C.K.C his alma mater (1942 to 1945). At my ordination at Uli 1954, Fonlon and three of his friends came from C.K.C to Uli despite the fact that there was ordination same day at Onitsha….After my month’s tour of the stations at Uli Parish, I was due to return to Bigard to obtain my faculties; and I decided to touch C.K.C enroute. I did not go to the Fathers House upstairs but to the teacher’s quarters to stay with Fonlon. Next morning, he followed me to the fathers Chapel and served my mass! The authorities were so impressed at this gesture that they gave him scholarship to study in Cork, Ireland”.

Thus, thanks to his exceptional gesture, between 1954-1961, Fonlon got a Scholarship [from a disappointment to a blessing], and studied at the National University of Ireland, Cork: studied under Professor E. Byrne Costigan, Prof. Drs O’Flaherty, Prof. Servais, Prof. Forgatton at Sorbonne, Paris; Fonlon also studied under Professor Georges Balandier Oxford University and under professor Halls. Had he become a priest, he would not have had the opportunity to serve his country as a Christian and intellectual in politicians as he did for Cameroon. God had other plans for him.

Academic Qualifications of Fonlon

Fonlon earned the following Academic Qualifications: 1939: Primary School leaving Certificate; 1945: Senior Cambridge Grade One; 1946: The Nigerian Teacher’s Higher Elementary Certificate; 1957: B.A. Honurs, NUI Cork (2.1, Latin and French); 1958: M.A., NUI Cork (First, Thesis: Flaubert Ecrivain, a study of Flaubert’s style, written in French); 1960: Diploma in Education, Oxford University; Ph.D., NUI Cork (Thesis: Bernard Nsokika. La poesie et le reveil de l’homme noir / par Bernard Fonlon, published by Presses Universitaires du Zaire), an investigation into Negro African protest literature in English and in French (inclusing North America, the Caribbean, Africa and Madagascar. This was the the first Ph. D thesis in this field and was written in French under the auspices of professor W. McCausland Stewart (Bristol), Dr. Green (Oxford) and Professor E. Byrne Costigan (NUI Cork). This Ph. D was the first doctorate awarded to a Cameroonian in Ireland; 1986: D. Litt. (Honoris Causa), University of Guelph, Canada. With this extensive study, Fonlon earned three Academic Honours: 1). Nigeria – Patron of the Philosophical Fraternity of the University of Nigeria; 2). USA: Member of the National Geographic Society; 3). USSR: Awarded the Pushkin Medal in Moscow on the 170th anniversary of the birth of the celebrated Russo-African Writer.

A Genuine and True Christian cum Intellectual in Politics

As far as his political life is concerned, Fonlon served as an interpreter to Amadou Ahidjo, the first Cameroonian President, and later was a Minister, in which he distinguished himself in politics with his moral, spiritual and intellectual life on returning to Cameroon. He held the following post in the Cameroon government: In 1961, he was assistant Secretary to the Prime Minister of the Southern Cameroons; 1961-1964: Charge de Mission (Presidential Aide) at the Presidency, Yaounde, Cameroon; 1964-1968: Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs; 1968-1970. Minister of Transport, Posts and Telecommunications; 1970-1971: Minister of Public Health and Social Welfare; 1962-: Founder and Director of Abbia, the bilingual Cameroon Cultural Review; 1971: Associate Professor in the University of Yaounde.

Prof. Daniel Noni Lantum, “the right hand man” of Fonlon, who is said to have known Fonlon more than anybody else in Cameroon observes in his book titled: “Dr. Bernard Nsokika Fonlon: An Intellectual in Politics” that Fonlon was an indefatigable, relentless father of Cameroon Bilingualism at work, that Africanist intellectual and learned philosopher of the Presence Africaine up-bringing, that tireless professor of Negro-African Literature of the University of Yaounde from 1978 to 1984, that revolutionary Cameroonian Educationist of the 1960s, that inspiring and unquenching source of Liberty and Democracy even in the Ahidjo Regime (1958 – 1982), that Christian intellectual and politician who was physically present but spiritually absent from the materialism of the political environment of his time.

