Emmanuel Dibango N’Djocke- "Manu Dibango". The Lion of African Music.

Emmanuel Dibango N’Djocke popularly known as Manu Dibango was born in Douala on December 12, 1933. On the international scene, he is known as the Cameroonian saxophonist, pianist, vibraphonist and composer whose “innovative jazz fusions and wide-ranging collaborative work” played a significant role in introducing European and North American audiences to the sounds of West African popular music between the mid-20th and the early 21st century.

Dibango was born into a musical Protestant Christian household to parents who represented two Cameroonian ethnic groups historically known for rivalry: his mother was Douala and his father was Yabassi. Dibango’s musical aptitude became evident at an early age through his singing at the local church.

Manu Dibango is Cameroon's, and perhaps Africa's, best-known jazz saxophonist. Starting in the 1950s, he became a globe-trotting musician, living and performing in France, Belgium, Jamaica, the Democratic Republic of Congo, and Cote d'Ivoire, as well as in Cameroon. In 1960, Manu Dibango became one of the founding Members of the Congolese band African Jazz, with which he spent five years. World attention was turned to him with the release in 1972 of Soul Makossa, a work that actually had touches of the precious makossa sound in it, and scored later hits with Seventies and Ibida. Manu Dibango’s output has been prodigious and multi-faceted. He has worked with musicians from diverse backgrounds like Fela Kuti, Sly Dunbar, Robbie Shakespeare, Don Cherry, and the Fania All-Stars. In addition to being one of the leading jazz saxophonists of his generation, Manu Dibango has also run nightclubs, directed orchestras, and started one of the first African musical journals. A later release, Polysonik featuring English rapper MC Mello, Cameroonian singer Charlotte Mbango leading a choral section, and sampled pygmy flutes shows that Manu Dibango is continuing to flourish and expand in challenging new directions.

It is almost impossible to find a fitting description for a musician such as Manu Dibango who has made such an enormous contribution to African music as a whole. He is a saxophonist, nicknamed 'The lion of Cameroon', from a track on The Very Best of African Soul album.  Originally trained in classical piano, his musical career began in Brussels and Paris in the 1950s. 1960 found him in Congo as a member of African Jazz led by Joseph Kabasele (Le Grand Kalle)! He formed his own band in Cameroon in 1963 and moved to Paris in 1965. His international breakthrough came in 1972 with Soul Makossa. 
Manu Dibango is extraordinarily versatile, having played almost every style of music you care to mention: soul, reggae, jazz, spirituals, blues... Manu Dibango features on albums by Angelique Kidjo, Anne-Marie Nzié, Frederique Meiway and Kékélé Kinavana, 2006. On his Wakafrika album of 1994, many top African and international musicians contribute. In 1985 Manu raised funds for famine-striken Ethiopia through his successful 'Tam-Tams for Ethiopia' project with Mory Kante and others.
Manu's first album was recorded in 1969 and in 1970 he accompanied Franklin Boukaka in a classic 12-track album. In the year 2000 two albums were released: Anthology, a boxed set of 3 CDs and Mboa' Su   which includes a new arrangement of Franklin Boukaka's track 'Aye Africa' (Le Bucheron), made for the millennium celebrations on Robben Island in the presence of Nelson Mandela and Thabo Mbeki.

 In 2000 Manu gave a concert in Cameroon after many years away and was given the honour of the Cameroonian of the Century together with football star Roger Milla. In 2002, an album with a difference was released entitled B Sides with most of the tracks re-mastered from recordings in the 1970s where Manu plays, not sax, but the marimba and vibraphone.

 There are Rough Guides to the music of whole countries but Manu warrants one all to himself: the 13-track album The Rough Guide to Manu Dibango (2004) has the full range of his songs, classics and rarities .
Manu's autobiography was originally published in French in 1989 with the English translation, Three Kilos of Coffee, published in 1994. The book makes fascinating reading as Manu describes his experiences personally. In 1984 he originated the word 'negropolitain'.
Manu performed alongside Cuban Clave Y Guaguanco at the Barbican in London in 1999 and played there again in April 2001 with the spectacular Afro-Funk Big Band including Richard Bona, Claude Deppa and Tony Allen. In 2003 he was on stage with Ray Lema at WOMAD. In September the same year Manu was in London with the Soweto String Quartet for an evening of songs of struggle and liberation.

