17, August 2021

Football: Algeria figures as the team to avoid in Africa Cup of Nations draw ⁰

Record-setters Algeria, led by Manchester city winger Riyad Mahrez, will be the team to avoid when the draw for a 2021 Africa Cup of Nations seriously disrupted by the Covid-19 pandemic is made in the Cameroon capital of Yaoundé on Tuesday evening.

Defending champions Algeria set an African record for an unbeaten run by a senior national team in June when they won a friendly match in Tunisia to reach 27 matches without a loss.

That victory away at North African neighbour Tunisia eclipsed the record set by a Didier Drogba and Yaya Touré-inspired Ivory Coast side in February 2013.

Since losing a Cup of Nations qualifier in Benin 34 months ago, Algeria have won 20 competitive and friendly matches, drawn seven, scored 58 goals and conceded 17.

That sharp form makes the Desert Foxes early favourites to retain the Cup of Nations next February in Cameroon and conquer Africa for a third time.

Hosting Cup of Nations ‘irreversible achievement’ for Cameroon

They are among 24 qualifiers who will be split into six groups with the winners and runners-up in each plus the best four third-placed teams advancing to the knockout phase.

Algeria won the premier African national team competition for the first time in 1990 when they hosted an event then composed of eight teams and edged Nigeria 1-0 in the title decider.

A goal from Baghdad Bounedjah with less than two minutes on the clock in Cairo enabled Algeria to triumph again two years ago, this time over Liverpool winger Sadio Mané’s Senegal.

Algeria will be among the six top seeds for the Yaoundé draw and however bold other coaches’ public declarations may be before the event, privately they will be happy to dodge Mahrez and his teammates.

As one national coach, who requested anonymity, told AFP: “We say we do not fear any rivals, but desperately want to play potentially weak teams for as long as possible in any tournament.”

Premier Leaguer Mahrez is the star attraction in a squad composed of footballers, many born abroad to Algerian parents, who perform for European and Middle East clubs.

Full-back Aïssa Mandi, a long-time regular, recently swapped La Liga clubs, moving from Real Betis to Villarreal, and missed a penalty in the UEFA Super Cup shootout loss to Chelsea.

Belmadi ‘a national treasure’

Mandi is set to play in the upcoming Champions League group stage, as will other Algerians, including Mahrez and AC Milan midfielder Ismaël Bennacer.

Captain Mahrez says much of the praise for the 27-match unbeaten run and the 2019 Cup of Nations triumph must go to coach Djamel Belmadi, now 45 and a one-time Manchester City midfielder.

“He is a national treasure. You cannot exaggerate his importance to the team. The work of Djamel is deeply respected by all Algerians,” says the 2016 African Footballer of the Year.

It bears noting however that favourites have not succeeded in the Cup of Nations since 2010, when Egypt became the first country to win the competition three times in a row.

Zambia were shock winners in 2012. Nigeria exceeded expectations by finishing first in 2013 (when the tournament switched to odd-numbered years). And after many failures when favoured, it came as a surprise when the Ivory Coast finally triumphed in 2015.

Cameroon mocked the form book by succeeding in 2017. Finally, two years ago, hosts Egypt, Morocco and Tunisia were all considered stronger contenders to bring the cup to North Africa than the ultimately victorious Algeria.

Some coaches will be under extreme pressure in Cameroon to go far, notably Bosnian Vahid Halilhodzic with Morocco and German Gernot Rohr with Nigeria.

A condition of the Halilhodzic contract is that he must reach the semi-finals at least while Nigerian football bosses have told Rohr to win the competition.

Besides Algeria, the other first seeds and strong title contenders are Cameroon, Senegal, Tunisia, Nigeria and Morocco.

Record seven-time champions Egypt, Ghana and Ivory Coast are other possible winners and those looking for a long-shot could consider Mali, who were runners-up to Congo when Cameroon last hosted the tournament 49 years ago.

Cameroon were selected to stage the 2019 tournament, but fell behind with stadia and other preparations and Egypt had to take over at short notice.

Given a second chance, the central African nation have had to postpone the tournament twice due to wet weather concerns and the Covid-19 pandemic and even the draw, originally set for June, was delayed by the pandemic.

