The MoneyGram Foundation grant funded the transportation of three 40-foot ocean-going containers to Ghana, Cameroon and Ethiopia. Each container, carefully curated by Books For Africa, was filled with 22,000 books, as well as library enhancement supplies such as essential solar lights, e-readers loaded with digital content, computers, maps and projectors. The books and learning materials are intended to enhance the capacity of community libraries, with long-term outcomes of improving school retention and literacy crucial to each country’s ability to produce an educated workforce. The Catholic Universityof Buea in Douala (CIUB) was chosen as the recipient of the books and materials designated for Cameroon.

An event to celebrate the donation of the books was held at the Douala campus of the Catholic University Institute of Buea. CIUB is an entrepreneurial university, whose goal is not only to train professionals, but also to endow them with spiritual and moral values. Forty secondary and primary schools were invited to participate in the festivities, and more than 200 students received their own box of books.

“It is an honor to have the opportunity to support literacy efforts in Africa, and we are delighted to select Cameroon as a beneficiary for this program,” said John Gely, MoneyGram’s Head of Africa. “We are proud to join Books For Africa in their mission to improve the availability of books and learning materials, and fulfill the MoneyGram Foundation’s goal of empowering lives through education.”

Carole Patrikakos, Deputy Director of Books For Africa, explained, “Books For Africa is demand driven- we routinely receive orders from groups who have fundraised on behalf of African schools and libraries. However, there are children in locales that do not have sponsors abroad, and those children will not receive books without the intervention of funders such as MoneyGram Foundation, who recognize and support their right to an education.”

In addition to MoneyGram representatives, ceremony attendees included Mr. Job Théophile Kwapnang, Mayor of Douala, Professor Fr. George Nkeze, President of CIUB, and Dr. Fabrice Tonfack Djikeng from the CIUB Douala campus. Also in attendance were key MoneyGram partners, representatives from Afriland First Bank, Express Exchange Transfer, Banque of Atlantic (BACM) and Wafacash.

Similar events have been held this year to celebrate the distribution of books and library supplies in Ethiopia and Ghana. The MoneyGram Foundation grant is expected to provide 30,000 students per year with access to books. To date, the MoneyGram Foundation has awarded over $1,150,000 in grants to support education for children in Africa.

Source: Yahoo Finance

Fellow Sobans,

On 10th May 2019, the President of SOBA America published an interview conducted by Brian N. Njotsa in the 2019 SOBA America newsletter. President Mafany Itoe raised issues which misrepresent SOBA UK, the SOBA Constitution and the mediation efforts in the dispute in SOBA UK.

President Itoe was aware of the stage of the dispute now at the UK Company Names Tribunal adjudicator whilst giving his interview. His narrative was a dubious attempt to influence SOBA UK matters in favour of the splinter group which he supports. His account, albeit second hand, only goes to fuel animosity amongst members of our UK community and beyond.

Mindful of the good relationship between SOBA UK and SOBA America, and the need for continuous collaboration, we have found it necessary to respond to these unprecedented utterances by President Itoe regarding the UK association.

We denounce the following falsehoods perpetrated by President Itoe as follows;

1) That going by the Constitution (2018) the president of the splinter group is the recognised president of SOBA UK President Itoe should be well aware that there are two groups in the UK. President Akoh-Arrey is the elected president of 112 registered members of the original SOBA UK, which has been in existence for the last 48 years, a group that owns UK trademarks, “SASSE OLD BOYS ASSOCIATION UNITED KINGDOM”, and has built up and sustained significant goodwill both in its membership and the UK Cameroonian community.  The second SOBA group in the UK referred to as the splinter group was constituted on 7th Oct 2017 and has a separate membership and executive. This splinter group is much smaller and has yet to publish any official registration list of its members, assumed to be circa 20.

President Itoe’s comments show his arrogance and lack of respect for over 85% of Sobans in the UK who are registered and affiliated with the original group, and whose activities are a role model for Sobans around the world. Furthermore, he asserts his personal acceptance of the unratified 2018 SOBA Constitution and on those grounds declares that the president of the splinter group is the president of SOBA UK recognised by SOBA America. We note that President Itoe also calls himself the president of Sobans in the free world but he is yet to take the 2018 Constitution signed by Prof Ephraim Ndeh Ngwafor dated 10th March 2018 to the General Assembly (GA) of SOBA America. In a recent publication he underscored the importance of the GA but he has only personally ratified the 2018 Constitution which will be incongruent with the values of SOBA America if his own GA is bypassed.

