Ajuoh Ngam smiling home to his Maker
By Yerima Kini Nsom
Literary giant and former Principal of CCAST, Bambili, Bobe Ajuoh John Ngam, is dead. He breathed his last in Boyui Village in Fundong Subdivision, Boyo Division of the Northwest Region on Saturday, October 8, after a protracted illness.
Bobe Ajuoh John Ngam, known within the Kom traditional circles as Yindo Mbuyongha, was the father of the former SDF Senator, Hon. Honore Ngam. He was born on September 14, 1945, to one of the first Catholic couples in Kom, Bobe Francis Ajuoh and Nawain Anna Nangeh. By a sheer accident of history, the late teacher stood in a class of his own as a man who shared the same birthday with the United Nations Organisation. Besides, his birthday also predates the state of Cameroon.
Aware of the rapid mutations that were happening in their community and convinced that future leaders would be people who had got a good modern education, his parents moved from Sho in the Belo Subdivision to Njinikom so that the children could get a good education. Ajuoh John Ngam enrolled at Saint Anthony’s Catholic School, Njinikom, where he, and indeed, many Cameroonians of the same age grade, started their education journey. Although he was one of the smallest and the youngest learners in his class, he loved the teachers at St Anthony Catholic School and excelled in all the subjects. During his time in Njinikom, Ajuoh John Ngam witnessed the rise of the women’s political movement known as the Anluh revolt as well as the ordination of some of the first Black and Kom priests, Fathers Ivo Ndichia and James Tobah.
While Ajuoh Ngam was doing his Standard 6 certificate, his teachers advised him to consider going to the best secondary school in Southern Cameroons at the time, i.e., Owerri and Umuahia (Nigeria). However, some secondary schools had also just been created in Southern Cameroons, like Sasse College, QRC Okoyong and CPC Bali. The first principal of Sacred Heart College, Mankon, Rev. Fr Thomas Mulligan, came to St Anthony School to personally interview those who wanted to study there. After the interview, Ajuoh Ngam was chosen to study at Sacred Heart College.
His secondary education was while the battles between the KNDP and KNC over the future of Southern Cameroons were raging on. Once again, he was very assiduous in his studies and completed his Ordinary Levels within five years and moved on to CCAST Bambili. After CCAST, he attended the Ecole Normale Superieure, ENS Bambili, because he was eager to join the civil service. The best learners in the education system at the time had to be good in all the subjects. However, Ajuoh Ngam was fascinated by history, geography and especially literature. He set his mind to becoming a literature teacher.
After studying at ENS Bambili and then ENS Yaounde, he did his teaching practice at Lycée Leclerc before joining the civil service in the Cameroon Federation. Both his first jobs were in Francophone Cameroon, in Ntui and then in Foumbam. President Ahidjo was encouraging a policy of transferring civil servants to different parts of the country to promote bilingualism and spur development of basic infrastructure. After a short stint at CCAST Bambili, he again moved to Francophone Cameroon in Garoua as the provincial Pedagogic Inspector of English.
From Garoua, Ajuoh Ngam was appointed the Principal of GHS Fundong, where he took over from Hon. Waingeh Albert Ndim. During his tenure, enrolment doubled in the college, and he stewarded it towards GBHS status. He was appointed principal of CCAST Bambili in 1996, where he later retired from the public service in 2000. As a teacher and literary mind, Ajuoh Ngam wrote many books, including his autobiography entitled “As I Saw It”, an English grammar book, Beacon English, and a collection of poems titled “Panic At Abuh”, The Drifting Ark, and other collections of poems.