By Ikome Christie-Noella Eposi in Buea
The Vice Chancellor of the University of Buea, Professor Ngomo Horace Manga has urged graduating students of the university to transform themselves into generational thinkers.
He was speaking at the Herbert Nganjo Endeley Amphitheatre over the weekend during the 24th convocation ceremony of the 2020, 2021 and 2022 batches of students.
Talking about generational thinkers, the VC explained that he wants the graduates to be people who take a long term view to foresee the future and solve problems of the future. He equally urged them to use the skills they have acquired while in the university to create and own jobs. Since the convocation involved 3 batches of students, the ceremony was divided into three days beginning from Thursday, December 1 to Friday, December 2 and Saturday, December 3, 2022.
The first day of the convocation, which was on Thursday, December 1 2022 witnessed the Vice Chancellor address 2,000 students who graduated from the Faculties of Agriculture and Veterinary Medicine, Science and the College of Technology. Amongst them were 59 PhDs.
The guest speaker was Professor Dorothy Limunga Njeuma, the pioneer Vice Chancellor of the University of Buea who centered her discourse on “the Ravages of Corruption”. She stated that the challenges of the target of emergence for Cameroon rest with the graduating students. “We have abundant and diverse natural resources. What we lack is discipline and morality. She urged the graduating students to be disciplined and to avoid short-cuts to achieving success.
The Valedictorian was Cho Lawrence from the Faculty of Engineering and Technology (Power Systems) who graduated with First Class Honours, scoring a GPA of 3.81 out of 4.0. The ceremony was chaired by Professor Ako Edward Oben, the Pro-Chancellor and Chairman of the Council who represented the Minister of State, Minister of Higher Education.
The second day witnessed the graduation ceremony of the students of the Advanced School of Translators and Interpreters and those of the Faculties of Education and Social and Management Sciences. 99 graduated with PhDs. Speaking to the 4,342 graduating students, the Guest Speaker of the day Professor Ivo Leke Tambo told them that social cohesion is necessary for them to forge ahead in resolving the social and economic development problems that they face as a people, nation and state. “One hand cannot tie a bundle and many hands do light work. When we are working together, we are strong but when we are dispersed, we are weak. Therefore, cohesion is important for economic and social development”, he noted.
Drawing inspiration from the 2035 vision of Cameroon, Professor Tambo urged the graduates to be inspired by the love of gentle ways and continue to forge ahead in unity and diversity. The Valedictorian address was delivered by War a Emmanuel of the Department of Educational Foundations and Administration at the Faculty of Education. He graduated with a First Class Honour scoring a GPA of 3.86 on a scale of 4.0.
On the final day of the convocation ceremony, Saturday, December 3 2022, the students of the Faculty of Arts, Faculty of Laws and Political Science were graced with the presence of Emeritus Professor Kashim Ibrahim who encouraged the graduates to be ambitious and endeavour to have Cameroonian role models. “There are several illustrious Cameroonians whose lives you can emulate. You do not need to go to South Africa to see Mandela or to America to meet Obama. I urge you not to limit yourself and therefore not to limit God. You can attain any height in life, provided that you are ready to work for it”, he advised.
Talking to Dr Pelagie Che, a PhD graduate at the close of the ceremony, she stated that amidst the difficulties encountered there is always a reason to be thankful to God. She encouraged others to leverage opportunities for more research in order to come out with more sustaining policies.
