Pa Wanduku Samia

1. Early Life

Pa Wanduku Samia was born Vincent Mia Nduku in 1942 in Meh-Mbemi, Mbengwi in the North West Region of Cameroon to late Mama Forda Fri Timbeng and late Pa Tembeng Nduku. He was the eldest surviving child of his late mother, and older brother to three other maternal surviving siblings. On his polygamous dad’s side he was the third elderly surviving adult child among numerous brothers and sisters born to four wives. Pa Wanduku was chosen to be a family head to look after the family following the passing of his father. 

1. Education

Pa Wanduku began his early school in Basel Mission in Mbemi, Mbengwi and in his preteen he moved to the coastal region of Cameroon with his older brother late Pa S.T. Nduku who was a sanitary master in Cameroon Development Cooperation ( CDC)  Bota, Limbe. In the early period that he moved to live in the coastal region, the fast maturing young Pa Wanduku left his older brother to cater for himself. He took various domestic service jobs during his preteen years to pay for primary school. This was a very common practice among young men at that time. Pa Wanduku was born in a generation of Cameroonians who are the first to get formal education during the era of colonization of African States. The brilliant and industrious young Pa Wanduku completed his primary school Standard Six excellently and earned a scholarship to further his secondary school education in the Cameroon Protestant College (CPC) Bali- an all-boys school in Western Cameroon at that time. It was during his education in CPC Bali that his name changed to Nduku Samuel Mia. Pa Wanduku graduated in the fifth batch of CPC Bali in 1962 with an outstanding performance and was awarded the West African School Certificate by the University of Cambridge. His brilliant performance in the West African School Certificate Examination earned him another scholarship into the newly opened Cameroon College of Arts, Science and Technology (CCAST Bambili) high school. Pa Wanduku graduated in the first batch of that school and he was one of the only two students who passed the London General Certificate Examination (GCE) Advance Level in that school in the year. Following his graduation from high school, he suffered a series of life threatening health crises, which led him to turn down numerous scholarships to study in the United Kingdom, Australia and the United States. Determined to give meaning to his life amidst the adversity of ill health Pa Wanduku wrote and passed the highly competitive government entrance examination into ENS (Ecole Normale Superieur) Bambili in 1968 and graduated with CAPCEG (Certificat d’Aptitude au Professorat des Collèges d’Enseignement Général) diploma with major in Biology and Chemistry.  Who could have foreseen that the health crises that interfered with pursuing his academic ambitions abroad would in effect give birth to other decisions that eventually make Pa Wanduku one of the pioneer secondary/high school Biology educators in Anglophone Cameroon? His former students span through many generations ranging over more than three decades from the 1960’s to the early 2000’s when he retired.   

1. Professional Life
2. A Pioneer Biology Teacher in the North West Province

Professionally, following his degree from the ENS Bambili, Pa Wanduku was directly integrated into the Cameroon Public Service in 1970 with the position as College Teacher of General Education (Professeur de CEG) and was posted to GHS Mamfe as Biology/Chemistry Teacher.  It was during this time that his name changed yet again to Wanduku Samuel Mia in an attempt to eliminate identification mix-up with another colleague with the same names.  It was during this time in Mamfe that Pa Wanduku finalized his holy matrimony to his beautiful bride late Mama Grace Ngum Tamanji in 1969. Their wedding took place in Presbyterian Church Mile 19, Mbengwi.

Pa Wanduku was later transferred to Mbengwi in the North West Region to teach Biology/Chemistry in the College of General Education, Mbengwi (now Government Bilingual High School-GBHS, Mbengwi). With only few teachers at the time posted by the government to teach in the school, he took several duties as lead teacher in the sciences, teaching almost all Biology, Chemistry and Physics subjects in the school. As a pioneer teacher in the school he witnessed the school evolve from a secondary school to a high school and then to a government bilingual gramma high school over more than two decades. In the early 1990’s he was made a school principal and transferred out of Mbengwi.  Back in the 1970’s and 1980’s, the Government High School (GHS) in Mbengwi was one of the few prominent high schools in the North West Province, and Pa Wanduku along with others helped to raise the success of the school in Biology especially given the fact that he was a major examiner of the General Certificate Examination (GCE) Ordinary Level Biology.  It was during the two decades teaching in GHS, Mbengwi that his name fully formed into Wanduku Samia. Pa Wanduku loved creativity and prided himself over his uniqueness. This is self-evident in the evolution of his name over the years.