One of the circles in which Dr. Fonlon left an indelible mark was in politics. His involvement with Cameroon politics was natural as it was inevitable. He was motivated by a genuine desire to bring to the politics of his country the very best intellectual and moral qualities that he possessed, having passed through Bigard Memorial Senior Seminary, with a holistic formation: Intellectual, Spiritual, Pastoral and Human formation which equipped him for politics. It should be noted that Cameroon and indeed Africa was emerging from colonial enslavement to independence and such a critical period needed the best type of leadership that each country could provide. Dr. Fonlon who had foreseen this need and had prepared himself accordingly, believed that those who governed – and politics is to do ultimately with good government – should have the intellectual and moral preparation for such an important and sacred task. He believed with Socrates that “kings should be philosophers” or that those who govern should have the intellectual and moral qualities which true philosophy inculcates. With these principles which Fonlon learnt from Bigard, he distinguished himself in politics and earned eleven Political Honours: 1). Canada: The Canadian Medal; 2). Vatican: A Papal Medal, the Medal of the Concilium Oecumenicum Vaticanum 1 and 2; 3). France: The Medal Trois Siecles de Cartographie Francais; 4). USA: Medal of the African-American Dialogues; OAU: Medal Issued to the Participants of the First Congres of the OAU, 1963; 5). Chevalier de l’Ordre de la Valeur, Officier de l’Ordre de la Valeur; 6). Tunisia: The Order of the Tunisian Star; 7). Nigeria: The C.O.N. for Distinguished Public Service; 8). India: The Jawaharlal Nehru Medal; 9). Africa: Madale de Vermeil d’Union Africaine et Malgache des Postes et Telecommunications; 10). West Germany: Grosses Verdienstkreuz mit Stern und Schulterband; 11). Nso: Chieftaincy title, Shufai-wu-Ntu-Ndzev, conferred by the Fon of Nso, for having brought water to Kumbo, where he was born.

Nigerian Cardinal Francis Arinze states inter alia: “I hold Dr. Bernard Nsokika FONLON in very high regard. I first got to know him in Bigard Memorial Seminary, Enugu, Nigeria, in the years 1953 and 1954. He was in his second year theology when I entered that Major Seminary in September 1953. When he and his classmates were due to be ordained subdeacons in December 1954, the Seminary authorities and his Bishop decided not to admit him to major orders. As a seminarian, I saw Bernard as a learned seminarian. I still remember how with lustre he sang “Audi Benigne Conditor” during Vespers in Lent. He took no breakfast. When other seminarians were at breakfast, he was studying, we believed he was at Latin and Greek! During holidays and in the years after he had to leave Bigard Memorial Seminary, he used to visit one of the Nigerian priests, Monsignor Peter Meze-Idigo who was very kind to him, as he also was to seminarians in general. Once during those visits by Fonlon to Monsignor Meze at Dunukofia, my parish, I took Bernard to visit my parents at Eziowelle and my father, a good wine tapper, gave him good palm wine which he took gladly. I still remember that my mother tried to converse with him in Igbo and was surprised that Fonlon did not speak Igbo. I had to inform my innocent mother that Igbo is not the only language spoken in Africa!I lost track of Fonlon in the years when he worked for a Doctorate in Ireland and another Doctorate in France. The next time I met him was during the Nigeria-Biafra war, probably in 1968 or 1969. It was a quick meeting because we were both passengers in Air France flying to Paris from Douala. At that time, Dr Fonlon was Minister of Communications in the Camerun and I was Archbishop of Onitsha. After that Nigerian civil war, I visited Dr Fonlon in Yaoundé. It may have been around the year 1972. I first visited Archbishop Paul Verdzekov in Bamenda. Then I flew from Buea to Yaoundé. Fonlon met me at the airport. I stayed about two days with hm. I then learned that he was no longer Minister in the Government because President Ahidjo called him and explained: Bernard, I regret that we can no longer retain you in the cabinet because you put the rest of us ministers to shame, because you are your own driver and you drive an old car. My unforgettable memory of my stay with Fonlon in his flat was that one day his sister prepared a fou-fou lunch for both of us. During lunch, Dr. Fonlon was so absorbed in our conversation (which was more me listening to his wisdom) that I finished my lunch; he then put together his fork and knife, put his plate aside and continued his learned discourse. He forgot that he had not eaten anything yet! I have never in my life of 87 years reached that level of detachment from creatures. On 16 Sept. 1973 he wrote a 28-page booklet: “An Open Letter to the Bishops of Buea and Bamenda” on the training of future priests. Excellent piece. Dr Bernard Nsokika Fonlon was a man of high ideals. He prayed. He said the Latin Breviary daily. He loved the Church. He was not bitter that he was not ordained priest. In my view, it was an administrative mistake of his superiors that he was not ordained. It seems to me that they did not understand him enough. He was the type of professorial intellectual who may seem not the routine parish priest. As a university priest, he could have answered many needs of the Church. However, as a lay person, he also did much good. The Camerounians are the best placed to make a judgment on this. He lived a celibate life. When I visited him in 1972, I saw that he loved the Breviary. In my view, the Cause of Beatification of Dr. Bernard Nsokika Fonlon could be introduced. I am happy to be writing these lines on this anniversary of his death. May he rest in the peace of Christ”. + Francis Card. Arinze. Vatican City, 26 August, 2020.

