FORLEMU JOHN NANGATIE
August 25, 1955
AUTO BIOGRAPHY
I was born on August 25, 1955, in Njengmba Mmuock Fossimondi (M’muockngie translating as Upper Mmouck), one of the villages in the M’muock tribe, commonly referred to as Bamuock. The M’muock tribe shares similar ethnic origin with the Bamileke ethnic group and is located in the English-speaking Lebialem Division in the Southwest Region of Cameroon.
Childhood and Humble Beginnings
As was common around the period of my birth, both of my parents Pa Nkemguo Azeankeang Forlemu and Mami Susana Azemekie Forlemu both of blessed memory were farmers. My mother mainly cultivated beans, which we would help her to sell to support our family. My father was a general laborer working his hardest to earn wages on most things especially in the farm cultivation area. Most of his farm work for wages was in a place called Bessali which is approximately 30km from where we grew up. My dad will often work with men who harvested palm nuts, helping transport the nuts to where palm oil was processed. As you can guess this was part of us growing up and I will make these trips to Besali, working with my father and spending some time visiting some of his friends. My children can now understand why I could handle all sorts of tasks(climbing mbanga trees, cultivating bees, cultivating crops etc.). Lets remember these journeys were mainly on foot and I vividly remember instances where I had to do all of these trips on my own inside the dense forest (see today’s google maps). The fright for animals and all sorts of dangers… but this was what made me and my siblings. Most notable was when I will make this trip to give medicines to my father who fell ill seriously during his stay and work.
I was the fourth of eight children, three older siblings and four younger ones from our beloved mother. As with most middle children you may end up being the one least attention is paid to compared with very elderly or very young ones. However from a very young age, I showed signs of independent mindedness and an eye for business opportunities in most situations. Even before starting school, I would use the very little petty cash gifts from uncles to buy bread or bonbons, which I would then ask my immediate older brother to sell for me amongst the people he knew. Whenever he was able to make a sale he would eventually return the money including any profits to me.
Growing up in a household with many siblings was great fun, and as you would imagine, came with its own challenges sometimes. Being occasionally teased by siblings, squabbles around the most scarce part of the meal (meat) where one of my siblings will play funny tricks like pretending to spit on it before returning it, making me to abandon the meal. I would either stop eating or finish my food without any soup. These were some of the great sibling silliness and fun engagements that helped us grow stronger bonds. Occasionally, my oldest sister who had started attending school would also bring her friends home who would join us in helping our mother with her farmwork during their stay. Looking back, I reminisce on these experiences with a lot of joy and nostalgia.
Education and the Spark of Determination
I began primary school around 1965 at about the age ten, in a place called Ndubeleu. Unfortunately, not very long after commencing school, the post colonial unrest and instability phenomenon (sometimes called the “Makiza”/Nationalist freedom fighters) disrupted our education. I was withdrawn from school and sent to live in Mmockmbie for a year. Mmockmbie, being a neighbouring village where my paternal grandmother was a ‘Mafow’ at the palace. Owing to this fact and some of our paternal relations we occasionally made visits.
Upon returning from Mockmbie, with my senior siblings already in school and possibly driven by the lack of means and the arrival of a younger brother, I had to stay home to babysit my younger brother before resuming school as a teenager. I advanced well to Class 7, where I passed the Common Entrance Exams and the First School Leaving Certificate. Arithmetic was my favorite subject, and I always scored perfect marks. My classmate Aloysius and I were strong academic rivals. While at school I was class prefect and school timekeeper in addition to my academic achievements at that level.:)
Unfortunately, financial constraints prevented me from continuing to secondary school. My two older brothers were already in college, and money was certainly tight. Tight so much that one of them almost had to drop out, but our uncle, Chief Forlemu, rallied the community to contribute funds to keep him in school. Though the amount was small, it covered his transportation back to school.
Not resting on my laurels and accepting the circumstances, I attempted the Teacher’s Training Examination, but it wasn’t meant to be as I forgot to write my candidate number on the paper. This was quite devastating as my mother had worked hard to pay my school fees. On the other hand, for some unknown reasons, while being unable to support me financially my father insisted I remain at home and support him in all his errands. This however, did help me develop critical thinking, problem solving and a lot of handy outdoor skills like farming and what is known today as DIY. With most youths my age escaping the village due to unwillingness to pay tax, my father was so adamant for me to stay in the village that he made the payment for me. My drive to better myself out of the village kept growing and the hope at one point that Pastor Kofete would secure me a job with the Presbyterian Mission as he had promised.