Pa Wanduku was made principal of the newly created Government Secondary School (G.S.S.) Ngie in 1992. He oversaw the founding of the new school and its fundamental structure and design moving the school from the temporary site in the village town hall in the center of Andek,  Ngie to the permanent site at Barambe, Andek. He led the construction of the first five classes from Form One to Form Five. He raised the first graduating batch of the school up to their final year before receiving new government reassignments.

Pa Wanduku was transferred from Ngie to Tatum, Nso in 1996  as principal of Government Secondary School (GSS) Tatum. Steadily moving to the end of his career Pa Wanduku continued to mold the school academically, laying down the paperwork foundation for a high school and also overseeing the construction of more classes in preparation for the high school. He led the school until 2002 when he was transferred to his hometown Mbengwi in preparation for retirement from government service. In the year Pa Wanduku was transferred away from G.S.S. Tatum, the school received its promotion to the high school owing that success to the work he did in collaboration with other supporting members of staff. It was also during this period of service in Tatum that Pa Wanduku lost his beloved wife Mama Grace Ngum Tamanji in the year 2000. 

 The well spent and exhausted Pa Wanduku now only a year away from retirement took teaching duties as a Biology teacher in Government Secondary School (G.S.S.) Tudig . He was fully retired from the government service in 2003.

1. Service to the General Certificate Examination Board (GCE)

As a young biology teacher during the time Pa Wanduku was teaching in G.S.S. Mbengwi, he marked the London GCE Advanced and Ordinary Level Biology in the 1970’s. Back in those days, the marking station was only in Yaounde, in the Central Region of Cameroon. With the shortage of Biology teachers at that time he marked at both levels of GCE. In the 1980’s, Pa Wanduku rose to become an Assistant Chief Examiner of GCE Ordinary Level Biology.  With the creation of the Cameroon GCE board in the 1990’s, Pa Wanduku became the Chief Examiner of GCE Ordinary Level Biology.   This is the position that he held until he was appointed the Moderator of GCE Ordinary Level Biology in the early 2000’s. He retired from the GCE board in 2005 in the highest rank of Moderator of GCE Ordinary Level Biology.

1. Religious Activities

Pa Wanduku was a communicant of the Presbyterian Church (PC) in Cameroon. He was baptized in the Presbyterian Church in Meh, Mbengwi in the 1950’s. He joined the membership of the Presbyterian Church Njembeng, Mbengwi in the early 1970’s on his return to Mbengwi from Mamfe. Over the years from 1974 to 1992 Pa Wanduku and his family remained members of the PC Njembeng congregation. During this time, the young and vibrant Pa Wanduku served the Church in several capacities such as Chairman and Elder. Pa Wanduku chaired several committees in collaboration with many other faithful members of the church who together led the church to construct the new building at the PC Njembeng premises.  Together with his late wife Mama Grace who was the Christian Women Fellowship (CWF) secretary of the Meta Presbytery (before she joint the Full Gospel Mission faith) they served the general Meta Presbytery faithfully and with diligence. 

During his professional service in Ngie, Pa Wanduku joined the membership of the Presbyterian Church congregation of Andek, Ngie. Together with his late wife they continued to serve the church with great experience. In fact, he remained the strong backbone of his late wife Mama Grace who continued her strong leadership roles in the CWF group, teaching and inspiring women of faith.  When Pa Wanduku was transferred to Tatum, Nso he joined the membership of Christian Men Fellowship (CMF) group of the Presbyterian Church Tatum congregation. He became the president of the CMF group in that church. Upon retirement, Pa Wanduku lived briefly in his hometown of birth in Meh-Mbemi, Mbengwi where he attended the PC Meh congregation. He later moved to live in his home at Mile 17 Mbengwi. During the time at Mile 17 Mbengwi, the aged Pa Wanduku attended the PC Chigwiri congregation. He was a member of the CMF group of that church and it is in this membership capacity that he remained until his demise on October 22, 2015.  

