BY SIMON NDIVE KALLA
Association of New Generation Authors, ANGA, recently in Buea, launched the first edition of the National Public Speaking Competition. The six competitors in total were present from different regional headquarters the country, including Buea, Bamenda, Douala, and Yaounde.
The contestants gathered at HIMS Buea alongside their supporters, family and friends to take part in the competition. The jury consisted of Ndzemamue Mutuela who doubled as the president of the jury, Mabel Kamz and Dr. Nyohmbov Clinton.
Marks Abaiko, who is the Secretary General of the Association, coordinated the event which kick started at 3:00pm, with the introduction of the contestants to the audience. The Contestants included: Oneks Loveline: Yaounde, Contestant Number 1, Mbi Atem: Buea, Contestant number 2, Ashu Synthia: Bamenda, Contestant number 3, Esunge Hephzibah: Yaounde, Contestant number 4, Nokwang Success: Buea, Contestant number 5, Arnold Che: Douala, Contestant number 6.
After the introduction, they took turns of 10 minutes each for the presentation while the judges assessed them. The judges then went ahead to ask the contestants impromptu questions, and their responses contributed to their overall score.
Speaking shortly after the event, Marks Abaiko who is the Secretary General of the Association said the competition has two main objectives; to promote the art of public speaking among the youths. “We understand that preaching and encouraging the youth to engage in public speaking without a reasonable action will be futile, so we decided to use the best action to captivate their minds; the money action. Once they know they can make money from it, they will easily engage”, Abaiko said.
He added that the competition is a modus operandi in the achievement of their objective of revitalising the reading and writing culture in Cameroon. “Promoting public speaking is promoting reading, because one cannot be a good public speaker without reading”, Abaiko maintained.
He explained that they want to provide an honourable money-making venture for young Cameroonians. “We understand that the government cannot employ all its youth, so it’s left for private individuals and associations to fill in the vacuum”, Abaiko pointed out.
“Promoting Public Speaking is making youths to develop the taste of money gotten from hard work, and this will take them from unethical making schemes like prostitution( hookup) and scamming that many have engaged into”, Abaiko said.
He revealed that there will be three winners who will take home the following cash prizes: 1st Winner, 150,000CFA, 2nd Winner, 100,000CFA, 3rd Winner, 50,000CFA.
Marks Abaiko encouraged contestants to work on the corrections given to them by the judges so they can improve on their public speaking skills, while waiting for the award ceremony. “They should be confident that the results will reflect their performances on that day”, he said.
It should be noted that the competition is coming after the national training on effective Writing and Public Speaking conducted by the Association through the Secretary General.
After training students on public speaking, it was necessary to give them a platform to showcase what they have learned. The training was done in the aforementioned regional cities
After the launching, the contestants have been kept on suspense until December 22, 2024 when the final results will be announced during the price award ceremony that will take place in Buea.