Njalla Quan's Humanitarian Legacy Lives on

Henry Njalla Quan, the erstwhile General Manager of the Cameroon Development Corporation, CDC, who passed to eternal glory last 13 December in Limbe, has left behind indelible footprints in the minds of many as he touched their lives through his humanitarian activities. Njalla Quan, popularly known as "Mbonjo Boy" in the social circles, embedded his humanitarian character into sports and music to reach out to underprivileged Cameroonians.

Through his Njalla Quan Sports Academy, Njalla Quan harnessed and promoted young talented Cameroonians who hitherto could not discover their talents and felt hopeless. He used the Sports Academy to organize the Limbe International Marathon Race since 2003, during which a plethora of material and financial prices were awarded. In the 2011 edition of the Race for instance, which happened to be the last one, Njalla Quan doled out the colossal sum of FCFA 17 million as prizes.

During the edition, the first male bagged a cash prize of FCFA 3 million while the female winner took home FCFA 2 million. The 2012 edition of the Race which was scheduled for last May failed to hold because the late Njalla Quan felt sick just two weeks to the D-day. The cold hands of death have thwarted his dream of taking the Limbe Marathon Race to international magnitude.

Come to think of it, the CDC where he worked as GM since 1998, witnessed an increase in its labour force from 13,000 to about 21,000 now thanks to Njalla Quan's ingenuity to create more opportunities for unemployed young Cameroonians. The CDC social club was also reinforced for more reach out activities in the communities during his reign.

"Njalla Quan was one of those few Cameroonians who thought that his blessings from God should be shared out to others. Anyone who came to Njalla Quan could not go back unsatisfied," said Francis Tim Mbom, a Limbe-based journalist. This perhaps explains why glowing tributes were paid to him during the last session of the Limbe City Council where he had served as Government Delegate. The current Government Delegate, Motanga Andrew Monjimba, described him as a "colossus who bestrode on the life of the city and the nation at large living behind indelible footprints."