 To celebrate his 70th birthday Manu held a unique concert with special guests at London's Barbican in October 2004. Earlier in 2004 he was named as UNESCO's Peace Artist of the Year.
 

A major event for 2007 was Manu's celebration of his 50 years in music, coinciding with the release of a CD/DVD The Lion of Africa. Manu paid tribute to jazz composer and musician Sydney Bechet, who had been a powerful motivating force in his life, in an album Homage to New Orleans: Manu Dibango joue Sydney Bechet (2007).

 In 2011 Manu went on to collaborate with Wayne Beckford for a new version of 'Soul Makossa' as well as an album Past Present Future. Visit www.manudibango.net. For example he was at the 2012 Kriol Jazz Festival in Cape Verde in which Cesaria Evora was honoured.

He has collaborated with many other musicians, including Fania All Stars, Fela Kuti, Herbie Hancock, Bill Laswell, Bernie Worrell, Ladysmith Black Mambazo, King Sunny Adé, Don Cherry, and Sly and Robbie. In 1998 he recorded the album CubAfrica with Cuban artist Eliades Ochoa.

Early life

Dibango was born in Douala, Cameroon. His father, Michel Manfred N'Djoké Dibango was a civil servant. The son of a farmer, he met his wife travelling by canoe to her residence in Douala. She was a literate woman who was into fashion designing, running her own small business.^] Both her ethnicity, the Douala, and his, the Yabassi, viewed this union of different ethnic groups with some disdain.

Emmanuel had no siblings, although he had a stepbrother from his father's previous marriage who was four years older than he was. In Cameroon, it is traditional for one's ethnicity to be dictated by their fathers, though he wrote in his autobiography, Three Kilos of Coffee, that he has "never been able to identify completely with either of his parents.
Manu Dibango's uncle was the leader of his extended family. Upon his death, Dibango's father refused to take over, as he never fully initiated his son into the Yabassi's customs. Throughout his childhood, Dibango slowly forgot the Yabassi language in favour of the Douala.. However, his family did live in the Yabassi encampment on the Yabassi plateau close to the Wouri River in central Douala. While a child, Dibango attended Protestant church every night for religious education, or nkouaida. He enjoyed studying music there, and reportedly was a fast learner.
In 1941, after being educated at his village school, Dibango was accepted into a Colonial School, near his home, where he learned French. He admired the teacher, whom he described as "an extraordinary draftsman and painter." In 1944, French president Charles de Gaulle chose this school to perform the welcoming ceremonies upon his arrival in Cameroon.

Albums

• Manu Dibango (1968)
• Saxy-Party (1969)
• O Boso (1971) London/PolyGram Records
• Soma Loba (1971)
• Soul Makossa (1972) Fiesta Records (France), London Records (UK and Canada), Atlantic Records (US)
• African Voodoo (1972)
• Africadelic (1973)
• Blue Elephant (1973)
• Makossa Man (1974) Atlantic Records released as Pêpê Soup on Decca Records
• African Funk (1974)
• Makossa Music (1975) Creole Records, licensed from Société Française du Son
• African Rhythm Machine (1975)
• Countdown at Kusini O.S.T. (1975) D.S.T. Telecommunications, Inc.
• Manu 76 (1976) Decca/PolyGram Records
• Super Kumba (1976) Decca/PolyGram Records
• The World of Manu Dibango (1976) Decca Records
• Ceddo O.S.T (1977) Fiesta Records
• L'Herbe Sauvage O.S.T. (1977) Fiesta Records
• Disque D'Or (1977)
• A l'Olympia (1978) Fiesta Records – a live double album
• Anniversaire Au Pays (1978) Fiesta Records
• Afrovision (1978) Mango/Island/PolyGram Records
• Sun Explosion (1978) Decca/PolyGram Records
• Le Prix De La Liberte (1978) Fiesta Records
• Big Blow (1978) Derby Records – re-issue of Afrovision with a track from L'Herbe Sauvage OST and the extended single version of the song Soul Makossa
• Gone Clear (1979) Mango/Island/PolyGram Records
• Ses Plus Grands Succes (1979)
• Home Made (1979) African Records
• Ambassador (1981) Mango/Island/PolyGram Records
• Waka Juju (1982) Polydor/PolyGram Records
• Mboa (1982) Sonodisc/Afrovision
• Soft And Sweet (1983) Garima Records
• Deliverance (1983) AfroVision Records
• Surtension (1984)
• Electric Africa (1985) Celluloid
• Afrijazzy (1986) Enemy Records
• Négropolitaines, Vol.1 (1989)
• Deliverance (1989) Afro Rhythmes
• Happy Feeling (1989) Stern's
• Rasta Souvenir (1989) Disque Esperance – a reissue of Gone Clear & Ambassador (compilation)
• Polysonik (1991)
• Bao Bao (1992)
• Negropolitaines, Vol.2 (1992)
• Autoportrait (1992)
• Live '91 (1994) Stern's Music
• Wakafrika (1994) Giant/Warner Bros. Records
• Lamastabastani (1996) Musicrama
• Sax & Spirituals (1996)
• Papa Groove: Live '96 (1996)

