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| Barrister Nico Halle |
The Senior Divisional Officer for Fako;
The Divisional Officer for Buea;
The Mayor of Buea Municipality;
Hon Senators;
Hon MPs;
Political, Traditional and Religious Authorities;
The Chairman and members of the Board of Directors of COIC;
Distinguished guests;
Eminent Media Professionals;
Beloved Graduants;
Ladies and Gentlemen.
Glory to God Most High for blessing all of us to be present here at COIC – Buea, a town of legendary hospitality, on the occasion of the graduation ceremony of the 22nd Batch of COIC.
Permit me extend my compelling gratitude to the B oard of Directors and staff of COIC for extending the singular privilege to my humble person to deliver an Academic Discourse to this great assembly that is gathered here today for a noble event.
May I take the liberty to heartily welcome all of you who have sacrificed very precious pre-arranged and confirmed commitments to be part of this special ceremony to celebrate academic excellence in a society where mediocrity seems to be gaining a stronghold. I congratulate and appreciate the sacrifices that parents/sponsors of the graduants have generously made at a time when people seem to despise the gift of learning. Without your engagement all along, this ceremony will be utterly impossible. Congratulations indeed.
My dear friends, we salute the courage and endurance of all these brilliant students who did not hesitate to burn the midnight candle in order to brilliantly graduate from this international, prestigious, academic and industrial centre with distinction. Kudos to you all.
We equally extend sincere thanks to the Government of Cameroon for the huge material/financial support made available for the running of this centre, especially at a time when other donors have withdrawn their subventions. The physical presence of our dynamic and patriotic Governor of the South West Region and his entourage at this achievement celebration, having shelved other important State duties, is very praiseworthy and reassuring.
Your Excellency, Distinguished Ladies and Gentlemen; COIC as I see it will continue to remain an icon of Vocational Training for an Emerging Cameroon 2035.
In requesting that I do this discourse, both the Board Chair - Senior and venerated Barrister Sam Elad and Director - Mme Clara Limunga Molua appealed to me to be simple. I can promise them that I will not only be simple, I shall be very simple avoiding legal jargons, innuendos, insinuations and subterfuges. In addition, the 30 Minutes allotted for this talk will be respected.
I thank God once more for His presence and for presiding over this event.
Before delving into this academic discourse I will like to remind us that although one man plants, and another waters, it is evidently only God who brings forth the bountiful harvest. 1st Corinthians 3:6. This Biblical truth is summarised in the evolution of this International Academic and Industrial Centre which God indeed has lavishly blessed and caused to increase over the years.
In 1964, a dynamic Baptist Pastor Reverend Dr. L.H. Sullivan, known for his role in the abolition of apartheid in South Africa and for his abilities to “move mountains and corporations” founded, in Philadelphia, the Opportunities Industrialisation Centre (OIC) of America and the OIC International later in 1969. The mission of the OIC was to pioneer a skills training program dedicated to the training of peoples of all races, ages and genders. Fifty years after the founding of the OIC International, it stands tall as one of the world’s largest, and most influential non-profit training organisations.
COIC was founded in 1986 under the impulsion of the industrious Chief A. Ebong Kome, also known as “Pa Kome”. We hold this indefatigable gentleman, whose memory lives on, in high esteem by reason of his unwavering attachment to the promotion of quality education geared towards self-employment and job creation in our dear country, Cameroon. The Mission of OIC is to teach appropriate, marketable skills that can enable disadvantaged young men and women to become self-reliant, economically-productive and capable of improving the quality of life for themselves and their families. To provide young Cameroonians and foreigners with marketable skills which will enable them establish small and medium-sized businesses of their own once they complete training; or job-place those graduates who do not wish to start businesses of their own. The COIC was established with the full support of the Government of Cameroon, as a local Non-Governmental Organisation under the supervision of the Ministry of Employment and Vocational Training.
The beautiful and flamboyant infrastructure of the COIC stands as a living testimony of what this centre has metamorphosed into today, courtesy especially to the integrity of management who vehemently denied to take the path of embezzlement and bad governance, but rather preferred to diligently put the resources budgeted for this Institution at the service of the public. Jesus Christ told the crowd in the sermon on the Mount “by their fruits you shall know them.” Matt 7:20.
