Bate Besong: His pen was a weapon of defiance against dictatorship and corruption. In 1992, after his play Beasts of No Nation was staged, he was kidnapped and tortured by state security agents.
By The Independentist editorial Desk
Bate Besong, born in 1954, remains one of the most powerful voices of Ambazonia’s modern history. Playwright, poet, critic, and teacher, he lived a life dedicated to truth, justice, and the liberation of the oppressed. Though he died prematurely in a road accident on March 8, 2007, his writings continue to move Ambazonians today with their fearless clarity.
The Early Years
Besong’s journey began in Kom, where he attended secondary school before moving on to the University of Calabar in Nigeria. It was there that his fiery voice as a writer emerged. His first collection of poems, Polyphemous Detainee and Other Skulls (1980), announced him as a fearless critic of injustice. Alongside Ba’bila Mutia, he co-founded Oracle, a student-edited poetry journal that gave young African voices a platform for resistance.
The Courage of a Writer
After his studies, Besong returned home to Cameroon. His pen became a weapon of defiance against dictatorship and corruption. In 1992, after his play Beasts of No Nation was staged, he was kidnapped and tortured by state security agents. He survived because the news of his disappearance sparked public outrage. That same year, he won the Association of Nigerian Authors’ Prize for Requiem for the Last Kaiser, further proving that his art carried both national and international weight.
Mentor and Teacher
From 1999 until his death, Besong served as a lecturer at the University of Buea. To his students, he was not just an academic, but a mentor who dared them to think critically, to write boldly, and to resist oppression in all its forms.
A Life Cut Short
On March 8, 2007, tragedy struck on the Douala–Yaoundé highway. A car accident silenced his body but not his voice. The nation mourned, but Ambazonians found in his legacy a rallying cry for truth and freedom.
Legacy of Resistance
Bate Besong is remembered as the “Obasinjom Warrior,” a literary fighter whose words still pierce through the fog of tyranny. His writings live on in the hearts of Ambazonians and the diaspora, proving that even in death, a poet can lead a people.
Besong’s life teaches us that silence in the face of injustice is betrayal. His courage, his words, and his vision remain a beacon for a free Ambazonia.
The Independentist editorial Desk
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