By Walter Wilson Nana
Buea, Cameroon
The Southwest Regional Coordination of the National Civic Service Agency for Participation in Development, will focus its 2013 activities towards mobilising some vulnerable members of the society.
At a recent launch of its activities in Buea, Southwest Regional Coordinator for the National Civic Service Agency, Ivo Vevanje said some one hundred individuals, age 17 – 45 and within the vulnerable bracket will undergo a special training session. “We will get down to the field to, mobilise and select the young people for the training. They are expected to come together as a people with same aspirations, objectives and expectations that will run through to the end of the training so that we avoid the confusion of the past,” he said.
Clement Fon Ndikum chaired the session and moderated the discussions
Though it is open to all Cameroonians, Vevanje noted that those in less privileged locations and situations will have the pride of place for the special training opportunity. “The Mbororos, street children, pigmies and those in the border towns, especially in the Bakassi area, Ekok, Akwaya, Idenau and Ndian Division of the Southwest Region. These are inspirations we got from the board members of the National Civic Service Agency,” he added.
Youth development is no joking matter
According to John Esua, Director at the head office of the National Civic Service Agency in Yaoundé, the Southwest Region has a hundred places for the training opportunities and these individuals will be selected by the Southwest Regional selection committee composed of various governmental institutions. “They are working closely with administrative, municipal and traditional authorities. The one hundred conscripts we are looking out for now, are part of a programme we have established along the volunteers of last
Members of the Southwest Regional Selection Committee in conclave
year,” he mentioned.
Esua dismissed fears that the financial assistance made available for those to be trained and to start up a project after their training will not be diverted for other reasons. “The administrative, regional authorities and teams from the National Civic Service Agency will regularly be on the field to ensure that the missions we have been assigned go on hitch free and the funds used for the purpose meant for,” he said. He will add that since the selected persons will be working in groups, it will be difficult for the money allocated for their project to be pilfered. “Individuals in the groups will be serving as monitors to themselves. So, if an individual does not want his group to move on smoothly that information will get to us immediately,” Esua mentioned.
Secretary General in the Southwest Governor’s office, Clement Fon Ndikum, enjoined members of the Southwest Regional selection committee to respect the instructions from the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Civic Education, adding that they have to be rigorous, transparent and objective in their approach.
