THE VERDICT FROM THE FRENCH EMBASSY

The French Embassy in Yaounde has issued a confirmation of the validity of my PhD degree in Mass Communication obtained from France as well as the recognition and accreditation of the institution that awarded it.

I make this declaration because ever since I earned the qualification, some people and authorities in certain places where I have worked have deliberately refused to recognize that I obtained a PhD in Mass Communication. Forget about my professional performance in radio journalism, television journalism and print (newspaper and magazine) journalism at the national and international levels.

I have been put through a lot of frustration, denigration and pain because of this problem. Authorities have deliberately refused to forward my file for promotion and I have been excluded from teaching courses at the university. In that way, I have been deprived of sharing knowledge with young Cameroonians and contributing my own quota towards nation building. Yet, that was the very reason why I returned home. By the way, mind you that this staunch opposition was coming from Anglophones and not Francophones. In fact, the Francophones who were in a position to do something about it, shouted out their indignation but they were largely ignored by the Anglophones who persisted! So, what do you say to that?

Yet, those people could have verified the qualification, if they had really wanted to. There were three possibilities: contacting the awarding institution in France, calling the Cameroon Ministry of Higher Education which has a Department specifically charged with verifying qualifications obtained abroad, or even communicating with the French Embassy in Yaounde (which is what I have done). They intentionally did none of the above, despite the fact that they were in possession of the full contact details. I gave them!

At one point, I wrote and complained to the Head of State whom I had met in Togo during the celebration of President Gnassingbe Eyadema`s 20 years in power, and he, President Paul Biya encouraged me to come back and serve my country. At the time, I was a London-based journalist and was invited among other European and American journalists to travel to Lome and cover the event.The President of the Republic wrote back to me, acknowledged receipt of my letter and grievances and informed me that he had sent the letter to my minister, the Minister of Higher Education, to look into the problem. Later, the Vice Chancellor of the University where I was teaching told me that the Minister had written to him about my problem. But after that, what really changed?

Recently, I contacted my university in France and asked them what I needed to do for the French Embassy to confirm my degree to the doubting Thomases. The University asked me to go to the embassy, get the name of the official who performs such duties there and send it to them so that they in France would write to that person and give me the green light to go to the embassy. That was what I did and the university wrote to the embassy. Following that, the French Embassy sent me an email (which I have enclosed), asking me to bring the original and the number of photocopies for which I would like them to stamp with the approval “copie certifiée conforme”.

Anybody who still doubts it can contact the French Embassy in Yaounde. The Service that did the job at the embassy is the Service de Coopération et d`Action Culturelle. This Department is not at the Plateau Atémengué location which is the seat of the Embassy proper, but is rather inside the Centre Culturel Français which is between the Marché Central and the Cathedral.

 Please, note that for security reasons, I have blotted out some parts of the Certified True Copy presented here as a scanned version. If there is any detail you require, ask me.

I would advise any other Diaspora returnees who have suffered the same fate to have the embassy of the awarding country confirm their qualifications.

I also feel strongly that this public “coming out” on my part was necessary. It`s time one learned to speak up instead of suffering in silence.

AMAZING GRACE: MY LOVE FOR NURSE NAOMI

AMAZING GRACE: MY LOVE FOR NURSE NAOMI: (How an eleven year-old boy fell in love with a female nurse) How it all began I met Nurse Naomi when I was admitted at th...

AMAZING GRACE: A TRAINING GROUND IN CATERING AND TOURISM IN BUEA

AMAZING GRACE: A TRAINING GROUND IN CATERING AND TOURISM IN BUEA: It is a well known fact that Buea, headquarters of Cameroon`s South West Region has more feathers to its cap than any other regional ...

A TRAINING GROUND IN CATERING AND TOURISM IN BUEA

It is a well known fact that Buea, headquarters of Cameroon`s South West Region has more feathers to its cap than any other regional capital in the country. The reasons are many and are by nature historic and touristic. It is also a reality that the city boasts a large number of educational institutions. But what may not be so well recognized is that yet another educational institution has just opened its doors in the metropolis. It is the Institute of Hotel Catering and Tourism Management (IHCTM).

Authorized by the government of Cameroon under the Ministry of Employment and Vocational Training, the school states its objective as being to “empower Cameroonians with skills for the job market”. The skills arm trainees with what it takes to create jobs for themselves or to function as employees under someone else or under an organization.

Programmes offered are in either Hotel Catering and Management (in which case they include housekeeping management, front office operations, restaurant and bar operations as well as food production), or  in Tourism Management and Development (in which case they include ecotourism planning and development, travel agency operation, ecotourism guide, and tourism development consultancy for municipalities).

As the institution is aimed at empowering trainees with job skills, it accepts candidates with a wide range of entry qualifications which include the FSLC, BEPC, CEPE, GCE O/L, GCE A/L, a degree or equivalent, or even relevant work experience. The school is manned by experienced professionals.

Programmes run for a one year period with admissions currently going on.

IHCTM is located at the Molyko Garden Park opposite the Orange Buea Telephone office. Further details can be obtained by contacting IHCTM on (237) 675827605 or (237) 69642 9621 or by emailing ihctm@yahoo.com.

