28, December 2016
Minister Fame Ndongo to Anglophone teachers: Anglophone and francophone subsystems are condemned to coexist so long as Biya is Head of State 2
The Cameroonian government was on Tuesday, December 27, at the negotiating table with the leaders of the Anglophone teachers trade unions. The Bamenda meeting was a complete and total failure and the unions have announced a continuation of the strike. The interministerial committee set up by Prime Minister Philemon Yang accused the trade unionists of “extremism”. The Francophone government delegation criticized the unions for making claims that had no connection with education.
The three Francophone ministers responsible for Basic Education, Secondary Education and Higher Education presented an empty government plan to the Anglophone teachers which included the recruitment in progress of high school teachers for deployment in order to fill the deficit observed in Southern Cameroons.
After three hours of very intensive dialogue at the governor’s office in Bamenda, the Anglophone trade unionists of the North-West stated that trade unionists of the South West should and must be included in the talks. The North West leaders also demanded the release of all protesters arrested in Southern Cameroons. For the government, such claims “have no connection with education”. The government, which wished to work with all the stakeholders, called the demands of the English-speaking trade unionists “manipulation”.
The Biya Francophone Beti Ewondo government says it has taken the failures of these negotiations seriously and will use all means possible for the normal resumption of the schools in the North West and South West regions. The anti Anglophone minister of higher education boasted that so long as Biya is in power and they Francophones are the majority, the Anglophone and francophone subsystems are condemned to coexist in Cameroon. The Francophone authorities have promised to severely crush the Anglophone teachers trade unions for making demands that are unrelated to education.
By Rita Akana
29, December 2016
Boko Haram militants surrender in Niger 0
Dozens of militants with the Takfiri Boko Haram terrorist group have surrendered to Nigerien authorities, less than a week after Nigeria announced that its troops captured the group’s last key bastion in the country’s northeast.
“Thirty one young people from Diffa, who were enrolled a few years ago in Boko Haram, decided to surrender,” Nigerien Interior Minister Bazoum Mohamed said. The troubled Diffa region, located in the southeasternmost part of Niger, borders Nigeria’s volatile Borno State, where Boko Haram hides in the dense Sambisa Forest.
One of the deserters appeared on a Nigerien public television program and recounted why they had decided to give themselves up to local authorities. “We have deserted Boko Haram because we found that what the organization stands for is not acceptable. We expect a pardon from the government so that we can participate in the development of the country and help us get rid of the trauma,” he said.
The Nigerien government has reportedly assured that it will grant an amnesty for all the deserters providing that they undergo a de-radicalization program, after which they will be enrolled in socio-economic reintegration projects.
Back in June, tens of thousands of people were forced to abandon their homes in Diffa as Boko Haram terrorists launched a sweeping offensive across the region, and in September, at least five Nigerien troopers were killed by the terror group near the village of Toumour, about 65 kilometers northeast of Diffa.
Niger has been one of the countries affected by the more than seven years of Boko Haram militancy in Nigeria. The Takfiri terrorist group has routinely launched attacks across Nigerian borders into Niger, Chad and Cameroon.
Presstv