There is no gainsaying the fact that the hitherto sleepy Buea has, during the last decade or so, grown into one big town; in fact one of the biggest in the Republic. Everyone else is quick to say that the citing of the first Anglo-Saxon University here has largely accounted for the exponential growth of Buea.

In as much as this is the case, it is equally true that many factors, such as the relatively good roads and the welcoming and hospitable nature of Buea indigenes has also accounted for the town’s rapid growth, especially in socio-economic terms.

Barely two decades back, one could practically easily count the number of taxis plying Buea streets, especially at night, or have the denizens of the town settling down to social drinking after 6pm. That era has since passed and Buea now booms with night life and other social activity.

The villages are today interconnected and reachable by township taxis. The popular transport system by motorcycle or “okada” plies the un-tarred outskirts of the town (at least, on paper) flea markets and other make-shift ones popularly known as “big mop” markets in pidgin English are dotted all over the place; not to talk of the inevitable drinking spots and places of Pentecostal worship. One needs not even mention the ubiquitous student residential otherwise called “mini cites.”

But what stands out tall amongst all of these small businesses are the provision stores and other groceries that have, more or less, proliferated almost nok and cranny of Buea, and which appear not only to be doing good business but also rendering essential services for many.

Several neighbourhoods like Sandpit, Dirty South, Malingo, which were hitherto “off the road” are today well into the thick of the township and business. Hence the booming provision stores business which serves many a resident.

It is also worth noting that quite a good number of entrepreneurial housewives have transformed part of their compound into little market places in a bid to lending financial support to their husbands. Others still, fry and sell doughnuts or puff-puff, or cook and sell “dodo” and beans, mostly at night.

Some of them are known to have graduated from here to selling building and other construction materials at high profit. By the way, the ubiquitous taxation guys stop by, frequently, for obvious reasons. That is the new look Buea for you!

A customer, whose only name we got as Sandra, told The Post that these provision stores are wont to succeed on account of, ‘’their proximity’’. According to her, many people are busy, so when they know that they can get easily everything hard by other than from a regular market, they are happy.

In the Dirty South crowded student residential neighbourhood, sellers like Mama Susan and Fanny, that have been in petty business for some 10 years now, noted that having a small markets in neighbourhoods is beneficial because you sell more and frequently; your customers become friends with you; trust is established and human relationships grow along with commercial gains.

Again, this is Buea for you…the town of the “Legendary Hospitality.”