By Vera Muyang Ngu*
Cameroon, which is a
member of the Commonwealth of Nations since 1995, has embarked on popularizing
the core values of this organization to its youths. The focus now appears to be
the two English-speaking Regions of Cameroon, where the current Anglophone crisis,
which is characterized by violence, vandalism, intolerance, and killings, is worsening.
After a seminar on
the core values of the Commonwealth was organized recently in Bamenda
of the Northwest region, the Minister-Delegate at the Ministry of External Relation in charge of Commonwealth ,Felix
Mbayu, was , last August 9, in Buea for a similar exercise. The seminar took
place in the hall of Buea Council.
Minister Mbayu, in
the presence of Southwest Governor Bernard Okalia Bilai, chaired the Popularization
campaign on the Commonwealth Core Values and Principles, under the theme "Unity in Diversity: Aspiring Cameroonian
Youth through the Common Wealth Core Values and Principles for respect and understanding.”
The core values and
principles of the this 53-member intergovernmental organization include but not
limited to:democracy,human rights, freedom of expression, good governance, rule
of law, peace and security,tolerance,respect and understanding.
Launching the popularization
campaign, Minister Mbayu said it would help the youths to internalize the core values,
which he noted are time-tested.
“These are values
which have served as pillars of social cohesion in most societies; values which
have served as pillars of mutual understanding and peace-building”, he noted.
The minister said considering
the circumstances [Anglophone crisis] Cameroon is facing at this time, nothing
can be more timely than internalizing the core values
“This is because the
crisis we are facing results from a breakdown of the rule of law, the lack of tolerance,
mutual respect and understanding”, he said.
Minister Mabyu said they came “to have a
discussion with the youths of all the divisions of the Southwest Region, as a
follow up to an event which we had in the Northwest Region where we assembled
many youths as we have here today, to remind them that, to be the leaders of
today and tomorrow, they must learn to talk to each other, not at each other”
He cautioned the participants
against being insulting, since according to him, “insult is the only argument
for those who don’t have any better argument”
The minister advised the
youths against engaging in violence, but to become ambassadors of peace, and to
give priority to education, which he described as the equalizer in society.
He urged the participants
that, when they return to their respective
localities they should invite
their friends who are in the bushes to return home “because there are no
opportunities staying in bushes.”
In his presentation,
Ngoe Fritz Akpo, director of Commonwealth Youth, who regretted the negative consequences
of the Anglophone crisis, dwelled on the Commonwealth core values, explaining
how if they are observed and applied, they would be helpful to all and sundry.
Earlier in his
welcome speech, the Mayor of Buea,Patrick Ekema Esunge, saluted the timeliness
of the campaign and urged the youth to be agents of peace and development.
*Vera
Muyang Ngu is a University of Buea Journalism intern.
No comments:
Post a Comment