Live from Colchester: A pictorial history of the SOBA UK 2019 Convention
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UK: SOBA Residential Convention 2019 kicks off in grand style in Colchester
Hundreds of people including leaders, proprietors, media gurus from across the world have converged on the Five Lakes Resort in Colchester for the SOBA Annual Residential Convention 2019.
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Nera 10: Biya’s selective amnesty dashes hopes of lecturers’ release
Observers of Cameroonian politics and higher education are baffled and disappointed by President Paul Biya’s decision not to include the six university teachers abducted from Abuja, Nigeria, and deported back to Cameroon in 2018 in his recently-granted amnesty for political prisoners.
Biya’s general amnesty announced in early October saw the unconditional release of 333 political prisoners, including Maurice Kamto, a professor of public law and former dean of the faculty of law at the University of Yaoundé and later faculty of law at the University of Ngaoundéré. He was jailed in January 2019 along with about 200 of his supporters because he contested last year’s presidential elections and claimed to have won.
Academics in the faculty of law at the University of Nice in France, where Kamto is an alumnus, and others at the Sorbonne and in Yaoundé universities as well as influential international jurists mounted pressure on both the French and Cameroonian governments to effect the unconditional release of Kamto.
“High profile colleagues in law circles both in Cameroon and France had to mount a lot of pressure on Paul Biya that he should use the opportunity of the flexible amnesty umbrella to free Maurice Kamto,” a professor of international relations at the University of Yaoundé who requested anonymity told University World News.
National dialogue
The amnesty came after Biya’s “National Dialogue Conference” which started on the last day of September and which brought together representatives of political parties and members of civil society organisations to discuss the demands emanating from the English-speaking part of the country for a return to the 1961 Constitution which guarantees federalism and equality between English- and the French-speaking regions.
It is this same protracted conflict that led to the detention of the forementioned academics in a hotel in Abuja, Nigeria, where they had apparently gathered to discuss the humanitarian situation facing Anglophone Cameroonian refugees in Nigeria.
Among those deported was Dr Sisiku Julius Ayuk Tabe of the American University of Nigeria in Yola, who is reportedly the first self-proclaimed president of ‘Ambazonia’, a breakaway state declared in October 2017 in two English-speaking regions of Cameroon.
The academics were among 47 separatists arrested at the same time. They were deported to Yaoundé where they were tried by a military tribunal, despite their civilian status, and sentenced to life imprisonment. The move prompted a flurry of appeals from within Cameroon and abroad.
Hopes for the release of the academics were high after National Dialogue participants recommended to Biya that all political prisoners should be unconditionally pardoned and released under the amnesty to allow wounds to heal.
Reasons for exclusion
In an exclusive interview via WhatsApp from Yaoundé, Barrister Shufai Blaise, the legal counsel for the university teachers, explained what he believed were the technical reasons for the government’s exclusion of the teachers from the amnesty.
“Those released from detention were either awaiting trial or their matters are pending in court. Thus President Paul Biya’s amnesty decree is a type of ‘nolle prosequi’ – in other words an order to stop further prosecution. Most of those released, if not all, were being prosecuted for misdemeanours,” he told University World News.
“These university teachers were tried and sentenced. This places them as a very special case. The president, if he so wishes, may make a separate and distinct amnesty order to release them. However, those five lecturers are considered what I called important bargaining chips for future negotiations. President Paul Biya is not in a hurry to release them now. They would be relevant in future negotiations,” he said.
Blaise described the academics as core members of a bigger political organisation fighting for, at the very least, the revival of the 1961 Constitution whose principles are those of federalism and equal rights between Anglophone and Francophone Cameroon.
He said there was enormous pressure from international organisations not only to release the lecturers but also to get the two parties to the negotiating table with a view to finding a permanent solution to the crisis.
Fear and uncertainty on campuses
Meanwhile, the continued detention of the academics has created an atmosphere of uncertainty and fear at the two Anglophone universities in Cameroon. At the universities of Buea and Bamenda there is a palpable air of fear developing because of the presence of security agents on the two campuses.
“Many of the university teachers in these two universities have taken refuge in Nigerian universities near the border where they have compassionate colleagues. Many Anglophone Cameroonian students have sat for admission examinations into Nigerian universities because of disruption of academic programmes in these two Anglophone universities in Cameroon,” said Dr Johnson Akpan, a physics lecturer who fled the University of Bamenda and is now resident in Calabar, a university town in neighbouring Nigeria.
