By Norbert Wasso Binde
Former students of the University of Benin, Nigeria have been urged by the President General of the alumni, Honourable Rose Abunaw “to work to make the association great” in the “Great UNIBEN” spirit.
The clarion call was made during the third general assembly meeting of the UNIBEN Alumni Cameroon Chapter that held at the former Franco-Alliance Centre in Buea last Saturday, June 22.
In her welcome message, Hon. Abunaw thanked members for the confidence they have bestowed on her and the sacrifices many are making to push the association. She was elated with the growth in membership which is almost reaching 40.
She had a personal touching message of gratitude for the support and solidarity she received during the death and funeral of her elder sister, pioneer senior female penitentiary administrator, Mrs Nana Abunaw Marie, also a graduate of the University of Benin.
The close to four-hour meeting brought members from across the country, notably Yaounde, Douala, Tiko, Limbe and Buea.
The meeting principally resolved that the general assembly holds twice a year viz May and November instead of the current quarterly periodicity. The vetting of the draft constitution was put forward to November 2024 at a general assembly to be hosted by Tiko/Limbe in Limbe.
Assessing the meeting to The SUN newspaper at the close of the gathering, Hon. Abunaw said “the meeting was wonderful, it started well and ended well, everybody is happy especially as there was the coming together of old friends with members recounting their experiences at the Ugbowo campus”. Ugbowo is the name of the current University of Benin campus. It’s start-off campus was at Ikenwa.
Hon. Abunaw expressed her joy at seeing new members who came on board during the Buea come-together and hinted that the association’s primary objective since its creation has been to bring in more members and that a lot of sensitisation is being done in this respect. She estimated that there are more than 150 former students of UNIBEN in Cameroon, promising to work harder on this front especially as a lot of persons are reluctant to join alumni associations complaining about finances. She said UACC is different. “Here we come to relax, alleviate stress, tell old stories and help ourselves”.
On whether this is not one more responsibility too many, Hon. Abunaw reminded that she is a grass roots politician imbued with a high sense of service.
The meeting ended with heavy feasting provided by the hosts.