Pius Njawe---The Hero with the Pen

I was overwhelmed by a deep sense of sadness when I learned of the death of Pius Njawe in the United States of America on July 12, 2010. It stirred strong impulses that my oppressed and anguished mind about Cameroon could not dispel.

As I grappled with my emotions and tried to make sense of it all, I could only find comfort in the fact that he died being himself. In the land of the free and the brave called America, in a land so distant from the piece of earth called Cameroon that he had dedicated his life to liberate, he met his departure to the resting place of his ancestor convinced about something. Cameroon’s freedom, true independence, liberty, unity, progress, development and fraternity with the civilized community of nations would be realized by an advanced force led by Cameroon’s Diaspora.

Pius Njawe would be remembered as a fundamental pillar of the 1990-2010 phase of the Cameroonian struggle. And he would be remembered as one of the few heroes in that phase who never betrayed; who accepted deprivation, endless series of sacrifices and self-sacrifices, and above all as someone who went through victimization from the evil system without compromising his human values and dedication to Cameroon. He would be remembered as the Cameroonian who worked the hardest to make the true voice of the land to be heard by the rich and poor, the literate and the illiterate, the Francophone and Anglophone Cameroonians, the North and the South, the East and the West, Cameroonians of the different religions and denominations, the Diaspora and those at home, and the true friends of Cameroon and its enemies.

As Cameroonians of the Diaspora send him back home to his final resting place, we should commit ourselves to keep his fine line of work alive and make it the first step in the return of Cameroon’s heroes who died abroad (from Felix Moumie to Ahidjo to Pius Njawe, i.e.). It should be the first step for Cameroon to be at peace with itself, the first step to end its deceptive history and start recognizing its heroes. It should be the first step in putting together the resources that would realize the New Cameroon; because he left us after opening the chapter for the new phase of the Cameroonian struggle. It would be a hard and merciless struggle, but it is our only salvation. Its success hinges a lot on the Diaspora capital. It is a huge capital and we can not afford to allow its purpose to be defeated by the 52-year old system in Cameroon. Its defeat would mean the defeat of hope in Cameroon.

As I say adios to the Cameroonian hero, I will quote Albert Einstein who said, “Our death is not an end if we can live on in our children and the younger generation. For they are us, our bodies are only wilted leaves on the tree of life.”

I also find solace in the words of Jean de La Fontaine who said, “Death never takes the wise man by surprise; He is always ready to go.”

Let us continue with Pius Njawe’s spirit. He will be missed, but he should not be forgotten.

July 15, 2010 Janvier Tchouteu