Socially as a young boy I was very daring and full of adventures climbing tiny trees and performing all sorts of daring acts.
From Palm Wine to PLANTECAM: Work Ethic takes roots
While at home, I began tapping palm wine for my father. Blessed through God’s grace my palm wine output was highly praised as being of great quality with almost everyone in the village preferring it. However, because I was only an errand boy for my father, any money I earned went directly to him. I also ventured into other business endeavours such as travelling all the way to Besali where I will harvest cassava and use to make garri there before carrying it back to the village for sale. Interestingly, I can remember being mocked by some family friends who called me ‘John N’galli’.
Working at Plantecam seemed to be the best thing that happened to me. Having grown up being wired to be adventurous, hardworking and resilient I put all of these attributes to great effect while there. As PLANTECAM moved to new locations, Foumban, Banso, Santa, Awing, Baba II, and Mendankwe, I followed. While in Mendankwe, I worked in the Government Forest, selling felled sticks. Unfortunately the consequences of putting my body to the limit took its toll and during a routine medical check, I learned that the heavy lifting had injured my back. I was fortunate to be treated in Dschang with a spinal injection, after which I came to the realisation that I had to make the hard decision to stop manual and hard labor.
The hunger for growth and success remained though and I decided to take a major leap and become a businessman in Bamenda. I had saved the little amount of money I could from my time at PLANTECAM. When PLANTECAM transferred operations to the Southwest, I stayed behind and began building my future in Bamenda. Around 1976 with the help of my uncle Mr. Steven and Pa Limbe (who both lived at Nitop), I secured a small store in Ntarinkon, which doubled as our living space. I started by selling essential provision items like matches, milk, sugar, garri, and more. I would travel everywhere including Nigeria to purchase merchandise which I will sell and continue the expansion of the business.
Entrepreneurial Rise
As the business grew, I expanded into alcohol sales. The biggest hurdle was obtaining a license, as selling even a single bottle of beer without one was illegal. I made numerous trips to the Divisional Officer’s (D.O.) office and endured multiple inspections. After nearly a year of persistent endeavour, I was finally issued a license. When I added spirits and whiskey to the store, I received a temporary authorization while awaiting ministerial approval. Back then, unlicensed alcohol sales were unthinkable.
Due to the expanding and growing nature of the business activities, I called on my younger brother Bernard (God bless his soul) in the later half of 1976 to support me in running the business. Early in 1977, I was able to also convince my younger sister Constance to join us in town and pursue her education after she had resisted leaving the village to go to Yaounde.
Thank God almighty, there were very few business people at that time. Combined with our sheer hardwork and amiable personalities we flourished significantly. We were lucky to have been patronised by a good core group of local elites around the Ntarinkon area such as Late Pa Chiawah, Late Pa Acham, Late Pa Tallam, Pa Tinga amongst others who always stopped by in our single bench bar to drink Bellvie. They were so fond of us they actually gave me the name Simplicity and wrote it on a little cardboard and put it in front of our little store. This was a time of great honesty and we would have loan accounts for them which they would meticulously settle making sure we did not cheat ourselves at the end of every month after receiving their pay.
With all the hardwork, I was able to afford myself a bicycle and later on a motorcycle which I will daringly use to make trips to the village from Bamenda to visit my parents. My younger sister(Constance) reminded me of once around 1980 where I had a major wound on my ride back from the village but struggled on till I got to Bamenda before seeking medical assistance. I was also reminded that whenever I travelled to the village I would make a voice recording of our mother’s messages to bring back to both my siblings Bernard and Constance through the famous radio cassette. We fondly remember those emotional messages which I played when I came back to Bamenda.
Around 1984, with all the hard work I was finally able to purchase our first commercial vehicle (a red Toyota stout registered NW 154 I ) to expand our reach, supplying towns like Fondong, Bello, Wum, Oshey, Batibo, Pinyin, and Ndop. Eventually, we served nearly the entire North West region.