(FRANCE 24 with AFP)

17, August 2021

Biden defends withdrawal of US troops from Afghanistan ⁰

US President Joe Biden on Monday defended his decision to withdraw US troops from Afghanistan, noting there was no good time to withdraw from America’s longest war while waiting for Afghan troops to be able and willing to confront the Taliban. “American troops cannot and should not be fighting in a war and dying in a war that Afghan forces are not willing to fight for themselves,” he said.

President Joe Biden said on Monday he stood “squarely behind” his decision to withdraw U.S. troops from Afghanistan despite searing images of chaos in Kabul that exposed the limits of U.S. power and plunged him into the worst crisis of his presidency.

Breaking his silence on the U.S. pullout after scenes of bedlam dominated television news channels for days, Biden blamed the Taliban’s takeover in Afghanistan on Afghan political leaders who fled the country and the unwillingness of the U.S.-trained Afghan army to fight the militant group.

He warned Taliban leaders they would face “devastating force” should they interfere with the U.S. pullout. Biden was forced to send U.S. troop reinforcements to Kabul to ensure a safe withdrawal of American diplomatic personnel and civilians as well as Afghan citizens who worked with the United States and could face reprisals.

The panicked evacuation, coming weeks after Biden predicted the Taliban’s takeover in Afghanistan was not inevitable, has dented America’s image on the global stage just as Biden has sought to emphasize to world leaders that “America is back” after former President Donald Trump’s tumultuous four years.

The pullout has also raised fears that militant groups like al Qaeda could reconstitute under Taliban rule.

Biden, rejecting harsh criticism of his Afghan policy from Republican and Democratic lawmakers, some former generals and human rights groups, was resolute in defending his withdrawal from a 20-year war that endured through four presidencies.

We went to Afghanistan almost 20 years ago with clear goals: get those who attacked us on September 11, 2001—and make sure al Qaeda could not use Afghanistan as a base from which to attack us again.

We did that—a decade ago.

Our mission was never supposed to be nation building.

“I stand squarely behind my decision,” Biden said in a televised speech at the White House. “After 20 years I’ve learned the hard way that there was never a good time to withdraw U.S. forces. That’s why we’re still there.”

Biden said he found some of the scenes of chaos in Kabul “gut-wrenching” but that he did not start moving out evacuees sooner because Afghan President Ashraf Ghani did not want a mass exodus.

Political Risks Unclear

He acknowledged that the Taliban’s speed in retaking the country was unexpected. The rapid advance stunned American officials who predicted that the Afghan army would either repel the militants or hold them off for months.

“The truth is: This did unfold more quickly than we anticipated. So what’s happened? Afghanistan political leaders gave up and fled the country. The Afghan military gave up, sometimes without trying to fight,” Biden said.

He also doled out criticism to his Republican predecessor, Trump, whose administration negotiated a deal with the Taliban that Biden said left the group “in the strongest position militarily since 2001.”

Critics of Biden have focused on the way the U.S. withdrawal is being carried out, as video showed Afghans flooding runways at the Kabul airport and desperately trying to grab the fuselage of a U.S. plane rolling on the tarmac.

“The president’s failure to acknowledge his disastrous withdrawal provides no comfort to Americans or our Afghan partners whose lives hang in the balance,” Republican Senator Mitt Romney said in a tweet.

Biden singled out for criticism the two main Afghan leaders, Ghani and Abdullah Abdullah, head of the country’s High Council for National Reconciliation, saying they had “flatly refused” his advice to seek a political settlement with the Taliban.

“How many more generations of America’s daughters and sons would you have me send to fight Afghans – Afghanistan’s civil war, when Afghan troops will not? How many more lives – American lives – is it worth? How many endless rows of headstones at Arlington National Cemetery?” Biden asked.

On Monday night, Biden on Monday authorized up to $500 million from an emergency fund to meet “unexpected urgent” refugee needs stemming from the situation in Afghanistan, including for Afghan special immigration visa applicants, the White House said.

The United States is preparing to begin evacuating thousands of Afghan applicants for special immigration visas (SIVs) who risk retaliation from Taliban insurgents because they worked for the U.S. government.

