The school boycott adopted in Oct 2016 was a strategy by the Consortium to force the hand of French Cameroun to reverse its policy of assimilation and destruction on the Anglophone Sub System of education. It was a necessary strategy at the time.

However 2 years on, the Apartheid regime of Paul Biya of French Cameroun has no immediate intention to stop or reverse its Apartheid Policy.

The current crisis in Ambazonia is a political crisis-that of Decolonization and Annexation. Which if French Cameroun had good intentions it would have been resolved at the Negotiations Table not in the bushes with the barrel of the gun.

The current war environment makes it very difficult for schools to function normally and effectively. Some whole communities have been deserted. Some destroyed and burnt by Apartheid soldiers of French Cameroun.

And this has not stopped. We have seen some photos of French Cameroun snipers in Ambazonia. This sets the stage for the killings of innocent school children as they attempt to go to school.

Yes it’s very easy to say children should return to school. How do you guarantee the security of these children in the current war environment? This is the subject we should be discussing including the security of children while they attend their daily school routine.

The security of children is not a subject for emotional minds, but a subject for level headed, pragmatic and rational minds. How will children attend schools in Lebialem, Belo, Kupe, Batibo, etc where bullets are constantly flying in the air.

As a parent will you send your child to school in the named LGAs above. That is the challenge we are facing. What about all the villages that have been scorched (As contained in the report by Agbor Balla’s CHRDA – Centre for Human Rights and Development in Africa).

Schools can never resume effectively with bullets flying in the air. Unless there is a cease fire from both sides schools will continuously be disrupted.

I know some will quote Syria, Iraq, and Afghanistan etc. Which also have ongoing wars but yet children are still studying.

So yes schools should carry on, however parents should note the following;

1) The Security risk of sending your child to school each day.

2) The potential of your child being injured or killed while in school or in the process of attending school.

3) The curriculum will only be partially completed due to the disruptive nature of the school environment.

4) Prepare for the trauma which some children will face as a result of the violence that they may experience as result of the war.

These are some of the challenges parents and teachers should brace themselves for.

Both sides – French Cameroun troops and Amba Boys should respect the Geneva Convention as schools should be protected.

But from past and recent experiences we all know who the defaulters of the Geneva Convention are. French Cameroun of course.

My dear Ambazonians, these are the challenges we face as to schools continuity as we continue to fight for the restoration of the autonomy of Southern Cameroons.

By Oswald Tebit

For the third year running, Facebook (www.Facebook.com) is sponsoring the annual Facebook Challenge as part of the Student Category at The Loerie Awards 2018 – Africa and the Middle East’s premier award that recognises, rewards, inspires and fosters creative excellence in the advertising and brand communication industry. During Loeries Creative Week, Facebook and Instagram will also host a series of workshops, hackathons and activations for the creative community – including advertising students – and a special event for women in marketing.

For this year’s student challenge, Facebook partnered with the International Federation of Red Cross to provide a creative brief on helping to tackle the cholera crisis on the continent. Students from across Middle East and Africa were challenged to create an impactful mobile-first campaign for Facebook and Instagram that educates at-risk communities around preventing the spread of the disease. Facebook’s Creative Shop team also provided ongoing support to students entering the category, tutoring and mentoring them in understanding how to create ‘thumb-stopping’ mobile content that grabbed the users eye.

As part of the competition, the winning team will be crowned ‘the Facebook Challenge Winners of 2018’ and will also be provided with an all-expenses paid trip to Loeries Creative Week to collect their coveted award, at an exclusive ceremony on 17 August. The final campaign will then be featured on Facebook and Instagram.

“Digital plays a huge part in all of our lives, and to make the most of it, creative agencies across Africa need to continue to tap into creative talents that understand building for the digital age, and the needs of the next billion users coming online,” said Nunu Ntshingila, Regional Director at Facebook Africa. “Our partnership with The Loeries for the third year running, reinforces our commitment in nurturing young, creative and diverse talent, who are passionate about creating powerful mobile-first campaigns that resonate with users.”

Last year’s Facebook Challenge winners – Peni Buckton, Lunje Jwambe and Claudia Bester from AAA Advertising School in Cape Town – worked on a campaign for The Nelson Mandela Foundation to tackle gender diversity. Their winning concept, Everyday Armour, saw them create a series of fashion ads encouraging women to buy items such as a ring that can spray pepper, or a pair of high heels that can also be turned into a self-defense weapon, highlighting the fact that women should not be “dressed’ to be ready for assault.

Distributed by APO Group on behalf of Facebook.

Hampered by an internet shutdown in Cameroon’s troubled English-speaking regions in January 2017, Zuo Bruno, a young ethical hacker, was inspired to develop a car-tracking application using SMS. The application named Zoomed, whose adoption has been fast in Cameroon, is now on the verge of spreading across the continent.

