Nguba Bolikango is the grandson of Jean Bolikango, who is known as ‘The Father of Independence’ in the Congo. Nguba Bolikango followed in his grandfather’s Nguba Honore footsteps as an infantry sergeant. He has served for 15 years in the Royal Dutch Army, with five deployments to Kosovo, Bosnia, Iraq and twice to Afghanistan.

After finding out his family’s history, Nguba now wants to again follow in his grandfather Jean Bolikango’s footsteps as a ‘Father of Independence’ in the Congo. He transferred for the election as the governor for Province de Province de la Mongala and now fights for the Bangala people, with the Manifeste de Conscience Africaine as his guideline, in and out of the country with the same daring and tenacity that made him a top gun in the army.

Q. Good morning sir Nguba Bolikango. You are a patriot, a person who loves his country and who is ready to defend it against all enemies, foreign and domestic. Today is the International Day of Population and Environment. Can you tell me about some areas that still have problems in DRC?

R. Yes, there are many areas that need to be fixed. First and foremost the clean-up of the country espacialy Kinshasa and the Province de la Mongala, the mother city of this country. The drinking water is serious problem, there are way to many safaris and this is just not right. All the while, the Congolese population remains very poor while the country becomes richer and richer, due to the amount of minerals.

Q. Did Father Jean Bolikango leave a heritage?

R. Father Bolikango did not leave us with a material heritage, but he did leave us with a moral legacy and very good education.

Q. Can you say that Father John Bolikango was a patriot?

R. Yes, he was a great patriot, because John Bolikango refused to get the Belgian nationality. Father Bolikango was among the first five instructors in the Democratic Republic of Congo. He taught many people during his 32 years. He was a famous instructor in DRC. Among the people he taught wereEmaritus bishop of Kinshasa Mgr Moke, Mr Kanza, Bokasa, Sakombi Inongo, Mongita father, Mongita son and so on.

In 1948, Father Jean Bolikango received a great literary prize. He became an assistant professor at Gan. University (Belgium). He was also the first Congolese who became Minister of Government of Congo Belgium-Ruanda Urundi, a very special and rare feat and something no one has managed to become since.

Q. Can you tell more about how his political party got started?

R. Father Jean Bolikango was born in 1908 here in DRC. He went to the best school the country, that was lead by the missionary of the Scheuts. There, he started FUB: Founding of Unity of the Bangala. After FUB, Father Bolikango startedanother group called FUNA, which stands for ‘brow front of national unity’, all for the true freedom for the awakening Congolese.

He worked hard for DRC to get their independence. In fact, he came up with the date of independence of DRC, which is on the 30th of June 1960. P. Lumumba was a good friend of J. Bolikango and an active man than J. Bolikango. compared to. Father Jean Bolikango was modest, moderate and diplomatic.Lumumba and J. Bolikango were both unitarists.

Q. Did Father Jean Bolikango wanted to become the president of DRC?

R. Yes. But he couldn’t, because the Congolese election was in its second degree, so he refused. Besides that there was a lot of corruption going on before he could even get elected as thepresident of the country. Because of his personality of being a good instructor, a good leader with a high moral, Jean Bolikango refused to practice corruption. This is a wonderful example for the DRC’s population, and even to the wholeworld. His wife, Mother Clara, supported him in this. She never gave in to corruption. To show mercy, compassion and love ofthe people. Both, Jean Bolikango and Madame Clara Bolikango left the younger generation a great example to follow. Jean Bolikango was a very famous and respectable person to the population and the politicians, and really also to the entire humanity.

In conclusion,

Sergeant1 Bolikango, grandson of Jean Bolikango and Madam Nguba Clara would like to suggest: “We must be the true patriots if you want our country to grow up. We must not practice corruption, injustice and other inhuman attitudes. By staying true patriots, we will help our country grow and will allow everybody to work for the good of our country. If you want to develop our country for the common good, we must take good care of it and look after our land very carefully.