Other leaders will emerge after AgborTabi

      - AshuNyenty, Int’l jurist and political analyst

In an exclusive interview he granted The Median, CRTV’s political desk editor, AshuNyenty, who is also PHD candidate at the University of Yaounde II, Soa, posited that it will be difficult for Manyu to immediately fill the vacuum created by Prof. AgborTabi’s exit, but other courageous politicians will emerge in the division in the future. The full interview was published in The Median’s edition of 9 May 2016.

Much has been written and said in the press about AgborTabi’s life and death. What reading do you make of these press reports?.

Well, I cannot say I have taken time enough to go through all the press accounts on AgborTabi’s life and death. But the few that I have seen are a depiction of the multi-dimensional persona that AgborTabi was. AgborTabi meant many things to different people. But as far as I am concerned the reports in the press are a true reflection of who AgborTabi was. To me what the press has done so far is a genuine recollection of the man, Peter AgborTabi.

The words ‘controversial’ and ‘vindictive’ were used repeatedly in many press reports. Was AgborTabi really controversial and vindictive in your opinion?

The Advanced Learners’ Dictionary of Contemporary English defines a controversial personality as somebody who provokes debate or draws disagreement or disapproval especially in public debates. If that is the meaning of the controversial you are talking about then I would say AgborTabi was a controversial personality. This is because the name AgborTabi alone sparked a lot of debates, for good or for bad because of what he did or what he had done, from when he was Chancellor of the University of Yaounde where I was a student leader at the time, until his death as the Minister, Assistant Secretary General of the Presidency. In all these capacities AgborTabi did so many things and had many encounters with different people. Perhaps in these different encounters some people percieved him as controversial. But suffice it to say just the mention of AgborTabi’s name or his deeds any where, ignited a vast amount of discussion and debate. So in that perspective I would say he was a controversial persona.

For those who say he was vindictive, this was because he was a man who knew exactly what he wanted and how to get what he wanted. Whenever he needed something he went all out for it without fear. May be in the process of pursuing what he wanted he ruffled feathers with some people. But that was the kind of man AgborTabi was. A man who knew how to get what he wanted. As far as he was concerned it was the end that justified the means. It was that he got what he wanted and not how he got it that mattered to him. And he used just every means at his disposal, and every arsenal available to him, to achieve his objective.

Many are of the opinion that it will be long for Manyu division in particular and the Anglophones in general to have another courageous politician like AgborTabi. Do you share that opinion?

I have said it before that AgborTabi was a very courageous politician. For a political system like ours, you need people like AgborTabi to get things done. But then, no two individuals are the same. AgborTabi had his strong points and his weaknesses and shortcomings. Other leaders will emerge and they will also play their role. It was Shakespeare who said that “the world is a stage where people come, play their role then exit and create space for others.” Before AgborTabi there were other politicians from Manyu. You had people like S.A. George, E.T. Egbe, Ako Defang Mengot, Effiom Willy NdepOrock etc. In the South West region you had people like E.M.L. Endeley, NeriusNamassoMbile, PM Kale, Lekunze, Walipenja Lobe etc. So each epoch has its own politicians. It is true that the vacuum that AgborTabi’s demise has created will be difficult to fill based on the character traits he possessed. But that is not to say that no other politician like him will emerge. To say that will sound like the French King Louis 14 who said: “après moic’est le deluge” (meaning after me it is the floods). I fervently believe other courageous leaders will emerge after AgborTabi.