African Soul – The Very Best Of Manu Dibango (1997) Mercury (compilation

• Manu Safari (1998)
• CubAfrica (Cuarteto Patria with Eliades Ochoa) (1998)
• Mboa' Su – Kamer Feelin' (1999)
• Collection Legende (1999)
• Anthology (2000) (compilation)
• The Very Best Of Manu Dibango: Afrosouljazz From The Original Makossa Man (2000) (compilation)
• Kamer Feelin' (2001)
• B Sides (2002)
• Dance With Manu Dibango (2002)
• Africadelic: The Very Best Of Manu Dibango (2003) (compilation)
• From Africa (2003) Blue Moon
• Lion of Africa (2007) – live album including bonus DVD
• African Woodoo (2008) from tracks recorded between 1971 and 1975 for cinema, TV, and advertising.
• Choc'n'Soul (2010) features Sly and Robbie
• Afro Funk (2010)
• Afro Soul Machine (2011) (compilation)
• Past Present Future (2011) features "Soul Makossa 2.0" with vocals performed by Wayne Beckford
• Ballad Emotion (2011) (mostly jazz standards)
• Africa Boogie (2013)
• Aloko Party (2013)
• Lagos Go Slow (2013)
• Balade En Saxo (2013)

 cameroonpeople.blogspot.com/ Email: francoeko@gmail.com/ Tel; +237 691755578/ +237 661864369/ +237 678401408

Nakuve Samuel Moka Lifafa Endeley; the Political, Legal and Cultural luminary.

His Royal Highness Nakuve Samuel Moka Lifafa Endeley, the Paramount Chief of Buea was born on June 9, 1923 to Chief Mathias Lifafa Endeley and Maria Mojoko Endeley.

As a young boy Moka Endeley studied at the German Basel Mission Vernacular Kindergarten School at Soppo Wongaga and obtained the Statutory First school Living certificate with distinction in 1939. This permitted him to gain admission into the Government College at Umuahia in Eastern Nigeria and the School of pharmacy in Lagos from where he obtained the Pharmaceutical Chemist Diploma in Forensic pharmacy.

Doctor Samuel Moka Lifafa Endeley Later enrolled to read law and eventually graduated with a Law Degree in 1959 in London. He returned to Cameroon in 1960 and worked in the Court of West Cameroon. He was later appointed judge of same in 1966.

An aspect of his personality that many still refer to as controversial was the declaration on several occasions that he was not an Anglophone, but simply a Cameroonian. Opinions from those close to him hold that the Pharmacist and Chief Judge saw things from the vantage point as he was immersed in all local customs, culture and expressions as was the tradition in his family. He defended Cameroon energetically in the case over the Bakassi conflict with Nigeria at the International Court of Justice at The Hague in The Netherlands.

He succeeded his Uncle Mbella Endeley as the Paramount Chief of Buea in 1982. From then, Samuel Moka Lifafa Endeley played a stabilizing role on the Sociopolitical landscape of Cameroon. He got married to the late Gladys silo Endeley who passed-on in 2010. They had five sons and a daughter.

