Rédaction Africa Links 24 with Mimi Mefo Info
Published on 2024-02-25 08:11:43
The intellectual and politician passed away over the weekend at the age of 95. He was among the first Cameroonians to reach the heights of science.
Professor Hubert Nkoulou is no longer with us. The medical professor passed away on Thursday, February 22 in Yaoundé at the age of 95. “The old man had a long illness that eventually took his life. But he lived a full life,” explained a source close to the family.
An outstanding intellectual who brought pride to Lekie, his hometown, Hubert Nkoulou was the second professor of medicine in Cameroon’s history, after Professor René Essomba. He was an engineer, doctor in science, administrator, hospital specialist, and professor of medicine.
His return to Cameroon after studying in France was requested by the former President Amadou Ahidjo. “I returned to Cameroon in 1972, the same year I passed the Aggregation of Medicine exam. As soon as President Ahidjo learned that I had passed the exam, he sent a telegram to the Cameroonian ambassador in France instructing him to immediately send me to meet him. The president received me and said, ‘You are the second Cameroonian to pass the Aggregation exam in this country. You must return; we will build this country together,'” he explained.
His professional career was a true feat. From June 18, 1983, to February 4, 1984, he served as Minister of Public Health. Then, from February 27, 1996, to February 13, 1998, he served as the General Director of the Yaoundé General Hospital. As for his works, the late Professor contributed to the construction of several hospitals in Cameroon, including the Yaoundé General Hospital, the Yaoundé Gynecology-Obstetrics Hospital, and the Douala General Hospital. He also renovated hospitals in Douala, Edéa, Mbalmayo, Ebolowa, Obala, N’Gaoundéré, with the support of the late Irène Biya. Together, they built the Pediatric Ward at the Central Hospital and established centers for the disabled in Etoug-Ebe, orphanages in Soa, Mbalmayo, and a leprosarium in Mbalmayo. They also adopted orphaned children.
Born on October 18, 1929, in Olembé near Batchenga, Professor Hubert Nkoulou attended primary school at the Catholic Mission of Bafia and secondary school at the Akono Seminary, then the General Leclerc High School in Yaoundé.
After obtaining a Bachelor’s in Experimental Sciences in 1956, he continued his higher education at the Conservatoire des Arts et Métiers in 1960. Alongside his engineering training, he enrolled at the Faculty of Medicine in Paris and later in Bordeaux, where he obtained his Medical Doctorate in 1963. In 1968, he received a Doctorate in Science from Lausanne, Switzerland. The same year, he obtained a Specialized Studies Certificate in Pediatrics in Lausanne. Furthermore, he holds a Tropical Medicine diploma, Parasitology diploma, Specialized Studies Certificate in Pediatric Nephrology, and an Aggregation in Pediatrics and Medical Genetics, obtained in Paris in 1971.
Read the original article(French) on Mimi Mefo Info
