The secret pact between Aurelian William Eteki Mboumoua and John Epee Mandengue

Why did some Nigerian politicians, especially those from the north in 1983, decided to trust Mandengue than their fellow Keith and kin, such as the Ibos or the Yorubas? It is claimed that, both Nigerian nationals /tribes are too untrustworthy or are considered by northern Nigerians to be untrustworthy. Hence, there was no way fleeing northern Nigerian politicians could have handed to Ibo or Yoruba businessmen, the colossal sums that they gave to John Epee Mandengue to keep, for it would have been synonymous to giving meat to dogs to keep. As late Nded’a Kombe Francis told me, when the storm ended or to be precise, when the military regime of General Buhari was overthrown and replaced by the corruption-friendly regime of General Badamassi Babaginda, those politicians and businessmen, predominantly of northern Nigerian extraction, who escaped in 1983 because of the ferocious fight against corruption launched by General Buhari, started trickling back home to Nigeria and they rewarded John Mandengue Epee handsomely. It was from the reward that John Epee Mandengue received from Nigerian politicians for laundering their money, which made his insignificant broking company to become Broking Services International. It expanded out Nigeria and had offices in Nigeria and a branch in Ghana. As John Epee Mandengue became rich and prominent, he began making friends with other African politicians and diplomats. One of his most prominent black West Africa friends was Mr Aurelian William Eteki Mboumoua, who was Cameroon’s flamboyant minister of foreign affairs.

Who brought them into contact? I can’t recall late Nded’a Kombe Francis ever telling me the name of the one who broker their friendship. But both men became too close to a point that, John used to pay the rents of Cameroonians missions in Lagos and Calabar and also paid the staff that ran both diplomatic missions. John Epee Mandengue’s services rendered to the state of Cameroon were not for philanthropic or patriotic purposes. Even though John made advance payment for the rents of Cameroon’s diplomatic missions in Lagos and Calabar and also paid staff working in both missions, but via Mr Aurelian William Eteki Mboumoua, minister of foreign affairs, the government of Cameroon paid him back, twice the official amounts he (John) had spent and the excess payments, which was disbursed by the state of Cameroon, was shared between him (John) and Mr Eteki Mboumoua. I suspect, it was the capacity of Cameroon’s former foreign minister to run huge sum of monies and apparently gave no account to the government of Cameroon, which excited John Mandengue’s desire to come and invest in a country that he was despising and never considered actually as his. But when that idea came into his mind, he told his wife and his daughter, who is studying in the US, who was once Miss Black America, they discouraged him, especially when, he floated the idea that, when he goes back to Cameroon, he will get into politics, in order to make quick and big monies.