  Things here and there

In 1940, SML Endeley passed the competitive entrance into the Government College Umuahia in Eastern Nigeria. During the Second World War, the college was closed down and converted into an internment camp for German war prisoners. As a result, the students were transferred to Hope Waddel Training Institute in Calabar. SML Endeley left Hope Waddell at age 22 after obtaining the Cambridge School Certificate.

In 1946 SML Endeley passed the highly competitive examinations into the prestigious Nigeria School of Pharmacy in Yaba, Lagos, where he obtained a Pharmaceutical Chemist and Druggist Diploma with a distinction in Forensic Pharmacy.

From 1950 to 1957, he worked as a government pharmacist in Lagos and Port Harcourt in Nigeria, and Tiko, Bota, Victoria(both now in the Limbe City Council Area) and Kumba all in the former Southern Cameroons which now constitute the Southwest and Northwest Regions of the Republic of Cameroon.

In 1953 SML Endeley married Gladys Silo Steane, an Accounts Clerk with the Cameroon Development Corporation (CDC).


Against the tumultuous backdrop and the soci-political effervescence of the late 1950s in Southern Cameroons,Sam Endeley soon lost his passion for pharmacy and turned his attention to law, a profession through which he believed he would contribute more to the development of Southern Cameroons.

In 1956 he was admitted into the University of Leeds where he obtained a diploma in Sociology. In 1957 he sought and gained admission into the Middle Temple Inn of Court where he read law at the Inns of Court School of Law in London. In 1959, he passed the final examination for the Barrister-at-law degree and was called to the English Bar in January 1960. He returned to Cameroon in April of that same year when he got called to the Nigerian Bar.

Between 1960 and 1966 he ran his bustling and lucrative private practice, Lifafa Chambers, located around the Buea town market. This was a period when Nigerian lawyers dominated the legal field in the Southern Cameroons but Samuel Endeley rose and stayed at the top.

 

Young Sam Endeley with Lawyers Fred Eko and Koffi Mensah, the first generation of British-trained Southern Cameroons lawyers. Picture courtesy of Cameroon Census forum/Henry Monono.

During this period, Samuel Endeley became involved in the major contemporal social and political issues. In the 1950s and 60s, he was instrumental in setting up the Bakweri Co-operative Union of Farmers (BCUF) and the Bakweri Land Committee (BLC) which sought to reclaim Bakweri ancestral lands wrested by the Germans in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. He was also a major role player in the plebiscite campaign leading up to the unification of the British and French Cameroons, and was even selected to address the UN Trusteeship Council in 1961. He was also part of the Southern Cameroons delegation to the Foumban constitutional conference of that same year.

 Arriving at the Foumban conference. From left to right, PM Kemcha, SML Endeley and legnedary photographer, E. Mbwaye. Southern Cameroons archives.

He later became a prominent member of both the CNU ;Cameroon National Union and the CPDM;Cameroon People’s Democratic Movement.
In 1966, SML Endeley turned his back on private practice and turned to the bench and it turned out to be a lengthy and luminous legal career.

In 1966 he was appointed Judge of the High Court of West Cameroon and President of the West Cameroon Bench of the Federal Court of Justice.

In 1968, he became an Appeals Judge of the Full Bench of the Federal Court of Justice Yaoundé, and a year later, he was appointed member of the Higher Judicial Council.
In 1970, he became Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of West Cameroon.

When the Cameroon Federation was dissolved in 1972, SML Endeley moved to Yaounde where and became Vice President of the Supreme Court of the United Republic of Cameroon. In 1973 he was appointed President of the Administrative Bench of the Supreme Court and later returned to Buea as President of the South-West Court of Appeal.

 Justice Endeley with J.C Ngoh (Federal Inspector of Administration for West Cameroon,) and Mr Ngwa, SDO Fako Division. Source: Cameroon Census forum/Gervase Ndoko.
Throughout his legal career, SML Endeley was a member of every law harmonisation and law revision commission set up by the government of the United Republic of Cameroon ;a clear indication of how his legal opinions were valued by the state. He was also a Member of the Cameroon-Nigeria Joint Border Commission and was also a member of the Cameroonian legal team in the land and maritime border dispute between Cameroon and Nigeria which culminated in the award of the Bakassi Peninsular to Cameroon by the International Court of Justice-ICJ.  Between 1982 and 1990, SML Endeley served as Board Chairman of the Cameroon Development Corporation (CDC).