2) That SOBA Chapters are like KFC (Kentucky Fried Chicken) franchises  It is most disconcerting to read such a weak comparison and notice misleading conclusions about the structure of SOBA by President Itoe. KFC’s franchises enter into a commercial agreement at inception to offer a well-defined product for which goodwill has already been created and royalties may be charged. SOBA on the other hand consists of members who are ex-students of Sasse College and who have a fundamental right to set up chapters, class groups or other parochial groups in the jurisdictions where they settle. The 1991 SOBA Constitution recognises this fundamental structure of SOBA and devolves powers to the members to run their affairs as they see fit, and through the operations of an assembly of members, both in spirit and in practice.

President Itoe shows a lack of insight on the practical realities when he compares SOBA chapters to KFC franchises;

• Beginning with his own chapter, SOBA America, as an example, Ernest N. Tate, Esq, a legal expert in the US wrote that – “from a legal vantage point, neither SOBA America Inc nor Sasse Alumni Association, Inc have any direct legal affiliation with SOBA General or Sasse Old Boys Association in Cameroon and therefore, no constitutional amendments, resolutions, or corporate actions taken by Sasse Old Boys Association in Cameroon can affect SOBA America Inc or Sasse Alumni Association Inc, regardless of who participated in the adoption of such amendments or resolutions”.
• Another example is SOBA Foundation, Germany. This chapter was set up as an NGO that receives funding from the German Government to undertake benevolent activities and operate under the terms of its set up. For many years SOBA Foundation has had no contact or affiliation to the national branch in Cameroon.
• Finally, SOBA UK and SOBA Ireland are set up as unincorporated associations, and have only ever had a loose collaborative connection with the national branch, and like all other diaspora chapters, do not pay any registration fee to SOBA in Cameroon.

To this end, we categorically reject President Itoe’s comparison of SOBA to KFC.

3) Apportioning blame of mediation failure attempts to the Akoh-Arrey team Conflict resolution often requires careful consideration of the feuding parties before prescribing the engagement method. It is regrettable that mediation attempts from both the Itoe-backed team and Prof Ngwafor lacked the capability, neutrality or good faith to deliver a successful outcome. Prof Ngwafor has a history of animosity with the Akoh-Arrey team since the 2015 Sickbay MOU debacle, and therefore his intervention was biased.

The Itoe-backed mediation lacked patience with the Akoh-Arrey team who asked to get the SOBA UK GA’s opinion. These supposed mediators then called off the process prematurely to give green light to the high-handed approach of their superiors in the national branch to ban UK Sobans for life, a decision which has since been dismissed by the SOBA UK General Assembly.

In conclusion, we denounce all misrepresentations made by President Itoe of SOBA America in his interview. His intervention, whilst also taking sides, has made matters worse, not better. Our fervent wish is that he can take some responsibility and help to sort out the perilous state of affairs that his final days as president of SOBA America are turning out to be, before his departure.

Mr. John Bawak

Executive SG,

On behalf of the 112 Registered Members of SOBA UK

Nigerian Academics have welcomed the judgement by the Federal High Court sitting in Abuja ordering the repatriation of six academics from the former British Southern Cameroons (Ambazonia) and four other refugees who were all in Nigeria and who were abducted and illegally deported from Nigeria on January 5th 2018, on frivolous allegations of plotting to destabilize the government of La Republique du Cameroon (LRC) President Mr. Paul Biya. Two separate judgments were handed down by presiding judge, Justice Anwuli Chikere, on 1st March 2019 in connection with the matter.

In the first case – brought by a group of human rights lawyers against the National Security Advisor and Attorney General – the judge ruled that the arrest of 5th January 2018 and subsequent detention of the academics at the National Defence Intelligence Agency(DIA) was illegal and unconstitutional. In the second case – brought by the deportees – the judge ruled that the deportation on 26th January 2018 was illegal and violated the deportees’ rights as guaranteed by the Nigerian Constitution.

Power of the courts 
The court ruling has been hailed by the university community and staff unions as a sign that the courts can still protect and defend the rights of foreign nationals and citizens who are either working, residing or are refugees in Nigeria. The Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) has promised to ensure that the judgement is enforced. The academics are part of a larger group of 57 Cameroonian refugees and asylum-seekers who are Anglophone restorationists. Some of them have been living in Nigeria for decades and at least one has a Nigerian wife and children. The university lecturers are: Professor Augustine Awasum, Faculty of Veterinary Surgery & Diagnostic Imaging at the Ahmadu Bello University(ABU) Zaria; Dr. Henry T.Kimeng, Associate Professor of Civil Engineering also at the Ahmadu Bello University(ABU) Zaria; Sisiku Julius Ayuk Tabe, Assistant Vice President and Pioneer Head, Information and Technology, American University of Nigeria in Yola; Dr. Fidelis Ndeh, Assistant Professor and Director, Academic Planning, American University of Nigeria in Yola; Dr. Cornelius N.Kwanga, Senior Lecturer, Department of Economics, Umaru Musa Yar’adua University in Katsina; and Dr. Egbe Ogork, Associate Professor of Structural Engineering, Bayero University, Kano. On the issue of their illegal arrest and detention, the judge ordered the state to pay damages of NGN5 million (US$13,800) to each detainee “as general and aggravated damages for illegal violation of their fundamental rights to life, dignity of person, fair hearing, health, freedom of movement and freedom of association”. On the issue of their deportation, the court ordered the state to pay damages of NGN200, 000. The judge also ruled in both cases that the Nigerian state was under perpetual injunction restraining it from further violation of fundamental rights without lawful justification.  She also ordered that the deportees should be returned to Nigeria as soon as possible.