Whether Biden will face a long-term political risk for Afghanistan is unclear. Foreign policy does not typically play a major role in U.S. elections. Many Americans have expressed support for Trump’s and Biden’s decision to leave Afghanistan, America’s longest war. https://www.reuters.com/world/asia-pacific/americas-longest-war-20-years-missteps-afghanistan-2021-08-16

But Republican Representative Mike McCaul signaled his party might try to frame the Afghan chaos as a national security issue that makes the United States more vulnerable to terrorist attack.

“I think it is going to taint this presidency, to a large degree, on national security,” he said.

The United States and allies invaded Afghanistan following the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks on New York and Washington and toppled the Taliban, who had hosted al Qaeda militants responsible for the attack.

Biden also said his decision was a result of the commitment he made to American troops that he was not going to ask them to continue to risk their lives for a war that should have ended long ago.

“Our leaders did that in Vietnam when I got here as (a) young man. I will not do it in Afghanistan,” he said. “I know my decision will be criticized but I would rather take all that criticism than pass this decision on to another president.”

(REUTERS)

17, August 2021

2021 SOBA UK ANNUAL RESIDENTIAL CONVENTION LAUNCH ⁰

Today, SOBA UK announced the 2021 Annual Residential Convention, officially known as the SOBA UK ANNUAL RESIDENTIAL CONVENTION LAUNCH.

Currently in development, the 2021 SOBA UK ANNUAL RESIDENTIAL CONVENTION LAUNCH opens in a new tab and is being directed to “Appreciating Community Spirit”.

Poised to be the first major African event in the UK after the Covid-19 pandemic, SOBANS have developed the Annual Residential Convention Launch to address systemic diversity and equity issues deep within the Sasse Old Boys.

Below is the official statement from the SOBA UK leadership

We trust that you and your family are keeping well.

We are delighted to announce the 2021 SOBA UK Annual Residential Convention to be held at The Hilton at St George’s Park, Burton Upon Trent, from 15th to 17th October 2021. St George’s Park is the Home of the England National football teams and is a magnificent venue for Sobans, their families, and guests to have a great get away and the ultimate event experience over two days.

In 2018, SOBA UK selected St George’s Park and delivered one of its most successful conventions. The feedback from our guests were excellent and we hope to surpass that experience again this year. Some facts about The Hilton at St George’s Park are in the attached 3-paged flyer accompanying this launch

Covid-19 measures

In July, the UK Government lifted all lockdown restrictions relating to social gatherings. This has allowed SOBA UK and the Hilton to proceed with this convention. However, SOBA UK will seek to provide reasonable safety measures and encourages all guests to take the necessary Covid-19 measures, in line with government advice.

We encourage our guests to take their double vaccine jabs and/or take a Covid test prior to the event. The capacity at the event will be limited to 250 places to allow for sufficient distancing and guests will have access to hand sanitisers and temperature checks at entry. In addition, the gala event will start at 4.30pm and finish at 2.30am, to adjust to the new normal.

Convention theme

The theme of this year’s Convention is “Appreciating Community Spirit”, reflecting on the difficult year we have had as a community due to the Covid-19 pandemic, those who have suffered illness or lost loved ones, and on how we have missed the company of each other. This theme also extends to our communities in Cameroon who have benefitted from our collective kindness here in the UK from past fundraising initiatives. Our fundraising focus this year is equipping the Sasse College library. We will be looking to assist where possible and we look forward to your generous support. We will supplement our usual fundraising event at the gala with a GoFundMe campaign, which will be launched in the coming week.

We have allowed free time on the Saturday 16th October up to 4pm for Soban parents to spend quality time with their families at the venue. This has been made possible by moving our Annual General Assembly Meeting to take place virtually and a week prior to the convention.

We will make available the services of a children entertainer on the day on the Saturday 16th.

We will also be making available a nanny service (for a fee and subject to demand) on the Saturday night whilst parents attend the convention ball at the Sir Bobby Robson Ballroom. Please confirm upon booking your ticket the number of children in your party.

Given the early gala start time, we recognise the need to provide dinner for our children and we will be providing each family with snacks. Please confirm upon booking your ticket if you will require the snack and the number of children in your party.