Justice SML Endeley was as crowned Paramount Chief of Buea in 1990 in succession of his uncle Gervacius Mbella Endeley who reigned as District Head and Chief of Buea from 1925 to 1982.

Christian Cardinal Wiyghan Tumi

Christian Wiyghan Tumi was born on October, 15 1930 at Kikaikilaki within the Kumbo Municipality in the Northwest Region of Cameroon. He is a Cardinal and the Arch-Bishop Emeritus of Douala in the Roman Catholic Church in Cameroon. He was succeeded as Arch-Bishop of Douala by Samuel Kleda, the former Coadjutor Arch-Bishop.

Ethnically, His Eminence Christian Cardinal Tumi is of the Nso Klan, in Bui Division in the Northwest Region, of Cameroon. Tumi studied at minor seminaries in Cameroon and Nigeria. He trained as a teacher in Nigeria and London, and went on to earn a Bachelor Degree in theology in Lyon, France and a doctorate in philosophy at the University of Fribourg in Switzerland.

Ordained a priest on April 17, 1966, he served as a vicar at Small Soppo, Buea in the South West Region of Cameroon for a year before becoming a tutor at Bishop Rogan College, a minor seminary in the Buea Diocese and the only one at the time in the Bamenda Ecclesiastical Province. After studying abroad from 1969 to 1973, he returned to his diocese and was named Rector of the Saint Thomas Aquinas Major Seminary in Bambui within the Tuba Municipality in the North West Region.

In 1979, Rev. Father Christian Tumi was elected the first Bishop of the Diocese of Yagoua in the dominantly Muslem Northern Cameroon. In 1984, he was made Arch-Bishop and in 1985 he was elected President of the National Episcopal Conference of Cameroon, a post he held until 1991.

He was named Cardinal-Priest of Santi Martiri dell'Uganda a Poggio Ameno on  June 28,1988 by Pope John Paul II. Christian Cardinal Tumi was named the Arch-Bishop of Douala on 31 August 1991. He was one of the Cardinal Electors who participated in the 2005Papal Conclave that selected Pope Benedict XVI.

Because of his public stance on issues that directly affect the quality of (spiritual) life of society in general, his voice and opinion has always remained very vital in issues affecting the socio-political landscape in Cameroon. In accordance with his nature and belief, Christian Cardinal Tumi led a Pro-Life March in the city of Douala in 2009. Earlier on in a speech in 2007, he denounced the sexual abuse of children and harped on its negative effects on modern society.

 

 

Cardinal

Il est créé cardinal par le pape Jean-PaulI lors du consistoire du 28 juin 1988 avec le titre de cardinal-prêtre de Santi Martiri dell'Uganda a Poggio Ameno.

Au sein de la Curie romaine, il est membre de la Congrégation pour l'évangélisation des peuples, de la Congrégation pour l'éducation catholique, de la Congrégation pour le culte divin et la discipline des sacrements, du Conseil pontifical « Cor unum » pourla promotion humaine et chrétienne et du Conseil pontifical pour la famille.

Récompenses

Le 9 septembre 2008, le cardinal Tumi reçoit le prix Cardinal von Galen, décerné par l'ONG Human Life International "en reconnaissance de près d'un demi siècle de pastorale de ce Prélat en faveur de la famille, des laisser pour compte, de l'avènement et du respect du jeu démocratique au Cameroun".

Le 15 novembre 2011, il reçoit le Prix de l'Intégrité 2011 décerné par Transparency International.

