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158 22  The Phenomenon Called Baba Danpullo n his play Major Barbara, Bernard Shaw emphasizes the centuries-old concept that whoever has money has everything, by making the millionaire AndrewUndershaft declare that poverty is a crime. He carries the idea forward by presenting the helplessness of Barbara’s church (The Salvation Army) before Undershaft, who made his millions from the sale of arms, and another millionaire who got rich from the manufacture of whisky, another weapon of mass destruction. Soame Jenyns, an English philosophical writer had earlier hinted at this point in his essay ‘A Free Inquiry into the Origin and Nature of Evil’. Modern political analysts have improved on this generally accepted principle by arguing that after acquiring wealth, the next most logical thing to do is to seek political power, either for the love of fame or as a means of protecting the wealth one has acquired. In Cameroon, the urge to protect acquired wealth is preponderant because the regime in place is firmly convinced, as the Americans are regarding the war on terror, that you are either with them or against them. The Biya regime has, however, carried this principle too far by not only concluding that any businessman who does not belong to the ruling party must be using his wealth to sponsor the opposition, and ensuring that such a person is destroyed economically through taxes. This explains why, despite Cameroon’s enormous resources, including manpower, foreign investors are scared to establish in the country. Perhaps the first Cameroonian to have first fully understood this vindictive principle of the party in power is Alhadji Baba Danpullo. Who is Danpullo? Baba Danpullo was born around 1947 which means at the time of writing he is about 60. His father, Ahmadou Danpullo, was a cattle grazier from Kano in northern Nigeria who found the Kom clan in the Northwest Province the most conducive place to settle. The hospitality of Fon Ndzie, the Kom traditional ruler at the time helped Ahmadou Danpullo to realize his dream by offering him a piece of land at Fujua, a stone’s throw from Laikom, the royal seat of Kom in Fundong, Kom’s I 159 administrative headquarters. As further proof of his love and esteem for Danpullo, Fon Ndzie gave him (the grazier was already a husband of three wives) the pretty girl Ngoin Felai as his wife. Unlike what many ignoramuses in Kom say, the pretty young lady was not a princess of the Kom Fondom but hailed from Mejang, still in Kom and was handed over to Fon Ndzie by her own father alongside other children as ‘the Fon’s people’. (It was the custom in those days for subjects who wanted to prove their loyalty or attachment to the palace to give a family member to the Fon.) As Danpullo’s cattle multiplied, his grazing land became inadequate to provide for them. The encroachment of land became inevitable. To prevent clashes with local farmers, the Fon of Kom gave his son-in-law another and much bigger piece of land at Ndawara close to the border with Babungo Village in Ngoketunjia Division. There he settled alongside some Mbororos. Their common occupation was cattle rearing and, given the importance of land space to persons of this profession, it was impossible for any of them to love his grazier neighbour as himself. Amadou Danpullo had 9 children by Ngoin Felai who, after her marriage to him, converted to Islam and bore the reverential name ‘Na Hajia’. Baba Danpullo was the eldest of the nine, two of whom are said to have passed away in infancy. While there, one of Baba’s uncles came from Kano and, impressed by his conduct, took him to Kano with the intention of bringing him up as a businessman. An outbreak of chickenpox that affected Baba put an end to the young businessman’s apprenticeship as his father sent one of his aides to bring him back. His father did not think all the children of a grazier should belong to the same profession so decided to send him to learn driving. Before his death, Amadou Danpullo, who owned thousands of cattle, shared them out among his children. For some unexplained reason but probably because he had already been trained for another profession, Baba Danpullo had the least. Rather than spend valuable time protesting, Danpullo expeditiously sold some of the cattle and bought a vehicle which he personally drove. When it became apparent that making money...

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