The Bishop of Kumbo, Mgr. George Nkuo, paid his first homecoming visit to Njinikom on Friday, December 22, 2006. The visit had a double significance: to see the places where he grew up and to establish a direct contact with the people who touched and shaped his life.
Coming on the heels of his appointment as the Bishop of Kumbo on July 8, 2006 by Pope Benedict XVI, the visit did not limit itself to the fulfilment of the afore-mentioned, but stretched well beyond to assume an evangelical dimension in what he described as celebrating the faith.
Hundreds of Catholic Christians from Njinikom and beyond, delegates from Kumbo, the faithful from other sister religious communities, administrative, political and civic authorities from the Boyo Division and other divisions, members of the Nkuo Family and curious onlookers, all braced the scorching sun and the dusty roads Friday, December 22, to give a befitting reception to Mgr. George Nkuo, Bishop of Kumbo, who was in Njinikom on the occasion of his maiden visit to his native land, following his appointment and Episcopal consecration as bishop.
The exuberance that characterised the event was not just the outcome of the instantaneous outpouring of happiness, but an indelible hallmark in the history, not only of the Njinikom Deanery in particular, but of the Bamenda Archdiocese as a whole.
Welcoming Bishop Nkuo shortly after he had made a triumphant entry into the ceremonial ground, the Parish Priest of the St. Anthony's Parish, Njinikom, Reverend Father John Bintum explained why the faithful present had turned out in such large numbers for the occasion.
In his words, they had come because they wanted to hear, touch and celebrate with Mgr. Nkuo, following his appointment as the Bishop of Kumbo. Father Bintum described the visit as a spiritual journey that Mgr. Nkuo started some years back, and expressed the hope that the visit will revitalise the faith of Christians in the Bishop's native land - a faith that is evidently vibrant as seen in the huge number of priests and the religious from the deanery who are presently serving the Catholic Church.
Since Christians had turned out to listen the Bishop, he had a message for them as he called on those present to sacrifice and pray for others to become servants of Christ, by emulating the example of Maria Heiss, the Bozen woman who sacrificed so much over the years to mould him, without even knowing him personally, to become what he is today.
Using the Maria Heiss example, he pointed out that Christians should never say that they cannot do something great for God. He added that they should trust in what he described as God's perfect timing, cautioning that Christians should not only focus their attention on the blessedness of those who believe, but to equally act on that belief, that is, living their faith by their works.
Putting the visit into its proper perspective, the Dean of the Njinikom Deanery, Rev. Fr. Augustine Nkwain described the homecoming and Thanksgiving Mass as a milestone in the history of the church that is in the Njinikom Deanery and the Bamenda Archdiocese, concluding that, "… all attest to the undeniable fact that God in his providence has decided to provide a shepherd for the Diocese of Kumbo in the light of a son from the Kom Land."
Addressing the congregation after Mass, the Chairman of the National Co-ordinating Committee of the occasion, Prof. Paul Nkwi posited that the event was organised to show the faith and gratitude of the Kom people, first to the Holy See and second, to the entire Catholic Church in Cameroon, for, in his words, "…raising one of their sons to the rank of the successors of the Apostles."
He acknowledged what many are increasingly describing as the natural bond between the church in the Kom and Nso Lands. In his view, "The posting of the first Kom son as bishop to Kumbo, was not just to reciprocate the posting of Fr. Aloysius Wankuy, the first West Cameroon priest to Njinikom, it is," he said, "the strengthening of the bonds that bind the two great Kingdoms of the North West."
This bond was confirmed, as was the case on September 8 during the Episcopal Consecration in Kumbo, by the presence of the two fons at the ceremonial ground. Professor Nkwi called on the people of the local church to break the habit of the slavish dependence on external support by encouraging them to mobilise resources at the local level to support the church.
Preaching by example, he announced that the entire Njinikom Deanery had presented a full Calvary set which is going to be built at the Bishop's residence in Kumbo, explaining that it is a symbol of the victory of Christ over sin and evil and His love for all humanity. The Holy Mass was in itself a veritable showcase of the Kom inculturation maturity.
From the heralding of the bishop to the ceremonial ground, through the liturgical procession, to the celebration of the Eucharist, the "fembang" dance, the church "Kwifon" and the firing of guns cut the event away from a universal Catholic perspective, and gave it a "komness" that only the "Koms" are good at exhibiting, while at the same time maintaining the essentials of the Catholic dogma.
Reactions after the homecoming visit were diverse but converged on the fact that, the appointment of Mgr. Nkuo as bishop was a recognition of the contributions the people of Kom have made over the years to the growth of Catholicism whose first seeds in Anglophone Cameroon were sown in the locality some 93 years ago, precisely in 1913 in Fujua.
The visit was marked by pastoral activities like the administration of the Sacrament of Baptism, a visit to the church in Fundong and spontaneous responses to his kith and kin along his itinerary.