Facts
 

 

Ordained Priest by Bishop Julius  Joseph  Willem Peeters, M.H.M. † Bishop of Buea. Principal Consecrator: Pope John Paul II St. Karol Józef Wojtyła+ Principal Co-Consecrators -Archbishop Eduardo Martínez Somalo, Titular Archbishop of Thagora -Bishop Ferdinando Maggioni † Titular Bishop of

Episcopal Lineage / Apostolic Succession: Pope John Paul II (1958) St. Karol Józef Wojtyła † Archbishop Eugeniusz Baziak † (1933) Archbishop of Lviv Archbishop Bolesław Twardowski † (1919) Archbishop of Lviv Archbishop St. Józef Bilczewski † (1901) Archbishop of Lviv Bishop Jan Maurycy Pawel Puzyna z Kosielsko † (1886) Bishop of Kraków Mieczyslaw Halka Cardinal Ledóchowski † (1861) Archbishop of Gniezno e Poznań Camillo Cardinal Di Pietro † (1839) Cardinal-Priest of San Giovanni a Porta Latina Chiarissimo Cardinal Falconieri Mellini † (1826) Archbishop of Ravenna Pope Leo XII (1794) Annibale Francesco Clemente Melchiore Girolamo Nicola della Genga † Henry Benedict Mary Clement Cardinal Stuart of York † (1758) Cardinal-Bishop of Frascati Pope Clement XIII (1743) Carlo della Torre Rezzonico † Pope Benedict XIV (1724) Prospero Lorenzo Lambertini † Pope Benedict XIII (1675) Pietro Francesco (Vincenzo Maria) Orsini de Gravina, O.P. † Paluzzo Cardinal Paluzzi Altieri Degli Albertoni † (1666) Chamberlain (Camerlengo) of the Apostolic Chamber Ulderico Cardinal Carpegna † (1630) Cardinal-Priest of Santa Maria in Trastevere Luigi Cardinal Caetani † (1622) Cardinal-Priest of Santa Pudenziana Ludovico Cardinal Ludovisi † (1621) Archbishop of Bologna Archbishop Galeazzo Sanvitale † (1604) Archbishop Emeritus of Bari- Canosa Girolamo Cardinal Bernerio, O.P. † (1586) Cardinal-Bishop of Albano Giulio Antonio Cardinal Santorio † (1566) Cardinal-Priest of San Bartolomeo all’Isola Scipione Cardinal Rebiba † Cardinal-Priest of Sant’Anastasia Principal Consecrator of Bishop Gabriel (Régis) Balet, O.F.M. Cap. † (1985) Bishop Jean-Bosco Ntep (1993) Bishop Jan Ozga (1997) Bishop Dieudonné Bogmis (1999) Bishop Francis Teke Lysinge (1999) Archbishop Samuel Kleda (2001) Bishop George Nkuo (2006) Archbishop Denis Komivi Amuzu-Dzakpah (2007) Principal Co-Consecrator of: Archbishop Antoine Ntalou Bishop Agapitus Enuyehnyoh Nfon

 

 Integrity Award on 15 November 2011

Christian Cardinal Tumi from when he was a young priest organising local community meetings on the consequences of corruption to the present day leader of public opinion, His Eminence has been steadfast in his resolve to see Cameroon become a state where integrity is seen as a viable way of life for all.

In a country where public trust in government and the rule of law has been eroded by corruption, His Eminence has been a beacon of integrity for more than three decades. As a Cameroonian proverb goes “the darkness of night cannot stop the light of morning”, and Cardinal Tumi’s story serves as inspiration for all; proof that a life of honesty can illuminate the path for others to live with integrity, however dark the threats and temptations.

Cardinal Tumi was one of the first to publicly denounce commandement operationnel, a Cameroonian state special security force put in place in 2000 to tackle rising crime rates but allegedly resulting in torture and extrajudicial killings, according to human rights groups. Tumi subsequently led a church enquiry into the disappearance of citizens despite receiving death threats himself.

In a country where journalists often fear speaking the truth, Cardinal Tumi has fought for a free press and established a radio station, Radio Veritas or Truth Radio, which regularly denounces government corruption and calls for free and fair elections. His two books paint a critical picture of a country where democracy is absent and the abuse of power is widespread, but also convey a message of hope: that the integrity of its citizens can bring a brighter future for Cameroon.
Cardinal Christian Wiyghan Tumi, Archbishop emeritus of Douala (Cameroon), was born on October 15, 1930, in Kikaikelaki, Cameroon. He did his secondary studies at diocesan seminaries and at the seminaries of Ibadan, Bodija and Enugu in Nigeria. From 1969 to 1973 he obtained in Nigeria a Teachers' Training Grade; a University General Certificate of Education at Ordinary Level in London; a licentiate in theology at the Catholic Faculty of Lyon; a doctorate in philosophy at the Catholic University of Fribourg, Switzerland. He is well versed in his native dialect, Nso, Pidgin and Hausa, Latin, English, and French.

