Inside Cameroon

Are you that young Cameroonian (18 - 35 years) whose passion is serving Cameroon through little acts of kindness that create long lasting positive impacts? Are you that young person who is determined to build your skills and acquire new strategies that will enable you to continue to work more effectively with other youths to inspire/lead positive social change in your community?

This is a unique opportunity for you to build those skills, to share your experience to a wider audience, make your voice count and enrich yourself with knowledge and networking opportunities that will drive your idea and business to the next level.

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US Embassy Yaounde

16.Oct.2016

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Uyo, the Akwa Ibom State capital is set to play host to a historic converge of all old boys of the famous St. Joseph’s College SASSE, BUEA, Cameroon, as they will be meeting to formally launch  the old boys association of the school in Nigeria

A release signed by the  National President of SASSE Old Boys Association,(SOBA), Mr. Charles  Oben and made available to our news medium indicates that the 3 day National convention of the body tagged “SOBA National convention which has as its theme “Launching SOBA Nigeria: Discovering  a History of Educational Excellence”, will commence from October 21st  through the  23rd October, 2016 in Uyo.

According to the invitation, the convention will be graced by old students of the school resident in Nigeria and their spouses, members of exco of the body, The school Principal of Sasse College as well as old boys of the school resident outside Nigeria.

St. Joseph’s College, Sasse, is a a secondary school in the southwest region of Cameroon, with its campus located in Sasse, Buea. The college is affiliated with Catholic  faith as an all-male institution, it provides education at first cycle and high school levels, offering programs in science and arts.

In 2013, Sasse College was awarded the pioneer prize as best school in Cameroon by Foundation Terre d’accueil.

The programme of  event are as follows;

DAY 1: FRIDAY OCTOBER 21

Arrival of Sobans  and Invited guest

6pm: Registration of attendees

7pm: Welcome Dinner

1. a) Introduction
2. b) Welcome address by Host Pastor Umoh Bassey
3. c) Dinner and Networking

DAY2: SATURDAY OCTOBER 22

8am-10am: High mass

10-12noon: Brunch and Networking

12 noon-6pm: Deliberations/Working Session

a)Welcome by Chairman SOBA Convention Planning Committee. Nomination of Convention Chairperson

1. b) Address by South East Chapter President: Professor Afam Anene
2. c) Address by Lagos Chapter President: Chief EniDiamen
3. d) Address by President SOBA General: Professor Ephraim Ngwafor
4. e) Address by Principal Sasse College:

.Health Check of Sasse College

.Update on current projects

.Academic Report on Sasse College

1. f) Chapter Reports
2. g) Brief History of Sasse College and lecture by guest Lecturer Prof Esimone

Refreshments

-Break Out Sessions

.Soba Nigeria Way forward

Soba Wives Report

Next Soba Nigeria Convention

.Committee Reports

.Closing Remarks

Dinner& Gala Night

DAY3: SUNDAY OCTOBER 23

8am-10am: Mass

Brunch & Departure of Convention participants

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Solomon Eyo

30.Sep.2016

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Cameroonian born Samuel Awasum and his wife Jacinta Awusa Awasum have been presented as carnival prince and princess in Ratingen,a city in Germany, on the 12 September 2016. The Germans of Cameroonian decent were elected Ratingen's carnival perince and princess for the 2016/17 carnival season.

At the presentation ceremony on Monday evening in the city of Ratingen,Mr Samuel Awasum said, it was an "incredible honor" for him and his wife to be presented with that honour as carnaval Prince.The gesture gave him same mood of happiness as on his wedding day.

"This is an incredible honor for me," said Samuel Awasum (33), who has a degree in business data processing and father of two small children. 

Mr Awasum is also the Chairman of the Integration Committee of the city of Ratingen. He is an advocate for years against racism and discrimination in Germany.

The carnival organizing committee said they gave the prestigious nomination to the Cameroonian couple as a "clear sign of integration of citizens with an immigrant background" into the German society.

The Carnival (Karneval) is one the most celebrated events in Germany! he carnival starts officially before Christmas, on the 11th of the 11th month at 11:11 am (elften elften elf uhr elf) with the offical meeting of the "Council of Eleven" (Elferrat), a German tradition dating from 1823.t is a time of wild celebrations, and the western part of Germany especially (North Rhine-Westphalia and Rhineland-Palatinate), is famous for Karneval celebrations with parades and costume balls and hand-made costumes, and pranks of all sorts! The biggest parades are on Rose Monday in Cologne and Düsseldorf and are called "Rosenmontagszug" (Rose Monday Parade). During these events, hundreds of thousands of people celebrate in the streets dressed up in costumes. 

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Rita Akana

14.Sep.2016

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The government of Burkina Faso has banned an annual beauty contest for women with the biggest buttocks, saying such events are sexist.

Adverts for this weekend’s third edition of ‘Miss Bim-Bim’, carrying an image of two fully clothed women with exaggeratedly large behinds, provoked an outcry on social media.

“Our role is to do everything to avoid damaging the image of women,” said Minister Laure Zongo in a statement, adding that social media criticism had persuaded her to act.

