By Walter Wilson Nana & Kevin Njomo
Buea, Cameron
Mgr. Immanuel Banlanjo Bushu is 40 years in priesthood, 20 as a Bishop and 5 years at the helm of Buea Diocese. In this exclusive interview, we get into Mgr. Bushu’s world, his priestly sojourn so far and how he has been faring as a Bishop for two decades and more.
Excerpts:
40 years a priest, 20 years as a Bishop and 5 years at the helm of Buea Diocese, how are you feeling?
I just feel good. When you’re working for God’s people, you’re working for the Catholic Church. Ours is an everyday life and the idea is to live like Christ. That is why we are called Christians. Nobody, who is Christian, should live other than Christ lived. That’s what I try to do as somebody looking after the circumscription of the church called the Diocese of Buea. That’s where I am and I make efforts to do that daily.
How has the journey been – 40 years in priesthood?
Mgr. Immanuel Banlanjo Bushu
I take it as an everyday life; sometimes it is wonderful and sometimes not. Sometimes it’s just ordinary. That’s the life that Christ lived. When we’re Christians, we live in a society and the things of society are also ours because we’re part of that society. But when you are guiding the life of a people as I am doing, then you live the life of the people daily. You share in the good things, the bad and even the most difficult situations as you move on.
What was your motivation getting into priesthood?
I come from a village named Ngomrin in Bui Division, Northwest Region of Cameroon. I was born there, lived like any other boy and went to primary school. Church going every Sunday was part of us but in Ngomrin, we went to prayer sessions morning and evening. We learnt the doctrine of the faith and pupils had to come for catechism every morning and evening. We did that and what caught my attention was the way the priests were celebrating the masses. It was good! The ceremony, the singing and the activities went on orderly. Progressively, I joined those who served at the mass, learning Latin and getting interested in all what happened. There were many other things that attracted my attention, but the priesthood attracted me most. Eventually, time came for those who wanted to go to college, the priests came around and requested for those who wanted to go to Sasse College. However, I had applied to other colleges in Nigeria and around Bamenda. But I thought that it was good to come down to Sasse College and be part of the priesthood. Since then I have found it very exciting serving the people of God in a special way.
Your parents must have had good education too, to motivate you to pursue your studies…
My parents were just good Catholics and not educated. They were astute and devoted Catholics. We said prayers in the house every morning and evening. We learnt how to lead the prayers. Every child in the house had a day to lead. We went to mass every Sunday and our mother will trek about 7km to go for first mass. We (the children) accompanied our father for the second mass. During the mass, you will listen attentively and in the evening share all what you gathered in Church with the family. That will be accompanied by questions from our mother and father to be sure that you understand what the priest said. We had to explain all that. In Church, some children had time to play but from our home, it was serious business.
Where did the Reverend Fathers come from?
We saw just Fr. Aloysius Wankuy, the first West Cameroonian to become a priest. All our priests were white missionaries from Europe. There were no Africans but these missionaries were closer to the people in their own way. They worked hard, staying faithful to the church’s teachings, offering the sacraments of the church and visiting homes. I saw them as carrying out selfless service to the people without a salary. They were happy without the salaries. They ran around and did many things and were involved physically.
The journey to Sasse College…?
After our 8 years in the primary school at the time (doing the standard six), I chose to go to Sasse College after other applications. I preferred Sasse because of the Minor Seminary that was there and I knew that when I come to school, I will stay there. In January 1961, I left the village and came down through Bamenda, Mamfe and Kumba so as to be in Sasse, Buea for the day of re-opening. I came to Sasse College as a reasonable boy. There were no second thoughts about going to Sasse and the seminary. I never felt home-sick. I rather felt the joy of going to school and studying. And happy to be in a college.