N.B.: I am not part of the institution. I just thought it was a wonderful idea worth sharing.

AMAZING GRACE: HOW WE WERE ROBBED OF VICTORY

AMAZING GRACE: HOW WE WERE ROBBED OF VICTORY: I don`t know about you. But for me, the part of my life about which I dream often is that period I spent in secondary school. I don`t kno...

HOW WE WERE ROBBED OF VICTORY

I don`t know about you. But for me, the part of my life about which I dream often is that period I spent in secondary school. I don`t know whether the reason is that it was a boarding school and that consequently, life in a boarding school is always like in a home from home. It`s an entire world of its own with a different set of “family” members and friends and administrators. It`s a different administrative unit with a “government” of its. Consequently, it`s also a life in its own right with its joys and pains. That school for me was Sacred Heart College in Mankon, Bamenda in Cameroon`s North West Region.

Many have been the anecdotal stories I`ve published about my life at Sacred Heart College. But still, there are many more to be written and published. A lot of interesting incidents took place while I was there. And fortunately, I remember many of them. Those that I have not yet committed to writing, I`ll do my best to equally render them when it`s possible.

I loved Sacred Heart College and still love it. Perhaps that was so because my idol, my role model and my mentor, Brother Tah Asongwed passed through the school. Even so, on the day I went for interview at Big Mankon Catholic Mission, it was not Sacred Heart College that was my destination. My first choice was Saint Joseph’s College, Sasse. That meant that my file had been sent to the official who was charged with interviewing candidates for Sasse. But when I got to Big Mankon on the morning of the interview, I suddenly changed my mind and instead went up to the man interviewing for Sacred Heart College. I can`t  now explained why I had initially placed Sasse ahead of Sacred Heart College, in spite of my attachment to my brother, or why I again made a thirty six degree swing to Sacred Heart College. Perhaps it was due to peer pressure.

However, after searching in vain for my file among those in front of him, the man who interviewed me – he later turned out to be our Principal at Sacred Heart College, the Rev. Brother John Phillips – suddenly said to himself: “Anyway, if I can`t find the file, what does it matter? I`ll still go ahead and conduct the interview!” And he did. The result was that I passed and was admitted in the institution.

In any case, the story I want to recount here is not about how I got into the college. Rather, it is about how a choir to which I belonged was blatantly robbed of victory during a competition that took place in the college auditorium one Saturday evening while we were in Form 2. When the Senior Prefect, Frederick Ngang who was nicknamed “man mountain” because of his imposing size which even threatened other students when he played football - announced the competition and said students interested should form choirs and register them, I found myself in a choir made up of some of my own class mates with Charles Ewang Mengale as the choir captain. For the record, Mengale became a senior officer in the Cameroon Police Force and at one time served in the Cameroon Embassy in Ethiopia.

During our practice sessions, Mengale taught us three songs in the Douala language. He actually wrote them on the board and we sang from the board. When we found it difficult to pronounce certain Douala words, he modified them but warned us by saying;” Although I`m doing this, you people should know that I `m spoiling the Douala language”. On the day of the competition, we did very well. We were the only choir that earned itself a standing ovation. The only choir that came close to ours was one led by Francis Melone Mbe, a Form 5 student who had come to Sacred Heart College from Sasse. But at the time the overall winner was announced, victory was handed to Francis Melone Mbe`s choir! This wasn`t surprising to me because not only were the judges classmates of his, they were also very senior students to us. They were in Form 5 while we were in Form 2.

Since then, I have met Francis a number of times. Like I said earlier, he joined the Cameroon Police Force. Once when he was on vacation and traveled to London where I was working, we met at an all-night Cameroonian party. He was a very good dancer and while we danced, he asked me: “What problems are you having with your paper in Cameroon?” He was referring to the London-based WEST AFRICA magazine for which I was a staff journalist. The reason was that it was back then in the repressive single-party days of Cameroon when papers that published information which the government considered too critical were simply impounded and the journalists, rounded up. When I told him that some of the editions of our magazine had actually been seized by the forces of law and order in Cameroon, he said he would look into the matter when back in Cameroon.

I met again with him after returning to Cameroon. This was during a strike by university students in Yaounde. I was now a journalist at CRTV television and was part of a team that was sent to the ENS in Yaounde to cover the strike. I saw how the then Minister of Higher Education, Prof. Maurice Tchuente and the then Rector of the University of Yaounde I, Prof. Sammy Beban Chumbow were being harangued by protesting students in front of the ENS premises. I think that at the time Francis was Director of Public Security at the General Delegation for National Security. But he was the one who commanded the squad that came out to control the angry crowd of students. I could hear him issuing orders to his me: “Formez le cordon! Formez le cordon!” and the squad immediately cordoned off the students and thus freed the officials who had been besieged. In later years, he was appointed Director of the Frontier Police. He also earned himself the highest rank in the Cameroon Police Force which is that of “Commissaire Divisionnaire”.

Whenever I have met him since our Sacred Heart College days, I haven`t failed to remind him that his choir stole the victory of our choir. Usually we both laugh at it and laugh it away. After all, that was then and this is now!