The National Executive Council of the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) in Nigeria is considering a petition to the African Commission on Human and People’s Rights on the unlawful abduction from Nigeria of the university teachers.
The union is also planning to protest to the African Union the refusal of the Cameroonian government to obey a court order issued by a Nigerian court demanding the return of those abducted lecturers back to Nigeria.
Culled from University World News
Dr Fonyuy Nyuyki says Cameroon tops list of African medical students in Germany
The Cameroon Forum for Medical and Paramedical Sciences, Camfomedics now has a new leader. The German-based Non-Governmental Organization recently celebrated its 25th anniversary in the city of Essen. In this chat with the association’s new strongman, Dr Fonyuy Nyuyki, Camcordnews German Bureau Chief Tambe Ndip Arrah presents the man and his style
Cameroon Concord News: Goodbye Dr Ivo Azeh!!Welcome Dr. Fonyuy Nyuyki
Dr. Fonyuy Nyuyki: (laughs) Thank you, it´s always a pleasure sharing a conversation with you of the Cameroon Concord News Group
Cameroon Concord News: Let me begin by asking you Dr Fonyuy, What was unique about this 25th Anniversary and African Health Day?
Dr. Fonyuy Nyuyki: It wasn´t all about medical examination and test but also beneficiary to the participants was the dishing out of professional medical advice on how to live a healthy life style. Bringing Africans together via health care forums and information sharing workshops is striving for a healthier longer life for our people.
Cameroon Concord News: Dr. Ivo Azeh has handed over the baton of command to you. Are you going to maintain the status quo or are you coming into Camfomedics leadership with a new idea?
Dr. Fonyuy Nyuyki: Ivo is a legend (laughing). Actually, you know, he has done an amazing job, as you saw on the farewell presentation that we did for him! It´s was not all about praises because people spoke from their hearts and minds to express what they think about a man who brought honour and fame to Camfomedics
Of course there´s going to be permanency but we need to bring in some fresh concepts and revive some other things as I mentioned earlier during our general meeting session. There´s need to move Camfomedics forward. For instance, creating a lobby and mentoring group that will have key responsibility in guiding new medical students from Cameroon. The lobby group will also need to explain what our Cameroonian education system is all about to the Germany medical admission board. This will include inter alia the value of the Cameroon GCE Advance level vis-a-vis other African countries. Mindful of available statics in 2010, it will interest you to know that out of the 750 African medical students in Germany, 250 are from Cameroon and 140 from Nigeria. It’s like 1 in every 3 African medical student in Germany is a Cameroonian. This tells you that Cameroon is doing well in academic terms. Certainly, these numbers have been growing, and we need to build up and promote these figures which in turn will add up to the number of medical professionals.
Cameroon Concord News: We heard recently that Camfomedicas wants to get to the needy, in view of the socio-political situation in Cameroon. How do you intend to go about that?
Dr. Fonyuy Nyuyki: We have actually been doing something. War is not a good thing and its devastating effects in the societies are immense. Camfomedics is impartial, apolitical and we will help the victims irrespective of their background or political divide. We launched a fund to this effect and we are appealing to all races in planet earth to support this fund, so that we can together help the suffering people. We are collaborating with local organization to make sure that the aid gets to the affected population.
Cameroon Concord News: How is the relation between Camfomedics and your colleagues of the other medical associations in Germany, for example the German medical organization?
Dr. Fonyuy Nyuyki: The bill of health is positive. We have a good partnership, with the Deutsch Ärtzkammer – their boss was with us in Hamburg last year. Both at national and at regional level, we are pulling on well and we hope to keep this reputational relationship in a better and productive way.
Cameroon Concord News: Thank you very much for your time! It was nice talking to you Dr. Fonyuy Nyuyki.
Dr. Fonyuy Nyuyki: Thanks for having me.
Reported by Tambe Ndip Arrah
Facebook says it suspended Russian disinformation campaign targeting Africa
Facebook said on Wednesday it took down accounts linked to a Russian ally of President Vladimir Putin seeking to spread disinformation on the social network in eight African countries.
The operations hiding behind fake identities were linked to Yevgeny Prigozhin, who has been indicted in the United States in connection with an influence campaign targeting the 2016 US elections.
