Rev.
Fr. Gerald Jumbam Nyuykongmo alias Jerry Jumbam is a priest whose sense of
inner freedom allows him to express himself freely and with concision. His huge
commitment to the theological enterprise has buoyed up his spirits to fashion
out a theology for his African peoples. He calls it theology of self-determination. He has launched this venture with a
pioneering book entitled Independence or
Nothing. Follow him in this interview and get more.
Interviewer:
How do you feel after bagging a doctorate in Sacred Theology and with the
brilliant distinction of Magna cum laude from the prestigious Pontifical
Lateran university?
Jumbam:
A Phd is not what really matters to me. Rightly it can make you feel good and
fulfilled – a feeling which you justifiably deserve since the accomplishment is
a result of nerve-racking toil. But I fear it because it can make you
complacent or cloak up mediocrity or use it to seek trivial attention or
pointless prestige. What is pleasing to the soul, what makes one truly happy in
the world is when one is able to win some victories for humanity by serving the
weak, by being voice to the voiceless and by pointing out without panic the
right way to those in the night of powerlessness. This I seek to do and my real
satisfaction comes therefrom.
Interviewer: Let’s
get then to serious business. The title of your recent work INDEPENDENCE OR NOTHING: Self-determination
and the British Southern Cameroons is so powerful and pertinent that it has
set tongues wagging. How come?
Jumbam:
The title of my work states the obvious. It is an ordinary idea among the
Southern Cameroonians. It is a title that carries with it the convictions,
beliefs and sentiments of millions of people in my homeland: Independence Or Nothing. It has been
their dictum, the guiding principle of over 8 million dispossessed people ( a
57 year dispossession) who seek a voice in the international scene, and whose
voice is legitimate and statutory. It is about self-determination in its most
insightful way. In that book, I have simply told the story of millions of
people who rose and declared with defiance: Independence
or Nothing! It all happened on 22 September 2017 and 1 October 2017 during
civil right manifestations that can only be equaled to (and which I believe even
surpassed) the historic Rev Dr King jr’s I
have a Dream speech manifestation some decades ago in the United States of
America. The one message the people of the Southern Cameroons put to the world
is that they shall not sell out their birthright of independence to neighboring African and
oversea colonial marauders for a cup of garri.
Interviewer:
In that masterpiece, you have expertly articulated their message that enough is
enough! Do you think this struggle will succeed?
Jumbam:
Oh Yes! I am the biggest optimist. Ardently confident. Colonialism is a crime
against humanity, an international evil, and an evil which has been condemned
by all nations of the world including the United Nations Organization(UNO). The
British Southern Cameroons was and is still a colony of Britain and it is the
place of Britain and UNO to ensure that that colony is fully independent. As
long as they continue to do what they know is wrong, my people will continue to
struggle. As God is always on the side of the truth, I have no doubt whatsoever
that the British Southern Cameroons would achieve its goal of a full
independent State.
Interviewer:
Are you not afraid seeing how wild the government of your country is, they
could kill you?
Jumbam:
Before I left Cameroon I was already in serious problems with the Cameroon
Government because I had ambitions to be a writer. And if as a writer you
cannot name the unnamable, that is, to express what other people fear to say as
Salman Rushdie said in his novel The
Satanic Verses, then you have no business writing at all; in other words,
you are already morally dead. According to Christian theology, if you are
morally dead and can’t speak the truth, you are really dead. In short, I am
saying that I couldn’t be taking the bull by the horns if I were not ready for
a bull fight. So those who talk about the death of others shouldn’t be
surprised if they die before those others.
Interviewer: We
hear that they have opened a new military command unit in Bamenda to quell down
the freedom struggle of the British Southern Cameroons?
Jumbam:
You cannot suppress the truth. In the years that lie ahead, the bloody
confrontations that would break out in the British Southern Cameroons would
shock the conscience of the international community, if they do not become part
of the resolution of this problem and facilitate as soon as possible a genuine
resolution of the conflict. For if the government of La Republique du Cameroun knew that its presence in the British
Southern Cameroons is legitimate, why is the area being militarized? They know
very well that the people’s hearts had long left Yaoundé. And you know that
this militarization began in 1962 after the Tombel crisis in which without the
indication of the West Cameroon government, La
Republique gendarmes invaded the area. All that militarization is a clear
indication that the annexing power knows that its days are numbered.
