Walter Wilson Nana
Buea, Cameroon
The fine-gynaecologist, generous and God-fearing man that he was, same feeling and atmosphere reigned at the funeral and burial activities of Dr. Lawrence Francis Tonye Biaka, Saturday, May 24 2014 in Buea. The medical icon died Thursday, April 3 2014 in Buea after battling with stroke for a little more than a decade.
In a medical honour done for the deceased by the Cameroon Medical Council on Friday, May 23 2014, the colleagues of late Dr. Biaka, the old and the young, who took to the rostrum noted that Dr. Biaka’s life is worth celebrating and worth remembering. “It is a life of hard work,” Prof. Boniface Nasah said.
Dr. Lawrence Francis Tonye Biaka(in academic robe) chairing one of the convocation ceremonies of his three medical schools
Prof. Gottlieb Lobe Monekosso saw in Dr. Biaka a great colleague, a professional Anaesthetist and a philanthropist. He will add; “Dr. Biaka was professionally competent, disciplined, made tremendous contributions to the healthcare system in Cameroon, a good Christian and a blessing to the Buea community.”
In one of the three masses said in his honour at the St. Anthony of Padua Catholic Church, Buea Station, Saturday, May 24 2014 and concelebrated by Bishops George Nkuo of Kumbo Diocese
The casket of Dr Biaka being conveyed into the hearse by family members after reqiuem mass in his honour at the St. Anthony of Padua Catholic Church, Buea
and Immanuel Bushu of Buea Diocese, with ten Priests, Mgr. Nkuo in his homily said only the words of Jesus Christ brings consolation to those who mourn.
The Prelate said the Christian community has come to pray for the repose of the soul of Dr. Biaka and thank God for his life. “Dr. Biaka lived an elegant life and lived with resilience. He (Dr. Biaka) new the mass is the source of grace and shared in the joys and sorrows of others,” noted Bishop Nkuo.
According to Mgr. Nkuo, God does not abandon man in times of suffering, “He shares in our pains,” the shepherd of Kumbo Diocese added.
Mgr. Nkuo will tell the family members, friends and the rest of the congregation that there is nothing beneficial than praying for Dr. Biaka and the family left behind. “We should celebrate more masses for Dr. Biaka and thank God for constant prayers on his life.”
Born in Ibadan, Nigeria on June 22 1939 to a Yoruba Princess as mother and a Cameroonian father of Bassa origin, Biaka lived his early life in Nigeria and Cameroon with his parents. He was the third child of six children; three boys and three girls.
After going through his primary and secondary education, which saw the young Biaka gained admission into St. Joseph College, Sasse, Buea in 1951, he will subsequently emerge as one of the finest Cameroonian Gynaecologist, who dedicated his life to healing and helping people. He was a distinguished medic, who made a name for himself in the field of medicine, after earning a WHO scholarship to study medicine in India in 1958 and an extension in Yugoslavia in 1961.
He will pursue his training in some of the finest medical schools in England and worked in many capacities as a physician, surgeon, gynaecologist and teacher in a variety of institutions. These included; Eastern General Hospital, Edinburg, Hammersmith and Queen Charlotte, London, St. Helier Hospital, Carshalton, Surrey and more.
Dr. Biaka returned to Cameroon in 1977 and served as Gynaecologist-Obstetrician at the Bamenda Provincial Hospital and District Hospital Bota, Limbe. Having spent six years in Limbe, he was transferred to Bertoua, East Region of Cameroon. Dr Biaka will not take up the Bertoua appointment and decided to put in his resignation from the government service to go private. He will move on to begin private practice at home and in 1982, he opened the St. Veronica Medical Centre, where he consulted and treated patients as well as trained healthcare professionals in the three autonomous schools that will go operational in 1998, 2007 and 2010 respectively.
His hard work and quest for quality is seen in the medical centre and the three professional schools. Despite family and work pressure, Dr. Biaka found time to be close to God. His numerous charitable activities are testimony to his enthusiasm to serve mankind.
He is survived by his wife, Francisca Hongla Biaka, with whom they have been married for 25 years, seven children, thirteen grand children, brothers, sisters, many relatives and friends.
