The Chia Report

A review of Kefen Budji's novel, Boundless

Kefen Budji – (April 2015). Boundless. Spears Media Press, 254 Pages – Available on www.Amazon.com

By Innocent Chia
In and beyond the trench lines of the battlefield of colonialism, where people were killed with bullets from guns and poisonous spearheads and bows and arrows, were unfolding parallel narratives of love and heartaches, of life and death, and of enslavement, money, wealth and power. Boundless, by Kefen Budji, is a juxtapositioning of clashing cultures, values and people that cohabit in a colonial time capsule between 1910 and 1921 in Cameroon, Africa, and played out in the lives of specific characters and communities during and beyond the 243 pages. In the meantime, and as if in answer to the generational question of sexuality in Africa, the author intersperses constructs of courting, sexuality and public displays of affection in a traditional African setting, oftentimes in contrast to its "Western" displays.  Samarah, the central character of Boundless, feels beholden to her tradition, but is left to answer the question -“does love conquer all?” 

 

A Successful Network Marketing Couple Share their Recipe

A review by Innocent Chia Albert and Lema Nsah are, for all intents and purposes, the embodiment of the typical immigrant that settles wholesale for the American dream because motherland mostly offers a little less than a nightmare. They have walked through the valley of the shadow of doubt, insecurity and uncertainty: picking and choosing which bills to pay and which to pay at another date; cringing at the thought of walking the tight rope between home ownership and homelessness; wondering whether returning “home” with nothing to show for is an option… But all of that anxiety is nothing more than a story in a book that Albert and Lema authored about what has brought them unsuspecting success – Network Marketing.

Up Close and into the Den of Dibussi Tande - Part I

By Innocent Chia 

Why we call anyone or anything any name has always fascinated me. Maybe because my parents went curious on me with the name Innocent. No wonder then, I got tickled with “Scribbles from the Den” as I began to wonder why a Den? The part of a scribbling Scribe was self-explanatory,but why “from the Den”? As much as these seemingly trite questions took up valuable space in my mind, so did I get interested in the trailblazing man behind the powerful, brilliant and introspective pieces. 

If it is the power of his pen, or keyboard, that has put him on the high pedestal in the public eye, I have been fortunate to come close to the son, brother, husband, father, friend and consummate professional. On the occasion of his third title, Scribbles from the Den: Essays on Politics and Collective Memory in Cameroon, I seized a pretext to talk to Dibussi Tande about his book, and much, much more…What he fails to reveal in his treatises is plentiful – for instance, that his fun-loving wife, Therese is fuel to his virtuoso; that his seven year-old son, Mokali is his heartbeat; and that his disgust for Africa’s dictators is only abated by the juicy flavors of well-done slices of barbecued pork or beef on a charcoal grill… 

Distinguished Linguist Honoured

By Walter Wilson Nana of ThePostwebedition

Prof. Emmanuel Nges Chia, fine quality Cameroonian linguist, had the rare opportunity to listen to his own eulogies while he is still alive. He was honoured in a dual ceremony of Academic Honours and Book Launch, organised by three of his former students; Dr. Vincent Tanda, Dr. Henry Kah Jick, all in the University of Buea, UB, and Prof. Pius Tamanji of the University of Yaounde I.

Welcoming guests at UB's Amphi 750, the Dean of the Faculty of Arts, Prof. Albert Azeyeh, expressed happiness that after his Faculty passed out the first PhD graduate in UB, it was still the Faculty of Arts organising the pioneer academic honour to an outstanding Professor of Linguistics, Prof. Chia. UB's Vice-Chancellor, Prof. Vincent Titanji saw Prof. Chia as somebody who knows how to manage fame. "He is a very formal person. How to be great and to be humble at the same time; that's a lesson to take home," he said.