Thinking about going to Sasse College at the time meant that your parents had money…
My parents were ordinary villagers but hard working. We were many in the family and the time I was going to Sasse, my elder brother was already there. The eldest was in Ombe. The first in our family was supposed to go to a teacher training college but he started teaching in the village and stayed on with it. My immediate younger brother went to St. Augustine College, Nso, three years after I was in Sasse. All of us were on scholarships; government and from the council. It helped us a great deal otherwise, it was difficult then. God blessed us.
Where are these family members of yours?
There are in many places, some have died, some are working and some have retired already. The first three before me are all retired people. The younger ones are still working. Otherwise, we are old people!!
How was Immanuel Bushu selected to go to the Bigard Memorial Major Seminary in Enugu, Nigeria?
After I finished Form Five and without insistence on Form Six at the time, I went to the Major Seminary. Some of the other classmates had government jobs immediately we finished. While in Form Five, you apply whether you want to go to the Major Seminary and the Rector will look into your application and present it to your Bishop. The Bishop with his Council will decide, on what happens and write to the Major Seminary and tell them about the number of candidates available and to find out if there will be place for them. At the time we were going to the Major Seminary in Enugu because we were a sofragard of the Metropolitan Archdiocese of Onitsha, Nigeria. It was only after independence that the Holy See decided that we are Cameroon and now operates in Yaoundé.
What was pushing you to go to Enugu and not start your life as a government worker and make money?
I thought that serving people will make me happy. Serving people selflessly and not asking for anything. That for me was the greatest thing. The priests then had an organised life, houses built for them already and the zeal to work very hard was there and they did work extra hard, especially those I met. They impressed me.
How was life at the Major Seminary in Enugu and Nigeria in general at the time?
Catholic Major Seminaries everywhere are the same. You are treated as a Major Seminarian no matter your nationality as a candidate for priestly formation. The regulations for formation are spelled out, the text books are available, the various exercises carried out are same across the world. We were welcomed as any other Seminarian, with some coming from Northern Nigeria and Liberia. We mingled together as candidates for the catholic priesthood. It was a great place and we were taught the same, looking forward to the priesthood. There is no distinction at the formation; rich or poor background, we were all the same. It was a very African setting the way things went. Nobody fails an examination. When you are you trained for anything, everybody succeeds. There is a minimum they are looking for. When you get there, they know when you begin practice, you will fine-tune yourself. The priesthood is like that when you go beyond a certain point all of you are given a pass. They are looking for the moral, spiritual, physical and intellectual growth of the candidate. They call it the four pillars of formation. If the aforementioned are good, they call you for ordination, if not you are advised to withdraw and do some other thing in life. It was good in Enugu and the community was very welcoming. It was a big city at the time and historically Southern Cameroon was linked to Nigeria as a UN protectorate and the Diocese administered from Enugu. The Buea Diocese coordinated from Onitsha at the time, we did not feel any odds.
You were at the Major Seminary when the Civil War broke out in Nigeria, how did the seminary authorities manage the situation?
It got very difficult when the war broke out. The people coming from the North were very violent. The Rector took precautions and the Cameroon Consul invited us for some discussions, because the war was moving from the North of Nigeria via Nsukka. So, in order for it not to meet us in Enugu, we were advised to leave by June 1966 to come back home and see how things will go. Back in Cameroon, we took up other activities. Those who were already in Theology, which is a four year programme, were sent to Rome by Bishop Jules Peeters and those of us who were still doing Philosophy, we were sent to Ibadan, Eastern Nigeria, which was free from the war. From there, I went on until I finished in Ibadan.
And when the priestly ordination came, how did you feel?
I finished in Ibadan in December 1972. Then, we will come to Lagos and fly to Douala and drive to Tiko. Before the road was done, we took Lagos, Douala and then the Tiko airport with a helicopter and drive up to Buea. Because it was Christmas time when I came back home, the Bishop advised that it will be good to wait until January 7 1973 for ordination back in the parish church in the village, St. Mary’s Parish in Nkar, Bui Division. It was a great day out there with January having a bright weather. People were happy and after that I was sent to the Widikum Parish to start my work as a priest.
