Ending the Anglophone Crisis

“A Cease Fire Should be Declared Since War was Declared”

 -Ngufor Peter Njontor

By Francis Ekongang Nzante

A bigwig of the ruling CPDM Party and a Seniour citizen from the North West Region of Cameroon has urged the Head of State President Paul Biya to formally call for a Cease Fire. He said since war was formally declared, a Cease Fire should equally be formally declared by the quarters that declared war. In this manner the boys in the bushes will have no justification to remain there.

Mr Ngufor Peter Njontor, the CEO of Farmer’s House was speaking recently in an interview he accorded a battery of Journalists at his Bamenda residence. He amongst other things said that the declaration of war was a big mistake and uncalled for. The price being paid now for such a mistake was too high in terms of human life and economic consequences. 

Mentioning the Cameroon Development Corporation CDC, the second national employer after the Government, he said the crisis had sent most of the CDC workers onto the streets to join others who'd lost their jobs in other sectors because of the crisis. He referred to the war as senseless and called on the powers that be to sit up and bring these disturbances to an end.

Dueling on the Musonge Commission he said it was the ideal Institution that could be used to calm down the situation considering the fact that the English and French Cameroons had two cultures. The Bilingualism and multiculturalism Commission if permitted to do it’s work through the creation of an enabling environment could contribute towards bringing the crisis to an end.

 “I think the Musonge Commission is coming in late but it’s better late than never. They have a lot of work to do and I am glad that they are working hard and touching all the corners of the country and not just the English Speaking Regions. It has to do with mindset not only in the English-Speaking Regions but the whole country. They have to change the mindset of Cameroonians and I think they are doing that. It needs time for the effect of their work to be felt. I think that’s the best structure that has ever been created since the reunification of the two Cameroons.”

He urged the Government to give the Musonge Commission a freehand not only to do what they have been doing but to be able to punish who ever contravenes their charter. For the crisis to be brought to an end it will “need some pronouncements from the Head of State.”

Harping on the Reconstruction of the North West and South West Regions he said it was like putting the cart before the horse suggesting that everything should have started with the declaration of a cease fire because “you cannot be reconstructing on one side and destroying on the other side. We should go back to the drawing board and do first things first. The Cease Fire should be declared because a war was declared by the Head of State. I don’t think I am the only one who heard. If a formal Cease Fire is declared it will be respected that I can assure you. If a cease fire is declared those in the bush will be helpless because they will not be able to justify why they are in the bush” he said. 

Comparing the war in the sixties with the present crisis he said the war in the sixties was a war of independence which was achieved. “This one is a fight for Cultural identity and it’s between brothers and should not take the form of war but should rather take the form of dialogue and negotiation. We have spent sixty years trying to outsmart each other. It’s a wrong approach and I think we should go back to the drawing board.”

As someone in the Agricultural Sector Peter Ngufor conceded that Farmers House has been greatly affected by the  Crisis. Farmers he said could no longer cultivate freely due to security problems and can’t move freely. “Sometimes we have orders from clients but are unable to supply. This affects all sectors especially Agriculture. Education has also been greatly affected and children have wasted many years. I just hope we come to our senses and call this damn thing off. We have a common goal and that’s the development of our country.”

President Paul Biya   he said just inherited a mess that was put in place by President Ahidjo. “President Ahidjo thought since he had fought against terrorists in the past, he could transform Anglophones into terrorists and fight them and this is indeed stupid. He wanted to set up an Empire because when you look at his Presidential Palace you will see that it was build in the sense of a Kingdom and where do you go with Kindoms in this day and age?”

Ngufor Peter Njontor said the Powers that be are guilty of the present problem because they tried to solve it using very old methods inherited from the Ahidjo Regime. “Unfortunately a lot of innocent blood has been spilt. Instead of crying over spilled milk let us call the damn thing off and permit the nation to start again. We all made a mistake. When I say “we” I mean us as a nation. Rather than assimilate we should have tried to merge the cultures 60 years ago! That’s why the Musonge Commission is a very important tool in this sense. Let them have a free hand and be allowed to work. Before long, we will all come to our senses I can assure you.” With the merging of cultures Cameroonians will simply be Cameroonians speaking both English and French Languages with a unique culture which is a blend of both cultures. “A unique Cameroonian Culture will give Cameroonians a reasonable degree of confidence in their nation. The high degree of embezzlement among Cameroonians is due to this feeling of insecurity.”

