And the University Cometh !

The people asked, the President gave, creating a new symbiosis between the Head of State and the people of the NW.

As he started the fourth section of his address in Bamenda yesterday, the President of the Republic cut suspense with a knife announcing the long-awaited news about the much-awaited University of Bamenda. The President hardly finished making the pronouncement that the entire grandstand burst into an unending applause that momentarily interrupted the speech. North-West Fons moved out in unison from their reserved corner as if to go right to the presidential tribune to express their instant satisfaction and happiness, had they not have been restrained by State protocol officials. It was as if the entire visit had reached its apogee and many even had difficulty getting the rest of the development package that the Head of State was continuing to announce among which are instructions to the appropriate ministerial departments to start studies on the construction of a reference hospital in Bamenda as well as the promise that the Ring Road project was still very much on hold, held down, as it were, just because a reliable construction company or partner had not been found. In this developmental package also is a plan to provide Bamenda with a thermal electricity plant to reduce the incidence of recurrent electricity cuts in the region.

Understanding

The President seemed to have given a good ear to the pleas of the Government Delegate to the Bamenda City Council, Vincent Ndumu who, in his welcome statement, expressed a number of daily concerns encountered by the people of the North-West. He came close to asking for the creation of a State university when he acknowledged what government had done by uplifting the status of the Bambili annex of the Advanced School of Education, observing that the Head of State was fully aware of the educational needs of the nation. Mr Ndumu was full of gratitude for the numerous fallouts enjoyed by his city by the sheer organisation of the 50th anniversary of the armed forces in Bamenda. Beyond that, he specifically cited the Bamenda-Enugu road project which, in his understanding, will greatly raise the economic status of the people of the entire North-West. From a political perspective, the Government Delegate recalled that President Biya has not failed to continue the tradition of letting North-West sons and daughters serve the nation at the highest rungs, with particular note for a former Prime Minister and a sitting one.

Mr Ndumu had some very soft words for Mrs Biya who was making her first trip to Bamenda, although the Delegate said her influence was very much felt and appreciated through the numerous humanitarian works being carried out in the region thanks to her initiatives.

It is Mr Ndumu’s wish to see not only the President come back more regularly to his “second home”, but also to see the First Lady come to Bamenda in the coming weeks or months to inaugurate the “Ecole des Champions” being constructed at the Mendankwe neighbourhood in Bamenda, donated by Mrs Biya.

Nkendem FORBINAKE

Bamenda In Ecstasy

Shouts of joy and gratitude were high as the presidential couple arrived at the grandstand yesterday.

Dance groups, school children, women and men of all walks of life were on hand to receive the Presidential couple in Bamenda yesterday, December 8. Lined along the streets of the city from Upstation down to Finance Junction through the City Chemist Roundabout to the Grandstand at the Commercial Avenue, the population answered present. Beautifully dressed in their different group uniforms and waving hand banners of different political parties, their impressions were the same. All of them were happy to receive the Head of State and to express their gratitude for his good gestures to the region and nation.

The region went into ecstasy when the First Lady, Chantal Biya made her first touch down at the Commercial Avenue grandstand. The streets went into bliss when the different dance groups and school children along the streets saw the Presidential Limousine. As if that was not enough, the population once again went mad when the Head of State took to the rostrum to address the region and nation in the Queen’s language, English. Screams of joy, happiness and gratitude gripped the population. The waving of hand banners, chanting of welcome songs and the expression of gratitude were visible on all faces. Even those in the neighbourhoods could be heard shouting, expressing surprise and at the same time elation for receiving the “fon of fons” in their region.

The joy was immense and according to Prisca Adanjo, the Head of State’s visit to the region promises a brighter future for them the youth. The 17-year old Lower Sixth student in one of the secondary schools in Bamenda could not hide her joy. “I have been waiting for this opportunity and it finally came. I don’t know how I can express my joy and gratitude to the Head of State and wife,” she said, with tears of joy. “It was my first time to see the Presidential couple and he made an important revelation that I think is of great importance for us youth who aspire for great academic profiles. I was overwhelmed when he promised us a sate university and I now know that in the years to come, I or my family will benefit from it,” she added. Like Prisca, Mami Bih could not hide her joy. “It is a privilege having set my eyes on the Presidential couple. This has been my wish and it has come to pass. I just thank God that I was part of the event,” she said. In spite of the hot sun, the population of the region who lined the streets of the town remained steadfast.

Victorine BIY