By Walter Wilson Nana
Buea, Cameroon
The 6,213 freshmen, enrolled into the University of Buea, UB, for the 2013/2024 academic year have been told to show a deep sense of maturity and exemplary attitude during their sojourn in UB. This was the kernel of the message of the UB Vice Chancellor, Dr Nalova Lyonga at the 20th Matriculation Ceremony for the 21st batch of students admitted into the Anglo-Saxon styled university in Cameroon.
Dr. Nalova Lyonga, UB VC delivering her speech to the freshmen and guests at the matriculation ceremony
Nalova described the freshmen as the batch of maturity, noting that they have come to UB at a time when the institution is warming up to its 20th anniversary celebrations and so they will accept everyone on board except those with extremist tendencies.
The varsity don entreated the students to give themselves into the UB process by paying their registration fee of FCFA 50,000, do their medical examination, which is compulsory so that they do not infect each other while they are studying
Spritely looking freshmen in UB take the matriculation oath
and move on with their university activities that have already been outlined.
She will advice that success in UB is worked for, beginning with the registration process, the Continuous Assessments in class and more. Nalova told the freshmen to “work well and do not think well.”
The UB VC highlighted the importance of the Information and Communication Technology, ICT component, which the
The Professors had their turn to process into the matriculation ceremony
university has employed in its registration process and other aspects of the university life. “The ICT is extensively used in the online registration into UB, the E-registration in the selection of courses with the intention to avoid cues for our students on campus and to enable the lecturers have enough time to do research and teaching,” she explained.
Nalova found relevance in the ICT option of UB, noting that it is the way to the future and to put UB on the international
Barrister Nico Halle, delivering his discourse
pedestal. “Everybody must able to use ICT for the teaching and the learning process. Our students must be introduced from the moment of application,” she said, while citing two UB students; Isaac Kamga in the Faculty of Science and Check Nyah in the Faculty of Engineering who are breaking new grounds as Google Student Ambassadors for UB, just back from the USA.
According to Nalova, UB is also about sports with many sporting disciplines for students to adhere to and go ahead to win medals nationally and internationally like the case of Henrietta Mbain, a student in the Faculty of Education, who is a gold medallist in the 5,000 metres from the recent Central African Athletics meeting in Congo-Brazza.
She announced the coming of MBA programmes in UB and other relevant professional courses in the Faculty of Science, saying UB must be in and contribute in the emergence programme of Cameroon.
Nalova told the freshmen and the guests that turned out at the matriculation ceremony to make Cameroon the place to be and not just UB, urging Cameroonians to make the difference in their country and not move out and die in the Mediterranean Sea, alluding to the recent boat disaster at Lampedusa, off the coast of Italy. “The students of UB are part of a great society and they should look forward to becoming important people in their communities,” she added.
In a discourse on the theme; Love, justice, peace and patriotism, Barrister Nico Halle said it is critical for the students and the other stakeholders in the UB community to know the essence of peace, mentioning that without peace, nothing good can happen to a people, without peace there will be no university.
He said in the wake of vandalism and destruction, everybody is a loser, whereas in dialogue and peace, everybody is a winner.
The Legal luminary wished that in the face of differences, dialogue should prevail, citing the case of the Green tree Accord that was brokered by the former UN SG, Koffi Annan between Nigeria and Cameroon and between Former President Olusegun Obasanjo of Nigeria and President Paul Biya of Cameroon. “These individuals shelved their ego and greed for the benefit of their people. We all have to sacrifice something for peace. Peace is not gotten from a platter of gold. The students should sacrifice their all for peace to reign in UB and by extension across Cameroon,” he prescribed.
Stephanie Dione Nkwelle and Bruno Njombe Monoke, all freshmen took a commitment after the matriculation oath to study, be disciplined, concentrate on the relevant issues on campus and learn from their role models in and out of UB.
Earlier, the Islamic, Presbyterian, Baptist and Catholic Chaplains of UB prayed that the freshmen, the administrative and teaching staff of UB should be the light they are meant to be.
The matriculation ceremony is a traditional rite in UB, whereby UB and her stakeholders welcome the new students into the campus, while indicating to them the rules and regulations, their rights and obligations and the relevance to be accountable to their actions.