Cameroon has been interrupting internet intermittently in those regions over the last 20 months in an attempt to stifle dissent following mass protests by English-speaking teachers and lawyers which erupted in 2016, first tampered with internet connectivity on Jan. 17, 2017. The internet shutdown lasted 94 days. The internet was again plug off in October same year, taking the duration of the shutdown to a record 230 days, according to Access Now.

“Following the disconnection, I noticed a lot of cars were being stolen and realized these stolen cars had internet-based tracking solutions installed but the owners still couldn’t locate their cars,” Bruno, founder of Zuoix; an information security start-up said. He says the government’s internet shutdown gave him the incentive to conceive the whole idea.

COURTESY: ZOOMED

This is why it was especially ironic in February when Bruno’s innovation earned him the President’s 2018 Grand Prize (Gold) for Excellence in Scientific Research and Innovation in Cameroon. The award has a FCFA 10 million ($ 17,500) prize. Another tech enthusiast, 17-year-old Nji Collins Gbah from the same internet-interrupted region managed to emerge champion of the Google Code-in competition in 2017.

With a GPS chip installed in the vehicle, a user can locate a car or fleet, with direction, speed and elevation information. The Zoomed app also has features which supports geofencing, immobilization, ignition alert, voice surveillance, two-way calling and SOS alarm with artificial intelligence. No internet connection is required.

Bruno said rather than create an internet-based version, the app will use USSD technology. A user can dial simple USSD code, such as *XYZ*12#  and be able to locate their car, immobilize it or other features.  Using that technology means there will be no additional costs to the user.  USSD, which stands for Unstructured Supplementary Service Data, is typically used by mobile operators, especially in Africa — where the market is primarily prepaid—for their internal applications such as balance checks, top-ups, data bundles and promotions.

Ever since the Zoomed app caught nationwide attention, it has been upgraded to make cars location-aware; enabling the cars to send distress calls based on their current location to police stations, gas stations, hospitals and emergency services.

In Cameroon, the app already has a large client base; with over 50 enterprises, amongst them the country two top companies, making use of the app. “We are moving forward to other countries including Nigeria, Kenya and Ghana, and hoping for good results. Our plan is to send this application Africa-wide so that more people can enjoy the services we offer, secure their cars and have a good night rest knowing that their cars are safe.”

Source: Quartz

The Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) in Nigeria is to embark upon a campaign on various campuses in Nigeria calling for the immediate release of the six academics deported by the Nigerian government to Cameroon in January.

Since their deportation by military aircraft to Yaoundé on 24 January together with 47 others, followed quickly by news reports announcing they were to appear in court in Cameroon on charges of terrorism, there has been no sign of the detainees. Attempts in May by their legal representative Abdul Oroh to find them in Yaounde also produced nothing.

In an exclusive interview with University World News, barrister Oroh, who is representing the detainees at the bequest of their families, confirmed that those forcefully deported from Nigeria were members of a political organisation demanding reform of Cameroon’s Constitution with a view to returning the country to genuine federalism.

Such an arrangement would give Francophone and Anglophone components equal status. It would also give equal recognition to French and English Languages.

“This liberal reform is what the central government of Cameroun is equating to terrorism. My clients are peace-loving gentle men and women. We would do everything legally possible to secure their immediate release so that they can go back to their campuses and resume their teaching and research work,” he said.

‘Fearless scholars’

Dr Baiyah Quodus, an academic in the Economics Department of Ado Bayero University, Kano, said he knew some of the expelled academics and described them as “fearless scholars and sound intellectuals who have contributed to the academic development of Nigeria”.

Professor Akintan Onileara of the Philosophy Department at Obafemi Awolowo University said he knew two of the expelled lecturers. “They are hard-working teachers, Pan-Africanist and unrepentant promoters of African Development. At conferences and seminars, they kept reminding all of us about the need for Africa to invest in education and vocational training.

They never hid their sadness over the poor human rights records in Cameroon and elsewhere on the African continent.”

Dr Ekong Akpan of the Philosophy Department at the University of Uyo said he knew three of those detained and some of them had been married to Nigerians and living in Nigeria for more than 29 years. “So, Nigeria has committed a crime against her own citizens,” he said. “More worrisome is the fact that Nigeria has no extradition treaty with Cameroon. This has added another dimension to the injustice and disrespect for international law.”

Seeking to travel to Yaounde in search of the academics and out of concern for their health and safety, Orah and his colleague Femi Falana approached the Cameroonian High Commission in Abuja earlier this year.

“We were armed with a letter for such visit. We met with the High Commissioner, Ambassador Ibrahim Salaudeen, who received us warmly and promised that he would transmit our request to Yaoundé and that we would surely get a reply,” Oroh said.

