By
Obododimma Oha
Anyone who is searching the archives of staff of Cameroon Development Corporation (CDC) in the colonial days would find that one Thomas Iyambe of Banga who absconded from duty from the gang clearing the bush for the plantations, later became a young man, so energetic that he was put in the last line of laborers so that he would be forcing escaping wild animals to run to the center, to their doom. What actually happened was that the "real" Thomas Iyambe disappeared for good and a young man who came from Uri (Uli) in Nigeria was documented as being him, so as to be allowed to work as a laborer in CDC.
Absence created an opportunity for presence. If Iyambe had gone, Iyambe would not have come. Two Iyambes: Iyambe of Banga and Iyambe of Uri, an Igbo. So, Iyambe yesterday today. Iyambe lazy and Iyambe hardworking and energetic. Iyambe old and Iyambe young again.
It was quite interesting that my father was "Lawrence" in Nigeria but "Thomas" in Cameroon, not that he was rechristened but had to take another identity in order to survive as a young man.
It wasn't just that "Thomas Iyambe" had become someone else symbolically but shows us how labels help and mislead us. There's no real Thomas Iyambe anywhere. Thomas Iyambe could become another label. And life in the plantation gang went on.
So, my own father was once called "Thomas Iyambe"? He could even have been known as "Paul Biya"! It was just a matter of labeling and re-labeling.
Thomas Iyambe! Present, sir!
But I don't know whether the person that was labeled "Thomas Iyambe" would also not mind answering my father's name if required to bear it in Nigeria. We need to find out. This earth, my brother, my sister. You can only guess and let your guess remain a guess. What is good for the goose may not be good enough for the gander. Ganders are choosy these days!
When one Thomas Iyambe goes, another Thomas Iyambe comes. That is how it should be, ad infinitum. There should be a deferment of Iyambes. Maybe one Iyambe would seek to attack and destroy its kind one day. The problem of uncomfortable similarity. Uncomfortable oneness. I won't be surprised if one Thomas Iyambe attacks and tries to destroy another Thomas Iyambe. We are not very comfortable with our kind, what more a replacement! One Thomas Iyambe may want to see justice done. But to self!
Yes. That replacement. The Thomas Iyambe on the plantation must have been waiting anxiously, waiting to be replaced by another Thomas Iyambe. He must have allowed some animals to escape from the Last Line! Finally, he had to yawn and strengthen himself, then let his cutlass drop. His patience had been spent!
Thomas Iyambe must have suffered in looking for where there was Thomas Iyambe penned down on paper. From plantation to plantation. Looking for self. From Miselele to Banana Bush. From Tiko to Yaounde. Looking for self on paper.
Thomas Iyambe is a sign of vanishing you and reappearing you. Many selves in oneself, one self. Thomas Iyambe that cannot be caught, trapped in one CDC plantation.
It is clear to me now that "Thomas Iyambe" is just another label put on a human being and could be replaced. Thomas Iyambe, you are just a sign used by humans.
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