In faith, Pa Wanduku was liberal and open minded. He encouraged the people close to him to follow their faith of choice without any compulsion or judgement. He believed and taught his family to pursue   faith in a personal way.

1. Service to the Community

During the period that Pa Wanduku served in Andek, Ngie, he and his late wife Mama Grace were awarded a medal of service to the community by the Governor of the Northwest Province at that time.  Pa Wanduku who is noted for his generosity and kindness opened his doors to host and accommodate most of the government officials and teachers that were assigned to some duty in Ngie.  Ngie at that time was a remote place and deficient of so many basic amenities such as hydro-electricity power, good water systems and health infrastructure. However, Pa Wanduku freely provided for the government officials.

Being a man with a compassionate heart Pa Wanduku has assisted so many poor and intelligent ex-students of G.H.S. Mbengwi and G.S.S. Ngie who were struggling with fees or accommodation. Many of them whose names cannot be mentioned stand as great men today owing to the generosity of Pa Wanduku.  

1. Personal Life

Pa Wanduku was legally and religiously married in Monogamy to late Mama Grace. Together they brought to the world seven now fully grown and educated children. Five beauty women and two handsome men namely:

(i)                   Women

1. Mrs. Akufongwe Joyce Afor nee Wanduku residing in the United States of America (Pharmacist)
2. Mrs. Agyngy Delphine Muyang nee Wanduku residing in the United States of America (Botanist and Nurse)
3. Mrs. Kamfa Annabella Arafoak nee Wanduku residing in Canada (Theater Artist and Nurse)
4. Miss Eleanor Azi (Princess Precious) residing in the United Kingdom (Economist and Nurse)
5. Miss Nnam Fri Esther Wanduku residing in Yaounde,  Cameroon (Accountant and Manager of Financial Institutions )

(ii)                Men

1. Mr. Tembung Njoh Wanduku residing in  Yaounde,  Cameroon ( Botanist and Agricultural Engineer)
2. Dr. Tito Divine Wanduku residing in the United States of America (Mathematics and Statistics Professor at Georgia Southern University, USA)

 Pa Wanduku was a proud grandfather of ten grandchildren some of whose names are: Faith and Liam Kamfa;  Nissi and Praise Akufongwe; Ephraim, Gabriella and Mia Agyngy; Grace Wanduku.  He was also father in-law to Mr. Ferdinand Kamfa, Dr. Peter Akufongwe, Dr. Agyngy Ephriam, Mrs. Alice Wanduku and Mrs. Janet Wanduku.

Following the sudden demise of late Mama Grace in the year 2000, Pa Wanduku hardly recovered from the incident but considered a second chance and got married to Mrs. Miriamu Kila. Together they have three young kids- two boys and one girl.

1. Lovert Nduku
2. Banajem Nduku
3. Fri Nduku 

As a family man, Pa Wanduku being a family head raised and educated many of his younger siblings.  He also assisted enormously to educate relatives of his late wife. Today, many of these family members are educated and successful husbands and wives.

1. Death

Pa Wanduku has always experienced poor health over the entire course of his life. Some of the medical conditions such as hypertension (high blood pressure) and diabetes became aggravated by the aging process. These conditions eventually led to a stroke and failure of his nerves that further led to other major organic disorders. Pa Wanduku moved on to be with the Lord in the early morning hours of Wednesday, October 22, 2015 in Yaounde where he spent over a year living with his daughter Miss. Nnam Fri Wanduku.  He died in the teaching hospital of the University of Yaounde I (CUSS) at the age of 73 years old. We are grateful a man like Pa Wanduku walked this earth and left such great legacy to influence lives and generations after him. Let Pa Wanduku rest in perfect peace.