After waiting for four weeks without a reply from the Ambassador, Oroh flew to Cameroon on 14 May 2018 accompanied by a bilingual Nigerian journalist who had previously worked in Yaoundé.

“We spent five days in Yaounde visiting the ministries of justice, foreign affairs and the headquarters of Cameroon’s Human Rights Commission. Those we talked to could not confirm or indicate the whereabouts of our clients,” he said.

Safety concerns

The two men left the country without meeting the detainees and without establishing their safety. Oroh said if the detained lecturers were not sent for trial, their safety could not be guaranteed. “I sincerely hope that they would be released as soon as possible,” he said.

According to diplomatic sources in Abuja, the United Nations High Commission in Charge of Refugees and Amnesty international is pressuring leaders of Western democracies to ensure that these detained university teachers are released as soon as possible and sent on voluntary exile to countries of their choice.

According to Dr Adewale Suenu, Accademic Staff Union of Universities secretary based at Lagos State University, the union is shortly to commence a campaign on various campuses in Nigeria appealing to both the Nigerian and Cameroonian government to effect the immediate release of the university teachers.

Meanwhile, university teachers on various campuses, including Professor Bissong Harstrop of the Law Faculty at the University of Calabar, say the deportation is a clear violation of human rights. “The unlawful repatriation of lawful persons is a clear case of rights violation,” said Harstrop.

Dr Abdullahi Ango from the Psychology Department at Ado Bayero University, Kano compared the expulsion of the academics to the similar treatment of Professor Patrick Wilmot in the 1980s. Wilmot was a sociologist working at the Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria.

“He was expelled for reasons we are yet to be told. We should note that the sudden arrest and illegal repatriation of these university teachers of Cameroonian nationality is against the fundamental human rights to which Nigeria is a signatory,” said Ango.

Unclear rationale

Professor Richard Anselm of the Sociology Department in Umaru Musa Yar Adua University, Katsina, noted that the rationale behind the repatriation of the academics was unclear and called on civil rights organisations and movements in both Nigeria and Cameroun “to rise up and defend these university teachers”.

Dr Schwarnang Ankhol Law Faculty, University of Jos accused the Nigerian government of contravening the basic tenets of ECOWAS, which supports free movement of citizens to work and reside anywhere within West Africa. “The Nigerian government must be made to realise that she has a duty to protect the rights of all foreign residents working and residing in Nigeria,” he said.

Dr Ahmed Akwanga of the Political Science Department at Benue State University, Makurdi, urged ASUU to take up the matter urgently, while a number of other academics canvassed noted the fact that the deportations were in in violation of human rights.

Professor Ishaq Bawwana from Afe Balola University’s Criminology Department, for example, said both Nigeria and Cameroon should be reported to ECOWAS and the African Union’s Human Rights Commissions for violation of the individuals’ rights.

Professor Sheriff Ikhman, based at the Law Faculty at the University of Maiduguri, called on Amnesty International to intervene.

Source: University World News

Younger journalists seeing these two veterans on the same platform would take or mistake them for peers. Right and wrong! Ok, they are both veterans, from (an)other generation(s) of Radio Cameroon, now CRTV, the state-run broadcaster. At least, they both belong to a past – a distant past to some – hardly known by most of the generation now manning our media landscape. They are both veterans. But who appears to be some veteran’s peer could actually be their own veteran. Nearly as much as Victor Epie’Ngome is babying many of the younger generation of journalists, Gideon Taka babied Epie’Ngome and co into the profession.

“He recruited me into Radio Cameroon,” says Epie’Ngome as Taka, 81, walks into the room for a meeting of judges for the Courage In Journalism Awards (CIJA). They both chatter over memories of the good old days. They recall the recruitment tests in those days when mastery of the English language (written and oral), general knowledge and voice quality were conditions sine-qua-non for becoming a broadcaster. They reminisce over the rigours of on-the-job training of yore, a far-cry from today, when kids in a hurry are on the air “starring” before they have learned the ropes of the tricky profession or before they have written a correct sentence. Many being one-eyed men in the country of the blind or lame ducks “winning by forfeiture”, they become resource persons in broadcasting even before they have known the difference between uni-, bi- and omni-directional microphones. That is if they ever get to know.

NO COMPROMISE ON VALUES

The gloom that beclouds the countenance of the two vets, suggests they are nostalgic of the good-old-days, regretting the present-day open-door policy or “let-my-people-go” that has opened the floodgates to all-comers and compromised the quality of journalism, especially broadcasting. They seem to be bemoaning a new order that raises a platform for a new breed who are neither groomed nor mentored except, perhaps by godfathers who offer undeserved favours, not professional nurturing. They are glorified in their lapses – not to say their mediocrity – and pampered by another kind of mentors who go soft with their kind of mentees for purposes other than for journalism. Not Taka, not Epie’Ngome!

