New Book on Cameroon for Critical Understanding of Its Crises !

 Title: THE PAST AS PROLOGUE. Essays on Cameroon, 1980-1995

Author: Ndiva Kofele Kale (Emeritus Professor of law)

Publishers: Nyaa Publishers, Yaoundé-Cameroon

 Edition: First Published in 2022     Pages: 117    Chapters: 14

Book Cover: Paperback    Price: 5000 Fcfa

 Sales point: Ngassa Book Shop, Buea-Cameroon

 By Christopher Ambe.

The book, The PAST AS PROLOGUE. Essays on Cameroon, 1980-1995 qualifies as a must-read for everyone interested in a critical understanding of the historical and political evolution of Cameroon. The book has been published in the midst of the on-going Anglophone Crisis, which erupted in October 2016.

The book is a collection of special but polemical newspaper and magazine essays penned between 1980 and 1995, a period when fundamental freedoms were a scarcity in Cameroon, imposed by the authorities that wielded power then.

In a foreword to the book, Sam Bokuba, a critical senior  journalist with the state-owned Cameroon Radio & Television Corporation(CRTV),notes, “The articles are high-minded, sometimes pedantic, bringing with them  the cold-blooded analytical depth, intellectual erudition and a matter-of-factness approach of the author who has been gazing the crystal  ball for  a long time. The issues addressed are as topical yesterday as they are today.

“They touch on the one-party oligarchy in Cameroon, power alternance, bad governance, multiparty politics, election management and constitutional and institutional reform”

In his remarks to Cameroonian journalists on March 12,2022 in Buea during a press briefing,  the author, Prof. Ndiva Kofele Kale noted,  “The Past as Prologue” is a collection of 14 critical essays (“essays” for lack of a better term because they include interviews, speeches, commentaries as well as letters to the editor) written between 1980 and 1995.

 The first three essays, he disclosed, were written in the waning days of President Ahidjo’s reign while the other eleven appeared in the first decade of Mr. Biya’s presidency (Mr. Biya became President of Cameroon in November 1982)

In the essays, the author raises and confronts some of the burning issues of our time: fundamental cleavages in our society, most notably the Anglophone-Francophone divide; official corruption; one-party hegemony; constitutional and institutional reform and so on.

“The essays were sufficiently controversial and not all were well[1]received by the respective regimes and their apologists. It would be interesting to see what reaction they evoke today!” the author pointed out during his press briefingin Buea.

Professor Kofele kale revealed that the book title “The Past as Prologue” is borrowed from the phrase “what’s past is prologue” in William Shakespeare’s The Tempest, Act 2, Scene 1, where Shakespeare’s character, Antonio, uses the phrase to suggest that all that has happened before that time, i.e., the “past”, has led Sebastian and himself to this opportunity to do what they are about to do which is commit the murder of Sebastian’s sleeping father, King Alfonso of Naples.

“This idea that history sets the context for the present was very much in my mind when I decided to republish these essays in book form. But my appropriation of Shakespeare’s “what’s past is prologue” metaphor in the book’s title is not only intended to mean that the past is predictor of the future. But to suggest also that though the past is already written, the future remains ours to mold, subject to the choices we decide to make. Our past merely sets the stage for the story that is yet to come. In this sense, Cameroon’s future is a blank page on which the real story is yet to be written.”

Author  Kofele Kale  talking to reporters in Buea about the book "The Past as Prologue..."

The author continued, “On this point, Franz Fanon’s challenge to successive generations of the youths of Africa, in general, and those of Cameroon in particular, inviting them to emerge from their relative obscurity, discover their mission in life, fulfill or betray it, is so apt.

According to the author, “The generation that will read this collection of essays will most likely be the one to write the next chapter of Cameroon’s history! I hope and pray that as they undertake this herculean task, they do so mindful of the Spanish-American philosopher, George Santayana’s ominous warning that those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.

