BidoungMkpwatt handshake lights up internet

There was the Ice Bucket Challenge, then there was the Mannequin Challenge, now from Cameroon comes the BidoungMkpatt Challenge.

By Boris Esono in Buea

The issue of greeting a top personality has never been so controversial as the one of the minister of sport and physical education, Mr. BidoungKpwatt Pierre Ismael. Cameroonians of all works of life have taken to social media to demonstrate their interpretation of what they call the “bidoungmkpatt challenge”. According to the author of this challenge, Mr. Nfor Hanson of Equinox TV, it was meant to show how top government officials adore the president of Cameroon to the extent of regarding him as a god.

                Recently, Cameroon’s minister of sports and physical education Pierre Ishmael BidoungKpwatt met President Paul Biya and bowed rather unusually low (about 90 degrees) to greet him. This was during the party hosted by the Presidential couple in honor of the Indomitable Lionesses of Cameroon, vice-champions of the 10th edition of the Women’s Africa Cup of Nations.

                The picture has gone viral on social media and people can’t stop giving hilarious captions to it, also photo-shopping the image to perfection. In fact, people have started taking the Bidoung challenge so as to see how low one can bow.

                Before long, #Bidoung Challenge and #Courberdos Challenge started trending on Twitter and thousands of people could be seen participating.

                Much like the Mannequin Challenge that has overtaken the online space over the past month-and-a-half, what with celebrities and public figures such as Hillary Clinton, Michelle Obama, Beyoncé and the likes having participated – not to forget the many football teams, this one is rather restricted to Cameroon, but the memes have definitely been appreciated the world over. The photos were recreated and edited to be shared on social media with hilarious outcomes.

                It should be recalled that different people have different way of showing their respect to someone either by greeting with two hands, bowing down to that person amongst others but to some, doing it over and over is an exaggeration and a sign that the greeting is not sincere.