The two vets talk about how Taka, a pioneer of bilingual Radio Yaounde (later National Station of Radio Cameroon, now the radio arm of CRTV) was on the panel that recruited the young Epie’Ngome alongside among others, MeumaMeombo (RIP), NgyetikoMusi and Willy Chindo in 1976, over a decade after Taka’s own debut there in 1963-64. Taka was among the first crop of former Southern Cameroonians recruited “en mass” to give the hitherto all-French Radio Yaounde a reflection of bilingual Cameroon, those early years after the Reunification of 1961. His batch-mates included Francis Wete, former CRTV deputy GM, who was also his classmate in CPC Bali like Peter Esoka who joined them at the radio years later. Taka often points out they were only classmates, not age-mates. The man who is arguably doyen of the Anglophone press corps says he was much older than his classmates.

Nor have he and Epie’Ngome been a two-some of any kind. But they both became the breed of journalists who found the best of Radio Cameroon practice was in Cameroon Report, now CRTV’s Cameroon Calling (CC). They each anchored the programme and were among a handful of iconic journalists emeritus invited by CRTV last year to showcase its golden age. Answering the call, Epie’Ngome reenacted his personal trademark satirical radio slot The Rambler and Taka stunned listeners with his masterly presentation of the news, two-and-a-half decades since he last did.

BACKGROUND

An accomplished, medal winning athlete in his school days, Taka retired from CRTV in the mid-1990s after serving as Station Manager in Buea and Provincial Delegate for Information and Culture in Bamenda. His innovation when he anchored Cameroon Report was, he modified it from an initial one-man show as conceived by its founder Boniface Forbin with one long Editorial often on international issues. Taka began Cameroon Report’s drift to its present format with an opening Editorial (now My Take as coined by its present anchor Ebenezer WinnyanwokoMotale), and several contributions.

Epie’Ngome, an agric officer before journalism, took his retirement in the last decade from the Ministry of Communication after serving Radio Cameroon/CRTV in Yaounde, Douala and back in Yaounde, where he became Editor-in-Chief and Cameroon Calling anchor in 1990. In between, he honed his journalism trade asBBC stringer and later BBC producer at its Bush House headquarters in London. In his break from journalism in the early 1980s he did corporate communication for Cameroon Shipping Lines (CamShip). On CC, he was among those detained for producing the “rebellious” pro-multipartyism edition of May 6, 1990.

In his lifelong obsession for fine language and choice words, Epie’Ngome also ran the TV word game show Tel-a-Word. He has used his extraordinary language finesse outside journalism in writing poems and plays, most notably What God Has Put Asunder that depicts the incompatibilities between former French Cameroun and former British Southern Cameroon. He also has an unequalled knack and flare for music and an unusual mastery of information technologies for someone of his generation.

RETIRED BUT NOT TIRED

Can the dictum “retired but not tired” be truer of anyone than of Gideon Taka and Victor Epie’Ngome? Even as you read this, they both are most probably at work, preparing or executing a professional or related duty. A quarter of a century into retirement, Taka could be more busy and multi-tasking than mid-career journalists. He is Manager of Radio Hot Cocoa in Bamenda and, armed with a Master’s degree obtained in Canada in the 1960s, he lectures Journalism at three higher education institutions in Bamenda – Higher Institute for Business and Management Studies (HIBUMS) where he is Head of Department, Cameroon Christian University and the University of Bamenda. He was Journalism HOD at the National Polytechnic earlier. Overly committed to things journalism, he is the oldest active member of the Cameroon Association of English Speaking Journalists (CAMASEJ) North West chapter. He attends meetings and mingles easily with baby journalists in ways that give a feel of unassuming Methusela among Benjamins.

Epie’Ngome has taught Journalism both at ASMAC where he trained in 1977-80 and the University of Buea and continues to train journalists. Only months ago, he and Professor Daniel Anicet Noah, also a former CRTV editor, were invited by CRTV management to go around the country drilling its regional station reporters.

Both Taka and Epie’Ngome are most disposed to volunteer their wealth of knowledge, skills and experiences in ventures that promote the extra-curricular development of younger talents. When feminist journalist CommyMussa launched her Sisterspeak writing competition a couple of years back, Gideon Taka was handy to midwife it.

He and Epie’Ngome have also readily been available in peer review initiatives by MEDIApeople newspaper and CReAM to arbitrate in media conflicts (professional tribunals of honour) like the one that erupted after Father George Nkeze disclaimed his comments about the Kumba Diocese bishop appointment reported in The Sun newspaper and called the newspaper and its reporter names. They are as disposed in judging the performance of journalists for the Courage In Journalism Awards (CIJA). They do so with rare rigour, meticulousness, integrity and dedication though only as volunteers. Not as if this listing is exhaustive.