Prof. Fonlon: Socrates in Cameroon

Fonlon is referred to as the Socrates in Cameroon. However, unlike Socrates, he wrote countless of articles. Although Professor Fonlon died in 1986 at the age of 62, he still lives on, and will do so for very many years to come in his writings, his goals, his noble deeds, and the shining example that he has left us. Dr. Fonlon was indeed a phenomenon so great that it will require many writers and many generations to fathom the depth of his profundity. His literary, intellectual and moral qualities made him a giant among Cameroonians, Nigerians and worldwide. He was a giant who was so much at ease and at home with the peasant villagers and the poor of slum “quartiers” of Yaoundé as he was among university dons of the greatest universities of Europe, North America and Canada. He was as comfortable among Archbishops, Cardinals and priests as he was among students. He knew personally and was friendly with several presidents and political figures of Post-independence Africa among whom one could cite Osagefor Kwame Nkruma of Ghana and Gamal Abdul Nasser of Egypt. Pierre E. Truddeau, Prime Minister of Canada, was a personal friend of Dr. Fonlon. In each of the many social circles or groups that Dr. Fonlon touched, he left an indelible mark and was admired, respected, and loved because he remained true to himself, sincere, generous, friendly, humble and simple.

Message of Dr. Prof. Fonlon

Philosopher Dr. Tanju Fidel Kottoh, PhD, who happened to have been born on the day Dr. Fonlon died: August 26, 1986, writes: “What was the message of Professor Fonlon? Professor Fonlon’s message – and he was the very incarnation of the message – was the supremacy of a genuine intellectual life. This is what informed his heroic detachment from material fixations. In step with the Angelic Doctor, St. Thomas Aquinas, Professor Fonlon so believed in the primacy of the intellect that he saw genuine intellectual life as the surest panacea to the moral degradation that so potently lured the contemporary African youth. He described the ideal youth, whom he called the ‘genuine intellectual’ in the following words: ‘As Truth’s votary, ever faithful, ever sure, he is committed to wage lifelong warfare against falsehood. And as goodness and beauty are inherent in truth, it follows that he must be a constant seeker of the good and right and an inexorable and implacable of evil and wrong; and a devoted worshipper at the shrine of the beautiful and the sublime”. (Bernard Fonlon, The Genuine Intellectual, Buma Kor, Yaoundé 1978, 114). The Professor’s message was: virtue, knowledge and truth. He preached it vehemently in and out of season. But most importantly, he lived it. He himself was a paradigmatic expression of the heroic virtues he incessantly preached. His writing, teachings, encounters all attest to his desire to ‘walk the talk. ’ Above all, he was thoroughly humble. He said “it is my ambition to live the life of a simple man. The Professor’s humility was overwhelmingly evident”.