We will make available the services of a children entertainer on the day on the Saturday 16th.

We will also be making available a nanny service (for a fee and subject to demand) on the Saturday night

whilst parents attend the convention ball at the Sir Bobby Robson Ballroom. Please confirm upon booking your ticket the number of children in your party.

Ticket price

SOBA UK always seeks to deliver great value events at competitive prices to our guests. However, following the year and half long pandemic shutdowns hotel venues have significantly increased their prices but we have modestly reflected these increased costs in our ticket prices. Our price will be £100 for a standard ticket with an early bird discount of £50 to a table of 10 guests which ends on 25th September. Please contact our sales agents for more details – contact and payment details are on the attached flyer.

Hotel rooms

There are limited rooms available, and rooms can only be purchase via the link provided below. The hotel is already sold out for Saturday 16th October, except for the rooms allocated to our guests. Please book your room as soon as possible. We expect the demand for hotel rooms to be very high for those seeking to stay at the venue. CLICK HERE TO OPEN HOTEL BOOKING LINK

On behalf of all Sobans in the UK, we say a big thank you in advance for your continued support of SOBA UK.

We encourage you to buy your tickets as soon as possible and begin your planning for the convention.

We look forward to welcoming you and your families at The Hilton at St George’s Park.

Kind regards

Franklin Egbe

President, SOBA UK On behalf of the SOBA UK Event Management team

16, August 2021

Biya goes home as Macron mounts pressure! ⁰

Cameroon’s president, Paul Biya, finally arrived Yaoundé in a very low-key event which was barely announced contrary to what his collaborators are used to doing.

He was welcomed at the airport by some of his closest collaborators who have been suffering in silence as the bad news regarding his health reached them in Yaoundé.

The Cameroon strong man, who never wears a mask, finally donned one, sparking rumors that he had been very sick and might have lost some teeth. Physically, the President looked trimmed and tired, a sign that he had gone through some health issues.

Mr. Biya, whose declining health has been a cause for concern to many in Cameroon, had been under enormous pressure to return home even when his Swiss doctors had advised against him returning to Cameroon which lacks state-of-art technology to take care of his multiple illnesses.

Even the French President, Emmanuel Macron, had been urging the ailing Cameroonian president to return home before the constitutional provision that might result in the opposition calling for a declaration of a vacancy due to ill health or insanity, kicked in sometime next week.

The French are still looking for somebody who can validly replace Mr. Biya whom they consider too old and too frail to continue to defend their interests in Cameroon.

Before boarding the private jet to Cameroon, Mr. Biya’s Swiss doctors who were opposed to his return gave him some good doses of steroids which enabled him to beat any pain and to have the energy to get out of the airplane and walk to his limousine, a source in Geneva told the Cameroon Concord News Group.

“Mr. Biya is scheduled to return to Europe in a few weeks where he is expected to continue with his treatment. A Swiss medical expert will be in Yaoundé for a couple of weeks to continue monitoring the President whose health situation is still a major concern. The medical expert will be working in close collaboration with his colleagues in Geneva to ensure all goes according to plan,” the source added.

Mr. Biya, who is expected to receive the CAF president tomorrow, and then preside over the CEMAC Heads of State Summit, will be expected to stay away from the public because of his health and the Coronavirus which can easily eliminate him due to his age and co-mobidity, although he has taken his two doses of the anti-covid vaccine.

It is rumored that he is currently working on a new cabinet and this will imply ridding himself of some of the sycophants who have been responsible for the escalation of the Southern Cameroons crisis.

Many cabinet ministers are aware of the cabinet reshuffle and many have been working extra hard to prove that they are loyal and capable of helping the dictator implement his political and economic agenda which has only plunged the country into multiple crisis.

Mr. Biya is expected to be briefed by the Minister of Defense, Joseph Beti Assomo, on the unfortunate drama playing out in the two English-speaking regions of the country and in the Far North region where Boko Haram is blowing up many soldiers and a civil war between two tribes is playing out in a very ugly way.

The Cameroon Concord News Group’s correspondent in Yaoundé, Rita Akana, is keeping a close eye on things and has reported that there is an uncertain calm in Yaoundé, though there is relief that the main architect of the destructive corruption in Cameroon is back.