It may not be said with any certainty that other veterans are not being useful to journalism and usefully mentoring younger colleagues, yet, can one pretend not to notice that these two are a breed apart? Who cannot tell that they are around for calls higher than to recruit unsuspecting younger colleagues for ventures that benefit only the vested interests of Monster-Mentors? You don’t hear their names mentioned in petty gossips that poison the ranks of younger colleagues who ought to be striving for excellence, not doing dirty jobs. They do not act like they own oxygen and can only lend a bit, in measured doses (as a dirty job fee), to younger colleagues. Talk of professional advancement, you see Taka and Epie’Ngome around.

A journalist keeping the company of these two is receiving two layers of rich mentorship – mentorship of mentorship, so to say. They receive from Epie’Ngome fruits of the mentorship he received from Taka. That can’t be nothing, can it? And if such mentees have any personal qualities of their own, tell me what can beat well-groomed inherent qualities? Well, if such younger journalists are in journalism for journalism’s sake, that is.

The author, Franklin Sone Bayen, can be reached at: frankbayen@gmail.com or (237) 677-897-167 / 693-693-881. He is publisher of MEDIApeople newspaper, founder of CReAM, and conceiver and administrative secretary of the Courage In Journalism Awards (CIJA)

SOBA UK Press Statement No. 3

12^th July, 2018

Fellow Sobans,

SOBA UK wishes to confirm that the recent elections organised by the UK Splinter group members instructed by Professor Ephraim Ngwafor in Cameroon had nothing to do with the legitimate SOBA UK entity that has been operating for the past 48 years in the United Kingdom.

We also wish to confirm that no registered members of SOBA UK (over 80 strong members) took part in these elections following;

1. the General Assembly resolution of the 24th of February 2018 to reject calls for such elections from overseas, which undermine the integrity and autonomy of SOBA UK
2. the failure to uphold the provisions set out in Article 28 of the SOBA UK Constitution which stipulates the requirements for voters and candidates in any legitimate elections in SOBA UK

Therefore, the outcome of the elections organised by the Splinter group and under the unprecedented orders of an overseas person(s) has no UK constitutional backing. SOBA UK is confirming that these recent elections and Professor Ephraim Ngwafor’s dubious endorsement of the results as a means to rebuild his own shattered legitimacy in SOBA is null and void. We have noted that Professor Ephraim Ngwafor’s legitimacy as president general ended on 4^th March 2018 when a Revival General Assembly held as a result of his failure to hold a general assembly meeting in 4 years or to render financial accountability and other issues raised. These issues remain unresolved to date.

SOBA UK is advising members of the public and Sobans worldwide to disregard any individuals purporting to be the Executive of SOBA UK who are not listed herein. For the avoidance of doubt, we confirm that SOBA UK’s Executive remains as follows:

Ayuk Akoh-Arrey -President

Bime Lafon -Vice President

John Bawak- Secretary General

Babangida Usamatu- Assistant SecretaryGeneral

BateyTako- Financial Secretary

Dennis Angafor- Assistant Financial Secretary

Franklin Egbe – Executive Treasurer

The SOBA UK Executive wishes to clarify that the SOBA UK programme for the rest of 2018 continues as planned.  The SOBA UK Events team are delighted to announce that the Annual Residential Convention will be held on 21st to 23rd September 2018 at one of Britain’s most prestigious venues. The next SOBA UK General Assembly meeting will be held on Saturday 22nd September 2018 from 10am. The formal launch of the Convention and full details will be announced shortly. We are very mindful of the Anglophone crisis in Cameroon which has led to the displacement of hundreds of thousands of Anglophones and significant loss of lives, as well as the worsening situation. This is a theme that will be picked up at this year’s convention.

Over the past 5 years the SOBA UK Conventions have been well attended by many Cameroonian families in the UK as well as for those looking to network with the Cameroonian community. SOBA UK enjoys significant goodwill support from our community for what we are, the examples we set and the opportunities that we bring to the community. There is also a symbiotic relationship between SOBA UK and other alumni groups in the UK. For example, registered members of SOBA UK made a contribution of £2,300 on 5^th May 2018 to OPSA UK at their annual convention to support their “Education of a Girl” programme. This level of support to another alumni group shows the goodwill of our members which can be harnessed for the education of our children in Cameroon.

