By NewsWatch Staff Writer
Three female teenagers from NKambe Central Subdivision of Donga Mantung Division in the North West region were on the spotlight as they received honours at the Commonwealth Day commemoration in Yaounde, Monday March 11, 2024.
Seventeen-year-old Malah Angel, a Lower Sixth Science student of Government Bilingual High School Nkol-Eton in Yaounde, who hails from Binshua village; Ndi Favour Asunyu, 16, Upper Sixth Arts student of Government Bilingual High School Kolerre, Garoua, who hails from Mbot; and Salamatou Aminou, 13, a Class Six pupil of Government School Ngwemeng in her native Binka village, were awarded for excelling in different activities leading up to the celebration.
While Angel was crowned Miss Commonwealth, Asunyu distinguished herself as overall best in the National Commonwealth Essay Competition in the secondary school category. Aminou on her part clinched third in same competition in the primary school category. They all bagged home material and cash prizes.
Being Miss Commonwealth, Malah said, is an honour and responsibility. “I will have to be an example, and lead awareness sensitization among fellow youths against deviant behaviors,” she noted.
The trio and other winners of the day were recognized during a ceremony to observe the 75th Commonwealth Day at the Ministry of External Relations (MINREX) in Yaounde.
The ceremony that brought together members of government and heads of other Commonwealth country diplomatic missions to Cameroon was the culmination of a weeklong series of events and activities to leading up to the commemoration of the day, including faith and civic gatherings, debates, school assemblies, flag-raising ceremonies and cultural events.
Asunyu, who was forced by the ongoing crisis in the English-speaking regions of the country to abandon technical studies in favour of general education when she moved to Garoua, in her essay talked about the consequence of drugs consumption by young people especially within the school milieu.
She told NewsWatch that the case of a student who reportedly drugged himself and stabbed his teacher to dead in a school in Yaounde is a stark reminder of the effects of drug abuse.
“If youths are leaders of tomorrow, they should be focused and not engage in taking drugs,” Asunyu, who aspires to become a journalist, advised.
Observed annually on the second Monday of March, the Commonwealth Day offers the 56 members of the “Gentlemen’s Club” the opportunity to reflect on shared values, diversity and unity that binds them.
This year, the Day was observed under the theme: “One Resilient Common Future: Transforming our Common Wealth”.
Speaking at the ceremony, the Minister Delegate to the Minister of External Relations in charge of Relations with the Commonwealth, Felix Mbayu, said resilience has been the hallmark of the Cameroonian people and a testament to their ability to adapt and thrive in the face of national and international challenges.
He said the commemoration of the Day was also an opportunity to reflect on how to amplify the country’s capacity to overcome obstacles and build a future that reflects the richness of its diversity and also strengthen patriotism and living-together in harmony.
“The Cameroonian society is also as diverse and multicultural like the Commonwealth and revolves around shared values about a future that is under construction and our collective responsibility to ensure that resilience is embedded in policies, strategies and projects with the youth standing out as our beacon of hope,” Mbayu said.
Besides being the 75th anniversary year of the Commonwealth, 2024 is also the second edition of the Commonwealth Youth Year, in recognition of the tremendous contributions of young people in strengthening the people-to-people links that make the family of nations so special.