Interviewer: We
hear that your bishop is very angry with you for involving yourself in
politics.
Jumbam:
I have had some people tell me that and rather than dwell on it, I have given
the bishop the benefit of the doubt. But if it is true that such anger is
expressed, then such is the anger of cowardice. It is the anger of accusing
Moses for being political, of accusing the Prophet Amos of being political, of
accusing Cardinal Tumi or Archbishop Romero of being political, of accusing
even Jesus Christ of being political. I say it is an expression of cowardice
because Pericles in his famous funeral oration said that “we do not say that a
man who takes no interest in politics is a man who minds his own business; we
say that he has no business here at all”. So it is difficult for a serious
person to ignore what politics is all about and still carry out his daily civic
duties – whether laity or cleric. Already there are whispers around Rome that
Archbishop Oscar Romero will be canonized in October of this year. The Church
is canonizing Romero so that those who get angry at politics should follow the
example of Pope Francis’ words that “Politics, according to the Social
Teachings of the Church, is one of the highest forms of charity, because it
serves the common good.” My statements about the oppression of the people of my
homeland have served nothing but their common good. So those who think they can
escape from politics should leave the world and go to another planet altogether
– maybe Neptune, Mass or Jupiter.
Interviewer: This
year seems to be exceptionally yours in literally production. In one year you
have come out with two internationally acclaimed works. Apart from Independence or Nothing, there is
another one on Pope Francis and Africa. In that recent publication entitled Pope Francis Hero of Africa what were
you trying to say?
Jumbam:
It is a book I enjoy sitting down to reading. It is my own pan-Africanist stand
as a man of God; I call it my African Manifesto. I am saying in that book that
there are lots of similarities between Latin America and Africa; similarities
such as the Ubuntu spirit, fellow-feeling, colonialism, dictatorship and
tyranny. This gives both the Africa and the Latin American a common vision of
events; a vision already demonstrated in the public pronouncements of Pope
Francis, especially in his sympathy for the poor and oppressed people of the
world. This is something which has not happened for centuries in the preceding
papacies.
So
I was saying that the African Church should take advantage of the present
papacy to solve some of the teething problems that are militating against the growth
of the Church in Africa and the spread of the Gospel.
Interviewer: In
that work, you call Pope Francis hero to Africa. You mean there is no African
bishop or cardinal or priest who powerfully represents Africa out there?
Jumbam:
There are many, and very powerful ones of course. But to me, there is no one
like the Argentinian Pope, especially when it concerns Africa in the global
stage. And he openly takes sides with the poor! Where are most of the poor
people found in the world? In Africa. He chose Africa when he chose Francis of
Assisi as his patron. He is hero not only to the wretched in Africa but to the
underprivileged around the globe. You may have your own opinion. This is mine.
Francis is a fearless and convincing leader in that role and has no apologies
to make to anyone when he plays the role. That is why I admire him…his
tenacity.
And so I chose him as hero to my continent not
because we don’t have heroes, but because he puts Africa and other suffering
peoples at the forefront in the world stage. He speaks in the Universal Church
to me and to my continent, in the most intimate ways.
Interviewer: You
have been so involved in these matters. How do you see the future of your
priestly vocation?
Jumbam:
Priesthood to me is a conviction - a cast-iron certainty. From my childhood I had always dreamt of
becoming a priest and it was and still is the one passion of my life. I am
strongly convinced like the Prophet Jeremiah that even while I was still in my
mother’s womb, God chose me to be his priest. Looking at all the difficulties I
have passed through, I can see that God has a great future for me in this
vocation. For it is clear that God’s mercies and protection have been with me
during the difficult days of my vocation. And knowing as Paul has asked that
“If God be for me, who can be against me?” Luckily when I was born my mother
gave me the name NYUYKONGMO, meaning God-loves-me; and if God loves me who can
be against me?
Interviewer:
Thank you. The appearance of Independence
Or Nothing has been greeted with so much enthusiasm. For those who wish to
get personal copies and those who want to get many copies, where do they go?
Jumbam:
The AuthorHouse Publishers have simplified things for us. Those wishing to get
personal copies should get online to Amazon, https://www.authorhouse.com/Bookstore/BookDetail.aspx?BookId=SKU-001169441.
Those who wish to get numerous copies can contact the author to help them as
middleman contact the Publishing House so they get the copies in a discount.
Interviewer:
It’s been a pleasure talking to you.
Jumbam: Me
too.