“Each of these operations created networks of accounts to mislead others about who they were and what they were doing,” Facebook cybersecurity chief Nathaniel Gleicher said in a statement.
“We have shared information about our findings with law enforcement, policymakers and industry partners.”
The accounts originated in Russia and targeted Madagascar, Central African Republic, Mozambique, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Ivory Coast, Cameroon, Sudan and Libya, according to Facebook.
The move is the latest effort by the social media giant to halt foreign influence efforts in the United States and other parts of the world.
The company described three separate operations targeting both Facebook and Instagram users.
One operation included 35 accounts and 53 pages that focused on Central African Republic, Mozambique, Democratic Republic of Congo, Ivory Coast and Cameroon.
The effort attracted some 475,000 followers and spent $77,000 for ads posting on global and local political news including Russian policies in Africa and criticism of French and US policies.
A separate operation targeting Sudan included 20 different accounts and 18 pages, some posing as news organizations.
The third network, focused on Libya, involved 15 accounts and 12 pages posting about local news and geopolitical issues.
“We’re constantly working to detect and stop this type of activity because we don’t want our services to be used to manipulate people,” Gleicher said.
“In each of these cases, the people behind this activity coordinated with one another and used fake accounts to misrepresent themselves, and that was the basis for our action.”
Link to mercenary group
Stanford University researchers who worked in parallel with Facebook on the investigation said at least some of the Facebook accounts came from Russia’s Wagner Group, a shadowy private army which is believed to have been active in conflicts in Syria and Ukraine, and sent mercenaries to the Central African Republic and Sudan.
Prigozhin is believed to be behind the Internet Research Agency, which has been linked to US election interference, as well as the Wagner Group.
A statement from Stanford’s Cyber Policy Center said the operations appear to be “at least in part at the behest of a state actor” but also relied on subcontractors who are native speakers or people within the region, making it harder to detect.
“In addition to well-known social media platforms such as Twitter and Facebook, the actors leveraged public WhatsApp and Telegram groups,” the Stanford team said.
“The operation used social media engagement tactics designed to develop a close relationship with the audience, including Facebook Live videos, Google Forms for feedback, and a contest.”
The researchers said the operation appears to be part of “Russia’s global strategy for reasserting itself as a geopolitical superpower” and follows the deployment of paramilitary groups in Libya and the Central African Republic.
Putin last year surprised the West with a string of high-profile moves that strengthened Russia’s influence in the CAR, an extremely poor but strategically important country that has traditionally had close ties to France, the former colonial power.
Russia sent military trainers to the CAR’s beleaguered armed forces, a senior aide to advise the president and mercenaries to provide his security, and offered to mediate between the government and the country’s many rebel groups.
(AFP)
Cameroon couple living ‘Russian dream’
Decked out in gold jewellery and high-end fashion, Walter and Cindy Tchassem descend on a Moscow fast-food joint escorted by bodyguards.
Both originally from Cameroon, the couple are at the centre of a music and restaurant business empire in Russia.
“People can’t understand how we did it, it’s unique,” Walter, 37, tells AFP at an outlet of the couple’s Black Star burger chain on Moscow’s Novy Arbat commercial strip.
“But I always say to them: When you believe in yourself and you work hard, anything is possible.”
As President Vladimir Putin hosts African leaders this week for the first ever Russia-Africa summit, the Tchassems are a high-profile example of African entrepreneurial success in the country.
The son of a Cameroonian diplomat in Moscow, Walter has lived in Russia for 25 years and taken Russian citizenship.
He co-founded Black Star in 2006 with two school friends, hip-hop artist Timati and businessman Pavel Kuryanov.
Originally a music label, Black Star has grown into a major brand, expanding into street-wear and restaurants, with about 100 shops and burger chain outlets throughout the former Soviet Union and plans to expand into Europe.
Walter says it’s hardly surprising Moscow is looking to build ties with fast-growing Africa.
“In the long-term it’s Africa that will be the winner, because Russia offers a lot of opportunities,” he says.
The ex-Soviet Union can be a tricky place to do business, but Walter says he hasn’t run into any problems.
“Our business is based on a lifestyle, it can go into any country because it’s not political,” he says, while still praising Russia’s Vladimir Putin as “the best president on the planet”.
– ‘New generation of Russians’ –
Cindy, 32, focuses on public relations for the firm, while supporting an orphanage in Cameroon’s economic capital Douala and planning to launch a charitable foundation.