She has also pointed out that though the president’s return is good news to his collaborators, many Cameroonians still hold that Mr. Biya has overstayed his welcome and that it is time for a new generation to steer the country to safer shores.

Many Cameroonians are reluctant to express their minds in public because of the tidal wave of fear and intimidation that Mr. Biya has engineered but behind the scenes, they say that he clearly belongs to the past and that they are looking forward to the day this complicated equation will be solved.

More will be yours as we get more details.

Soter Tarh Agbaw-Ebai

16, August 2021

Boko Haram kills five Cameroon gov’t soldiers, one civilian in Far North ⁰

An attack by Boko Haram killed five Cameroonian soldiers and a civilian, according to a defense ministry statement on state radio Tuesday.

The attack took place on Monday night in the far north of the central African country near the border with Nigeria, where operations by the Islamist group have been on the rise, reported AFP.

Meanwhile, Reuters said the attack happened during a raid on the military outpost in the country’s far north, local authorities said on Tuesday, the second deadly raid in the area in the past week.

An army post in the village of Zigue was attacked at around 9 p.m. (20:00 GMT) on Monday, according to two officials who asked not to be identified.

The attack follows a raid that took place around 50 km (30 miles) north of Zigue on Saturday, which was claimed by Daesh. Eight soldiers were killed in that raid, according to the defense ministry.

Cameroon, alongside neighboring Nigeria and Chad, has been battling the Boko Haram militant group for years, but more recently has clashed with fighters who identify themselves as Daesh West African Province (DWAP).

In the aftermath of the death of Boko Haram leader Abubakar Shekau in May, DWAP has sought to absorb Boko Haram fighters and unify the groups which had hitherto fought one another for control of territory.

With AFP and Reuters

16, August 2021

French Cameroun: 10,000 flee Far North region violence to Chad ⁰

At least 10,000 people, mostly women and children, have fled into Chad from northern Cameroon this week after deadly clashes between herding and fishing communities, the UN said Sunday.

Twelve people were killed and dozens wounded in the violence, which erupted Tuesday in the Far North region, a tongue of land wedged between Nigeria to the west and Chad to the east.

“The pressing needs are for health services, shelter and food,” said Iris Blom, the United Nations refugee agency’s deputy director in Chad.

She said 85 percent of the refugees who fled to Oundouma, south of the Chadian capital N’Djamena, were women and children.

The fighting in Cameroon began when Muslims built dams to divert water to help them catch fish, in a location where ethnic Arab Choa herders also take their cattle for watering, according to regional governor Midjiyawa Bakari.

Clashes between ethnic groups are rare in Cameroon but frequent in Chad and Nigeria, particularly between sedentary farmers and semi-nomadic herders.

In Chad, the local governor said authorities were moving to ensure the conflict does not spill across the border from Cameroon.

Chari-Baguirmi Governor Gayang Souare said some of the refugees were placed with families, while others were lodged in schools and churches.

Cameroon’s Far North is also struggling with cross-border attacks by jihadists from northeastern Nigeria.

Source: AFP

16, August 2021

Yaoundé: Risking Biya’s life for the optics ⁰

The CPDM government will never run out of tricks provided those tricks help it to prove a point. They are currently concocting a plan that might expose the country’s ailing president, Paul Biya, to a massive risk.

The Yaoundé government has decided to terminate Mr. Biya’s long health visit to Geneva to prove that he is up to the task so that he can avoid the political embarrassment that may play out sometime next week.

Mr. Biya will no longer be the country’s president if he overstays the 45 days stipulated by the country’s constitution.

He has been out of the country for almost 40 days and the political opposition is already preparing a motion which will be submitted to the Parliament and Senate sometime next week which might result in the declaration of a vacancy due to poor health or insanity.

The move to take him to Yaoundé goes against the wise counsel of Swiss medical experts who hold that the long trip back home could be a death sentence to the 89-year-old Biya who has lost a lot of weight and has not been eating properly for days

A source in Geneva has informed the Cameroon Concord News Group’s correspondent in Geneva that Mr. Biya is a shadow of his former self and the long trip back home could end up being a finisher if proper measures are not taking during the flight.

