Biography of Professor Martin Zachary Njeuma
9 April 1940 -- 28 April 2010
Professor Martin Zachary Njeuma was born in Buea on 9 April 1940 to Mr. Isaac Mase Njeuma, from Ndog Bianga, near Edea, and Ma Sophie Mondinde of Wonya Lyonga Buea. As the first of two sons of the Njeuma family after several girls, his birth was greeted with jubilation and elation. His siblings include late Christiana Adu, Hannah Njee, Alice Njeuma, Elizabeth (Abe) Njeuma, Rosa Hegngi, Emilia Ephanga, late Emmanuel Mase, Lucy Muma, late Ida Njeuma and Bernadette Njeuma.
He went to primary school in Government School Buea Station and went on to become a brilliant scholar and well renowned Professor Emeritus of History. His secondary school education was at the prestigious St. Joseph’s College, Sasse, Class of 1953. Thereafter he attended King’s College Lagos, Nigeria. His secondary school education was sponsored by his senior sister, Christiana Njeuma, to whom he remained forever indebted.
He obtained the West African Higher School Certificate after only one year at King’s College, Lagos. He then proceeded to the University of Ghana, Accra where he earned a B.A. (honours) degree in History in 1964. He later obtained a Ph. D in African History in 1969, from the School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS) of the University of London, Great Britain. Between the years of 1965-1966, he studied French at the University of Paris, Sorbonne 1 and the Alliance Française. A few years later, in 1972, he studied German at the Goethe Institute at Grafin bei Munchen and Marborg, Federal Republic of Germany.
Professor Njeuma then returned to Cameroon in 1970 and assumed service as Director of National Achieves, Buea, West Cameroon. He later was recruited at the University of Yaounde where he built a brilliant career, starting as Associate Professor (Maitre de Conferences). He became Head of History Department and then Dean of the Faculty of Letters and Human Sciences. He later became Full Professor in 1981. He was also a pioneer Dean of the Faculty of Arts of the University of Buea until his retirement in 1995.
He also undertook several visiting professorships: University of South Carolina, Columbia, USA 1975; North Western University, Evanston, 1983; Head of Delegation of Historians at a German-Cameroon “Dialogue” on the theme “Apartheid, Present and Future Perspective”; University of El Paso, Texas, 1994; University of Tromso, Norway, 1995; University of Oslo, 1997; Universities of Ngaoundere and Yaounde 1, Cameroon.
Alongside his university career, Professor Njeuma also assumed other distinguished functions as Moderator and Chief Examiner GCE Examinations Board A-Level History; Member of the Cameroon National Boundary Commission and several National and International Consultancies on African History such as: Cameroon country scholar in charge of managing cooperation at the Frobenius Institute, Germany, with Professor Eike Haberland; University of South Carolina, Columbia, USA, with Professor Mark Delancey; Penn State University, Pennsylvania, USA, with Professor LaMarr Kopp; University of Hamburg, Germany with Professor Leonard Harding; University of Aix-en-Province France, with Professor Charles de la Roncière ; University of Tromso, with Professor Lisbet Holterdahl.
He was a prolific writer authoring and co-authoring many books and articles. Three of the more popular of his books being: 1978, Fulani Hegemony in Yola (Old Adamawa) 1890-1902, CEPER, Yaounde, pp.298; 1984, St. Joseph’s College Sasse, Cameroon, CEPER, Yaounde, pp.125; 2000, Valiant Soldiers from Fako, Mega Impression, Yaounde, pp. 116
In addition, he contributed to several other History books and reviews: 1974, “Symposium Leo Frobenius”, Stuttgart, Germany, pp. 36.; 1999, The Power of Knowledge in Regional Development, Paris, pp. 366.; 2001, Abwa, D., Essomba, J-M, Njeuma, M.Z. and De la Roncière C. (eds.), Dynamiques d’Intégration Régionale en Afique Centrale, pp.791, 2 Tomes, Presses Universitaires de Yaounde. ; 1989, Introduction to the History of Cameroon in the Nineteeth and Twentieth Centuries, Macmillan, London and translated into French by Harmattan, Paris, pp.312; 2000, A Pilgrimage of the Faith (History of Buea Diocese). C.P.T. Archdiocese of Germany, pp. 176
He made contributions to other books such as: 1974 “The History of Bamun from Ancient Times to Sultan Njoya” in Haberland, Njeuma, Wenter-lukas, (eds.), Symposium Leo Frobenuis, West Germany, pp.249-265; 1979 “Sokoto and her Provinces; A Case Study of the Relationship between Sokoto and Yola in the 19th Century” in Bala Usman (ed.) Studies on the Sokoto Caliphate, Oxford University Press, London, pp 71-90; 1980 with Bongfen Chem-langhee, “the Pan-Cameroon Movement. 1949-61” in Ndiva Kofele (ed.) An African Experiment in Nation Building: The Bilingual Cameroon since Reunification, West View Press USA. 1997 “Extending and Expanding Historical Knowledge in Cameroon: a methodology for national history”. In Marc Michel (ed), La recherche en histoire en Afrique Centrale Francophone ; 1998, “the Fulbe Factor in Northern Cameroon”. Revue Ngaoundere-Anthropos, Vol. no 2, 1-8.
Professor Martin Zachary Njeuma’s academic excellence and hard work was recognized nationally and internationally, earning him awards from foundations such as: Alexander von Humboldt Foundation; D.A.A.D. Germany in 1974; Fulbright-Hays (USA) in 1976, 1984 and 1994; Rockefeller Foundation, Bellagio, Italy in 1996 and was an honorary life membership of the American Historical Association since 1993. He trained numerous students at the Universities of Yaounde, Buea and Ngaoundere, many of whom have become outstanding academics and senior government officials in their own right.
His illness and passing away on Wednesday, April 28, 2010 has been deeply felt by his family and friends at home and abroad and the Cameroon Nation as a whole. He suffered from diabetes which he managed quite well until December 2009, when it confined him to bed and to hospital admission for the first time. He recovered valiantly but encountered a relapse in February 2010, just when his children were about to give him a treat to Egypt for his impending 70th birthday. The trip aborted on account of his failing health followed by more hospitalizations. In spite of his condition, the State continued to recognize and rely on his expertise by appointing him Head of the Sub-Commission on Monuments and Steles for the Commemoration of Cameroon’s 50th Independence Anniversary. He unfortunately could not assume this position on account of his failing health and subsequent death.
Professor Martin Zachary Njeuma is survived by his two children: Dorothy Embelle Njeuma, a Telecommunications Engineer and SAP IT Consultant, and Christiana Bonbankal Njeuma, B.A. Honors Modern Languages, M.A.S. Aerounautical Sciences and Cameroon’s first female professional pilot; and his spouse of 42 years, Professor (Mrs.) Dorothy Limunga Njeuma née Effange, Former Vice Minister of National Education (1975 – 1985), Director General of the Buea University Centre (1988 – 1993), Pioneer Vice Chancellor of the University of Buea (1993-2005), Rector of the University of Yaounde 1 (2005 – 2008) and Member of Elections Cameroon (ELECAM) since 2008. He had complete confidence in his family and was very proud of their achievements.
He is also survived by his sisters and several nieces and nephews who shared a very special relationship with him and to whose education he contributed very generously. He would be fondly remembered by friends and family for his love for lawn tennis and indoor games such as squash, table tennis, scrabble and monopoly, his uncanny sense of good humour, his indelible and infectious smile and general friendly disposition. He was also a devout Christian of the Roman Catholic faith.