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African Reproductive Health Services gives birth to New Training Institute

 

By Francis Ekongang Nzante

A Bamenda based NGO called African  Reproductive Health Services has in a bid to better attain it’s objectives of solving health problems in urban and rural Communities in the North West Region of Cameroon created a Vocational Training Institute. 

Speaking recently to the person

behind the initiative Mr David Ayem, this reporter learnt that African Reproductive Health Services AREPHS served as an umbrella structure to all their Reproductive Health Teaching initiatives prior to the recognition of this new Institution by the Ministry of Employment and Vocational Training.

 

The newly created entity is called Vocational Training Institute For Health Promoters and Community Empowerment. It’s orientation as seen in it’s name is to promote health in communities by empowering them with knowledge on health issues. 

African Reproductive Health Services carries out activities that are  dominantly focused on Reproductive Health though not entirely. They carry out workshops on Gender Based Violence, Sex Education, Sex related topics for young girls, mothers and married women. They equally give lectures on Family Planning and touch on topics like understanding the Menstrual Cycle. AREPHS also provides counseling on Reproductive Health. 

What used to stand as the training arm of ARHS is now independent following this recognition by the Ministry of Employment and Vocational Training.

Mr David Ayem further intimated that AREPHS has been in existence only for three years but that despite it’s short existence it was already a well established structure, effectively carrying out it’s activities in Reproductive Health. These activities include Demonstrations, Counseling and follow up of many couples that go to AREPHS for help. Hear him, “we have so many couples that come here for sex determination, follow up for infertility related issues. There are many women who have come here because they find it difficult to give birth. Many couples have come here seeking our directives and we have successfully guided them to delivery. We have this trendy Programme that we organise every three months. We bring young boys and girls together and teach them issues related to Sex and Reproductive Health after which we give them certifications to testify that they have attended seminars and received some form of lectures on Reproductive Health.”

AREPHS doesn’t just wait for people with Reproductive Health Problems to meet them at the Ntarikon office in Bamenda. They go into the rural areas. The Director, Mr David Ayem disclosed that AREPHS has been carrying out work in villages amongst which he named; Santa and Awing adding that plans were already being made for them to visit Pinying all in Mezam Division in the North West Region of Cameroon.

“This Academic year is going to be very special because the ministry has given us nine specialties. We started with two while working under the umbrella of AREPHS. We were training Nurse Assistants and Assistant Midwifes. We applied for ten and the Ministry gave us nine. This time around we are going to be training Nursing Assistants (Auxiliary of Life), Reproductive Health Promoters, which is the name given by the Ministry of Employment and Vocational Training which is the same thing as Assistant Midwifes. We will also be training Assistant Massotherapists. There are people around town who offer massaging services though they don’t have any formal training. They can come to us and get trained. In twelve months they can be trained and will receive Government Certificates at the end of their training. We are now going to be training Medical Delegates, Medical Secretaries, Laboratory Assistants, Dental Assistants, Physiotherapy Assistants and a one year HND Preparatory classes for those with any Nursing Diploma. This new creation “Vocational Training Institute For Health Promoters and Community Empowerment” will serve as a ladder for all those who want to get sufficient education in the domain of health irrespective of their level of education” the Director Mr David Ayem explained.

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BIHAPH Launches Programme for Peace Building in Shattered Communities

 

By Francis Ekongang Nzante

The BIHNDUMLEM Humanitarian Association of Peace and Hope BIHAPH has launched a six month Programme which is aimed at “providing  space for an increased citizen participation and civic engagement as major tools for the mitigation of Conflict Transformation and Peace Building in Shattered Communities by the Crisis in Bamenda I, II and III. This Programme for the launching of the activities of the project took place at the Catholic Pastoral Centre in Bamenda on Thursday July 15th.

