By
Christopher Ambe
Thousands of mourners, from far and wide,
Saturday July 25, attended the requiem of Chief Foanyi Nkemanyang Paul, publisher
of The Star Newspaper at the St. John of God Catholic Church in
Bonadikombo-Limbe, to pay their last respects to the fallen media practitioner,
generally described as a committed crusader of social justice and media rights.
The State of Cameroon at the funeral mass ,which was officiated by the His Grace, Archbishop of Bamenda
Arch Diocese Andrew Nkea with the
assistance of the Apostolic Administrator of the Buea Diocese,His Lordship Bishop
Michael Bibi ,and attended among other national dignitaries by Minister-Delegate Paul Tasong and Senator
Charles Mbella Moki, decorated
posthumously Chief Foanyi as “ Commander of the Cameroon Order of
Valor” for his valuable services to the nation.
While alive, the deceased had earned several other
decorations and awards. For example, he was an awardee of the National Order of
Merit.
The posthumous decoration,
during the funeral, was pinned on the deceased’s casket by Dr. Mohammadou,
Secretary-General at Southwest Governor’s Office on behalf of the State, after
Mr. Ngenbane Daniel Ekole, Inspector-general at same office had presented the
condolences of Southwest Governor Bernard Okalia Bilai (who was absent), to the
bereaved family and media corps.
Archbishop Nkea, in his homily,
described as huge loss the transition of late Chief Foanyi, whom he said was a
devout Christian and passionate advocate of social justice and human rights. He
noted that the deceased had defended the pride of Lebialem and the Bangwa
culture with all his might at all time.
He said the death of a
Christian has a lot of meaning since there is the second chance to live
again(resurrection hope),and urged Christians to always prepare for the
inevitable.
Late Chief Foanyi was
buried at his Mile 4-Limbe residence.
Chief Foanyi, aged 61, got
married to Clara Elangwe 23 years ago and both were blessed with three
children.
Chief Foanyi, a graduate
of the Nigerian Institute of Journalism (NIJ) since 1981, had practiced
journalism for several decades and held several executive positions in national
and international journalism associations before his death.
He had served two terms as
national President of the Cameroon Association of English-Speaking Journalists
(CAMASEJ); was pioneer President of Commonwealth Journalists Association-Cameroon;
in 2016, Chief Foanyi was elected Vice-President for Africa of the Commonwealth
Journalists Association.
In 2004, Chief Foanyi was appointed by
President Paul Biya as member of the National Communication Council and he
served one term.
According to excerpts of
his biography on his funeral magazine, “The Late Fua Foanyi Nkemanyang was not
just a man of many parts; he was a journalist to the core, a stickler for justice,
a leader par excellence, a traditionalist and human rights activist. For this
he suffered several detentions but remained unbowed. Long before he was crowned
traditional chief in his native Fontem, Lebialem, he had been honored with the
traditional title of ‘Osari Maribo’
in Manyu.
“Foanyi was a socialite, a
free mixer and completely detribalized Cameroonian whose friends cut across
every tribe and region of the country. He was extremely generous and helped
bring up many of whom were not related to him by blood”
Late chief Foanyi was born on March 8,1959 at Efusap-Fontem in
Lebialem Division ,Southwest Region to Mbeh Nkemanyang(Chief Forfusap) and Anyi
Njilefac of blessed memory .
The deceased attended
primary school in Mamfe and Mbindia,Fontem.Later did his secondary education in
Cameroon College of Commerce,CCC Kumab and
upon graduation, he was recruited as a cub reporter of “Cameroon Times”.He also
taught at New Era Commercial Institute, Half Mile-Victoria.
In 1979, he gained
admission into the Nigerian Institute of Journalism and graduated in 1981 with
a diploma in journalism.
Back in Cameroon,
Nkemanyang worked with Les Brasseries du
Cameroun as the Southwest Chief of Publicity, but would abandon the job to
become Editor of the “Sunday Times”; later, he became a founding member of “Day
Dawn” newspaper ;then in 1991, he joined “The Herald” Newspaper of Dr. Boniface
Forbin, his former Mass Communication teacher.
He worked with The Herald as advertising agent and reporter for a while.
Parting ways with “The
Herald”, Nkemanyang set up “The Star Headlines” which later was renamed “The
Star Newspaper”.
Amongst his academic
qualifications, the deceased had a diploma in Management from Pan African
Institute for Development (PAID-WA)Buea.
In 2011, he was awarded an
honorary doctorate degree in journalism by a university in Britain.
Chief Foanyi, who died on
18 June 2020 in a hospital in Limbe after suffering from a malaise, has left
behind family members, colleagues and friends to mourn celebrate and remember
him.