A key part of what we do is to collaborate and empower Sobans around the world. In the last 12 months alone SOBA UK has been represented by our president Mr Ayuk Akoh-Arrey (FIA) and other members to conventions at SOBA America, SOBA Foundation (in Germany), and SOBA Ireland. Also, in the past 4 out of 5 years SOBA UK has been represented at SOBA America conventions including at Montreal Canada in 2015. In 2014 SOBA UK made a contribution of £2,600 to support the 75^th Anniversary celebrations in Cameroon and many members attended the event at St Joseph’s College, Sasse.

The alma mater, St Joseph’s College Sasse remains dear to Sobans in the UK and that is why the Sasse Sick Bay project was initiated and implemented by SOBA UK with nearly £18,000 spent from the coffers of SOBA UK. An MOU was put in place in December of 2014 between SOBA UK and the Bishop of the Diocese of Buea, which would have allowed significant funds tobe injected to complete the projectbut was sabotaged by Professor Ephraim Ngwafor. In 2016, the SOBA UK General Assembly regrettably voted to withdraw from the Sickbay project, which has since then collapsed with Professor Ngwafor failing to either show the merits of his actions on the MOU or complete the project. SOBA UK remains open to showing goodwill to the alma mater.

In respect of our UK membership, SOBA UK continues to lead the way in terms of what our fraternity should be about. In the last 15 months alone 7 of our registered members lost a parent in an unprecedented spate of losses never seen before in the history of SOBA UK. Thankfully, the goodwill of our members and the association enabled significant financial support of over £14,000 to be provided to those bereaved, as well as emotional support.The strength and diligence of what we have built in SOBA UK has seen us through such a difficult year and may the souls of those who have departed rest in peace.

Kind regards,

Mr John Bawak

SG SOBA UK

On behalf of the Executive Team

Counter Signed

Mr Ayuk Akoh-Arrey,

President SOBA UK

Press Statement: Update on Decisive Action(s) taken against the splinter group of SOBA UK

Fellow Sobans,   On 24th February 2018, the members of the SOBA UK General Assembly convened and voted unanimously to:

a) reject calls for fresh elections in the UK by SOBA General in Cameroon and,

b) take necessary actions to redress any infringement of the SOBA UK trade marks.

We repeat that SOBA UK has for some time now been the subject of sustained attack from the activities of members of the splinter group purporting to be SOBA UK, which is a clear infringement of our intellectual property and disregard for the already well established association in the United Kingdom.

Exactly two weeks ago on 8th June 2018 we informed you that the Executive of SOBA UK had commenced decisive action against certain individuals of the splinter group. We outlined specific activities that demonstrated bad faith, opportunism and collusion with key elements of SOBA General in Cameroon, notably Prof Ephraim Ngwafor and Mr Ebot Mfoataw to undermine the SOBA UK General Assembly of registered members.

The actions initiated so far are focused on recovering intellectual property that belongs to SOBA UK in an attempt to resolve the confusing situation amongst members of the public of the splinter group also calling themselves SOBA UK instead of using an alternative name and freely associating as they see fit.    The said individuals of the splinter group were contacted by our legal representative and given a period of two weeks to return SOBA UK’s intellectual property and to stop purporting to be SOBA UK. We regret to inform you that our legal representative informed us at close of play Friday 22nd June, 2018 that these individuals had failed to meet the requirements of our requests.    Instead of doing everything possible to remove themselves from what is a very serious and urgent situation, the said individuals provided a lengthy and misleading write-up that did not address the specifics of what they had been accused of. Furthermore, the write-up shows deep collusion between the splinter group and Prof. Ephraim Ngwafor and the dubious plan to attempt to usurp the legitimate association of SOBA UK members. We have taken the exceptional step of publishing the write-up so that this collusion can be evidenced to our membership.

From the write-up provided, extracts of SOBA General constitution (separate from the SOBA UK constitution) amended by Professor Ephraim Ngwafor show material changes to the 2018 SOBA Constitution that could in theory affect all Soban groups worldwide. These most recent changes have been made without due consultation or ratification from the SOBA UK General Assembly. It is obvious that these changes have been done in an effort to prop up the splinter group in the UK and seek control of SOBA UK and its assets, both financial and otherwise. Specifically, amending the constitution to create the so called SOBA General Council that gives it powers to dissolve any elected Executive of SOBA anywhere in the world and appoint an election commission and its members, is a gross abuse of the goodwill of Sobans to freely associate around the world.

On behalf of our registered members in the UK, considering no ratification of such dubious constitutional changes, the nonpayment of any registration into SOBA in Cameroon, our obligations from the SOBA UK Constitution, the SOBA UK General Assembly, our ownership of UK trademarks and autonomy, we are making it clear that these constitutional changes by Prof Ephraim Ngwafor in SOBA are null and void, and will not stand the scrutiny of any court in the UK.