If forgetting our past condemns us to repeating history’s mistakes is the first takeaway from The Past as Prologue, then the other is the sad reminder that the more things change, the more they stay the same. For better or for worse? This Hegelian paradox of history repeating itself, to which Marx added that the first time as tragedy, the second time as farce, is ubiquitous in this collection”

About The Author

Until he was conferred professor emeritus status, following his retirement in 2017, Cameoonian-born Ndiva Kofele Kale was the University Distinguished Professor and Professor of Law at Southern Methodist University(SMU) Dedman School of Law In Dallas Texas,where for almost three decades he taught courses on Corporate Law, International Law, International Human Rights, and International Litigation and Arbitrations.

Prior to coming to SMU,Professor Kofele Kale was for three years  on the faculty of the University of Tennessee College of Law in Knoxville,Tennessee and before that,he taught Political Science for ten years at Governors State University in Illinois,USA

He is admitted to practice before the U.S Supreme Court, the U.S Court of Appeal for the 7^th Circuit, the U.S District Court for the Northern District of Illinois, and is a member of the Illinois and Cameroon bars.

He has authored eight books and over forty refereed articles in academic/professional journals, some of which address the socio-political and economic situation in Cameroon.

 

Facilitating Cameroonians’ Admission into Foreign Universities is my Contribution to Nation-building

-Says Macellous Mbameg, Managing Director, Globus Education Systems

Macellous  Mbameg,Managing Director of Globus Education Systems

Macellous  Mbameg, 48, is the Managing Director of Globus Education Systems (GES), a company that facilitates the admission of students into top-world universities in 12 countries.

Headquartered in Douala, GES has already facilitated the admission of more than five hundred students abroad for further studies.  Mr.Mbameg, who recently ended a two-week admission campaign in Buea,sat down for an interview with Horizon Contributing Editor, Christopher Ambe. 

The Managing Director urges Cameroonian graduates to increasingly strive to be self-reliant instead of looking up to the State for employment.

Excerpts:

Sir, you are the Managing Director of Globus Education Systems. Could you present your company to our readers?

Globus Education Systems (GES) is a network of universities around the globe that we represent in Sub-Sahara Africa.

We represent universities in 12 different countries-the US,Canada,UK,Ireland ,France,Switzerland ,India etc

Basically, we assist students who want to study in our partner universities to gain admission.

GES is a company, which was founded in Cameroon in October2020.It has its headquarters in Douala-Cameroon and   a country office in Lagos, Nigeria.

What prompted the creation of GES?

I previously worked for a London-based company called Global University Systems, which owns about 35 universities world-wide. I worked there as the Sales and Marketing Director for Sub-Sahara Africa in charge of Recruitment. During the COVID-19 pandemic, my position was furlough

With COVID-19 things were slow and I said, “This is an opportunity for me to explore.”

Global University Systems had not resumed work due to COVID-19 and I reasoned that with my wide experience why not create something and start working on my own?’ That is how I created GES.

At the same time, I had an international job as Sales Director for Africa and Middle East for Nello Corporation, a telecommunication tower manufacturer in the US .I worked with them for eight years, but due to COVID-19 restrictions my position also was on hold.  Temporarily jobless but already knowledgeable in international students recruitment, I decided to engage myself while waiting.

In how many countries does GES operate?

For now we are only in Cameroon and Nigeria. But we take advantage of ICT/Internet to advertise our services. Recently, we recruited students from all over Africa.  We  treat students ‘files from Ghana,Kenya,Uganda etc ;I tell my colleagues that if we are still to go visit other countries and applications are already coming from all over, “What will happen if we starting visiting these countries?”

We plan to expand within Sub Sahara Africa. This year alone, we plan to open seven country offices in the continent.

We will soon go to Liberia. We have invitations from institutions out of Cameroon. Once we go to these countries we will create offices there.

You just ended a two-week admission campaign in Buea, do you have plans to do same in Bamenda where education is its major industry?

We have a roadmap for Cameroon. Our next destination is Yaounde; then back to Douala for an event. While the event in Douala will be going on, I will dispatch delegations to other cities like Bamenda,Dchang,Bafoussam,Nkongsamba  to organize similar events.

 How far has GES realized its goals and objectives?

I must say we are marveled at what we have achieved in less than two years of operation. We have sent at least five hundred students overseas already for study. We also have a large number of students admitted but who have not been able to travel because of COVID-19 restrictions. We have students with visas but who cannot travel now because of these restrictions.