According to the source, which elected anonymity, the Yaoundé government is taking a massive risk to transport a breathing bag of bones back home. The odds are stacked up against the desperately ill Biya.

“We are really watching the meaningless drama that is unfolding right in front of own eyes. Mr. Biya should be resting in a well equipped medical facility that should guarantee him good health care instead of heading home to prove that he can rule the country,” the source said.

“The best decision will be for him to honorably resign and hand over to someone who can hold the country together. Mr. Biya is sick. He is losing his mind. He is not coherent when he talks. He is frail and may not survive the fatigue that comes after a long flight. He needs to know that at his age, his health is more important than anything else,” the source added.

“The country’s ruling party is playing Russian roulette with Mr. Biya’s life and it is indeed unfortunate that his wife is playing along with those politicians who are doing all they can to protect their own parochial interests,” the source said.

“When you take a very close look at the man, you can figure out that he is really sick. He seems to be losing his mind and it is obvious that besides his debilitating heart disease, diabetes and high blood pressure, he is also suffering from dementia or Alzheimers. This is too much for an 89-year-old man to handle, but the pressure from Yaoundé to ensure that he returns to Cameroon, makes it hard for him to respond positively to treatment,” the source stressed.

Currently, there are police officers and soldiers in downtown Yaoundé, a sign that Mr. Biya might be returning, but nobody is really sure, especially as his multiple diseases are determined to take him out of existence. The diseases know they are dealing with a tough cookie and they understand that his exit must be gradual and painful for him to regret the pain he has inflicted on Cameroonians.

Though there are police officers all over the capital, Yaoundé, many people still hold it is a gimmick orchestrated by the crime syndicate ruling the country to pull a fast one on the gullible people of Cameroon.

Pictures of Mr. Biya and his family returning to Cameroon will not be televised because of how he currently looks. He is frail and out of steam and is incapable of walking without help, a source in Geneva said.

The decision to bring him home is purely political, especially as he is expected to virtually preside over a CEMAC Heads of State Conference on Wednesday, August 18, 2021. It is clear that a recorded speech will be delivered while the Prime Minister will continue to represent the ailing president in other events during the conference that will be held via video.

Cameroonians are waiting to see their president who has been hastily patched together by Swiss experts, but they know that they might not be seeing him soon in public because of his failing health.

They know his collaborators are just seeking to demonstrate that he is doing well and to avoid the declaration of a vacancy in the country.

Even if Mr. Biya heads to Cameroon today, he will be returning to Switzerland in a few days to continue with his treatment. The trip to Cameroon is simply to politically protect him and his cohorts. It is not in any way a sign that he is healthy and can effectively rule Cameroon.

Cameroonians must continue to hold that dark clouds are really gathering over their country. Biya will surely leave, but he wants to leave, leaving behind chaos that will set the country back by a century. That is what is disturbing, a source in Yaoundé said.

For now, Cameroonians have taken the wait-and-see posture. They know their government. It is a government that lies through its teeth. The government has lost credibility and the current drama about Mr. Biya’s health is one more reason for them to understand that they should always take any story from their government with a pinch of salt.

By Soter Tarh Agbaw-Ebai

15, August 2021

Cameroon: Yaoundé in the grip of an ominous silence ⁰

Many people always think the graveyard is the quietest place on earth, but Yaoundé, Cameroon’s capital, is proving that assertion wrong.

Ever since the health situation of the country’s president, Paul Biya, took a turn for the worse, the country’s capital, Yaoundé, has been engulfed by an ominous silence which is worrying to millions.

It has been announced twice that Mr. Biya will be returning to Yaoundé to continue spreading corruption, death and destruction as he has done over the last four decades, but the announcement turned out to be a “stillbirth“.

It is now emerging that Mr. Biya will not be returning to Cameroon anytime soon as his health situation becomes more concerning.

The Cameroon Concord News Group’s correspondent in Geneva has been reliably informed by sources close to the Cameroonian dictator that Cameroonians could be praying for the best, but should be doing more to prepare for the worst, as the news on the horizon is not comforting.

