National Campaign on Civic Education:

Students embarrass governor with uncivil behavior 
By Sirri NTONIFOR TANGWE in Kumba

S.W.R Governor flanked by administrative and traditional heads

 

The governor of the South-West Region, Bernard Okalia Bilai, has lashed out at educationists in Kumba for allegedly painting pictures which misrepresent the situation on ground. He was referring to the conduct of some students while he presided at the Meme Divisional launch of the national campaign of civic education and national integration on November 11 in Kumba under the theme, ‘My citizenship contribution to the advent of an exemplary Cameroon.’
    The Meme Divisional Delegate of Youth Affairs, Elangwe Victor, and the representative of the Meme Divisional Delegate of Secondary Education, Orock Gladys Etaka, were among several who presented speeches detailing activities their respective delegations had undertaken to educate young Cameroonians on their civic duty, including respect for national symbols and authority.
    At the same time the speeches were being delivered, students invited from GBHS Kumba and Victory Comprehensive College were engaged in chitchatting with their backs turned to the Kumba City Council Grandstand with its dignitaries and the flag flying above.  The governor endured this slur till he took the stand to address the crowd and then began by summoning Mr Elangwe and Ms. Orock, questioning them about the integrity of their reports: “Are your presentations what you are practicing daily or are they just for the ceremony? Once the governor turns his back and returns to Buea, everything stops. I don’t want to be part of a theatre... We have had opportunity during this solemn ceremony to be witnesses of such misbehaviour”.
    Turning to the SDO for Meme, the governor requested for a report on sanctions to be meted on those responsible for the students’ uncivil conduct. The bewildered authorities rushed to set the situation to rights, and Mr. Elangwe could be seen at the forefront acting as protocol officer to the young miscreants, cautioning them repeatedly.

    The apex of the ceremony was the handing-over of books on civic education to concerned delegations, administrative heads and traditional rulers.
    Our sources reveal that that the entire launching process was a hastily-assembled activity with some speech-makers roused from their beds the previous night with instructions from the governor’s office to put pen to paper with immediate effect so as to say an auspicious word or two during the ceremony. In addition, the majority of chair-warmers at the Grandstand were Basic Education teachers attending a two-day seminar at the nearby Kumba City Council hall whose program was disrupted so they could swell the numbers at the Grandstand while their counterparts in other parts of the town carried on with their seminar activities without any interruption.
    Many have applauded the governor’s remonstrations vis-à-vis the reproved persons as one of those rare instances when bureaucracy refuses to turn a blind eye to behaviour which can have future negative consequences, but straightens the branch while it is yet young before it gets too old to adhere to the ideal. Others interpret his action as an expression of relief and exercising of his administrative muscles after successfully holding fast to his position during the recent dismissal and appointment of governors.