How did your parents receive you? They finally got what they wanted? Their child a priest?
Before my ordination, my father had died seven years before. My mother was there but they were not exceptionally happy. The only point of joy was that they had a child who was a priest. They took it from the humble perspective and thanking God for haven blessed one of their children to be a priest. However, along the line, she told me that before my father died, they had been praying for me to get to where I wish to go and if it is the will of God, one of their children should get into the priesthood.
Which are some of the parishes you worked in before your Episcopal ordination?
I began working at the St. Mathias Parish in Widikum, where I worked for two years and was sent to Bishop Rogan College in 1974. I stayed in Bishop Rogan College for three years and subsequently sent to Rome to study Philosophy. I did Philosophy for the first two years since it was a Masters Degree. The Rector of the Major Seminary in Bambui was sent to Yagoua. The Bishop asked me to come back from Rome and I continued teaching at the St. Thomas Aquinas Major Seminary in Bambui. For all the time spent and taught, in and out for studies was 13 years. December 17 of 1992, there was this message that I should go to the Nunciature in Yaoundé. I went there and Nuncio told me that the Holy Father had signed that I go to Yagoua as the Bishop. It was just information and they are not asking your opinion. Remember, when you are been ordained, you make a solemn promise of obedience. There is no way you can turn down the assignment placed on you. Before that decision is taken investigations have been done and they know that you will be up-to-the-task and you can manage the expected difficulties. On March 20, 1993, I was in Yagoua and on March 25 1993 I was ordained in Yagoua as the Bishop. I stayed there until November 30 2006 when the Holy Father announced that I have been redeployed to Buea as the Bishop. I came to Buea on January 26 2007 and I am still here.
How did you receive the 1992 announcement from the Nuncio that you were appointed the Bishop of Yagoua?
It was not a wonderful news for me as an individual. When the Nuncio broke the news to me on his sick bed then, because he was not feeling too well, he said; “Are you hearing me?” I replied “Yes, I have heard you…” but it was a big surprise for me. For some songs, I did not say anything. Not knowing whether to rejoice or to cry. I felt like paralysed.
How did you operate in Yagoua, being a dominantly French speaking community?
Before I moved to Yagoua, I had done French 28 years before while in Secondary School. I learnt the basic grammar and vocabulary. I could read books and newspapers in French. I placed my stay on God’s graces, praying that I should catch up with my French language knowledge. While there, I listened to people keenly and I kept talking, whether I make mistakes or not. After three months there, I began doing a three-minute sermon in my chapel and from there I moved on and on.
When you are appointed a Bishop, is there anything that the Vatican lives at your discretion?
Once you accept that you are going, everything is at your discretion. It is rare to hear that one will turn down the request from the Holy See. A few will do for a particular reason. Choosing the insignia, the place of ordination and the person to ordain you are done by you.
After your Episcopal Ordination in Buea, you committed the Diocese to the Divine Mercy, the Sacred Heart of Jesus and the Immaculate Heart of Mary. What’s the raison d’être?
We need patrons, those who will look after our community in a literary manner. I am putting the Diocese in the hands of Jesus, who is the Sacred Heart, Mary, who is the Immaculate Heart and the Heart of Jesus who is the Divine Mercy. These are the great aspects and manifestations of God’s presence in us, which will certainly help us if we are true to them.
Besides the celebrations, what are you telling your Christians?
The message of the church never changes. God has one word and He has given us that his word. We’re living the word of God that is Jesus Christ Himself. That’s what we need. God has made us all for Heaven. Anybody conceived in this world is made for Heaven. God has given the means to everybody. No one is excluded. Let’s do the everyday things to glorify God – simplicity, honesty, hard work and ordinary things in an extra-ordinary manner. Let’s live the presence of Christ where ever we are and that will be good enough for us to enter Heaven.