He was ordained a priest on April 17, 1966, in Soppo, diocese of Buéa and from 1966 to 1967 carried out his ministry as a parochial vicar at Fiango (Kumbo). From 1967 to 1969 he was a professor at the Bishop Rogan College minor seminary. In 1973, after having studied abroad, he returned to his diocese and was named rector of the major regional seminary of Bambui, archdiocese of Bamenda. He was also chaplain to the Association of Catholic Dames and was very involved in promoting the ecumenical movement, obtaining much esteem by Presbyterians and Baptists.
President of the presbyteral diocesan council, on December 6, 1979, he was elected the first bishop of the diocese of Yagoua, erected the same day. He received episcopal ordination on January 6, 1980, in St. Peter's Basilica. During his pastoral care, the local church developed rapidly, enriched with institutions and centers of formation, nursery schools and dispensaries.
Elected on April 23, 1982, vice-president of the Episcopal Conference, on November 19, 1982, he was promoted to Coadjutor Archbishop of Garoua. On March 17, 1984, he was made Archbishop.
In 1985 he was elected as president of the National Episcopal Conference of Cameroon (until 1991). President of the Symposium of Episcopal Conferences of Africa and Madagascar (SECAM), 1990 - 1994.
He participated in the 6th General Assembly of the Synod of Bishops (1983) and in the extraordinary assembly of the Synod of Bishops of 1985.
President delegate to the 8th General Assembly of the Synod of Bishops (1990); President delegate to the Special Assembly for Africa of the Synod of Bishops (1994). He participated in the Second Special Assembly for Africa of the Synod of Bishops (October 2009).
He was Archbishop of Douala from August 31, 1991, to November 17, 2009, when he became Archbishop emeritus.
He was created and proclaimed Cardinal by John Paul II in the Consistory of June 28, 1988, of the Title of Ss. Martiri dell'Uganda a Poggio Ameno (Martyrs of Uganda at Poggio Ameno).
(Biography courtesy of the Holy See Press Office)

He was ordained a priest on April 17, 1966, at Small Soppo, Diocese of Buéa and from 1966 to 1967 carried out his ministry as the parochial vicar at Fiango in Kumba. From 1967 to 1969 he was a professor at the Bishop Rogan College minor seminary. In 1973, after having studied abroad, he returned to his diocese and was named Rector of the Major Seminary of Bambui, Archdiocese of Bamenda. He was also chaplain to the Association of Catholic Dames and was very involved in promoting the Ecumenical Movement, obtaining much esteem by Presbyterians and Baptists.
President of the Presbyteral Diocesan Council, on December 6, 1979, he was elected the first Bishop of the Diocese of Yagoua, erected the same day. He received Episcopal Ordination on January 6, 1980, in the Saint Peter's Basilica. During his pastoral care, the local church developed rapidly, enriched with institutions and centers of formation, nursery schools and dispensaries.
Elected on April 23, 1982, vice-president of the Episcopal Conference, on November 19, 1982, he was promoted to Coadjutor Archbishop of Garoua. On March 17, 1984, he was made Archbishop.
In 1985 he was elected as president of the National Episcopal Conference of Cameroon (until 1991). President of the Symposium of Episcopal Conferences of Africa and Madagascar (SECAM), 1990 - 1994.
He participated in the 6th General Assembly of the Synod of Bishops (1983) and in the Extraordinary Assembly of the Synod of Bishops of 1985.
President delegate to the 8th General Assembly of the Synod of Bishops (1990); President Delegate to the Special Assembly for Africa of the Synod of Bishops (1994). He participated in the Second Special Assembly for Africa of the Synod of Bishops (October 2009).
He was Archbishop of Douala from August 31, 1991, to November 17, 2009, when he became Archbishop emeritus.
He was created and proclaimed Cardinal by John Paul II in the Consistory of June 28, 1988, of the Title of Ss. Martiri dell'Uganda a Poggio Ameno (Martyrs of Uganda at Poggio Ameno).
(Biography courtesy of the Holy See Press Office)