 

This project is inspired by the fact that “true peace can rarely be imposed from the outside. It must be born from within and between Communities through dialogue.”

The BIHNDUMLEM Humanitarian Association of Peace and Hope which works in Collaboration with the Swiss Embassy in Cameroon has the following key insights: -Conflict Identification, Mediation and negotiation.- Building Local leadership capacity to address conflicts and violence. -Public Legal Education “Peace, My Right, My Responsibility” -Arts and Culture as a unifying tool. -True use of Cultural Traditions as a tool for change. -Victim's story centered approach towards Trauma Healing, Reconciliation and Peace Building. – Small Community Infrastructure Projects. “Lets maintain peace, Build our community and improve our lives together.”- Active Non Violence Training. Principle of  Do no harm. “What we share is more powerful than what divides us.”

BIHAPH is also engaged in Conflict Prevention, Poverty Eradication, Fight against hunger, Gender equality, Promotion of Girl Child Education, Humanitarian Assistance and Peace Building.

In a brush with the media during Project launch

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The CEO of BIHAPH Mih Bibiana Epse Dighambong Bibiana explained that the strategy or approach that will be used in executing the project will involve mobilising and sensitising opinion leaders at the community level. These include Religious and Traditional leaders, Quarter Heads, Women’s Groups and the Mayors. She further said that the process will take a two way approach where the citizens will be able to ask their leaders what it takes to be involved in Peace Building. Another means she explained will be the using of means available at the grass root level like Traditional Dances, mediums like the fire side that people use in the roasting of maize during harvest seasons, poems, and songs. “We will also draw inspiration from artistic works to see how they can be used to bring peace. A hungry man is an angry man. You cannot be talking about peace to a hungry man. We will as such identify needy ones and empower them in activities that will help them become agents of change.”

Cultural Traditions used as a tool in Peace Building

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Madam Dighambong Bibiana further said that since peace was an ongoing process, BIHAPH would form zones of peace after training in accessible communities where the people that are responsible will not have to strain to meet each other. “For example if we go to Bamenda II, we will find out how many quarters are there. If there are thirty quarters, we can divide them into three zones of ten quarters each depending on their proximity.” This she said will permit them to meet regularly and talk about their challenges like kidnappings amongst other things. She said in this way they will be able to network with BIHAPH in order to address major issues. In the long run the people will be capable of working on their own to seek ways of forgiving people that killed even their loved ones.

The BIHAPH Team

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Nueh Anita, the Programmes Director of BIHAPH said community leaders and youth groups had already been contacted and that they were going to move into the communities to work with the people since it wasn’t possible to have space to host a large number of people. Vigilante groups she said were also going to be created to survey things that are going on in the various quarters to make sure that people are not involved in activities that will compromise peace or infringe upon the rights of others. “We already have a team that will do the follow up during these six months and render account to us.” She further said training workshops would be carried out and that everything would be put in place to make sure that people put in practice what they learnt. 

Caryn Dasah, President of the National Women for Peace who was present at the event said “peace comes through negotiation, understanding, and respect. Every peace initiative must include every member of the society. It must be a bottom-top approach.”

Meantime the Regional Delegate for Women’s Empowerment and the Family said “we have to work hard to restore the peace that we had before. Everything has been grounded and this project for peace in Bamenda I, II and III will hopefully change things.”

The occasion was rendered colourful by Traditional Dances presented by the Nchongso Women’s Social Group with a dance song which focused on love and peace. Another beautiful dance presentation was  made by the Aghem Women’s Dance Group which focused on the theme “we are not left out in the peace building process.”

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CUIBA Churns out Degree students in Collaboration with University of Dschang.

By Francis Ekongang Nzante

The University of Dschang's increasing presence in the North West and South West Regions through its affiliation of Private Higher Institutions of Learning is paying off as the number of Institutions that now offer Graduate and Post Graduate Programmes are slowly but surely increasing thanks to Memoranda of Understanding and Specific Partnership Agreements signed with State Universities.

