23/04/2026
Bamenda: From Sweet Days, To Silent Streets, To Hope Rising Again.
Before 2016, Bamenda was that guy in the blazer — sharp, smiling, and moving with “Royal” energy. Food was cheap, taxis were plenty, and Friday evenings at Commercial Avenue smelled like roasted fish, MTN credit, and weekend plans. You could walk from Ntarikon to City Chemist laughing with friends, and the only thing you were afraid of was your mother calling your name from three quarters away. Back then, we had traffic, but it was the good kind — bikers fighting for passengers, not people fighting for peace.
School life was sweet. GBHS Bamenda, PCHS, — uniforms everywhere by 7 AM. Your biggest problem was dodging the discipline master or explaining why your homework ate your dog. After school, it was achombo at Food Market, then football at Big Mankon field till the sun begged you to go home. If you missed curfew, your punishment was not the world ending — it was your father’s face at the door saying, “So you’ve grown wings?” And somehow, that was scarier than anything on the news.
Business was moving. Tailors at Main Market were sewing wedding gowns on Wednesday for Saturday weddings. Mami selling cornchaff would finish two pots before 2 PM. Carpenters at Nitop were booked for months. If you said, “I’m going to Bamenda to hustle,” people nodded with respect. The only “lockdown” we knew was when Bayern Munich was playing and every TV at Commercial Avenue was surrounded by men who forgot they had shops to open.
Then 2016 came, and life hit the reverse button. The laughter at Commercial Avenue got quiet. Schools that used to burst with noise started sounding like libraries on exam day. Mondays became silent. Movement became calculation. The city that once wore a blazer and smiled like you in this photo had to fold its arms and watch. We learned new vocabulary we never prayed for. But even in that season, Bamenda people didn’t lose their spirit — we just moved it indoors. We became CEOs of quiet resilience.
The years were hard. Many left. Many stayed and held the ground with prayers and patience. Mama didn’t stop cooking, Papa didn’t stop hoping, and youths like you didn’t stop dreaming — even if the dream had to whisper for a while. We became experts at reading the mood of the town. If you saw a bike turn back fast, you turned too. No questions. That was our new Google Maps.
But thank God, the story didn’t end there. Slowly, like morning sun after a long night, Bamenda started breathing again. Schools reopened, and you could hear children shouting “Aunty!” again. Bikes returned to the roads with music from their speakers. Shops at Main Market started staying open past fear. Fridays are getting their noise back. These days, when you hear a crowd, it’s more likely to be a njangi meeting or a birthday, not bad news. That’s progress we don’t take for granted.
Look at you now — blazer on, “Royal” on your chest, smiling like someone who knows the worst is behind him. That’s Bamenda’s energy in 2026. We’re not fully where we want to be, but we’re no longer where we were. The city is dusting itself off, ironing its blazer, and stepping back outside. Farms are busy again. Weddings are loud again. And young people are planning futures here again, not just escape routes.
Moral lesson
1. A city, like a man, can go through seasons. Winter doesn’t cancel spring — it just prepares you to appreciate it more.
2. Peace is the real designer blazer. When a place has it, everybody looks good.
3. Never write off a place that knows how to smile through pain. Bamenda is proof that hope is stubborn.
From the sweet days, through the silent days, to these promising days — Bamenda is rising. And just like me in this photo, I am wearing “Royal” again. Not because life is perfect, but because we’ve remembered who we are 💐
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