She moved to Moscow in 2012 to join Walter after they met and married in Paris and the couple now have two sons aged four and six.
“You can build your own business in Russia by the age of 30, there is the potential for very fast success,” she says.
“You can easily get rich no matter how old you are,” Cindy says, though she admits Russia’s “very macho” culture can make it difficult for women entrepreneurs.
Despite the racist attacks that for years made headlines in Russia, the couple says they have never suffered from racism.
“I have never felt that; the new generation of Russians travels, they understand things,” Walter says.
In fact, he says: “I think it is less difficult here than in a country that colonised Africa.”
The couple’s business success has also helped them become social media stars.
Together they have more than 400,000 subscribers on Instagram, where they post glamourous pictures of trips on yachts or private jets.
Walter says they hope their success can be inspiring.
“We want to make other young Africans dream,” he says.
“There is this idea that the African is born to suffer, but this isn’t true, you have to believe in yourself and work!”
The couple are often seen in colourful outfits from top designers, and Walter admits that fashion “is kind of my drug”.
“I love it, I won’t hide that I spend an enormous amount on it,” he says.
His wife laughs. “He’s a fashion addict!”
Source: AFP
Nigerian painting fetches £1.1 million after Google search
A painting by the Nigerian artist responsible for the “African Mona Lisa” sold at auction in London on Tuesday for £1.1 million after the family who owned it googled the signature and realised its importance.
“Christine”, by 20th century master of African modernism Ben Enwonwu, had been in the sitter’s family home ever since it was painted in Lagos in 1971.
“The family were unaware of the significance of the painting or the importance of the artist, until a chance “googling” of the signature led them to Sotheby’s free Online Estimate Platform,” said the London auction house.
The painting fetched over seven times the pre-auction estimate, finally going under the hammer for £1.1 million (1.3 million euros, $1.4 million).
The work precedes the artist’s 1974 painting of Ife royal princess Adetutu “Tutu” Ademiluyi, which recently turned up in a London flat after not being seen in decades.
The portrait is a national icon in Nigeria, with Booker Prize-winning novelist Ben Okri telling AFP that it was thought of as “the African Mona Lisa”.
Enwonwu, who died in 1994, is considered the father of Nigerian modernism.
He made three paintings of “Tutu”, the locations of all of which had been a mystery until the recent discovery.
The works became symbols of peace following the clash of ethnic groups in the Nigerian?Biafran conflict of the late 1960s.
Source: AFP
Germany: Camfomedics celebrates 25th Anniversary
The Cameroon Forum for Medical and Paramedical Sciences, Camfomedics – was founded on May 7, 1994 in Tübingen by Cameroonian students of medicine, pharmacy and dentistry in the Federal Republic of Germany.
The 4th to 5th October 2019 was reserved to celebrate the 25th anniversary of the organization and to make public a new plan of action engineered to move the association forward. An extra-ordinary event – The African Health Day was staged in the city of Essen, in which more than 20 medical professionals from Cameroon and Nigeria attended to the health needs of several African migrants residing in the North Rhine Westphalia province and even beyond.
Some Cameroonian medical experts from the UK, Canada, and USA were also there to offer some form of support service to the targeted population. Precious consultations, medical test, examinations and therapeutic advises were offered without charge to the hundreds of participants.
The climax of the outdoor event was the iMed Award 2019 that was honorably given to Dr Benice Ndofor. She was recognized for her precious engagement and for professionally instructing and guiding participants at the Camformedics Academy in Cameroon.
Camformedics success stories have all been registered under the supreme leadership of Dr. Ivo Azeh, who for over 10 years directed the body to extend its health services to benefit the underprivileged populace. The organization is now blessed with a new and dynamic leader in the person of Dr. Fonye Ki Nyui. Cameroon Concord News Tambe Ndip Arrah met with the Right Hon. Dr Ivo Azeh during the 20th anniversary celebration. Below is his short and soul-searching conversation with the medical man.
Cameroon Concord News: Dr. Ivo Azeh thanks for accepting to talk to us! We learnt on this occasion of the 25th anniversary and the African Health Day that Camfomedics offered free consultations to the German public. What was the motivation?
