Prof., Chief Agbor Tabi, Assistant Secretary General at the Presidency of the Republic, presided over the ceremony.

Forty-two students recently received bilingual training testimonials after studying English and French languages at the Buea Linguistic Centre and Limbe branch in Fako Division of the South West Region. The ceremony was presided by Professor, Chief Agbor Tabi, Minister, Assistant Secretary General at the Presidency of the Republic.

While handing over the testimonials, Prof. Agbor Tabi called on people of the South West Region to enroll in the Buea Linguistic Centre and its Limbe branch to be bilingual Cameroonians for, as he said, one bilingual individual is worth two people. “Bilingual Cameroonians stand the better chance of being appointed to higher positions,” he said.

Prof. Agbor Tabi, himself an ex-student of Bilingual Grammar School Molyko, Buea, told the packed-full graduation ceremony that Cameroon’s official bilingualism places the country at the forefront of Africa and the world. Bilingualism is a treasure to be exploited, he pointed out, urging companies in the South West Region to take advantage of the training. He announced that the Maroua Linguistic Centre in the Far North Region will soon go operational.

While promising to forward the needs of the Buea Linguistic Centre to government, he lauded the recent construction of a fence round it and its cleanliness. The Director of the Linguistic Centre, Akombi Samuel Oke, expressed joy seeing 42 students graduate in 2012 unlike in the past when only 15 passed out. Enrolment in the centre which has risen to 538, includes air traffic controllers from Libreville, Gabon and Malabo, Equatorial Guinea.

The Senior Divisional Officer of Kupe-Muanengumba, Kouemo Simon, is now bilingual. He addressed the gathering in impeccable English, reiterating that bilingualism is a reality, a laboratory of unity and reunification.

The ceremony was animated by the University of Buea Choir and traditional dances of Ejagham, Noni, Oroko and Esseh people.