Dr Ankia Emmanuel and Fuoh Fedora Bi, HOD, Management

Examples abound and some of them include Institutions like the National Polytechnic University Institute Bamenda, Florence Nightingale Higher Institute of Health and Biomedical Sciences, and more recently the Central University Institute Bamenda known by the acronym CUIBA. These Universities are either affiliated to The Universities of Bamenda, Buea or Dschang.

This reporter took out time to visit the Defense of some level 300 students of CUIBA which took place recently within the confines of the Institution under the watchful eyes of  a mixed Supervisory team. These students thanks to an MOU with the University of Dschang will be graduating in a couple of weeks. 

This reporter caught up with one of the students , Elvis Yuh. Just coming out from his defense the student said that this was a very special day for all the degree students of the establishment. His presentation during the Defense was centered around “Advertising, an effective promotional tool to increase the sales of a new product…”  Elvis Yuh praised their Course Instructors for sufficient drilling which helped them to sail through the Defense Hitch Free albeit the challenging circumstances and fear of doing something wrong. “The Performance of all the students have been wonderful and we can only give credit to the school and it’s teachers for guiding us Properly. We are sufficiently equipped to confront the Market Place and we can even create our own jobs to employ people in our various Communities” he said.

This student acknowledged the fact that there are many Higher Institutions of Learning offering Professional studies but hinted that the problem lay in making the right choice and going to a place where you will be appropriately trained.  He intimated that their studies involved much more of practice and field work adding that he chose Marketing because there was a lack of Marketers in the field. “Most people who do Marketing end up as Sales persons but there is a great difference between a Marketer and a Sales Person.  I noticed that many Enterprises were not having good marketing strategists.”

Dr Ankia Emmanuel, Director of Academic Affairs at CUIBA who was part of the Supervisory team said the exercise taking place was concerned with the Defense of Degree students doing Business studies. “Everything went on well and the Students presented their projects in the various areas in which they did their research and we've really had a positive appraisal on all that was done.  We are really proud of what has taken place here today and we hope that as these students go on they will make our institution proud. Four students carried out their work in the domain of Marketing and three of them worked in the domain of Human Resource Management. Some of them had their HND with us while others came in from other Institutions.” Dr Ankia was very confident that given the collaboration with the University of Dschang, which he described as the best University in the Central African Sub-Region, the students were going to succeed.

Meantime this reporter also caught up with Miss Fuoh Fedora Bi, Head of Department HOD of Management who said “today we had defense not only for the end of term Projects but also for their Business Plans.  Our Programme is a B-Tech. It’s a professional Programme so we incorporated a Business Plan to it. That’s why they were supposed to present a Business Plan that is sellable. At the end, this Business Plan must be feasible in such a way that they can actually establish a business.  The aim of it was not just that they graduate with a B-Tech but that they are also able to be self employed and to employ others. Narrowing down on their challenges she said  “Most of them have a good mastery of their work but lack self confidence.  You find out that some of them had Business Plans of 15 to 30 millions FCFA but were shifting away from being owners of the business. They felt that they were not strong enough to own such a business.” The HOD  said that when you looked at the content of their projects, you could not believe that it was only level 300 students who had conceived them.

She recalled that the students studied under very challenging circumstances given the prevailing security and health challenges.  Sometimes they had to organise classes on Sunday since their Programmes are from  the University of Dschang. The University of Dschang follows it’s Progammes in a non crisis context and given that students in Bamenda were and still are in a crisis hit region, this compounded the challenges of the students as well as those of the affiliated institutions.

 Gwenchu Honorine Vishiago, one of the students with one of the best scores from the Department of Management said one of the things she appreciated at CUIBA was their flexibility. The focus of her presentation was “The effects of Non delinquency on Micro Finance Institutions” “Thanks to the theoretical knowledge gained from the institution and internships which we took part in, everything went well.”

