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Life story
December 12, 1927
 





Pa Nicholas Ade Ngwa was born on December 14, 1927 in Mbatu to Pa Joseph Tamuh Ngwa and Mami Ufi Josepha Ngwa all of blessed memory. Pa was the first of two kids, Mami Veronica Chinje his only sister passed in 1965. He attended St. Joseph Primary School, Big Mankon and later went to St. Anthony Primary School, Njinikom; proceeding after to St. Joseph’s College, Sasse in 1942. Graduating in 1946 as the best student, Rev. Arthur McCormack assigned him to type the Richards Constitution for Nigeria and Southern Cameroons in Njinikom. Unlike other classmates such as Late Dikoko Quan and Tanyi Mbuagbaw who went for further studies to the Ibadan University, Pa opted to teach.
 

He taught at the Government Teacher Training Centre (GTTC) Kumba, serving as the 1st Cameroonian Senior Tutor, the Teacher Training College Njinikom, and St. Joseph’s College, Sasse where he equally served as a Senior Tutor. Late Bishops Pius Awah and Paul Verdzekov are some of the many students Pa trained. The teaching period lasted from 1948-1960, punctuated by interludes of study at Shanahan College Orlu-Nigeria; the University of Edinburgh, the University of Madison-Wisconsin and the University of Birmingham, England. During his studies, he was privileged to meet Queen Elizabeth II of England and President Dwight Eisenhower of the United States of America.       
 

It is during this period that Pa met his lovely wife, Mama Regina Sirri and they got married on December 27, 1954. This union has been blessed with six children, 18 grand-children and 1 great-grand child.
 

Pa later served as Interim education officer for Southern Cameroons for 5 months before being drafted into the administrative core, where he began his career as Assistant to Jack Kisob in the implementation of the Cameroonisation policy which saw the opening of the Clerical School where Executive and Senior Executive officers were trained. In September 1961, he became Private Secretary (Director of Cabinet) to Dr. John Ngu Foncha, Prime Minister of West Cameroon. In that capacity, he took over the Schloss and carried out a meticulous inventory of all what was in the German building – the official residence of J.O. Field, Commissioner for Southern Cameroons. With the new occupant being the Prime Minister, it was now called the Prime Minister’s Lodge. In his capacity as Private Secretary to the Prime Minister cum Vice President of the Federal Republic, Pa Ngwa participated in all meetings between President Ahidjo and Vice President Foncha.
 

In 1962, Pa Ngwa left the Lodge and was posted to Nkambe as Divisional Officer. This started a career that lasted 20 years; during which time he served in all the Divisions in West Cameroon and later North and South West Provinces as Senior Divisional Officer (SDO)


In 1968, as SDO for Bui, he was responsible for the building of the Post Office, Health Centers and the Kumbo-Mbiame-Mbaw-Nso-Magba road. He mediated and successfully resolved the long feud between the Fon of Nso and Shufai Ndzendzef; a feud that had split the Fondom for years. In appreciation and recognition of this feat, the venerable Fon Mbinglo bestowed on Pa Ngwa to the coveted title of Shufai Bambui. In all the Divisions where he served, he left an indelible mark. As SDO for Bamenda which is today North West Region, he proposed and obtained the splitting of the Division and the elevation of Menchum and Nkambe to full Divisions. He took an early retirement in 1980.
 

Upon retirement, Pa Ngwa was active in the Private sector. In this wise, he served as General Manager for Cameroon Marble company (Camarco), NOBRA Bamenda and West Cameroon Lottery.
 

While a student in Britain, he was a member of the Cameroon society – an organization of Southern Cameroonian students in Britain who took particular interest in the decolonization process of Southern Cameroons. Pa Ngwa represented them at the famous Mamfe Conference of 1959. Prior to this, in the 1957 campaign, because of an accident that Mr. Foncha had sustained while campaigning and unable to travel to Buea to record his campaign message, Pa Ngwa had to travel to Buea to carry out this responsibility.
 

When he retired from the administration, he became very active in the Cameroon Peoples’ Democratic Movement (CPDM) party where he served as Mezam Section Secretary. With the advent of multipartyism, Pa Ngwa joined the Social Democratic Front (SDF), serving as the First National Administrative Secretary and Shadow Minister for Internal affairs. In this capacity, he laid the solid foundation for the efficient and efficacious administrative procedures at the SDF party National Secretariat.
 

Pa Ngwa stayed very active as a Christian and among the many Christian activities he undertook for the Church was the successful organization of the Papal visit of Pope John Paul II to Bamenda. On April 19, 2011, Pope Benedict XVI conferred on him the Pontifical Award of Knight of St. Sylvester. Pa helped in many church projects, and when asked what he wanted for a gift for his 60th wedding anniversary, he asked for a grotto to be built at the Queen of Peace Parish.

 

A God fearing man till the end, Pa Nicholas Ade Ngwa attended his final mass at 6:30am on the morning of January 3, 2016. Upon his return home, he had his breakfast and spent the later hours of the morning conversing with his children and grand-children who were home visiting for the holidays. At 2pm, Pa retired to his quarters for his afternoon nap and sometime after that was called to his eternal rest.


We thank God and give Him all the glory and praise for a beautiful life of service, completely and well lived. Papa loved and served God wholeheartedly throughout his life, and he has now left us with an outstanding legacy to cherish. We will miss him profoundly, but we are consoled as Christians because we believe in life eternal and will see him again, face to face.                    
To God be ALL the glory, Alleluia AMEN.

 


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