“I did not choose comedy, comedy chose me”: Sinyuy Geraldine Catches a Chat with Cameroonian Amazing Comedian, Ngem Jude
Geraldine Sinyuy: Tell us about yourself.
Ngem Jude Ngong: I am Ngem Jude Ngong, a native of BAFMENG -Fungum subdivision, Menchum division of the North West Region of Cameroon.
Geraldine Sinyuy: You are a comedian and I know you from our secondary school days. What prompted you to get into comedy?
Ngem Jude Ngong: I did not choose Comedy, Comedy chose me. I have been receiving calls that my voicemail is circulating all over social media and influencers actors are using their face to impersonate me. I was urged to show my face so the people could stop. It all started as a consequence of the Cameroon Anglophone crisis. I had a friend of mine whom this crisis has crumbled. Imagine a friend parking over night and changing town without telling friends. That was November of 2020. His number was not going through. It was March of 2021 that he contacted me via Whatsapp. So, to make the communication fast, I had to do voicemail for my first time. He was already an IDP in Douala. To console him and boost his morals, I had to give him the cheapest way of not feeling hunger. Drawing inspiration from my up bringing, I told her that FuFu was always available at home. And if you are really hungry, you will not wait for Mom to come back and prepare soup before you eat. So, we just looked around and improvised. After all, "FuFu di go with all thing". So is like he was shaving someone like an influencer or so who begged his phone and forwarded my voice to his phone which he shared online. It has been circulating online for 3 months before I created a tok-tok account and Instagram. The Instagram was later hacked. So that's how I went viral without my knowledge.
Geraldine Sinyuy: When you started comedy, how did the people in your family a d community welcome it? Were there any objections from your family as to the path you had chosen?
Ngem Jude Ngong: When my family heard about this online, some where disappointed that how can I be expressing how we struggled during childhood. But I will just laugh until they started liking it.
Geraldine Sinyuy: Please can you throw more light on your pseudonym "Fufu Master?".
Ngem Jude Ngong: I grew up in FuFu. I can eat it continuously for a whole year. This question you have asked me concerning my artistic name has touched the core of the matter. stems from a very memorable experience I had in my childhood. The experience was in connection with Fufu. My parents are from Kom and Bafmen, which are found in the Boyo and Menchum Boyo Divisions respectively. From childhood our mother used to send us for holidays to our relations in both villages. When I was in primary four for example, I was sent to Fudong while my siblings went to Njinikom. My mother was to follow thereafter. Fortunately for me, the home where I went to was opposite a park. My host, my mother’s second cousin, served as a native midwife in the same compound where she lived. The patients depended on her for food. It was a horror for someone like me who didn’t like fufu to be woken up at exactly seven o’clock in the morning in order to eat fufu and njama njama which my aunt had already prepared. Everyone, including the patients ate the same meal. That was the daily routine for three good months. Imagine a scenario where somebody consumed the same staple food, fufu, for three consecutive months, with only the accompanying soup varying!
However, this dietary regimen was what my aunt considered to beneficial for her patients’ health. She was the one feeding her patients. Fufu, fufu, fufu. That was the origin of my artistic name. Just imagine, how young I was, a child in Primary four. I think that it was in 1989. I knew that Njinikom was not far from where I was and if I continued from that road at the park, I would reach where my siblings are. Early one morning, accompanied by my second cousins of similar age, I prepared to leave. I gathered my belongings and waited for the moment when my aunt was out of sight. I took my things and started walking down the road. I saw somebody ahead of me carrying a bag and I just imagined that the person was going in the same direction like myself. The man took a short cut and I followed, moving closely behind him until we reached Njinikom Junction. At that point, I knew which direction I could take in order to go to the home where my siblings were. I went towards the Catholic church and where I enquired about my sibling’s whereabouts and was directed accordingly. On arrival in that home, I discovered that fufu was being prepared and I was very disappointed of the fact that I had to eat fufu again. That same day, my mother had left with the priest who had gone to minister at Njinikom in order to come and see me where I was. When she got there, she didn’t see me and everyone became worried. Even my aunt wasn’t aware of my departure so they searched for me till evening and the last resort was to go down to Njinikom and check if I was there. Anxious about my whereabouts, my mother became depressed, but when they got to Njinikom, they saw me. I can’t remember what happened thereafter. This story has always been on my mind and none of my family members has ever reminded me of it, but it has always been on my mind. I am happy that you asked me this question and I am telling you because I know you asked with purpose. I will really like the story to be documented because sincerely it is that particular private story I had at that tender age before age ten that this fufu issue occupied my mind and has now become the source of my creativity in the comedy industry.
Geraldine Sinyuy: That’s quite a deeply personal and memorable childhood connection with fufu. Alright. How is Comedy appreciated in the North West Region?
Ngem Jude Ngong: The Northwest appreciates comedy that is timely, educative and descent. For example, the concept of FuFu spread wildly at the time because people were in misery and running away from war. There by, hunger. So, people used this comic statement "FuFu di go with all thing" to take cover and fill their stomachs.
Geraldine Sinyuy: Do you carry your performances beyond the region or are you limited only to NW?
Ngem Jude Ngong: Unfortunately, I have not started performing.
Geraldine Sinyuy: Are there other people working with you in a team or is your company a solo one?
Ngem Jude Ngong: At the time I started comedy, people were running away from war. And I could not relocate with kids. So, that is why I didn't find anyone around at the time to mentor me or teach me how to go about it.
Geraldine Sinyuy: Is comedy able to take care of your needs as a man with a family?
Ngem Jude Ngong: No, it doesn't. It's just a part-time.
Geraldine Sinyuy: How has social media contributed to your progress as a comedian?
Ngem Jude Ngong: social media gave me exposure. It's easy for me to market my products.
Geraldine Sinyuy: Do you handle human rights issues in your comedy?
Ngem Jude Ngong: Yes, I do. I do my possible best to avoid hate speech.
Geraldine Sinyuy: What challenges do you face as a comedian?
Ngem Jude Ngong: The challenge I have is that many people with problems come up to me for assistance or help and I feel bad when I can't help or find someone to help them.
Geraldine Sinyuy: If someone wants to watch your videos, where can they find you. Do you have any link to share?
Ngem Jude Ngong: I mostly use tok-tok since my Instagram was hacked. I go by the name @thefufumaster.
Geraldine Sinyuy: What is the future of the Cameroonian comedy industry? Do you have any association of Cameroon comedians?
Ngem Jude Ngong: The future of the Cameroonian comedy industry is too complicated. There is a lot of divide, ethnicity and politics in the country. What one community finds as comic can be considered provocative to another community. Language too plays a big role. Besides comedy, I am a trader and farmer. And at times I find myself in real estate.
Geraldine Sinyuy: That means you are a multi-talented person. I wish you success in all your endeavors.
Ngem Jude Ngong hails from Boyo Division of the North West Region of Cameroon. He attended secondary and high school at Government Bilingual High School (GBHS) Bamenda where he obtained both his Ordinary and Advance Level General Certificate of Education (GCE). After his high school education, Ngem Jude proceeded to do business and agriculture. During the early years of the Anglophone Crisis which has displaced thousands of persons internally and externally, he developed a talent for creativity and become a comedian. It is worth noting that even when Ngem Jude was in secondary school, he was always very funny and made jokes that kept live wherever he was. Many of his school mates loved him and he is quite a lovely, empathetic and kind person.
