Cameroon:Dr. Ngongi, Mayor Moki et al Promoting Football in Buea

Mayor Moki  & Dr. Ngongi  at latter 's tournament last year

By Christopher Ambe Shu

The promotion of football appears to be increasingly gaining in Buea, the capital of the Southwest region regardless of the fact that the town has not for years had good football pitches. Even the town’s lone state-owned Omni sport Stadium with its sandy pitch in Molyko remains an eyesore.

Yet, Buea is playing host to more inter-quarter football tournaments now than ever before. 

Not only has the number of inter quarter competitions increased recently in Buea  but also take-home  prizes for winners.

These competitions, played during long vacations when all schools are holidaying, are crowd-pulling.  

 Cameroon is described as a football nation with the likes of Eto’o Fils and Milla Roger-iconic football models who have made the country well-known world-wide

According to the Buea interquarter sponsors or cup donors, the whole idea is to keep youth including students usefully occupied during the holidays and to promote and expose young talents to professional clubs and football investors at home and abroad.

Dr. Amos Namanga Ngongi, president of Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa, is the first Buea elite in recent years, who thought of making football more exciting at the grassroots level. He launched the Dr. Amos Namanga Ngongi’s inter-quarter football tournament last year –personally footing bills to the tune of six million francs CFA to bring the 14-team competition, chaired by the Regional Governor’s representative, to a successful end. This year, the second edition of the Dr .Ngongi inter-quarter tournament took place with prizes stepped -up.

Interestingly; the Dr. Ngongi tournament this year saw the introduction of the female category worth one million Francs CFA-sponsored by his wife, Rebecca Ngongi.

 While Membea United of Bokwango last 28 August won the cup in the male category of the Ngongi tournament, the cup winners in the female category were Veteran Girls of Clerks Quarter-Buea.

Mayor Moki  on  mike at  2nd edition of council cup

Then ,last Saturday September 3, saw the finals  played on Buea Town Green field of the second edition of the Buea Council Interquarter Football Cup Competition (BUCIFOCC) .It was between Bonalyonga FC and Gulf FC of Buea town, with the latter emerging champion of the two million Francs CFA worth council tournament.

Thierry Meboga, Assistant DO for Buea who chaired the BUCIFOCC finals, hailed the Mayor of Buea, Charles Mbella Moki, for promoting the growth of football in the municipality -just as the Governor’s representative Abraham Chekem, at the finals of the Ngongi Competition, was full of praises for the cup donor.

The Mayor said the council interquarter tournament was also intended to help launch, Prison Buea,an old football club  in the municipality which has been in comatose now for years. “We want to use this competition to re-launch Prison Buea.I therefore call on everybody here to rally behind Prison Buea”,the Mayor said at the end of the 14-team competition.

Dr. Ngongi, speaking at the finals of his cup on August 28, said he was hopeful that the tournament would produce the likes of Eto’o Fils in future. He promised to keep improving on the prizes associated with the competition, which is a yearly.

Elsewhere still in Buea subdivision, there were other interquarter football competitions in the villages. With their finals played shortly before schools’ resumption.

 For example, one sponsored by Hon Emilia Monjowa Lifaka, Vice -President of Cameroon’s National Assembly  took place in Maumu village and one was  in Tole village organized by Chief Nganje Robinson