Solitary confinement 
Since their deportation from Abuja to the Cameroon capital Yaoundé in January 2018 at the hands of Nigerian and Cameroonian security forces, the deportees were initially kept in solitary confinement at a maximum-security prison facility without access to sunlight, family, lawyers or specialized medical care for 11 months after which they were moved to another maximum – security prison facility with some limited access to family and lawyers. They are yet to be charged or arraigned for any crimes because lawyers in Cameroon have consistently challenged the jurisdiction of the Military Tribunal in LRC to try scholars who faced a death penalty if eventually the ‘kangaroo military tribunal’ brings them to trial. The lawyers argue the composition, jurisdiction, language and historical precedence which makes the court incompetent to hear the case or guarantee a free and fair trial of the academics. As refugees who were abducted, their lawyers have persistently insisted that the national and international laws should be respected and the scholars be returned to Nigeria from where they were kidnapped.

Soon after their deportation, a team of human rights lawyers led by Barristers Femi Falana(SAN) and Abdul Oroh filed a case in the Federal High Court in Abuja challenging their detention and deportation. In their submission they rejected the allegation that the groups were terrorists bent on overthrowing the LRC government.  In July 2018, University World News reported that Oroh, who is representing the detainees, said the deportees were members of a political organisation demanding a complete restoration of their homeland, the British Southern Cameroons to complete independence and be free from the annexation by the La Republique du Cameroun.
In an exclusive interview with University World News following the 1st March 2019 judgments, Oroh said he had written to Nigeria’s Attorney General Abubakar Malami, informing him of the judgments.

“In my official letter to the attorney general, I attached a certified copy of the two court rulings on this subject matter. I received a call from the attorney general acknowledging the receipt of my letter. He assured me that my letter was receiving urgent attention and that his ministry would soon comply with the court ruling,” said Oroh. Nigeria’s academic community has welcomed the rulings and hopes are high that the repatriation will be expedited as quickly as possible.

‘The world is watching’ 
Professor Caleb Abraham from the Faculty of law at the University of Uyo said both Nigeria and Cameroon are signatories of the United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights. “In the light of these rights, the arrest and deportation of our colleagues is illegal and unconstitutional. Therefore, both the Nigerian and Cameroonian governments should implement this court ruling by ensuring these teachers and others are repatriated to Nigeria and their rights in Nigeria are enforced. The entire world is watching,” he said. Professor Adekunle Akinlaja from the Faculty of Law at Ambrose Alli University, Ekpoma, said both President Muhammadu Buhari of Nigeria and President Paul Biya of Cameroon may find it difficult to explain and rationalise their actions on this matter within the provisions of the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights and the UN’s Universal Declaration.  “However there is still room to rectify these wrongs,” he declared. Highlighting the lack of irrationality in the government’s actions, Dr Muktar Ismail, based in the Sociology Department at the University of Jos, said Dr Egbe Ogork was married to a Nigerian. “By right they are Nigerians. How would the Nigerian government rationalise its actions against those who by marriage are now Nigerians? Dr Kolawole Akomolafe from the Economics Department of the Federal University Oye-Ekiti, noted that the list of the “alleged plotters” included names of responsible scholars and teachers. “These are scholars and teachers who have dedicated their lives to the development of Nigeria. I have known them for over 20 years,” he declared.

Source: The Guardian

The Saint Joseph College in Sasse, Buea will be shutting its doors amid the growing insecurity, the Bishop of Buea, Immanuel Bushu said on Sunday.

Regular clashes between security forces and separatist fighters in Buea has made learning difficult and put the life of the students at risk forcing authorities to shut down the school, the Bishop said.

However, at least 200 students will be transferred to Tiko where they will camp at Christ the King College and prepare for the General Certificate of Education(GCE Exams) that will equally be written there.

The decision to shut down the Saint Joseph’s College Sasse was taken after a series of meetings during the week following the alleged kidnap and release of the principal on Sunday February 24.

A final meeting was reportedly held with parents, school and Catholic authorities on Sunday during which it was finally decided to shut down the academic establishment.

This is the second school that has been shut down in just over two weeks in the Anglophone regions after  Saint Augustine College in Kumbo was equally closed down by school authorities following the kidnap and release of over 150 students by gunmen.

Journal du Cameroun