MY GRATITUDE TO FIRST LADY CHANTAL BIYA

MY APPRECIATION TO FIRST LADY CHANTAL BIYA

By Tikum Mbah Azonga

This book, SAY NO TO AIDS is, I thank God, the most widely known of my books. It is a collection of poems some of which are in French and others in English, without any being translated from one official language to the other. From September 2013 it went on the Ministry of Secondary Education National Book List for eleven classes seven of which are Anglophone from One right up to the Upper 6^th and in Four Francophone classes. I have also received a letter of authorization from the Minister of Higher Education to formally take the book into Universities and Private Institutions of Higher learning. The Vice Chancellor of the University of Buea a written approval for me to have it launched it n campus.


The book is prefaced by the Minister of public Health himself and carries the logo of the National AIDS Control Committee (NACC) on the front page because the minister instructed the committee to assist me. A lot of people were instrumental in making the publication see the light of day. The Permanent Secretary of NACC At the time, Dr. Zekeng was also very instrumental, so was the Head of the NACC communication Unit, Tatah Seraphine and the Translator, Eric Bungo. The project was initiated by Urbain Olanguena Awono when he was Minister of Public Health but the current minister Andre Mama Fouda gave the book a new look and a new impetus later.


However, my greatest thanks go to Cameroonian First Lady Chantal Biya for literarily leaning over backwards and going the extra mile and given me her own assistance. When I wrote the book I devoted a poem in French and one in English on the marvelous work she is doing on HIV AIDS. I wrote to her enclosing a copy and explaining my aims. She contacted me and asked me to kindly translate the French poem on her into English and the English one into French. After I did that she ordered copies and paid for them. Later she distributed them to the Nursery and Primary Schools that fall within the Presidency of the Republic such as Les coccinelles in Yaounde. I know this because when I was still in charge the Coverages/Assignments Service at CRTV Television in Yaounde, one of my interns walked into my office with a copy of the book. When I asked her how she got it, she said it was from her mother who worked at Les Coccinelles. From what she said, the First Lady had distributed them to the school.

When I go round with the book and mention the first lady`s role in its production and initial use, people listen to m more attentively. That is what is called positive and useful influence! I am sincerely grateful to her for that.

As we enter the New Year, I pray that God gives her long life so that she can continue to help more Cameroonians.

THE END