Fonlon’s cool and total dependence on Divine Providence is an attitude that ex-seminarians can emulate when they are asked to withdraw from Seminary formation. Fonlon left the Seminary without bearing any grudges. His maturity and attitude when he was dismissed is distinguished and should be emulated by ex-seminarians. Cardinal Christian Tumi, a former student of Bigard also notes in a recent interview conducted on Sunday, October 25 that Fonlon is a Saint because he did good and avoided evil. He also added that the fact that seminarians are in the seminary does not necessarily mean they must become priests, because in the course of the discernment, God might be calling them to other vocations. He challenged the seminarians never to withdraw from the Seminary on their own, but to allow the formators to ask them to withdraw. In addition, Dr. Fonlon lived the Heroic Virtues: Cardinal and theological virtues which are perquisites for the introduction of a cause of beatification. He lived the virtues of Justice in government, Prudence, Temperance and distinguished himself with the virtue of fortitude, include faith, hope and charity.

Fonlon is also an example of a lay person who took part completely in the Church. One reference to the Christian principle of life that was dear to him concerned the spirit of poverty, that is, detachment from whatever is not God. Writing to the Bishops of Buea and Bamenda in his Open Letter of 16th September 1973, on the occasion of the inauguration of the St. Thomas Aquinas Major Seminary, Bambui, Fonlon said, inter alia: “In a world that is rank and rotten with materialism, where hedonism is the principle philosophy, where luxury is the summum bonum; there is the crying need for dedicated souls who would go to the other extreme and espouse the spirit of genuine religion, the spirit of poverty, the spirit of austere abstemiousness, in order to wage war against the onslaught of materialist godlessness”. Dr. Fonlon was buried as a priest. He lived a celibate life and lived the life of a priest, despite the fact that he was a lay person. He was buried very close to his friend: Fr. Aloysius Wankuy. The bishop who celebrated his funeral: Bishop Cornelius Fontem Esua stated: “Dr. Fonlon was an illustrious Christian, a man of great devotion and a priest at heart. He was a saintly man, and on account of this, regardless of who he was, I have decided to lay his mortal remains next to those of his closest friend, late Father Aloysius Wankuy…as a sign of our gratitude for his affection and deep attachment to the Church”.

Dr. Tanju Fidel Kottoh, PhD, Philosopher observes: “Professor Fonlon was a vir probatus – a man whose unflinching devotion to virtue, knowledge and truth was evident and proven by an iconic lifestyle. His death, an event that eclipsed the ‘African intelligentsia and the entire elite of the Negro World’ is a reality that we must face up to. In the words of Professor Bongasu Tanla Kishani “we need to accommodate ourselves to the fait accompli and open our minds more than ever before to their messages”; referring to two legends: Professor Fonlon and Cheikh Anta Diop of Senegal. In the same way, he adds that “the world is in desperate need and arguably enthusiastically yearning for the manifestation of the Fonlons of our time; for the citizens of the world marked by an unrepentant commitment to virtue, knowledge and truth. As you continue reading this masterpiece, remember ‘talk is cheap. ’ Only a firm decision to emulate the heroic virtues you are about to discover/rediscover make your time worth its while. Relish every moment even as it energizes you into active participation in The Bernard Fonlon Revolution.” May his soul continue to rest in peace on the occasion of his 96th birthday celebration.

Written by Nchumbonga George Lekelefac