“My coming to Bamenda as Archbishop is another miracle in this chain of miracles of my life. I don’t know why God chose me to come to Bamenda.  But all I can say is that I have always been open to the will of God from the day of my priestly ordination and I believe in what Saint Paul says in the first letter to the Thessalonians 5:18: “in everything give thanks for it is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you.”

“I thank God for His mercy and love. The office of Metropolitan Archbishop is not something that anyone merits, at least not me. It is a choice of God because God has a mission which only He knows and He wants to use only me as a simple instrument to accomplish his will for the people of God and the people of good will that are in Bamenda.

“While I thank God for the people of God and for His inexplicable favour upon me, all I can say to Him today is quoting the letter to the Hebrews: “Here I am Lord, I come to do Your will” Hebrews 10:9.

“I thank the Holy Father Pope Francis, pastor of the universal church for appointing me in spite of my unworthiness – first as Bishop of Mamfe and then six years later as Archbishop of Bamenda. The Holy Father is the symbol of unity in the whole church. And I can only pledge my total unity, loyalty and filial obedience to him in the discharge of my duties. I equally thank the Holy Father for his presence among us through the person of his personal representative to the church in Cameroon, the Apostolic Nuncio Archbishop Julio Murat.

“Your Excellency, since you came to Cameroon, this is your first time in the North West Region. But you have shown a lot of interest in the church of the ecclesiastical province of Bamenda. And you have supported our pastoral and social works without reserves. Today, your presence at this ceremony is eloquent testimony of the fact that you identify yourself totally with the church of this ecclesiastical province and that you can take great risks on our behalf. For this, we thank you immensely and we ask you to transmit our sincere feelings of gratitude to the Holy Father Pope Francis.

“Since I joined the episcopal family of Cameroon in 2013, I have felt to the closeness of all the bishops and the effective and affective collegiality that binds us together. The bishops have left their other important commitments to be here today because this is what our collegiality implies. I thank particularly His Eminence Christian Cardinal Tumi for being a father and a mentor to me in my episcopal ministry. I thank the President of the National Episcopal Conference His Excellency Monsignor Abraham Kome for honouring the people of God in Bamenda with his presence.

“I equally thank Bishop Anselm Umoren, Auxiliary Bishop of the Archdiocese of Abuja in Nigeria who is here today to pray with us.

“I will like to pay tribute to the founding fathers of the church of this province, His Grace Fr. Paul Verdzekov and His Lordship Bishop Pius Awa of blessed memory. Bishop Awa was my father and he moulded me. Today, I will sleep on the chair of Archbishop Paul with a lot of trepidation. His selflessness, detachment from earthly things, his humility, his wisdom and absolute love for the church were some of the virtues on which this archdiocese was founded and from which we shall draw our inspiration.

“At this point, I wish to express personal gratitude to His Grace the Most Rev. Cornelius Fontem Esua, Archbishop Emeritus of Bamenda who today graciously handed the pastoral responsibility of the archdiocese to my humble person. You Grace, it is clear that you loved this ecclesiastical province with a passion and worked for it with your whole heart and might. God has blessed you to run the race of pastoral responsibility to the finish. You have been a bishop for almost half your life. And today, the church says that you deserve a rest.

“I want to assure you that you should not be worried at all about your welfare because I have enough experience in taking care of Bishops emeritus. I started as a priest assisting the ailing Bishop Pius Awa of Buea and then for the past six years, I have been taking care of Bishop Francis Teke Lisinge, the Bishop emeritus of Mamfe who is here today with us. I will ensure, Your Grace, that you are happy. You are still part of the presbyterium of the archdiocese of Bamenda and Bamenda is your home. Relax and rest well.

“The civil authorities of this country have shown great concern from the day I was appointed until today. I sincerely thank the Head of State of Cameroon for his personal representation at this ceremony through the distinguished person of His Excellency Minister Paul Atanga Nji, Minister of Territorial Administration.

