The first Anglophone Cameroonian literary writer to publish a book died last month at the age of 83.
The Cameroon literary community will not quickly forget the late Sankie Maimo's contribution to the country's Literature in English. According to Tande Dibussi, Sankie Maimo was one of the foremost English-speaking writers in Cameroon and his death is "a monumental loss for Cameroon Anglophone literature."
A native of Kumbo in Bui Division of the North West Region, Maimo, who was born in 1930, died on September 4, 2013 at the St. Elisabeth Hospital Shisong, Kumbo and was buried on September 14. The late writer was paralysed for about 10 years following a stroke, but was still active, carrying out his work from a wheel chair, explained Bongasu Tanla Kishani, Associate Professor Emeritus of Philosophy and a poet. Maimo reportedly died of another stroke. Kishani described him as "the first Anglophone Cameroonian writer whose works were down-to-earth." Prof. Emeritus, Daniel Noni Lantum, was one of his students, Kishani said.
Bole Butake, playwright and Professor Emeritus of Performing Arts and African Literature, described Maimo as "... a strong writer who believed in what Anglophone Cameroonian creative writers should do." Prof. Butake explained that Maimo used to hold weekly meetings with young people to encourage the culture of literary writing among them. On the other hand, Dr Donatus Tangem, playwright and Senior Lecturer in Drama and Theatre at the University of Yaounde I, said Sankie Maimo was a strict person who did not easily accept criticism. He however set the pace and can thus be qualified as an early pathfinder for Anglophone Cameroon literature, Tangem pointed out.
Maimo contributed greatly to Cameroon Literature in English, especially after the post-Ahmadou Ahidjo era following the coming into effect of the 1990 liberty laws. "His early writing focussed on the conflict between modernism and tradition, but became more political after 1990. He carved a past for Anglophone Cameroon writers," Tangem concluded, advising young writers to try to understand and emulate Maimo.
According to a 2008 biography in 'Le Jour' newspaper by Dr Joyce Ashuntantang and Tande Dibussi, the veritable writer, Sankie Maimo published 'I Am Vindicated' in 1959 with the Ibadan University Press - the first ever collection of fiction stories by an Anglophone Cameroonian writer. His other works include a children's fiction book, 'Adventuring With Jaja' (1962), 'Sov-Mbang The Soothsayer' (1968), 'The Mask' (1970), 'Succession In Sarkov' (1981), 'Sasse Symphony' (1989), and 'Retributive Justice' (1992).
Ashuntantang and Dibussi say Sankie Maimo's works are based on the conviction that "The past is with us and enables us to better understand the present." At the same time, he includes social satire, especially when he talks about themes such as the conflict between tradition and modernity, the role of the individual in society, etc. But perhaps what made Maimo more popular as a writer is his poetry in which he demonstrates mastery of the English language, they suggest. It is for this reason that Maimo was often criticised as being an elitist writer, an allegation he vehemently denied: "I write for the people, especially the few enlightened people who can pass on the message to others," he explained.
'Sov-Mbang The Soothsayer' was the first ever work to be published in English by 'Les Editions Clé,' in 1968. The publishers were to come out with another work by an Anglophone Cameroonian writer three decades later! 'Sov-Mbang The Soothsayer' was on the curricula of the University of Yaounde for several years while 'Succession in Sarkov' was performed for Cameroon Radio Television, CRTV by the Flame Players, a professional theatre troupe of Anglophone actors that was active in the 1980s and early 1990s.
Sankie Maimo lived in Nigeria from 1949 to 1966, working as an English language and Mathematics teacher. Just like many Anglophone Cameroonian writers who published in Nigerian newspapers without disclosing their identity, Maimo was on several occasions profiled as Nigerian in catalogues, anthologies and critiques.
