Fear not death, for the sooner we die the longer we shall be immortal.Benjamin Franklin This memorial website was created to remember our dearest Nguasong Martin Anu (Pa Anucam) who was born in Letia- Fontem and passed away on July 30, 2015. You will live forever in our memories and hearts.
Biography
Nguasong Martin was born on the 7th June 1951 at Letia, Fontem to late Pa Catechist Anulegeh Mathias Foretia and Mami Emeangu Lucia. He attended the St George’s Catholic Primary School Belleuh, Fontem, finishing in 1965, whereupon he was engaged as a Probationary Teacher in the same school.
In 1967 he was admitted into the St Paul’s Teachers Training College Bojongo from where he graduated in 1972 as a Teacher Grade 11. He then applied to teach as a Government Teacher but had to wait for another one year before being employed and deployed to teach in Mbonge from 1973. While teaching at Mbonge he engaged in self-study and obtained the GCE Ordinary and Advanced Level Certificates. On the basis of the Advance Level, he was transferred to teach English at CES Makari in the then Northern Province where he served for a few months before being re-assigned to the newly created GSS Nyassosso in 1977.
At Nyassosso he taught, among other subjects, Commerce and Economics and became renowned for the performance of his students at successive GCE Ordinary Level Examinations. Surely bolstered by these results he tried his hand at publishing, starting in 1979 with the much sought after mimeograph titled GCE Guide in Economics for O Level. It remained in circulation as a best seller in the subject until 1983.
In 1981 he re-located to Kano, Nigeria, partly driven by a desire to enrol for a tertiary certificate but the teacher in him seems to have had the better of him as he ended up being employed to teach in a Government Secondary School in that city. He lived there until 1983, when he chose to return home rather than face the indignities visited upon foreigners during the infamous anti-foreigner drive that gripped Nigeria that year.
In the meantime he had enrolled for a distance first degree programme in Economics which he eventually completed in 1984 while back home in Cameroon. Then he decided he needed to be his own man. That year, while revising his GCE Guide in Economics for O Level he decided to launch his own publishing house. He named it ANUCAM (loosely translated as Wonders in Cameroon). The textbook, O Level Economics was followed in quick succession by the enduring Civics and Society, Revision English for FSLC and Common Entrance and hundreds of other titles in his ensuing career. In doing this he had courageously joined the few existing indigenous publishers in demystifying book publishing and creating a viable local industry which today provides thousands of jobs in the book chain.
Indeed, from 1984 to his last day he never looked back and books became his other life, such that even when he surprisingly and defiantly decided to return to his native Belleuh village in 2006 to take up integrated farming, he still could not resist the urge to continue the activity, frequently travelling to Bamenda for this purpose. Notable among his contributions was his active participation at the Kribi forum in 2000 which gave birth to the first National Book Policy for Cameroon.
Ever a proactive and magnanimous person, he decided against all advice in 2007 to open his erstwhile sole proprietor business to other shareholders, incorporating Anucam Educational Books as a public limited liability company. He would again stun family and close friends with his decision to quit Anucam in 2009.
But once again the publisher in him would not die as he launched Emengu International in 2012 and steered it to national recognition shortly thereafter with listings on the national school booklist.
In doing all of this, he stoically managed an ailing condition from the early 90s when he was diagnosed with Diabetes and hyper tension. Never complaining, he accepted it and out of his innate sense of discipline and quest for knowledge became virtually a lay consultant on how to cope with these conditions.
Eventually, though, in mid-2014 he was diagnosed with renal failure and put on haemodialysis treatment. He embraced this new situation with courage and optimism and settled in Bamenda to undergo the weekly treatment. In early 2015 he bowed to pressure from family in the United States to travel there for improved care. He was there until June 26 2015 when he returned home and immediately and reservedly plunged full scale into preparing for the 2015 book season. He would be able to do this for barely two weeks for by mid-July his condition worsened, leading to his final transition onto the Good Lord at the Bamenda General Hospital at 2.30 pm on the 30th July 2015, surrounded by his immediate family and loved ones.
Nguasong Martin ANUCAM is survived by his wife, Eveline, two sons, his mother, his sole brother, three grandchildren, and a big family of other children he raised.
We trust the Lord will grant you eternal rest, our father, grandfather and brother.
Thank You
The Nguasong Family express our sincere gratitude to all of you who travelled to Fontem to shared in our grief.For those who could not make it but sent their messages or have said prayers for us, we remain highly indebted.To all of you who have been there for us in every way to support us, we say a big THANK YOUDo keep us in your prayers.May the Lord grant you All travelling mercies.Nguasong Family
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Thank you all for the magnanimous support at this crucial time in our lives
The Family
