Fon Angwafor's Visit to the USA

Fru Nde Nkimbeng, Boston, MA USA

Fon Angwafor III, during his expedition in 2002, visited the City halls in Worcester to Lowell and to State House in Boston, where he told the honourable Mayors, City Managers and City Councillors and Governors that he came to see where his children and subjects reside, school and work.

Fon Angwafor’s visit to the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as a traditional ruler from Cameroon in particular, and Africa in general, is unprecedented.A traditional ruler and an elderly statesman, Fon Angwafor’s arrival in the “New World,” was greeted with much exhilaration, as his eloquence and intelligence echoed from the City halls to the streets of America.

“We met the King of Mankon from Africa!” exclaimed an Africa-American couple in their 70s. “This is a life time experience and a blessing for us,” they added with pride.Mankon, Bamenda, Cameroon and Africa suddenly became the talk of the day and the topic for discussion on the streets, at schools and at gatherings.

“Where on earth is Mankon?” someone asked.”I will Google Mankon on the Internet,” said another person. Fon Angwafor III of Mankon’s visit inspired Cameroonians to heed his call in connecting Americans with Cameroon and also to establish sister cities relationships between American cities and Cameroonian cities.

A case in point was the establishment of the Lowell/Bamenda sister city relationship in 2002, which was the fruit of that visit.In October 2007, the Fon was on vacation, during his second visit to America. From the dry warm temperatures of Maryland/ Washington DC, he went to the frigid icy cold winter temperatures of Boston in New England.

From there, he flew to the cold wet winter of Detroit in Michigan and back to endure sub-degree temperatures in New England. He again took off to Minneapolis in Minnesota and then to the windy wet sub-temperatures of Chicago in Illinois. He returned to New England to bid farewell to the patriots before moving to Houston in Texas and then return to his palace in Mankon, Cameroon.

For over three months, Fon Angwafor flew the skies and walked the streets of America, projecting and commanding respect and recognition for Africa, Cameroon and Mankon. At Brown University in Connecticut, he gave a convincing lecture on colonial, post colonial, modern and traditional rule in Cameroon. He answered questions on Africa and Cameroon to everyone’s admiration.

At the Museum of Comparative Zoology, Harvard, Fon Angwafor saw several frog species samples; from the smallest type to the hairy frogs collected from Cameroon. At the John .F. Kennedy, JFK, Presidential Library & Museum in Boston, he evoked the memories of the Late President Kennedy and received a thunderous applause and admiration from his audience, when he talked of the Peace Corps Volunteers sent by JFK to help in Mankon.

By his actions, Fon Angwafor III has opened doors of opportunities for Mankon in America. Against this backdrop, the Mankon Cultural and Development Association, MACUDA, in America and Cameroon, is poised to invite the Peace Corps Volunteers to MACUDA events at home and abroad.

see The Post newspaper