Asongwed Emmanuel: Reconceptualising the Challenges Facing Urban Development in the North West

The United Nations Habitat and other related international agencies have been stressing the fact that the real problems facing African countries and the developing nations in general would not be poor health services or lack of access to educational facilities but rather that of urbanization. If there is one person in Cameroon who has never seized to explore the challenges facing the development of city centre in Cameroon in general and in the North West Region in particular, it is Mr. Asongwed Emmanuel, Regional Delegate for Urban Development and one of the youngest and longest serving Regional Delegates. Asongwed Emmanuel is one Cameroonian who is so conscious of the challenges facing urban development in Cameroon. This engineer of high standing and hard working young man has never been tired of making proposals to hierarchy on how well our emerging cities and towns could be given a facelift. Mr. Asongwed Emmanuel knows just too well that the haphazard nature of development in our towns and cities would in no distant time be the real headache, not a solution. It is no secret that most buildings in the Bamenda city and other emerging towns of the North West do not respect any urban development policies. It is no secret that buildings emerge without any respect to environmental norms and that such a situation does not augur well for modern cities. Conscious of the consequences of such unplanned structures and conscious of the danger the city faces, Asongwed Emmanuel is leaving no stone unturned in giving the North West and its emerging towns and cities the architectural structures they deserve.

Asongwed Emmanuel:The Urban Man

Asongwed Emmanuel is pioneer delegate for Urban Planning. When he was appointed delegate a decade ago, Bamenda was just one of those towns in Cameroon. His foresighted activities and his efforts facilitated the transformation of Bamenda from a town to a city. When he conceived such a project many so him as a joker. But being a man of mettle, Mr. Asongwed continued unperturbed. The plan consisted in impressing on powers that be that other areas like Ndop, Kumbo, Wum, Mbengwi, Fundong and Nkambe could with little effort also be transformed into attractive modern cities. He submitted such projects to the Urban Affairs ministry in Yaounde. Gradually, Ndop, Fundong, Mbengwi, Kumbo, Wum and Nkambe emerged as towns with light tarr sprinkled around the town. His understanding was that government did not need to wait until roads are tarred from the Regional headquarters to the Divisional headquarters before those areas could be transformed. The idea was bought and the moment surrounding Divisional headquarters received the new facelift, government found good reason to transform Bamenda into a city.

Asongwed Emmanuel:The Genius

Although generally quiet and preferring to intervene when it is absolutely necessary, Asongwed Emmanuel is a genius of no small magnitude. His intelligence has been demonstrated in different challenging situations since he was appointed Urban Development Delegate a decade ago. His interventions in coordination meetings and his reactions when contractors do poor jobs is testimony of the fact that he masters the subject matter of Urban Development. He has also been working tirelessly with city council authorities to see to its that the City Development Plan respects international norms in that domain. A modern city needs good roads, good passage ways and above all, green spaces. Asongwed Emmanuel is not leaving any stone unturned in this domain, not only in Bamenda but also in all the seven Divisional headquarters.

Asongwed Emmanuel’s Achievements

Nobody in Cameroon can talk about the success of President Biya’s visit to Bamenda in 2010 without making reference the central role ASONGWED Emmanuel played in the process. He worked tirelessly to see that major roads in the city received a new facelift. Given that the Urban Affairs minister was at the Center of the refurbishing and dressing of major roads in Bamenda, Asongwed Emmanuel worked day and night to see to it that all specifications were met. He respected to the latter all the instructions of the Minister and was seen to be going the extra mile to see to it that President Biya received the highest welcome in Bamenda. Even most of the roads that were retouched now seem to be begging for urgent attention it should be recalled that the roads are the way they are because most government contracts are usually awarded from Yaounde and local authorities find difficulties supervising such contractors who never even present the technical documents to local authorities. That not withstanding, Asongwed Emmanuel, being the patriot that he is, always makes sure that if there were to be an error it should not come from him. His greatest achievement however,  is the carriage way or alternative access road from UpStation to Mile Two Nkwen. The road that enables heavy duty cars to avoid the winding and sometimes ecologically unfriendly Station road gives Bamenda a completely new outlook. Another access road is also on the offing through Mbatu and what with development following. For such wonderful initiatives and tenacity, we say bravo to Mr, Asongwed Emmanuel.