By Ikome Christie-noella Eposi in Buea
A final year student in the department of English and French (Bilingual letters), University of Buea, Njie Martha Eyole is the winner of the Sama Randy writing contest. She was awarded the sum of FCFA 100,000 for her excellent performance in the writing contest which was organized in honour of late Sama Randy, alumni from the department of Journalism and Mass Communication, University of Buea.
Organized by Makonjo media in collaboration with Better Breed Cameroon, the award ceremony took place recently at the Makonjo head office in Buea.
Anita Ngwe Chofor, Marketing student from the International Brainstorming and consultancy group Akwa, Douala came second and backed home FCFA 50,000. The 3rd position went to Brenda Ndome Haddison from the Institute of Management and Information technology and she was awarded the sum of Fcfa 25,000. The 4th and honorary prize of Fcfa 15,000 was handed to Ambomatei Miranda from the Higher Teachers Training College Bambili, Bamenda.
Expressing her delight, Njie Martha explained that “We were asked to write an essay of 1000-1500 words that ends with the statement “this is what Cameroon is”. The essay came at a very timely moment, during the peak of the Anglophone crisis where most of us were at home. So that was a lot of inspiration for me. I wrote on the necessity of peace and security in Cameroon. Without peace and security, nothing can function properly in the country. Concerning the job offered to me by Makonjo media as a writer, I consider it a blessing. Thanks to Makonjo media. I am overwhelmed and I thank God Almighty.” 
Talking with the CEO of Makonjo media, OTTO PAUL AKAMA, he noted that as an organization, writing is one of their preoccupations and when he realized that the late Sama Randy was a lover of Art and writing, they decided to partner with Better Breed Cameroon to encourage the Cameroonian Youth to take their paper and pen very seriously through writing. “Here at Makonjo media, we promote creativity among young people and we do that through many ways, software engineering and even through writing. So we saw this Sama Randy contest as a platform to push forth the writing culture. We enjoyed the way Better Breed Cameroon handled and organized the contest and thought it wise to join and partner with them. We are thankful to Better Breed for honoring us. This might not be something big but there is hope for the future”.
Howard M-B Maximus is the representative from Better Breed Cameroon and according to him; the brains behind Better Breed Cameroon have always been to improve the writing and reading skills among youths to strengthen them to be able to stand up as influential writers in the country. “Our aim is to start from the roots, the young people because at the end of the day, that is where culture is built”.
Equally present at the award ceremony was Dr. Divine Bisong, Senior lecturer, department of Journalism and Mass Communication, University of Buea. He advised the participants in the hall to never give up in life. “The sky should never be your limit. Whatever you chose to do, do it well. Put in your very best and you shall excel”.