Loss, Survival and a New Beginning
However, with expansion came challenges. We hired many workers, supporting most of them and trying to bring a lot of people into business empowerment but unfortunately due to shameless dishonesty, greed and lack of empathy they were failing to return sales proceeds, selling secretly, disregard for stock and misuse of commercial vehicles led to numerous preventable damages and loss of stock and vehicles. We also lacked a proper accounting and control mechanism given the natural organic nature of our business growth. We spent more time repairing vehicles and trying to check and count our losses. These losses seriously strained our finances. Fortunately, I had invested my rebates from Brasseries in land property which provided some security. Even so, I hit rock bottom around the mid nineties. The store was nearly empty, void of all provisional supply and drinks stock coupled with challenging relationships with drinks manufacturers. Thanks to my resistance to engaging in back-hand ways of doing business which new drinks distributors in the market had propagated with the manufacturers, we couldn’t afford to buy stock in bulk. To make things worse my landlord eventually asked us to vacate the property we were in. (Old Simplicity Ntarinkon).
Around this time, a local inhabitant from Ntarinkon informed me of a plot near Bafut Park. I initially declined due to financial constraints. But my wife, Mummy, encouraged me to reconsider. She informed her uncle, Pa Chateh (of blessed memory), who sold his house in Yaoundé and gave me the exact amount needed. With a deposit already paid, I used the funds to complete the purchase and began building. Later, Pa Chateh’s brother, Pa Victor, lent us more money. We completed two floors and relocated from Ntarinkon Market. Gradually, we repaid the debts and finished the second floor using profits from the revived business.The business environment at this time had become increasingly challenging but by the Grâce of God we were able to continue operating at a manageable level allowing us to continue to settle outstanding liabilities while simultaneously sustaining our livelihood.
All of these were certainly nothing close to the grace that I have and continue to receive from God’s constant love and presence, providing me strength in some of the darkest periods of my life. Being evicted from the store location which we were settled and expanded in. (Old Simplicity Ntarinkon) amid financial collapse, stolen funds, employee dishonesty, vehicle accidents, and mounting debts. Through all these including several armed robbery attacks, attempts on my life by being shot twice, (once in the presence of my son and nephew in 1994, amazingly driving to the hospital by myself) I stayed steadfast in the Lord having assurance of his eternal mercy and plans for me. It was desperate that even with the constant attack we still considered converting a property near river Mezam (remote location outside town) into a store which could have increased the level of insecurity.
A
B
Eventually, we acquired our current location through the help of my uncle in law. Even with this new opportunity, challenges continued which I consider to be God’s way of showing me constant love as he always emerges me from them. We sold properties and took on more debt to sustain operations through difficult seasons and continue to endure and thrive through his mercies.
Despite business pressures, which I think all entrepreneurs do face; I made saving a priority, conscious of the future I had anticipated to provide for my children. I was able to save some funds at SGBC along with participating in several njangis. After several business losses and challenges, the 20 million francs I had saved helped me settle some of the business loans I had. To the best of my ability I ensured all my children were educated and instilled in them values of honesty, integrity, love, kindness and humility,which they have upheld.
In May of 2022; as subsistence farmers, my wife Elsie and I had just returned from harvesting food crops from a nearby farmland and while she was in the kitchen tending to these crops, I went to attend to our little livestock. Suddenly we heard a loud frightening outcry from our closest neighbours, screaming my wife’s name. It was when we emerged from our corners that I realised that “when it rains, it pours”. Our home was in flames. Everything burnt to the ground. Memories of over 45years gone in the ashes. I was extremely devastated as someone who loved to gather memories all I could think about were my children’s childhood memories gone forever. But then, this experience made me learn how much my family and I were loved and accepted in the community. Our neighbours came and sympathised and empathised with us. My friend Pa Sam and his wife opened their doors to us for over a month. People bought clothes, shoes, bags, and food for us until we were able to move into one of my commercial apartments.
Love, Family and Faith
By 1979 personal and external pressure mounted for me to marry. With no one in mind at the time Bernard suggested a girl he knew from school in Fotang. He was a school prefect and had experienced first hand how street smart she was, her high level of common sense, and her particularly enterprising nature. He was certain she would be a good and steady companion for me. We later found out she had left the village and was living in Nkwen with her aunt, Mami Nkwen.