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"Competitive Entrance Examinations for Nurse Assistants and State Registered Nurses have been launched”

 -Nkwain Joseph, Director FLENHIHBS

Mr Nkwain Joseph, Director of the Florence Nightingale Higher Institute of Health and Biomedical Sciences Bamenda has declared that National Competitive Entrance Examinations for Prospective candidates aspiring to become Nurse Assistants and State Registered Nurses have been launched. He was speaking recently in his Bamenda office in a press briefing. 

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What grounds were covered by FLENHIHBS during the last Academic Year?

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Florence Nightingale Higher Institute of Health and Biomedical Sciences Bamenda has been there for the past 11 years. We have done a lot as far as Academics is concerned in Nursing and allied fields. Since it’s creation, this school has scored a hundred percent in all the Public Examinations. This includes Examinations organised by both the Ministry of Public Health and the Ministry of Higher Education. This is because the school trains Programmes from both ministries. As concerns those from the Ministry of Public Health we have Nursing Assistant Programmes, for one year and then we have the State Registered Nurses Programme for three years. Students enter all these Programmes through a Competitive Entrance Examination. In each of these Programmes the school has always registered a hundred percent in the results. 

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Considering that it is a private higher institution, you certainly have partnership agreements with some State Universities.

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Yes. As a Private Higher Institution of learning, we can only train Bachelor Programmes if we are affiliated with a State University and that was done last year when we signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the University of Bamenda and we also engaged in the signing of a Specific Partnership Agreement. We have started the Bachelors Programme in Nursing and a Bachelor Programme in Medical Laboratory Sciences. The partnership has really been concretized and we are doing well in the Bachelors Programme. 

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Briefly speaking, what are some of the Programmes offered by the school and what are the new ones you plan to bring on board?

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As far as Higher Education is concerned, we do the Higher National Diploma HND in Nursing, Midwifery, Medical Laboratory Sciences and of recent, we added Nutrition and Dietetics and we already have Students taking the course. Other areas that are still pending is the Sanitary Technology, an area that can be very useful to the Councils. You know that Sanitary Technicians were trained in the past. We want to insert the Programme and train Sanitary Technicians who will work with the Communities and the councils. We are also going to start Health Care Management in the next Academic Year and students are free to enter for these Programmes but the ongoing Programmes are HND in Nursing, Midwifery, Medical Laboratory Sciences and Nutrition and Dietetics. For the Bachelor Programme we have Nursing and Medical Laboratory Sciences which we are doing in affiliation with the University of Bamenda as our mentor University. As concerns Infrastructure,  we have nine lecture halls, a well equipped library and a good Laboratory. We also have a good classroom for practicals. Now we intend to build a fence around the school for security reasons and we intend to put up other structures like Amphitheaters and this will take off any moment from now in order to accommodate the ever increasing number of students. 

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What is expected from prospective students as the new school year approaches?

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Concerning the Ministry of Public Health, what we expect from prospective candidates is for them to write a Competitive Entrance Examination. The Competitive Entrance Examinations have been launched and two Programmes have been approved for our institution. For the Nursing Assistant Programme which is a one year Programme, the prerequisite is at least four GCE O Levels. I Advice students to do this Competitive Entrance Examination rather than go through Direct Entry as is the case in some schools. Anybody who enters to do Nursing Assistance without doing the Competitive Entrance Examination will end up obtaining a certificate which is not authentic. For the State Registered Nurses Programme, you also write the Competitive Entrance Examination which has been launched. Prospective Candidates should go to the Regional Delegation of Public Health. Every necessary information is pasted there on the notice board. For the Ministry of Higher Education prospective candidates should have at least two GCE A levels preferably in the sciences but for Medical Laboratory Technology it must be all Sciences. For the other options like Nursing, Midwifery, Nutrition and Dietetics, Sanitary Technology, Health Care Management, you need any two GCE A level papers. When you come to the campus, we will study the file before admitting you. Students with a purely arts background are taught Anatomy and Physiognomy thoroughly so that they can be able to take care of the Human Body later on. Nursing is both arts and science and sometimes it maybe necessary to sing a good song for a patient.