Dr. Ivo Azeh: Well, it was a German public event but it was really tailored to meet the needs of Africans who live in Germany and that´s why we call it the African Health Day. We realized that we have different access to health services and people of African origin have other determinants. Our program is a health outreach, a health promotion activity to reach out to many Africans to offer them our health services and also to let Africans understand how the German health care system functions. Moreover, to guide them on how they can get better access to the health care system, and most importantly to inform them of particularities that prevail amongst African immigrants. So really it was an outreach deemed to reach out to people of African origin.
Cameroon Concord News: Talking about free medical examination, test and consultation. As the leader, what bill of health can you give to this event? Was it successful and satisfactory and did you attain your goals?
Dr. Ivo Azeh: Well, it was the first of its kind and it was amazing! We hope to continue with such activity! We did it with the Nigerian medical association. More than 20 medics of different specialities were attending to participants. I have never had an outreach event with so many medical professionals. The essential medical equipment was available to meet the requirement of the event. The turnout was good and we hope it would be better in future if we use different channels to inform people. We hope to continue with such activities.
Cameroon Concord News: We understand that you are leaving the leadership of Camfomedics. We watched the videos played, with so much appreciation and as tribute to you. It appears to be like Dr. Ivo Azeh is synonymous to Camfomedics. Your thoughts?
Dr. Ivo Azeh: Certainly, I must say it was really a surprise and am really touched by the videos and I am still like thinking, which Ivo are they talking about. I don´t have words to describe it, when your colleagues have so much high acknowledgements for what you have done! That is what keeps on motivating me throughout these years because there are a lot of people, I have confidence in; who are always available to respond when their support is required. Behind me was an active network of people who were providing the services we needed. So it´s not only me but collaborative work. I did a lot; likewise I owe the organization a lot. I gathered a lot of skills on how to manage, deal with and prevail over challenges that emanated from such activities professionally. I think the organization offers the possibility for young people to learn leadership skills and that´s what we are out for and am happy that we have young charismatic persons who are stepping in, learning, gaining experience and developing.
Cameroon Concord News: Can you proudly say Camfomedics as an institution that has its feet strongly rooted on the ground with the necessary structures for continuity?
Dr. Ivo Azeh: Obviously am leaving the executive but I am still a member of Camfomedics and in that capacity, I will continue to make contributions and participate efficiently to share the experience we need and guide the new executive. I believe they will be successful especially as the new president Dr. Fonyuy Nyuyki has been in the executive board for four years and we have been working together. I believe in continuity and we have a huge team of 7 people, many young enthusiastic. Undoubtedly, they will be able to promote and translate the aspirations of Camfomedics.
Biya Attends Opening Ceremony of Global Fund’s 6th Replenishment Conference
President Paul BIYA and wife – First Lady Chantal BIYA took part in the opening ceremony of the Global Fund’s sixth Replenishment Conference on 9 October 2019. They were welcomed at the Congress Centre of Lyon by Donald Kaberuka, Chairman of the Fund.
Speakers of the day were: Mr Gerard Collomb, the Mayor of Lyon; Her Excellency Professor Agnes Buzyn, French Minister of Solidarity and Health; Peter Sands, Executive Director of the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria; and Mr Pete Aguilar, Member of the U.S. House of Representatives.
Keynote addresses were delivered by President Roch Kabore of Burkina Faso and the President of Madagascar, H.E. Andry Rajoelina.
This was followed by high-level discussions and testimonies of three beneficiaries of the Global Fund’s actions around the world. The Friends of the Global Fund Europe also organised a session with four Nobel Laureates who exchanged views on how to step up the fight.
The closing remarks was made by H.E. Jean-Yves Le Drain, French Minister for Europe and Foreign Affairs.
Heads of State, Heads of Government and Heads of Delegation attended a dinner offered by French President Emmanuel Macron to end the day.
Culled from the PRC.cm
Biya in Lyon
Paul BIYA and wife – Chantal BIYA arrived at the Lyon-Saint Exupéry Airport on the evening of 8 October 2019.The 86 year old French Cameroun dictator travelled to France on the invitation of French President Emmanuel Macron and will attend the Global Fund’s Sixth Replenishment Conference on the fight against AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria that is scheduled for 9-10 October 2019.
The Global Fund seeks to accelerate the fight against HIV, TB and malaria. The conference in Lyon is expected to raise a minimum of 14 billion US dollars to save 16 million lives, prevent 234 million infections and eradicate these diseases.
Culled from the PRC with additional editing from Camcordnews