We sent my father to express interest, but her family stated the decision was hers. She initially declined, citing her desire to continue school. Later, she agreed but maintained her education was a priority. We arranged to meet at the barber’s shop in Small Mankon. After that meeting, we began communicating. When she agreed to move in, Bernard and David brought her to Bamenda. She initially stayed with my uncle Mr. Steven until we completed marriage arrangements, in 1979 after which she joined me in Ntarinkon.
In late 1990 my family expanded with the arrival of Magdalene Tatang(Manyi),whom I had the peculiar fortune of meeting and eventually marrying. I had 5 children with her including our twin daughters, hence the title Tanyi that people so fondly call me.
When being asked about cherished memories, one cherished family memory I have is of Bernard’s wedding to Anasta during our business peak in 1986 in Ntarinkon. We hosted a grand celebration attended by many, including Chief Forlemu John Nangatie. Bernard’s customers from bush markets came as well. It was a day filled with food, drinks, and love, an unforgettable moment.
I generally cherish every memory I get to create with my children as they are all grown up now. One of these events was when I travelled to Kenya to surprise my oldest daughter’s 40th birthday and 20th wedding anniversary.Another cherished memory is spending 2024 Christmas and New year with my daughters and their family in Canada. And today, I look forward to celebrating my 70th birthday with my children, grandchildren, siblings, in-laws and friends in August of 2025.One of the proud father moments for me was seeing my first son called to the Cameroon Bar in 2024, he not only took after me in becoming a Tanyi, but he displayed grit and hard work by graduating Law school in Rwanda, passing his Bar exams and being called to bar.
A Life of Service
At this point, it is worth highlighting the most important sphere around which my life has revolved. When I settled in Bamenda, I initially worshipped at PCC Azire before relocating to Ntarinkon in the early part of 1976. Alongside some of my customers, we pioneered what is now known as the Presbyterian Church Musang (PCC), which initially held services in a small hall at Longla Comprehensive College.I was a founding member of the Christian Youth Fellowship (CYF), and later, we started the Christian Men Fellowship (CMF) group in Musang, where I have remained an active member to this day, holding several positions of responsibility. I served as the main auctioneer for many years, conducting public auctions of items offered to support the work of the church. One of my children’s friends once told me that in their home, they affectionately call me “Pa Offer.” I recall one occasion when I picked up a small parcel with a 50 francs coin among the displayed items, wrapped it beautifully, and auctioned it for nearly 10,000 francs. All these acts were done cheerfully and wholeheartedly in service to the Lord. Beyond church service, I was one of the pioneering presidents of the Mmuock-Ngie cultural association in Bamenda, a position I held for about 18 years. I also served one term on the church finance committee, two terms (about 2–3 years) as social secretary, and five years as the treasurer of our CMF group.For over 20 years, I hosted a weekly prayer meeting for quarter members at my residence, until my house unfortunately burned down and the meeting location had to be changed.
Reflection, Legacy and Concluding
With age, life seems to have changed quite much and there isn’t any much interest in some of the youthful activities such as going out to nightclubs and shows as I used to. As my younger sister Constance will note, I was quite fashionable and no fashion trend or activity passed by me when I was young even with the focus on establishing my legacy. I indeed had jelly curls at one point. I prefer peace, rest, and reflection, spending time visiting my children and learning from my grandkids which I all adore. I’ve also developed dietary preferences, avoiding foods I once enjoyed. Strangely being someone who was number one tree climber, I now became scared of heights so much that I hesitated and requested assistance from a professional driver to drive me up a steep hill in one of my travels to the village recently.
I want to be remembered as someone who started from nothing: a laborer who built a business through perseverance and a constant desire to help others. I have faced armed attacks, been shot, and kidnapped several times, but through it all, God has always saved me. In all my years of service, like many people, I have sometimes been misunderstood especially for upholding the values of fairness that I always strive to promote.
In recent years I may have had a few run ins mainly as a result of speaking my mind plainly, disliking injustice and unfairness. I’m learning to be more reflective and compassionate.
To the younger generation, I advise: fear God. Let Him guide your thoughts, actions, and decisions. When you act with a pure heart and consider how your actions affect others, God will bless and protect you
