At 73, I am living on bonus time - Fru Ndi

The Chairman of the opposition Social Democratic, SDF party, Ni John Fru Ndi, says, at 73, he is already living on bonus time from the Almighty God.

He made the remark at a party he organised to celebrate his 73rd birthday in Yaounde, July 7. The occasion, attended by his friends, well-wishers and SDF party officials and MPs, took place at his residence in the Soa neighbourhood in Yaounde.

Fru Ndi said he was grateful to God Almighty for giving him a relatively long life span on earth. Pegging his claim on the life expectancy figures in Cameroon, the SDF chieftain said he was living on bonus or borrowed time.

He said if he dies today, he will quit the stage smiling, because, the struggle for a genuine socio-economic and political change, which he stuck out his neck for, will continue. He said the fight for genuine change is being sustained by his party officials in the various facets of national life.

Fru Ndi extended gratitude to the Cameroonian masses, saying they have been able to sustain the struggle, even in hardship. He urged them to remain steadfast in their onslaught for a veritable democratic transition in Cameroon.

In a poignant prayer at the ceremony, veteran Journalist and Vice Chairman of the National Communication Council, Peter Essoka, thanked God for giving Cameroon Fru Ndi. To him, the political landscape of Cameroon would not have been the same if Fru Ndi were not born.

Harping on the fact that, once born, one is sure to die, the erudite Essoka said the celebration of one’s birthday also means that he or she is inching slowly to his or her death.

From a very humble background, Fru Ndi was catapulted to prominence by fate’s conspiracy and his audacity to walk tall as Cameroon’s leading opposition chieftain.

He was born in Baba II in Santa Subdivision, Mezam Division of the Northwest Region in 1941. He attended the Baforchu Basel Mission School and the Santa Native Authority School before going to enrol at the Lagos City College in Nigeria, where he later worked in many capacities.

Fru Ndi returned to Cameroon in 1966 and began selling vegetables. He also ran a bookshop in Bamenda known as Ebibi Book Centre. He is also known to have headed PWD Football Club Bamenda from 1979 to 1988. He was leader of the Lions Club International, Bamenda.

Fru Ndi launched the SDF party in 1990 and was elected its Chair at the first ordinary convention in May 1992. He ran for the Presidential Election for the first time in October 1992. He is reported to have carried the day in the election that was heavily rigged in favour of the incumbent President.