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Any message for prospective candidates and the general public?

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 I encourage our prospective candidates to come to Florence Nightingale Higher Institute of Health and Biomedical Sciences. We always say that sweet wine needs no advertisement. When you come here you will see it. We have the infrastructure, we have experienced teachers and every other thing that will facilitate learning as far as Health is concerned. If you come here you will never regret it. 

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FADCA President Prescribes Bottom-Top Approach for Development in Bafanji

 

By Francis Ekongang Nzante

Nkweti Patrick, the National President of the Fanji Development and Cultural Association has stated that the modus operandi he has used since taking over office has been the Bottom-Top Approach. This choice he said was participatory in nature and would be more effective in the present dispensation. He was speaking recently in a brush with the press in Douala.

 Nkweti Patrick who is considered to be of the younger generation constituting a new breed of leaders for FADCA is one of the youngest that has occupied the position of National President of the Association. Considering the fact that he is young and still full of energy coupled with his rich educational background much is expected from him from the former and older cream of leaders. Mr Nkweti Patrick studied and got a Bachelor Degree in Biochemistry at the University of Illorine in Nigeria and proceeded to bag a Master Degree in Chemical Pathology from the University of Ibadan. Back home in Cameroon he worked with Guinness Cameroon for about eight years before leaving to work with the Mobile Telephone Company Orange Cameroun where he presently works.

He was the Branch President of FADCA, Bonaberi in Douala for ten years and during this period, the zeal for development in him was noticed. So when he put in his candidature for the post of FADCA National President, many welcomed the idea. 

The young FADCA National President in a press chat with this reporter drew attention to the fact that in the past development ideas trickled mostly from top to bottom. The problems with the top-bottom approach he said were that people did not feel like they were part of the initiatives. 

As a result, the present National Executive Committee has been using the bottom-top approach in place of the former approach. This method he said was more participatory in nature. It allows the people to tell you what they want and when this is done funds are much more easily collected and everyone gets this feeling of being part of everything that is being done. 

“We want the people to get involved in Village activities and I think with this method it is going to work.  They meet and decide what to do and all that we do is to guide them, manage their finances for them so that we attain our objectives and make Bafanji what we want it to be.” 

When Nkweti Patrick stepped in some people thought there would be generational crisis since there was an influential  impressive group of elite in FADCA. However, when they took over, they did a  “meet the people tour” visiting the branches. When they arrived any given branch, they didn’t go straight to the people but visited the elite first and always took out time to explain their modus operandi to them. 

“During such visits we usually also asked the elders to guide and advise us on the implementation of our projects. They were always very happy every time we approached them asking them to guide us with their wisdom and know-how. We were humble and simplistic in approach and I think that’s why we were able to carry them along. Sometimes elites actually call telling me ‘look Patrick, this is how I suggest things should be done'. I think there is complete collaboration.” 

The National President emphasised that FADCA had brought a lot of development to Bafanji. In the field of Education he said at first back home only male children went to school adding that with the creation of FADCA that mentality was completely changed. The level of school attendance both in male and female children he intimated had risen sharply. 

In the domain of health FADCA he said had built a Hospital for the village and had pushed things forward in the domain of culture. 

Commenting on the challenging security situation he said development was a community affair and that once people as a community had decided to do something, no one could stop it. He said it simply entailed explaining to the boys in the bushes that development was for everyone. “We make them understand that in terms of development we are not a threat to them and they are not a threat to us. We are apolitical and we don’t get ourselves involved in anything political.”

Nkweti Patrick called on Development Stakeholders in the area to work towards restoring peace adding that without the necessary peace development initiatives would greatly be retarded.

He said an online forum had been created for all Branch Presidents and the National Executive adding that people who could influence the decisions of Branch Presidents were not found in this forum. Deliberations in the forum are therefore very constructive he said. “I decided not to put elites in this group because they have their ego and this will not be healthy in a group where we want free and constructive conversations. We consult the elites one on one but we don’t put them in the forum.”

