By Azore Opio (The Post Newspaper)
Nelson Mandela's 90th birthday celebrations on July 18 turned out to be a great day in Buea, Cameroon.
The idea of celebrating Mandela's 90th birthday in Buea was first mooted at the beginning of the year by some scholars and pan-Africanists under the platform "Mandela Forum".In June, a series of meetings were convened at the Bamboo Bar in Great Soppo, where the magnitude of activities to be put in place to honour the statesman, were elaborated.
It was unanimously agreed that a public event comprising a photo exhibition of Mandela's life and the struggles of the South African people as well as a cultural evening be organised on Friday, July 18. It worked.
Quite a number of local skateboarders, members of the diplomatic corps and a delegation from the South African High Commission in Yaounde joined in the day's events. Mwalimu George Ngwane and Azore Opio (two members of the Mandela Forum) welcomed Mr. Luduyo Mato and Mr. Simon Lucky Moeketsi and their driver, Arthur, from Yaounde, to the frosty mountainside town of Buea at about 3.30 pm.
After checking them in at the King David Square Hotel, Muea, the South African delegation was steered to Bongo's (Independence Square) where hundreds had turned out for the photo exhibition.
The photo exhibition of 86 pictures provoked debate and discussions on the role Mandela played, and continues to play, as a model to energising leadership in Africa and the sustenance of freedom and human quality.
The photo exhibition would lead to the Mandela Park at GRA Bokwaongo, where the South African delegation unveiled a signboard to inaugurate the park. Then a brief stop at Robben Island, a pub in Buea named after the Robben Island in South Africa.
The cultural evening at the Cameroon Opportunities Industrialisation Centre, COIC, crowned the day. Charly Mbonte (a Mandela Forum member) was the host.It began at 8 pm in the distinguished presence of the Mayor of Buea, Charles Mbella Moki, the Nigerian Consul General for the Northwest and Southwest Provinces, Dr. Kenneth Nsor Nsor, the South African High Commission delegation, the Young Christian Workers, YCW, choir and some 300 Mandela enthusiasts.
The evening kicked off with the Cameroon national anthem, followed by a beautiful rendition of the "Nkosi Sikelel' iAfrika" by the YCW choir. A prayer led by the Catholic Church Bokwaongo catechist, Cletus Ojong, opened the floodgates of the evening.
Interspersed by choral animation and musical interludes, Buea Mayor steered the evening on by welcoming the guests; the Mandela Forum coordinator, Mwalimu Ngwane, gave an overview of the occasion.
Dr. Nsor Nsor would remind the gathering of the supportive contribution his country, Nigeria, made to South Africans during the apartheid years, while Luduyo Mato, 2nd Secretary at the South African High Commission, gave an overview of the success story of Mandela and other South Africans, and the relevance of Mandela's 90th birthday to the hopes of aspiring world citizens.
The climax of the occasion was the cutting of the birthday cake that went round to all the participants. The distinguished guests blew nine candles (each candle representing a decade) which fired a galore of speeches, stand-up comedy, choral music, poetry recitals, testimonies, dancing, drinking and the like.
Charly Ndi Chia, Editor-in-Chief of The Post newspaper, who had had the golden opportunity to visit Mandela's Robben Island, moved the audience with a thrilling review of road notes he jotted while in South Africa, a few years ago.
The Mandela Forum offers a vote of thanks to the Mayor of Buea, the Nigerian Consul General, the Moderator of the Presbyterian Church in Cameroon, and more especially to the South African High Commissioner, Dr. Simeon Selby Ripinga, for the logistical support his High Commission provided to make the occasion a huge success.
Mandela Forum will pursue the celebrations of Mandela's birthday annually. Next year, it will take the form of a one-day workshop for young people on the theme, "Economic Governance."Long Live Mandela!
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