“The general framework agreement signed between the state of Cameroon and the Holy See in January 2014 expressed the great collaboration that exists between the church and the state and the massive presence here of you, members of Government, Senators, Parliamentarians and other civil authorities, is a sign that the church enjoys the respect of the state without prejudice to our prophetic role of announcing the gospel message at all times – in season and out of season.

“Mr. Governor of the North West Region, you have done everything within your powers to ensure security, and to mobilise the administration and the people of this region to see that this occasion is what it is. You did not just do it simply as a duty, but you did it with personal commitment and for this I say thank you.

“I thank also in a special way the British High Commissioner who came all the way to join us in this celebration. Your Excellency, thank you for your presence. I thank the traditional authorities of the South West and the North West Regions for their significant presence here and the precious gifts they have given to me which is a sign that the church cuts across regional boundaries. I am a son of the South West Region and I am equally a son of the North West region in equal measure.

“Although my parents hail from Lebialem Division in the South West Region, as has been repeated here by practically all the speakers, I was born in Widikum in the North West. I went to Primary School in Kumbo in the North West. I went to college in Buea in the South West. I did major seminary studies in Bambui in the North West. I began my priestly ministry in Mbonge in the South West, worked in Buea for many years in the South West and then back to Bamenda for another seven years as lecturer in the Major Seminary, registrar in CATTUC, in the North West and went back to Mamfe in the South West as Bishop. And here I have come again to Bamenda in the North West.  So, South West you can hold 50, North West you can hold 50.

“My biological family, immediate and extended, have been a great blessing and treasure to me. They have always been there supporting me spiritually and materially to succeed in my work as a priest. They have made enormous sacrifices on my behalf and I want to thank them all very much. Like the Chairperson of the Laity Council said, my 81-year-old mother Caroline Nkea lives with my siblings in the United States of America now for the past 20 years. She was in Cameroon last October 2019 and when she was leaving, she said to me: “Bishop, Cameroon is very far from America and the journey is now too heavy for me at my age. I am sure this is my last trip to Cameroon. And my next trip to Cameroon will be in a coffin when I have died.” When she said that, God had a good laugh at that statement. And barely four months after she flew back to America, she is here again in Cameroon – not in a coffin but on her two legs. I want to thank her for all the sacrifices and wish her many happy years.

“There are some special friends in my life, some members of the Lebialem community who have been there since I was a seminarian, some from the time of my priestly ordination and others much later. But they have been very supportive and today they are here again in their numbers.

“When I was consecrated a Bishop in August 2013, these friends of mine gave me the car which I have been using until today. Today again, the same friends have decided to give me another car as I begin my pastoral work in Bamenda. In Mamfe, they were represented by Dr. Diane Acha-Morfaw, and Prof. Leke. Today, they are represented my Mr. Paul Tasong, Mr. Felix Mbayu, Mr. Victor Arrey Mengot and Madam Honourable Lifaka Emilia.

“How can anyone adequately thank this people? I promise them my prayers and spiritual closeness and God will bless them and reward them abundantly.

Now, I turn to the people of the Mamfe Diocese. Mamfe Diocese – one family. The priests of Mamfe were simply wonderful, the religious dedicated, and Christ’s lay faithful marvellous. I can never thank you people enough. From this day, start praying to Jesus Christ the good shepherd to give you a new shepherd after His own heart so that you may continue to grow in faith. I will join you in the prayers. And I believe in Saint Augustine that Christ will never leave his church without good shepherds.

“The good news is that Pope Francis knows Mamfe very well and he will give you a shepherd at the appointed time, who will love you and pasture you towards the kingdom of heaven.

“Thank you for your beautiful gifts of the statue of our lady of Fatima. She is the one through whom we have been praying for peace in Mamfe. And we shall continue calling on her to intercede for peace to come to Bamenda and to the entire North West and South West regions. God bless Mamfe!

“Bamenda Archdiocese here I come. I come to you as a shepherd, not as a politician. I come to you as a priest, not as a business man. I come to you as a father, not as a policeman. I come to you as a messenger of peace, not as a warmonger. I come to you as a crusader of justice, not as a supporter of injustice and misphilosophies. I come to you in spirit and in truth, not in flesh and with lies. I come to you in the name of Jesus Christ. Like I said in Mamfe when I was ordained Bishop, I now say to you that I have three principal duties in the Archdiocese of Bamenda.