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Preparation for the 9th CNA Conference kick starts in Douala

By Francis Ekongang Nzante

The Littoral Regional Activities of the Cameroon Nurses Association CNA  took place at the  Alpha Higher Institute Douala AHID, Deido  Campus on Wednesday the 30th of June, 2021. On agenda were preparations for the upcoming 9th Conference of the association slated to take place in 2022 in Douala.

 This Regional Activity took the form of the CNA Littoral Regional General Assembly Meeting which took place under the theme:  “The Place of Professional  Nursing Associations In Nursing” 

The Organizers included Eyong Mbu, Bih Claudine, Nankeng Victor and Ngwa Clarise. Everything was of course done under the watchful eyes of the Regional Coordinator Mr Atongno Humphrey.

The Scientific Presentations Session explored the topic “The Place of Professional  Nursing Associations In Nursing” and was done by Yossa Chi Naomi, Donkeng Demanou and Epah Eric. 

Also presented was the CNA  Littoral Regional  Plans and activities as well as the plan of activities of the Cameroon Nurses Association which was presented by the Regional Coordinator Atongno Humphrey. Another presentation focused on “Professional Nursing Network and Socialization” and was done by Mr Kange. The major highlight of the Regional Assembly was Planning for the  9th CNA Conference 2022 slated to take place in Douala.

It should be noted that since the creation of CNA, the nursing Profession in Cameroon especially in the English Speaking Regions of the country has turned a new leaf and CNA is relentlessly putting in more efforts to bring more respect to the profession than was formerly the case. 

It is in this vein that the Cameroon Nurses Association Commemorated the International Nurses Week earlier on this year.  These activities took place mostly in Bamenda, the National Head Quarters of CNA and in Douala the seat of the Littoral Bureau of CNA.

The Cameroon Nurses Association was created in 1999 to bring together all nurses in Cameroon under one umbrella. The aim was to make them work in harmony and to improve upon their capacities. From it’s inception in 1999 up till date, the Cameroon Nurses Association holds Annual Conferences under various themes and these themes are always indicated by the International Nursing Council. This is the supreme body that regulates the activities of Nurses all over the world. 

In a press briefing with Mr Nkwain Joseph, the National President of Cameroon Nurses Association, he said this year’s theme was “Nurses, a voice to lead. A vision for future Health Care.” CNA he intimated had been very conscious and started to prepare for the International Nurses Week as early as February. “That is why they held the 8th Scientific Conference in Bamenda on the 26th and on the 27th of February. That was still in line with the activities of the International Nurses Week. As far as the activities are concerned, the different hospitals and different branches of the Cameroon Nurses Association organised some activities. The Douala branch of CNA actually organised a series of workshops in the build up to the International Nurses Week. These workshops were all centered around this year’s theme as indicated by the International Nursing Council.

Mr Nkwain Joseph, National CNA President.

Commenting on the Central message in this year’s theme, Mr Nkwain Joseph said the theme simply emphasised the leading role that nurses will play in health care services on the global stage.  “Without the nurse, the Health Team is incomplete.  You need the nurse, you need the Medical Doctor, the Physiotherapist, the dietician, etc. You need all of them and the nurse is like the mother of the Health Care Team because the nurse is permanently present. So for health services to be improved upon, nurses should be well trained from now. Nurses should be empowered through workshops to empower them for future Health Care because as years go bye, challenges increase.” 

Mr Nkwain in a bid to distinguish nursing from other professions said “nursing from the days of Florence Nightingale who was the founder of modern medicine has always been a Vocation. When she went to the Crimean War she treated the British soldiers and other soldiers who were there and brought in that aspect of caring to nursing. We can call her the lady with the lamp because she used that lamp to take care of people. All nursing today is based on her philosophy: that you look at a person as a whole, that is from the biological aspect, the psychological, the social and the spiritual aspect. If you look at a patient in this manner, then you will give him complete care. Most of the time, focus is centered only on physical care.” 

It should be noted that core CNA objectives  include -Continuous Professional Strategic Development  of  Nurses,-Continuous Professional Strategic Networking and  Socialization of  Nurses.  

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