Ako-Aya: A Cameroorian Pioneer in Daring Journalism and Social Commentary

Epilogue

243 Epilogue F or true, Patrick Tataw Obenson, the rabid critic, social crusader and witty journalist, all rolled up in one, was indeed a man of the people. Little wonder that when he died, he left behind countless painful hearts and many questions on the lips of his admirers. As a man of the people, the fallen hero of Cameroon’s Fleet Street shared his experiences, be they good or bad, with his readers. He was a virile critic even of the sordid things in which he himself secretly indulged. The promiscuous things that Tataw Obenson did behind the scene always provided rich stuff for his subsequent “Ako-Aya” column. Thus when he engaged the services of a prostitute and failed to settle the score by morning, because his pockets were more often than not lean, it was most likely to constitute part of the menu for the subsequent “Ako-Aya” column. Obenson’s mind was open. In fact, the whole society could see through him, for, he virtually exposed its contents. Only Tataw Obenson could spit out really scathing pieces of satire, aimed directly at the highest governing authorities of his society. Only Obenson could make allusions even to his own apparently ugly self. Only he could be liberal and honest enough to confess how he boarded a taxi and later bolted without paying the driver. Only Obenson was able to foresee his imminent demise from the face of the earth and literarily wrote his own epitaph. But like all mortals, Patrick Tataw Obenson had his own fair share of human weakness. With all his intelligence, wit and avowed sense of perception, Obenson still fell victim to superstition, which he would otherwise have criticised like a re-incarnation of Christ the Lord? What with his own pilgrimages to Oku where the very people he lampooned also went to fortify themselves with amulets and talismans? What with tacitly subscribing to witchcraft and staying under the sun four hours daily, for five days in the belief that he would be cured of his ailment? 244 Ako-Aya: A Cameroonian Pioneer in Daring Journalism and Social Commentary Yet, once more, only the lion-hearted and transparently frank Obenson could dare challenge his own doctors publicly, more so the much revered native doctors who are believed to hold people’s lives in trust for them by some remote means. Whereas other journalists would easily submit to the whims and caprices of the affluent to benefit from some of their wealth, Obenson instead elected to beg openly even from people he had openly castigated before, and was still likely to castigate even after receiving their gifts. In spite of his shabby appearance, and lean pockets, accentuated by poor proceeds from his newspapering, and the near inhuman conditions under which he operated, Obenson’s vision remained clear and unbiased. He had an axe to grind with all perpetrators of social vices, especially those of them that infringed on the rights of the common man. He gave them a good fight, using his newspaper as his only weapon - a weapon which could not be neutralized even by the most affluent nor the most coercive leadership. And he did so with nerve and valour and venom which is the handmaiden of the practice of journalism in better democracies. Obenson had a style of his own. Thus, while his conge-neers were compelled to falsify events and sing the chorus of powerbrokers and power-mongers and publicity addicts, under the guise that he who pays the piper dictates the tune, Obenson, on the contrary, was a thorn in their flesh, always rattling the skeletons in the cupboards of the morally bankrupt. He never jettisoned his professional code of conduct. He never lied to please certain individuals, interest groups or even his own self. He never passed as a bloody mercenary or as a mere cypher on the country’s’ political chessboard like most of his colleagues of the same profession. ... That was Patrick Tataw Obenson as I knew him. I wonder when and if this nation will ever be blessed with another him... Titles by Langaa RPCIG Francis B. Nyamnjoh Stories from Abakwa Mind Searching The Disillusioned African The Convert Souls Forgotten Married But Available Intimate Strangers Dibussi Tande No Turning Back. Poems of Freedom 1990-1993 Scribbles from the Den: Essays on Politics and Collective Memory in Cameroon Kangsen Feka Wakai Fragmented Melodies Ntemfac Ofege...