On the intellectual property in the UK, we the members of SOBA UK, live in the UK, freely and voluntarily associate and do business in the UK and own the intellectual property in the UK in order to protect SOBA UK and avoid confusion in the public and abuse of our UK brand name. The process of achieving a trade mark was not taken lightly by us or by the UK Intellectual Property Office (IPO). For a legitimate group that had demonstrated hard-work, track record of operating and doing its business over many years in the United Kingdom, the evidence was and continues to be available in abundance for the award of our trade marks in the UK. Our trademarks have been evidenced by certificates and TM numbers which are made available to anyone who wishes to verify online. Those who believe they can challenge these facts with their alternative version of doing business in the UK are more than welcomed to do so. Our members however, remain very confident of their standing and brand name in the UK.

There has been a narrative provided by Prof Ephraim Ngwafor that his firm has achieved trade marks for SOBA with the African Intellectual Property Organisation (OAPI) but with no trade mark numbers or certificates provided. Whilst this does not strictly concern us in the UK, we have reasonable grounds to believe that no such trademarks have been achieved as of this date and this irresponsibly exposes SOBA in the African region. The OAPI is part of the World Intellectual Property Organisation (WIPO) and they follow the same standards of issuing trade mark evidences as the UK IPO. It is also worth noting that even with such a trade mark from OAPI it would not cover business undertaken outside the region and certainly not in the United Kingdom. Therefore these misleading statements about the intellectual property rights of SOBA UK are totally baseless and our members should remain very confident from many years participation in legitimate SOBA UK activities.

Finally, the failure of the said individuals of the splinter group to adhere to the deadline set by our legal representatives is regrettable because of the potential consequences to them of now pursuing these matters fully through the legal system. The various cases brought against the individuals by members of SOBA UK are founded on solid evidence. We strongly advice those concerned to consider the potential impact to their individual circumstances first and respond to the reasonable requests from our members.    We will keep you posted in the coming weeks, as we remain hopeful of achieving a reasonable conclusion to these matters.

Yours faithfully,

John Bawak

Secretary General SOBA UK

On behalf of Executive and Members of SOBA UK Signed:

On the 24th day of June 2018 United Kingdom.

It is a bright Tuesday morning, with children hawking goods to drivers and passersby on the congested streets of Yaounde. The number of these sidewalk sellers is increasing with the ongoing conflict in Cameroon’s English-speaking northwest and southwest regions, where fighting between armed separatists and government troops has shut down schools and sent thousands of children fleeing to safer ground.

Among the sidewalk peddlers is 16-year-old Delphine Tabe. She says she has been a hawker for more than a year since she fled from her village in Lebialem, an administrative unit in the southwest.

“I am selling boiled groundnuts to have money and help my mother who is in the hospital. She was beaten by Cameroon gendarmes after a military man was killed in our village. My mother almost died. Our school was burned and students were beaten. Since that day in May 2017, we escaped to Yaounde and we do not have money to go to school.”

Delphine says her chances of pursuing her dream – becoming a teacher – are gradually slipping away as she has no one to sponsor her education. Instead, she has to look for money to help her sick mother.

In the kitchen at the house where Delphine lives in Yaounde, food is being prepared for 32 people. Emmanuel Nembo, a 52-year old government worker originally from Lebialem, says that a year ago, he had only five mouths to feed.

The number exploded as people from the southwest fled their villages and pleaded for him to feed and shelter them.

Emmanuel says he is praying for the crisis to stop because many have been coming and he can no longer offer help.

“We are stretching an olive hand of peace. Those in the bush should give a chance. Come back home, to their homes so that they could meet their mothers, brothers and sisters,” he says.

Many schools have been closed in the northwest and southwest areas since November 2016, when lawyers and teachers began a strike to stop what they see as the overbearing use of French.

Separatists took over the movement, and began pushing for the regions to become independent.

Since then, several dozen schools have been torched, and armed men have kidnapped or killed a number of teachers. Many students in the regions can no longer attend the few schools that are still open, for fear of the unknown.

The United Nations estimates that more than 100,000 people, a majority of them children of school age, have fled the violence in the English-speaking regions for safer locations. Tens of thousands have crossed over to Nigeria, and no one knows when any of them will ever return to school.

Source: VOA

Tensions between English-speaking Cameroonians and the West-central African nation’s French-speaking government stretches back to end of colonial rule nearly 60 years ago. At the heart of the tension is Anglophones’ desire to form their own independent state, Ambazonia. In recent weeks there have been violent clashes and several protesters have been killed, reportedly by government security forces. The Conversation Africa asked Verkijika G. Fanso to explain what’s happening.

The animosity is actually between English-speaking Cameroonians and the government led and dominated by French-speaking Cameroonians. They have ruled the country in an authoritarian way since the unification of the two former United Nations trusteeship territories – French Cameroun and British Southern Cameroons – in 1961.

