BY NDUMBE BELL JOSEPH GASTON IN DOUALA
One of Cameroons law luminaries, justice and peace crusaders, Ntumfor Nico Halle, invited over 200 persons and dignitaries from across all works of life in the nation to meet at Sawa Hotel, to appreciate God for His Grace and blessings that have so far propelled him to achieve and realise all that he has done or contributed to society in the aspects of law, justice, peace, love and philanthropy in Cameroon, Africa and the world.
The occasion was dignified started with the singing of the national anthem, followed by an opening prayer conducted by His Holiness the Archbishop of Douala municipality, Archbishop Samuel Kleda, who concluded in thanking the Almighty Father for His blessings and grace extended to all but in particular Nico Halle and family, cohorts, partners, well-wishers and sympathisers, before blessing everyone present with holy water and later clarified the significance of what he had just done.
An impressive number of colleagues manned strategic positions to see to the smooth organisation of the occasion as Barrister Nico Halle did not spare any opportunity to start greeting almost everyone in the hall in an almost personalised manner before resorting to other important activities of the day in the presence of a cross-section of traditional rulers and those from his origin in particular, among a plethora of seasoned diplomats, lawyers, civil society leaders, the Governor of the Littoral region’s representative and senior Presbyterian church leaders, including other senior administrative and private sector drivers, students and a host of others.
MCs, Kejang and Akoh called on the chair person of the organising committee Joe Pefok to take the floor. In his brief welcome address he thanked all those present for having made efforts to be available despite their possible other engagement and added that this is a love gesture for their dear brother.
Teneng Lucas who initiated several attempts before Ntumfor Nico accepted the idea, said during the justification of the event, explained elaborately that after about or over three decades of efforts, he found that what the man stands for should be recorded or immortalised to inspire present and future generations, especially young people.
The mega magazine titled “Journey through Ntumfor Barrister Nico Halle Award Gallery” was explained by Colbert Gwain on how the magazine looked like. In his presentation, he called the magazine an award’s gallery in a magazine format containing 160 awards certificates, recognitions, and trophies in 102 pages sourced from international organisations, the media, churches associations, civil society, individuals and so on. It also included some paintings, symbols, etc. There are tributes from the Halle family and write-ups or stories written to show what he stands for or otherwise, such as the man who abhors corruption, hate speech and reasons why Barrister attracted awards, but rejected some others.
Chief Ngandembou described the scribe as an award-winning legal luminary who is giving thanks to God. He went on to say that good attitude begets excellence rather than possessing just skills. To Ntumfor Nico Halle, he stated that his exemplary attitude has brought him excellence and fame. What he stands for “has motivated those around him.” The Chief rated him as a specially gifted peace crusader with a special knack to reconcile people, a multifaceted cosmic mind and asked that “he should continue to bring love and peace into our lives”. This magazine format within which there is this award gallery (one prestigious awards and relics) talks much about the man and what he epitomises. Citing the bible, he concluded with one of the beatitudes: “blessed are the peacemakers for they shall be children of God”.
Goodwill messages were made by the S.G. representing the Governor Ivaha Diboua and other dignitaries asking everyone to emulate his example especially in doing what is good for the country. The Honorary Consul of India Ravi Kumar said that God gave him this grace because he deserves it and that great minds all remind us that we can make our lives sublime.
The representative of the Nigerian High Commissioner called Barrister Nico Halle the voice of the voiceless. Chief Ebako, president of the South-West Chiefs stated that he represents four cardinal virtues such as frankness, sincerity and others, continuing that Ntumfor has moved from human resource to human capital and now he has become an institution. The respectful North-West Chiefs who arrived from Bamenda said they were happy to have made Ntumfor their ambassador and asked God to propel him to higher heights. Mme Kom of the Bar Association christianed Barrister Nico Halle an incarnation of human dignity and that she belonged to his fan club. There were others that have not been mentioned.
Reaching to all that were attributed to him, Nico Halle appreciated the love and good intentions received from his August guests. He made reiterations that God is someone who he always hugs and whose boots he leaks every second.
He mentioned the daily core moral values which he chained as “When there is love, there is justice.When there is justice, there is equity. When there is equity there is transparency, accountability and followed by integrity. To each other, there will be fear of the Lord that would lead to patriotism. You will know what belongs to you and what does not belong to you. There is the dichotomy between common good and personal good. All Cameroonians should enjoy. We are 25 million people but we have the wealth that can take care of 40 million people”.
Ntumfor Barrister Nico Halle stated frankly that there was the absence of good governance Cameroon will become an Eldorado. “So ask yourself whether you are a good governor. My mantra is seeking peace and fighting corruption. There is no day I will stop seeking peace or be after the embezzlers. So join me.” He enjoined everyone to find solutions in the NOSO crisis, “You cannot be talking peace and stealing peoples’ money, which means you are a bandit. So, please join me. I am doing this with the blessings of God, my dear family, my pastors of the Presbyterian Church and also with Archbishop Samuel Kleda. If Jesus was to come today, what will you say?”