 We have achieved a lot within a short period. The  country office in Nigeria is a great achievement

You just ended in Buea a two-week or so campaign for rapid admission into top-world universities. How would you assess the response of the Buea student community to the initiative?

We had wonderful exchange with the students in Buea. The turnout was very impressive. Within the two weeks in Buea, we received over 1200 students.

Were you counseling students free of charge?

Yes, counseling was for free. Students read a variety of courses in school, but many do not know what to pursue in the future, so we gave them orientation about the job market. We also did visa counseling and guidance. We talked to them about visa attractive programs.

How does GES facilitate study loans for students?

Being a study loan facilitator means that I am not the one providing the loans to students. The way the world is structured now is  that organizations work in partnerships with others. I am in partnership with universities. And certain universities are in partnership with financial institutions that provide loans. As representative of these universities, those that have partnership with financial institutions mandate me to look for admitted students in need of financial assistance. At the same time I have a direct partnership with funding organizations. I apply to them for study loans. MPower is the largest students’ loan provider in the world, giving out loans without collateral and co-signers.

 Can you boast that you have already facilitated access to study loans, which some students have obtained?

This loan initiative is new .We just launched it last February.

Anybody can get the loan but there are certain areas that are attractive to the funding organizations .We call them the STEM program. STEM stands for Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics. Anyone pursuing further study in these areas can easily get a loan. If students come to us and want the study loan and they aren’t in the STEM area -especially when they have a Bachelor’s degree, we can redirect them to the STEM area, where it is easy to get the loan. If they don’t want to be flexible, that is where we have the challenge.

Why are you interested seeing students further their studies?

Education is what drives an economy and brings about development. If people are not educated, their country cannot develop.

I have been to 72 countries word-wide and I have seen how educated people enhance the development of their nations.

 One of my contributions to building Cameroon is to get Cameroonians travel abroad for further studies, so that upon completion, they can come and help develop the country.

With your globe-trotting experiences, you have created a company. There are hundreds of thousands of graduates without jobs in Cameroon. What advice would you give them?

 My fervent appeal to them is: they should stop counting on the government. Government is already doing a lot .Why should university graduates without jobs blame the government? While studying in the universities, it is the State that pays their tuition and almost everything. When counseling students I tell them that to study in a foreign university is about ten to twenty million Fcfa and they are surprised at the high amount. I don’t blame them because many have studied in state-owned universities like University of Buea, where a student pays registration fee of 50,000 Fcfa per year. That 50,000 Fcfa is not school fees! Their university education is being subsidized by the State. And if the State has provided you with “free education’ and you graduate, you have to learn how to create jobs; to be self-emeployed.You must not be employed by somebody. When invited somewhere to give a business talk,I always tell my audiences that they can create and build  businesses in any area. We have so many opportunities in Cameroon that people don’t exploit. You don’t need much money to begin. I have more than a hundred business ideas that someone  could take one  and start with  say 500,000fcfa and grow. People must be self-reliant and not always think that to gain employment you must be employed by someone or the state.

Could you tell our readers much more about who Macellous  Mbameg really is?

I was born 48 years ago in Tiko.I attended schools in several subdivisions of the Southwest region because my father was a CDC estate manager .I grew up in the plantations. I always tell people I am a son of a farmer.

I attended Primary school in Mutengene before proceeding to Bilingual Gramm
ar School in Molyko-Buea,from there to PHS Batibo and PHS kumba. After my high education, I worked at the Chinese Embassy in Yaounde as Consultant incharge of Bilateral Trade Cooperation ;later I worked with a Chinese company called WholeSwitch telecom and I was appointed its pioneer Africa Director; I proceeded to the US where I did an MBA in Marketing Management at the European School of Economics in New York .Upon my return to Cameroon, I did some consultancy and later got a job with Nello corporation with headquarters in the USA.I was its  director for West Africa, then appointed  Sales Director,Africa,Sales Director for Africa & Middle East where I worked till 2020.I still occupy the position, which has simply be put on hold because of the COVID 19 pandemic restrictions.

I am a native of Batibo in the Northwest Region of Cameroon; a Presbyterian married and have four children.