Dear graduants, we are here to witness your graduation from this multifaceted academic centre. You know like me that preparation time is never wasted time. You have spent some useful time here to gather knowledge that you are moving into the world to disseminate. I have no doubt in my mind that the technical skills you have acquired here will be used to build our beloved fatherland, the land of promise; the land of glory. I am one of the lucky beneficiaries of the quality training you have had here in that my two cook-stewards who are currently with me in Douala graduated from here. Each time I receive guests from anywhere in the world they appreciate their dishes. I urge you who are here to try some of those leaving today. You will not regret.
Going to school is one thing, obtaining a Diploma is another; but putting the knowledge into practice is quintessential. You are nearly seven hundred students graduating today, and just like President J.F. Kennedy, I want you to take this clarion indictment; “Ask not what your country can do for you, ask what you can do for your country.”
My dear friends, when you first crossed through the doors of this centre you had hope. In order for your earnest hope to crystallise, you needed the fear of the Lord which is the beginning of wisdom. Proverbs 1:7/Psalms 111:10. Are you graduating with the fear of the Lord? Cameroon has a multitude of intelligent men and women who have gone through some of the best universities in the world; unfortunately some of them are just intelligent gangsters because instead of building the Nation, they are destroying it. You are definitely saddened by the high level of hypocrisy, falsehood, bootlicking, make-belief, praise-singing, manipulation, etc. that abound in our society.
My dear friends, when I look at the theme of your graduation, I come away with the impression that Cameroon is moving towards emergence in 2035. Is it true? That is the question! Yes, it can only be true if you who have been churned in this great Institution go into the world with a changed mentality or mindset.
Some Cameroonians who trumpet Vision 2035 loudest don’t seem to be working towards its crystallisation. We only can attain the 2035 Vision if we instil in ourselves INTEGRITY. Integrity is a moral virtue, integrity is honesty, integrity is moral probity, integrity is ethical living, integrity is standing by the truth, integrity is patriotism, integrity is genuine peace, integrity is honour to your father and mother; integrity is shunning bribery and corruption, condemning election fraud/rigging, nepotism, tribalism, favouritism, Machiavellianism, chaos, anarchy, violence, war; integrity is standing against homosexuality, adultery, fornication, occultism, ‘fey mania’; integrity is the respect for State institutions.
My dear friends, the Head of State, His Excellency Paul Biya, on the eve of each New Year, has consistently castigated moral decadence and juvenile delinquency in all its forms. These deviant behaviours have taken our Nation hostage. In recent years, the President has invited Cameroonian youths to make a U-turn, tasking the churches and parents to assume their responsibility. On the eve of 2014 he again called on Cameroonians to take advantage of the immense human potential and natural resources, which God has put at our disposal, for the good of all men. He wondered why we are in plenty yet very poor, unemployed and undeveloped. Why is bribery, corruption and embezzlement so entrenched in our society? Shall you join the crusade against these ills or you shall join the perpetrators?
I implore you to go to the field with a firm commitment to sacrifice for your Nation and to refrain from joining these predators and white collar criminals in looting and plundering the resources God has blessed all Cameroonians with.
The word of God says that if a man does not work, neither should he eat. 2nd Thessalonians 3:10. My dear brothers and sisters, my advice to you is that you should not copy the deviant attitude of some elderly ones who have hardly had anything to offer to society other than liquidating and pilfering our precious resources. Abraham Lincoln said that he would wish to be remembered for having picked up the weeds and planted flowers. Yes, also remember the words of the greatest scientist of the 20th Century, Albert Einstein, who said, “If you do not stand for something, you will fall for anything.”
As we send you into the professional world, on the occasion of this solemn ceremony, we exhort you to go with the consciousness that you are ambassadors of this Centre of excellence. We wish you success and God’s constant protection while upholding the virtues of peace, truth, and integrity as you face the challenges of your various callings.
My dear friends, during this Lent season, we beseech you to adopt a fresh, new mental attitude towards God, towards yourself, towards your fellow men and towards our Nation. We invite you to trust in God and emulate Christ. And we know that if you excel in your various areas of specialisation, Cameroon will emerge long before 2035. My prayer is that COIC will and should remain a veritable icon of Vocational Training for an Emerging Cameroon as we trust that the very devoted staff will continue moulding patriotic young Cameroonians who remain our ONLY hope for any good thing to happen to us.
God bless COIC
God bless BUEA
God bless CAMEROON.
Thank You for your friendly attention.
Barrister Nico Halle
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