Mr. Biya is terribly sick and he has been pinned down in a Geneva clinic by multiple illnesses which will not be going away anytime soon. His breathing has become heavy, and he is pale and fragile, a source in Geneva told the Cameroon Concord News Group’s correspondent.

His family is counting on prayers, but prayers and medications are simply not delivering the results Swiss medical experts have been hoping for, and in Yaoundé, Mr. Biya’s collaborators are not having a good night’s sleep.

In a few days time, a vacancy will be declared due to Mr. Biya’s inability to run the country. The political opposition is already working with lawyers to come up with a motion both in the Senate and in Parliament, though many political analysts are skeptical about the success of such a motion, given that the president’s ruling party, the CPDM, also known as the crime syndicate occupies a safe majority in both houses.

The mere thought of such a possibility is taking a toll on the health of Mr. Biya’s collaborators who have directly or indirectly participated in the looting of the country’s resources.

A few days ago, there was hope that Mr. Biya could come through, but today’s information clearly points to a deteriorating health situation which may not end well. The old, frail lion has lost a lot of weight and his refusal to eat spells doom for many who have served him blindly. His physical frailty and his toothless mouth make it hard for him to be presented to the public. It will take a very long time for Cameroonians to see the president they love to hate in public.

Mr Biya’s heart is racing and for his age, this is not good news, especially for his family. His age and degree of fragility make it hard for certain treatments to be administered on him.

The Yaoundé strong man is gradually giving up the ghost. He seems to be living his last days and the possibility of power changing hands in Cameroon is growing bigger by the day.

Biya is losing it. His family is really concerned and in Yaoundé, regime insiders are making alternative plans, a source close to the Presidency of the Republic has informed the Cameroon Concord News Group.

Last week, there were concerns at the French Foreign Ministry. Officials at the French Foreign Ministry are already discussing Mr. Biya using the past tense. He is of no use to them. He has simply outlived his usefulness.

They know he is very likely to bow to the inevitable and are hard at work to figure out who will validly replace him and protect French economic and military interest in Cameroon, especially at a time when the country is gradually imploding, as it is in the grip of multiple conflicts.

Mr. Biya has always ruled the country based on instructions from Champs Élysees and he has perpetuated himself in power thanks to his divide-and-rule strategy and the massive tidal wave of corruption and intimidation he has engineered over the last four decades.

He might have succeeded to rule by intimidation, but he has simply pitted other regions of the country against his own region and it is gradually emerging that there will be an orgy of killings that will play out once Cameroonians learn that he is dead and gone.

The other regions are very mad at the Betis. They have aided and abetted the government in enforcing a reign of terror in Cameroon and other Cameroonians are fully aware of this and they have been planning a revenge that might shock the world.

If the international community is not careful, it might deal with another Rwanda in Cameroon. Angers are flaring up. Unemployment has reduced many young men to paupers and corruption has carefully excluded many Cameroonians from many opportunities, even those found in their own regions of the country.

Out of 44 ministries, the Betis occupy 32. They account for more than 70% of Senior Divisional Officers in Cameroon whereas they account for less than 10% of the population. Such flagrant injustice is what might cause the country to go through a long spell of bloodletting.

The Betis also have the highest number of senior military and police officials in the country and this explains why the government’s reaction to the Southern Cameroons crisis has been anything but peaceful.

The Betis hold that only military violence can ensure Cameroon remains one and indivisible, but after four years, it is obvious that their strategy is rather counter-productive.

Many soldiers of Beti extraction have met their death in the killing fields of Southern Cameroons and each family in the Center and South Regions has been affected by a war that was hastily declared by the ailing and senile Biya.

Since the Southern Cameroons crisis started in 2016, some ten thousand Cameroonians have been killed with some 3,000 soldiers dying in battle and more than 3,000 ending up with physical and mental scars that will not be going away anytime soon.

The fighting in the country’s two English-speaking regions which are the richest has hurt the country’s economy, leaving many state corporations operating at half capacity. The unemployment rate due to the fighting is incredibly high and this has triggered a tidal wave of criminality and cruelty in the regions.

Though many Cameroonians hold that death will not be a befitting punishment for Mr. Biya who has ruled the country with an iron fist and robbed them of their dignity and a happy life, millions believe that his death will be a good riddance.