The current dispute is between the part of the country that was once run by the British, and the larger part where French is spoken and which was once run by the French. In 1972 the original federal structure that post-colonial unification was based on was abrogated. The English-speaking, or Anglophone, West Cameroon was annexed in a united republic, and in 1984 the word “united” was scrapped. The country became Cameroon and the English-speaking region was assimilated into the French-speaking area.

The dignity and statehood of Anglophones was silently destroyed – not by the French-speaking (Francophone) community at large, but by the government led and dominated by Francophones.

Being Anglophone or Francophone in Cameroon is not just the ability to speak, read and use English or French as a working language. It is about being exposed to the Anglophone or Francophone ways including things like outlook, culture and how local governments are run.

Anglophones have long complained that their language and culture are marginalised. They feel their judicial, educational and local government systems should be protected. They want an end to annexation and assimilation and more respect from the government for their language and political philosophies. And if that doesn’t happen, they want a total separation and their own independent state.

What’s the history of the call for an independent state?

On January 1 1960 French Cameroun gained independence and became Cameroun Republic. Later that year Nigeria gained its independence from Britain and became a Federal Republic. The British-controlled southern Cameroons was then separated from Nigeria and was due to achieve full independence on October 1 1961.

But there was a hitch: the United Nations organised a plebiscite in which southern Cameroonians were asked to chose between joining the Cameroun Republic or Nigeria. This vote was prompted by a British report that insisted its former territory would not survive economically on its own.

Southern Cameroonians wanted nothing more to do with Nigeria. They had suffered enormously at the hands of Igbo people who’d settled in their territory in previous decades. So they elected to unite in a new federation with Cameroun Republic. It was supposed to be a partnership of equals, a notion reinforced by bilateral negotiations that had started before the vote.

These negotiations were concluded at the Foumban Conference in July 1961. The general view after the conference was that the delegation from the Cameroun Republic, accompanied by French advisers, got virtually everything they wanted. The Anglophones, who received none of the support promised by the British or the UN, were effectively sidelined.

So the new federation was born, but it was never a happy union. The regions were centrally governed but neither of the two presidents since unification have spoken nor understood English. The incumbent, Paul Biya, reads English with difficulty.

Since then Anglophones have pushed for autonomy. This call is actually supported in a UN resolution passed in April 1961 that defines the joining of the two former territories as a federation of two states, equal in status and autonomous.

What’s prompted the latest violence?

In October 2016 lawyers went on a strike in an effort to force the government to stop appointing Francophone magistrates who spoke no English and had no training in common law to preside over courts in the Anglophone regions.

During peaceful demonstrations in the cities of Bamenda and Buea, the lawyers were roughly manhandled by government security forces.

Teachers soon came out in support of the lawyers. They wanted the government to stop posting Francophone teachers who spoke no English to teach subjects other than French in Anglophone schools. People across professions followed the teachers, and Cameroon’s cities became “ghost towns” everywhere on certain days of the week as part of a large-scale stay away.

Earlier this year government banned the trade unions that had led the strikes. Many of their members – some of whom were engaged in discussions with the government – were arrested and jailed on charges of terrorism and attempts to change the form of the state. The government also shut down internet and other communication services in Anglophone regions to stop people sharing information and organising.*

Shamed by international condemnation, President Biya reinstated communication services three months later. He also ordered the release of some strike leaders and scrapped the charges against them. But he didn’t call for a resumption of talks.

Anglophones were unimpressed. On October 1 they took to the streets to commemorate what they consider their independence day. They raised the flag of Ambazonia in various towns and cities. It was an assertion of autonomy. Government security forces were deployed and used excessive. Over the next few days a number of people were killed, some reports suggesting 17 others suggesting as many as 100.

Is there any chance of resolving this conflict?

Dialogue and diplomacy are foremost. Cameroon’s leadership must initiate or reinstate dialogue with those representing Anglophone interests. Failing this, the African Union or the UN – or both – should initiate dialogue.

Cameroon is being haunted by agreements that were never respected, from the Foumban Conference to the UN’s resolution regarding autonomy. These agreements must be revisited and respected if the crisis is to end.

Culled from The Conversation

MTN Cameroon has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Ministry of Secondary Education (MINESEC) for the use of its mobile money system for the payment of school fees and related charges in Cameroonian secondary schools.

Parents will no longer have to move and spend hours in queues to pay their children’s school fees, but will be able to pay remotely through their mobile phone, at any time and from any location.

This will enhance transparency and traceability in the collection of fees by secondary schools. This will enable the Ministry of Secondary Education to improve the quality of services provided to the Educative Community.

Source: Telecompaper