Minister Felix Mbayu Preaches Peace, National Unity in Buea

By Boris Esono in Buea

Minister Felix Mbayu poses with participants at the launch of the National 

population campaign on commonwealth core values and principles

The Minister Delegate at the Ministry of External Relations in charge of the Commonwealth Felix Mbayu has advised Cameroonians to sue for peace and nationality unity. H.E. Mbayu Felix was speaking in Buea recently as he presided over the launching of the National campaign to impregnate the populations with the core values upheld by the British Commonwealth. 

            Felix Mbayu called on the population to respect the 16 core values and beliefs of the commonwealth which include Democracy, respect for human rights, international peace, security, tolerance and separation of power among others.

“It is sad today that our country is facing challenges due to the loss of and detachment from these core values. We have to live by these core values,” Mbayu insisted, as he addressed participants at the Buea City Hall.

            The Minister urged Cameroonians not to be fooled by those who are calling for school boycott.

            “Education is instrumental in the country. It is regrettable that people who are calling for school boycott are sending their children to school elsewhere. The choice of going to school is individualistic. The choice is yours to to go or not to go,” he maintained, noting that “it is better to be unemployed with a degree in your pocket than being illiterate because you stand a better chance of getting a job in the future.”

He regretted that without education youths only become good for recruitment by separatist terrorists.

            “Those who have been misled should not remain in the blind army. The people should lay down their weapons as the hands of the Cameroonian people are open to welcome them back before it is too late”. Minister Felix Mbayu added

            The event which was held under the theme Unity in Diversity: Inspiring Cameroonian youth through the commonwealth core values and principles of respect for the rule of law, tolerance, mutual respect and understanding” saw in attendance the SW Governor, Okalia Bilai, UB Vice Chancellor Prof. Horace Ngomo Manga and others.

            Welcoming the delegates, Mayor Ekema Patrick Esunge specified that “it is only when we work together that we can get rid of the challenges facing Cameroon in the fast moving world”.

            The mayor encouraged the military in their efforts towards bringing peace to the region while indicating that in the coming months Buea will become an agro-pastoral and economic hob.

            “Buea has a predominantly youthful and metropolitan population and it is our hope that in the next couple of years Buea will become an economic powerhouse”.

            Ngoe Fritzen Akpo, Secretary General of the Cameroon National Youth Council regretted the fact that many youths have been killed in the country due to the Boko Haram crisis in the Far North and the ongoing violence in the Anglophone regions. “It is sad to see our national unity deteriorating. Anyone who does want peace is an enemy to the nation”. “No human is a saint on earth. The only way towards success is moving towards guidance and not persecution. We should show respect for one another and be each other’s keeper. The only way to end the present predicaments according to the CNYC SG is “dialogue and not war”. “We have to put ideas to build a better Cameroon which involves talking to each other than against each other”.

            Though debatable figures shows that about fifty thousand people have been displaced and seeking shelter in Nigeria while some two thousand are internally displaced people from Ndian. Some one thousand five hundred are in maximum prisons in Yaoundé, Buea, Douala and others. Seventy villages and some 50 schools burnt down while scores of civilians and security forces have lost their lives.

            According to reports, the minister’s convoy on entering the town of Buea from Limbe was attacked by unknown men linked to the separatist forces around the Wotutu area. A vehicle transporting people to the event venue was attacked and its occupants taken hostage, we learned.