The male organizer of the event, Hamado Doambahe, said it aimed to promote a more positive body image for African women and encourage fashion designers to use African costumes.

Contests like Miss Bim-Bim have been held in other West African countries. 

Women’s rights groups have mixed views about the tendency in many African cultures to celebrate women with larger bodies than are typically admired elsewhere.

While they welcome the shift away from the unnaturally thin female shapes promoted by the global fashion industry, they deplore the emphasis on men judging women’s body shapes.

The head of Burkina Faso’s High Council for Communications, Nathalie Some, called in a statement for people in advertising, the media and the arts to protect the rights of women and girls.

 Reuters

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Rita Akana

27.Aug.2016

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A man who named his dog Buhari, Joachim Iroko, aka Joe, was remanded on Monday at the a Nigerian Prison following his arraignment at in Ogun State.

He was charged to court by the Nigerian  police with conduct likely to cause breach of the peace.

The state The prosecutor told the court that the offence was punishable under Section 249 (d) of Criminal Law of Ogun State, Nigeria, 2016.

The accused, who was represented by a counsel, pleaded not guilty to the charge. 

The charge read, “That you, Joachim Iroko, aka Joe, and others still at large, on Saturday, August 13, 2016, at about 5.30pm at the Ketere area, Sango, in the Ota Magisterial District did conduct yourselves in a manner likely to cause breach of the peace, by writing a name, Buhari, on a dog and parading same in the Hausa section of Ketere Market, Sango, thereby, committing an offence contrary to and punishable under Section 249 (d) of the Criminal Law of Ogun State, Nigeria, 2016.”

His counsel, however, pleaded that the accused should be granted bail. The prosecutor did not oppose the application for bail. The two witnesses in the case were present in court.

Iroko, who had been formerly identified as Joe Fortemose Chinakwe, was arrested on Saturday, August 13, after one of his neighbours, who is of Northern extraction, complained that he named the dog after his father, Alhaji Buhari.

The suspect was first taken to the Sango Police Station, from where he was transferred to the state police command headquarters at Eleweran, Abeokuta.

However, as of press time, his family members had yet to perfect the bail for his release. He was subsequently taken to the Ibara Prison. -PUNCH

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Rita Akana

23.Aug.2016

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Germany's colonial reign ended with World War I, but left traces in some countries amongst them Cameroon. The German government sent artist Andréas Lang to Cameroon recently to explore this painful part of Germany's history - and his own family's.

The studio of the Berlin-based photo and video artist Andréas Lang is currently located in an unusual place - under the roof of Germany's Federal Foreign Office. The ministry regularly awards artistic grants and sponsored Andréas Lang's trip to Cameroon to study German colonial history.

For Lang, it was a trip back into his own family's history, as his great-grandfather had once served as a soldier in Germany's colonial military.

Cameroon was once the fourth largest colony in Germany's colonial empire. Germany's rule lasted for three decades and ended with its loss in World War I.

The genocide against the Herero and Nama peoples in present-day Namibia, which was also a German-run colony, is considered the worst crime committed during that era. But also in Cameroon, unrest was violently suppressed.

Andréas Lang told DW about his experience in Cameroon and how he worked through it in his art. 

DW: Mr. Lang, you visited Cameroon twice, and you also visited the border between Cameroon and DR Congo. Did you come across traces of German colonial history?

Andréas Lang: Yes, there is still quite a lot there. When you start looking, you come across quite a few relics and ruins. You can find entire colonial cemeteries that are now serving as vegetable gardens in backyards. Or a safe that was forgotten in the jungle, surrounded by legends about where the key could have ended up.

German colonial history is also present among the people - in their songs and in women's dresses, which I filmed during a World Women's Day parade in the capital Yaoundé.

I also met an old man who could still tell me stories about colonial times. He told me about friendships - but also about whippings. This man came from the village of Banana, which the German colonial powers had named.

How have you worked through your experience in your art?

I came across a historic photograph taken by my great-grandfather. I was able to find the place where he had taken it. It's now very overgrown. To me, it's important to visit these locations in person, where different levels have become interwoven, my inner images, my projections onto that place, as well as its present reality here and now. I'm particularly interested in images that reflect this kind of layering and interaction between the various layers.

However, I don't consciously look for that - it happens coincidentally. The image was already there; the image and I simply had to find each other.

How do the Cameroonians see Germany nowadays?

Strangely enough, people seem to view German colonialism in a positive light. But that probably has to do with the fact it's a long time ago and the horrible memories have faded. People point out that a bridge once built by the Germans is still standing and still functioning, and that the Germans built up their country. But I think that this was all part of imperialism, and that the Germans were no less cruel than other colonial powers.

That's why it is important nowadays, that we don't view these events from a European, paternalistic perspective, but at eye level with the people. And we should ask ourselves where colonial structures exist nowadays, and where political decisions are made above the heads of the people.

Andréas Lang presents his works in the exhibition "Cameroon and Congo - In Search of Traces and Phantom Geography," which runs from September 16, 2016, to February 26, 2017, in the German Historical Museum in Berlin.

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Rita Akana

22.Aug.2016

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