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Chapter I A WOMAN WAY AHEAD OF HER TIME
Mammy was born Marcelline Neza Ndifor in 1926 in Akum, the third child to Manyi Anna Ndah and Ndifor Chi Taqwi’eh.
As a young girl, she was very enterprising and earned money to support her siblings and parents. She said she would spend one day chopping firewood, which she would sell for four days. She was going to pay for her education when her mother asked her instead to pay for the education of her younger twin brothers Che (CC Spot photos) and Nji. The rationale being that as males, they would need to marry and provide for a family. If she was lucky, she would marry and her children could go to school. She complied. This is how she put all her four brothers through school and apprenticeships that became their lifetime careers. She was proud to say her twin brothers were the only ones with a formal education in that age group.
She also helped in raising and educating her nieces, nephews and countless foster children. She became a Christian but it wasn’t easy. She completed doctrine with Fr. Naaben, but he was reluctant to baptize her for fear that at her age, (early mid twenties) she would end up in a polygamous marriage. She decided she wasn’t going to get married until she met the Christian man that she could marry in church. She said that she only had two requirements from a prospective husband. A man who would not interfere with her Faith or Religion and her ability to earn her own money.
Around 1950, her sister Manyi Mangwi introduced the young Neza to Joseph Iban Atanga, her late husband’s friend who had just returned from Nigeria where he worked for many colonial bosses. They made a perfect match. Now, with a man that she could marry in church, Neza finally was baptized on December 24th, 1950 and they got married on January 15th, 1951. She was also a self taught seamstress and she made herself the most beautiful wedding gown that still beats today’s fashion.
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Chapter II BAMENDA HIGHLAND HOTEL 1958
They settled in Mankon town where together with her husband, they built Bamenda Highland Hotel in 1958. This was the first hotel in the whole North West Region. The hotel had 12 rooms, 2 VIP lounges, and a conference center with a capacity of over 400 seats. It was the largest private owned hotel in West Cameroon - the other hotel being Buea Mountain Hotel at the time.
This Hotel propelled Mammy and Pa Highland into politics. They believed in the politics of Service, and supported all the political parties with the conviction that they were allworking for the progress of the Nation. They said they do not believe in bitter politics. They supported the various parties including the KNDP of Dr. John Ngu Foncha, CUC of Hon. Solomon Tandeng Muna and also supported Hon. Augustine Ngom Jua. They gave the Hotel for free to host various political meetings in the 50’s and 60’s in addition to financial support and free transportation as they also had a transportation agency which her
husband started in 1949.
During the reunification, former President Ahmadou Ahidjo hired Bamenda Highland Hotel for two months for campaign meetings. Refreshments were all sponsored by her and her husband Papa Joseph Atanga. Mama Marcelline Neza Atanga just hours after she delivered a set of twins (Paul Nji Atanga and Peter Fru Atanga) on the 9th of February, 1961, was brought on a stretcher from the hospital and was the first citizen in Bamenda to cast her vote on the 11th of February, 1961 in favor of the Reunification.
She never gave up her dream of a formal education. After giving birth to her twins (Peter and Paul) in 1961, she enrolled herself in adult education evening classes which she successfully completed and earned her certification. She would go on to put hundreds of underprivileged children through school and apprenticeships to elevate them to a better future. She treated everyone equally. She also fostered many children including Sudanese refugee Therese Albert Bandima, whom she raised alongside her daughters Mary and Anne and they all went through Our Lady of Lourdes College.
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today, tomorrow and beyond.