“He who is lowly in spirit will obtain honor.” Proverbs 26:23

This is a tribute to our beloved dad, granddad, brother, uncle and friend; Papa Samuel Awamunang Abam (or Papa Abam), who received the ultimate call from our Lord and Savior Jesus, on Friday, March 13, 2015 at 12:40pm, to come home and rest peacefully in his bosom after 86 years on this earth.

Papa Abam was born on the 29th November 1928 in Melong, Nkongsamba to Pa Jacob Abam, a tailor, and Ave Monica Agwa Abam, a homemaker, both now resting with the Lord. He attended the Government Primary School Up Station Bamenda, in 1948, where he earned his Standard 6 certificate. A brilliant student, he won a scholarship to the prestigious Government College Umuahia, Nigeria Nigeria – a cradle for learning where his schoolmates were the likes of Chinua Achebe—the father of African literature, and other notable Cameroonian and Nigerian would-be pioneer leaders of post-colonial Africa.

Upon graduation from college, dad returned home and joined the Cameroon Development Corporation (CDC) as a Laboratory Technician. After working for the CDC for 2 years he was hired by Pamol as an Oil Analyst. During his employment with Pamol, he won another scholarship to attend the School of Pharmacy in Yaba, Lagos, Nigeria.

He graduated with a Pharmacy Diploma in 1959 and accepted a position at CDC as a Pharmacist.  He worked for the CDC in this capacity at their hospitals in Tiko, Ekona, and Bota until 1961, when he left the corporation to join Dr. Effiong and the Rainbow Chemists Ltd. He started his career with Rainbow as Pharmacist at the Victoria (now Limbe) branch and was later transferred to Port Harcout, Nigeria.  Papa Abam was working at the Port Harcourt branch in 1967 when the Nigerian civil war broke out. He returned to his native Cameroon and was posted to Bamenda to lead the North West provincial branch of the Rainbow Chemists Ltd. Soon after he took charge of this branch, the government of Cameroon passed a law prohibiting franchising of the pharmacy business. Papa Abam obtained his Sole Proprietorship Pharmacy License, bought the Rainbow Chemist branch in Bamenda in 1968 and renamed it City Chemist. Today renowned nationwide, it grew to become the groundbreaking powerhouse that set the standards for Pharmacy excellence this side of our beloved country, Cameroon.

Some say that a man’s success in life depends on how well he raises a family. A moment of great significance in Papa Abam’s life was marked on the 14th February 1960, when he took as wife a young beautiful lady, Rebecca Keng née Ngoh— now the highly respected matriarch of the family, fondly referred to by everyone as Abot. Together this quiet couple travelled through the concourse of life as devout Christians, putting their faith in God and taking care of each other as well as members of their family and community. True companions for life with 55 years in holy matrimony, they shared the vicissitudes of life—endured every pain and enjoyed every blessing as one. With 7 children and 15 grandchildren, there is no doubt that Pa Samuel Awamunang Abam accomplished his mark on earth as a man with a pedigree, helped in this feat in no small way, by the unyielding support of his wife, soul mate, best friend and our mother, Abot.