Perspectives on Written Cameroon Literature in English

25. Francis B. Nyamnjoh, A Nose for Money, East African Educational Publishers Ltd, 2006

327 25 Francis B. Nyamnjoh, A A Nose for Money, East African Educational Publishers Ltd, 2006 Francis B. Nyamnjoh is a prolific Anglophone Cameroonian writer whose publications in fiction, drama and scholarly essays have won him rave reviews. A Nose for Money (2006) is his third novel, coming after Mind Searching (1991) and The Disillusioned African (1995). With A Nose for Money Nyamnjoh identifies himself with the traditional, conventional novel, in marked contrast to his previous texts constructed within the modernist mode of discourse. Set in a fictional African country called Mimboland and depicting the changing fortunes of its central male subject, Prospère, A Nose for Money is a classic tale of a man growing from rags to riches. A semi-illiterate and a struggling truck driver with the Mimboland Brewery Company (MBC), Prospère nurses the ambition to be a rich man one day, and, accordingly, begins to save towards that end. As luck would have it, a financial windfall comes his way one fortunate day, catapulting him onto greater financial heights, thanks to his timely connection with his tribesman and government Minister, Mr. Matiba. Mimboland, particularly its capital city, Nyamandem, is a society in the grip of materialism and the crave for pleasures of the flesh; the text reveals the accentuated predominance of the quest for lucre and the pursuit of sex, the two related aspects of the overarching theme of moral decadence. Unlike in the previous novels, politics does not take centre stage here; however, it pulsates in the background, manifesting itself indirectly through the economic activities and the financial malpractices the text highlights. Since the government in power 328 is ‘the number one contractor and consumer in the entire country, what businessman or citizen could stand on his feet without the government’s benediction?’ (141) asks Matiba. Therefore, those who carry out successful business activities in the society are individuals who have connection with government Ministers. Prospère is phenomenally rich because of his links with the Ministers whom he bribes and corrupts so as to be awarded juicy contracts and granted business licences to carry out his extensive chain of businesses. Thanks to his identification with the political party in power and accessibility to insider information, Prospère can very easily spot lucrative contracts. He ‘oils the lips’ and ‘scratches the back’ of the director of customs and the Minister of Finance to import expensive goods under subterfuge, paying virtually no taxes on them. As a consequence, it is the state that loses billions of FCFA in tax revenue which go into private pockets. Owing to the infamous practices of oiling of lips, of scratching of backs and of goats eating where they are tethered (170) the reader discovers the sleazy processes that produce the wealthy Prospères and the government Ministers who ruin the country’s economy for their own personal wealth. Prospère is now numbered among the five richest men in the country. It was this mad pursuit of Mammon, this crave for filthy lucre that twice placed Mimboland on top of the world corruption chart, ‘a game that had made Mimboland a world leader for two consecutive years’ (159). Now what does a Minister, a director or a businessman with excess filthy money on his hands do? They consume it, and they do so in grand, arrogant style. They dress expensively and drive prestigious cars, imitating ‘la fierté des Français’ (139); they provide cars for their wives; they put up fabulous villas in the elitist Petit Paris neighbourhood, and send their children to study in France. But, above all, to slake their appetite for things of the flesh, they look for young girls, 329 ‘young juicy fruit[s]’ (157) on whom they shower their wealth. Here emerges the text’s second related theme of sexuality and marital unfaithfulness. The types of girls these tycoons go in for are those of university and high school levels. These are the Marie-Claires, the Charlottes, the Chantals and the Moniques, pampered and spoilt with ill-gotten money, fripperies and trendy dresses. The sponsors and keepers of these young girls are mostly married men with wives at home. One thing is therefore clear: they are cheating on their wives, regardless of whether they eventually marry the younger women. But the girls themselves are no fools. True, because of their insatiable appetite for money and material possessions peculiar to women, they stick...