By Walter Wilson Nana
Buea, Cameroon.
Dr. Nalova Lyonga, Vice Chancellor, VC, of the University of Buea, UB, has expressed joy that her institution is a beneficiary of Cameroon’s membership in the Francophonie.
At celebrations marking the International Day of the Francophonie in UB recently, the UB VC enumerated some of the benefits her university has achieved from the Francophonie via the French Embassy in Yaoundé and related cooperation missions in Cameroon.
UB Vice Chancellor, encouraging lecturers in the French Department during francophonie celebration
Besides the presence of a French Technical Adviser lodged at the French Department, Faculty of Arts, UB, with a mission to build the capacity of the department at the level of students and lecturers, Nalova mentioned that several lecturers from UB, especially those in the Faculty of Arts, have had scholarships and other academic grants thanks to the Francophonie.
Senior officials of UB at the Francophonie celebrations.
She saw in the French language another tool for academic development. “The Francophonie is out to promote the culture of its members, democracy, human rights, while serving as an inter-governmental agency,” she noted.
According to Nalova, the French language is another important language for Cameroonians. “Cameroon inherited two languages from her colonial masters – English and French and these languages are to be used in the way it should be. These are languages for the benefit of our children and nothing else,” she added.
Hycinthe Porcher, French Technical Adviser at the French Department, UB.
The UB VC advised Cameroonians that they should look at what they do with the language and not where it is coming from.
She announced that the French Embassy in Cameroon has expressed the wish to give over the Alliance Franco-Camerounaise, AFC, Buea to UB for the purpose of a research centre and other academic activities. “We’re discussing the details of the handover and more,” Nalova added.
In an academic discourse on the theme; Go For The French Language, moderated by Prof. Pierre Fandio, Head of the French Department, UB, Charles Tiayon, Deputy Director of Advanced School of Translation and Interpretation, ASTI, UB, noted that the future of the French language is in the African Continent.
Students in the Francophonie Club in UB animated the celebrations.
Tiayon posited that the development of the French language does not mean the death of other languages.
The second speaker, Blaise Ngandeu, lecturer, French Department, UB, talked on how to get closer and love the French language, while giving some tips.
In his 2013 message, which was read during the celebrations in UB, the Secretary General of the Francophonie, Abdou Diouf, invited member countries to not only celebrate the French language but to show a deep sense of solidarity, generosity and fraternity to one another, especially in the fight against terrorism.
Diouf cited the case of Mali where France and other countries stepped in recently, to show solidarity and support to the Malians, while praying that they should, in the nearest future regain their territorial integrity and the population to live in peace and security.
The Francophonie SG entreated members to not only speak the same language but should do so even in times of differences, while upholding the principles of valour, democracy, human rights, linguistic and cultural diversity, equity, social justice and ethics in financial and economic management.