By Soter Tarh Agbaw-Ebai

15, August 2021

Football: Messi gets huge ovation from PSG supporters ahead of French league game ⁰

Lionel Messi stood and smiled, looking transfixed as Paris Saint-Germain fans chanted the soccer great’s name — “Leo Messi, Leo Messi” — before Saturday’s French league game against Strasbourg. Not yet fully fit, Messi did not make the match squad, but saw his new club beat Strasbourg 4-2.

PSG’s latest signing joined four other recruits as they were presented before some 49,000 fans at Parc des Princes before kickoff.

Messi was not in the actual squad for the game. He only recently returned from an extended holiday after helping Argentina win the Copa America.

In a scene which few could have predicted even recently, former Real Madrid captain Sergio Ramos applauded Messi — his eternal Barcelona nemesis and the all-time record scorer in “Clasicos” between Barcelona and Madrid — as he joined him on the podium.

Italy’s Euro 2020 star goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma, Netherlands captain Georginio Wijnaldum, and former Inter Milan right back Achraf Hakimi were all given loud ovations.

But nothing compared to the huge one reserved for Messi, a four-time Champions League and six-time Golden Ball winner.

He joined PSG on a two-year deal this week after his new deal with Barcelona sensationally collapsed and left him in tears as PSG moved quickly.

Earlier Saturday, coach Christophe Galtier returned to Lille and punished his old club as Nice won 4-0.

Striker Kasper Dolberg and midfielder Hichem Boudaoui scored inside the first four minutes, with lively forward Amine Gouiri involved in both.

Lille clawed back from 3-1 down to draw 3-3 last weekend, but there was no comeback this time as Gouiri made it 3-0 from the penalty spot shortly after the break and Dolberg headed in his second midway through the second half.

Last season, Galtier’s excellent coaching helped Lille win the title against the odds.

But Lille was not keen on letting him leave one year before the end of his contract, and Nice had to pay 4 million euros ($4.7 million) in compensation. This created tense relations between Galtier and Lille president Olivier Letang.

It must have been a strange sight for Galtier as the league trophy he won, and the recent Champions Trophy, were presented to the home fans.

They were soon in despondent mood as Nice went 2-0 up.

Playing his first match since scoring three goals for Denmark at Euro 2020, Dolberg found the net in the first minute from close range.

Poor defending from Zeki Celik under pressure from Dolberg resulted in Gouri setting up Boudaoui and he smacked a firm shot past Lille’s new goalkeeper Leo Jardim — who has conceded seven in two games since replacing Mike Maignan.

Marseille hosts Bordeaux in the pick of Sunday’s games.

Monaco lost 1-0 at Lorient on Friday and has only one point from its opening two games, having finished third last season.

(FRANCE 24 with AP)

14, August 2021

Irish Football: Bohemians Nickson Okosun still Osam’s man ⁰

Osam is working through his options with the U16s set for an international double-header in September and then the prestigious Victory Shield tournament, which is scheduled for October in Belfast.

The U16 Head Coach, who has twice led Ireland to Victory Shield glory, will be giving his 2006-born players a first taste of international football after they missed out on experience at U15 level due to COVID-19.

Republic of Ireland Under-16 training camp squad

Goalkeepers: Jason Healy (Waterford), Ryan Maher (Bohemians)

Defenders: Sean Hayden (St. Patrick’s Athletic), Orlandas Jakas (Shamrock Rovers), Sean Mackey (St. Patrick’s Athletic), Corey O’Sullivan (Shamrock Rovers), Eoin Sheerin (Athlone Town), Patrick Sweicka (Cork City)

Midfielders: Anthony Dodd (St. Patrick’s Athletic), Luke Kehir (St. Patrick’s Athletic), Taylor Mooney (St. Patrick’s Athletic), Leo Healy (Klub Kildare), Naz Raji (Shamrock Rovers), Freddie Turley (Shamrock Rovers)

Forwards: Trent Kone Doherty (Derry City), Michael Cherico (Bray Wanderers), Odhran McLouglin (Shamrock Rovers), Brian Moore (St. Patrick’s Athletic), Nickson Okosun (Bohemians)