“My first duty in this Archdiocese is to preach the Gospel. My second duty is to preach the Gospel. And my third duty in this is to preach the Gospel. Any other thing outside preaching the gospel is a distraction. I come to preach the gospel of Jesus Christ who is the Way, the Truth and the Life. I come to preach the gospel of Jesus Christ who is the Prince of Peace.

“When the journalists came to interview me after my appointment, one of the questions they asked me was my vision for the Bamenda Archdiocese. And I told them to their great surprise that I had absolutely no vision for Bamenda.  But that when I go to Bamenda, I will sit down with the priests, the religious and all the Christ lay faithful and together we shall craft the vision for the Archdiocese of Bamenda and together we shall concretise and realise that vision.

“I want to sincerely thank all the Christians, non-Christians, the people of good will who came out two days ago in their numbers, in mammoth crowds to welcome me into the archdiocese of Bamenda. To be honest with you, you moved me to tears with your joy, your love and your kindness. But in all these, you must remember the words of the psalmist, Psalms 115:1 “Not to us Lord, not to us, but to your name be the glory.” 

“I am grateful to the members of the organising committee of this occasion led by the Most Reverend Monsignor George Ngalim and Mrs. Edith Tanyi, Chairperson of the Laity Council. I thank the CMA, CWA, and the Charismatic Renewal, Cadets of Mary, Altar Servants and all apostolic groups. May God bless you abundantly for all your sacrifices. I thank the priests of this archdiocese for their warm reception and fraternal love since the past two days. We are not strangers to each other. Among you, I have my rector in the major seminary Monsignor Engelbert Kofon, among you I have my teachers, among you I have my school mates, among you I also have my students. Whatever our ages and relationships, there is one thing we share in common, the sacrament of holy orders. This sacrament does not belong to any one of us but belongs to Christ who through anointing with the mystical oil of chrism and the laying on of hands made us sharers in his priesthood.

“I sincerely thank you for all the work you have been doing and the sacrifices you have been making so that God’s people will continue to have pastoral care, spiritual guidance and social consolation. Thank you for all your collaboration with the organising committee of this feast. You are my blessing and I hope I will be your blessing also.

“I thank the religious men and women and members of the societies of apostolic life, especially the missionaries who are here today and who have pledged to continue helping us. I thank the Christ lay faithful in the archdiocese of Bamenda and especially the non-Catholics and the people of good will. Your massive presence here has convinced me that this has nothing to do with my little self, but with your reverence for the church and your believe in God. I thank the Moderator of the Presbyterian Church in Cameroon, the President of the Cameroon Baptist Convention, the Imam of Bamenda and all other religious leaders, their members, who have come to join us here today. We shall continue to work together in the spirit of ecumenism and interreligious dialogue.

“Without forgetting my special daughters, the OPSANs – Queen of the Rosary College Okoyong- Mamfe ex-students, I wish to sincerely thank the Ex-Students of Our Lady of Lourdes College (LESANs) who generously and kindly offered me this chasuble I am wearing today for this occasion.

“Finally, I want to thank all the people I have not mentioned above. It is not because I have forgotten you, but because the speech was becoming too long. Please do not take offence that I did not call you. But bear with me that on a day like this, memory level drops. But I thank all of you from the bottom of my heart.

“The governance of the church is so organised that there is never a void or a vacuum in administration even for one minute. Canon 418 paragraph two number one, of the Code of Canon Law states that: “the faculties of the vicar general and episcopal vicars cease with the resignation of the Bishop.” Therefore, upon assuming the office of Archbishop of Bamenda, I must immediately make provision so that the work starts immediately after this mass. I am hereby appointing as Vicar General of the Archdiocese of Bamenda the Very Rev. Fr. William Neba and as Episcopal Vicar for the Clergy, the Very Rev. Monsignor Patrick Lafon.

Transcribed by Atia Tilarious Azohnwi