THE 21 OCTOBER 2016 TRAIN DERAILMENT AT ESEKA: The Consequence Of Negligence and Bad Governance

As most Cameroonians mourn their unfortunate compatriots who passed away in last Friday's train crash at Eseka, I have decided to write down my sad feelings for those who have paid the alternate price for the negligence of the great lords of the Biya's regime. While some call it patriotism, I deny to ever die for a country that has little or no respect for the poor and underprivileged. I may sound biased in my report but it's the fruit of hurt and hate.
WHAT?
On Friday 21 October 2016 which happened to have been my birthday, I got up at about 4:30am to keep myself posted via my favourite news websites. I was surprised by Charles Ebune's post on his Facebook page indicating that heavy rains had watched out a portion of the Yaoundé-Douala highway near Matomb in the Nyong and Kelle  Division of the Centre Region of Cameroon thereby putting movements by road on this highway in a halt. I never knew that this incident was the beginning of a glooming Friday. Impossible to travel by road, many passengers decided to travail between Yaoundé and Douala by train. Because an average Cameroonian spends most of his/her time thinking of how to amass enormous wealth without stress, Camrail authorities wanted to benefit from the road cut near Matomb and make much money.
Reliable sources say that the train was carrying about 1300 passengers instead of 600 that was sufficient for the capacity of the old and outdated train.
WHO TAKES THE BLAME?
I blame the government of President Paul Biya especially the Minister of Transport, the Manager of Camrail and his coworkers. When the Indomitable Lions of Cameroon are unable to win their opponents, we blame the players and the Coach without blaming politicians who impose their brothers on the management of the national football team. Today, I blame the politicians. Which politicians? In a normal country(as Dr Noumbissie T. calls it), the Minister of Transport was supposed to look for an alternative means of transport between the densely populated and industrious towns of Douala and Yaoundé. More so, it was weekend. Many people could only travel by train. It was therefore the responsibility of the Ministry of Transport to insure safe journeys by train. When talking about the train crash in class today,a classmate told me that the train stations at Mbanga and Kumba often carry double their initial capacities. The rail officials have said that prior to the train's departure from Yaounde, eight additional wagons were added to the normally nine-wagon train in order to accommodate the additional passengers.
BOLLORÉ GROUP and safety norms
Camrail is a subsidiary company of French Bolloré Group. Bolloré is charged with rail services in Burkina Faso and Ivory Coast. We all know that rail lines in these two countries have a reputation for poor maintenance and failing to respect safety norms thereby making derailments relatively common. For example, The Telegraph reports that in September 2016, Bolloré Railways experienced a major incident in Ivory Coast when part of a bridge along a line it controls collapsed under freight train. Because African democracy originated from France, The Bolloré Group, led by French billionaire Vincent Bolloré, has plans to build and additional rail lines in French West Africa as part of the West Africa Regional Rail Integration plan.
THE CATASTROPHIC EFFECTS
More than 70 people have been killed and about 300 injured in the overloaded train. This is the deadliest train disaster in the history of Cameroon. It is the deadliest rail accident on the African continent since the August 1, 2007 Banaleka train incident in the Democratic Republic of Congo where 100 people died and about 128 injured.
THE NATIONAL DAY OF MOURNING
Upon his arrival from a prolonged stay of 35 days out of the country, President Paul Biya declared Monday 24 October 2016 as the national day of mourning. To that effect,flags have been flown at half mast throughout the national territory and a series of church services have been held in the country to pray for the souls of the departed compatriots. We started today's lectures at the the department of Political Science of the University of Dschang ( level 4) with a minute of silence.
THE WAY FORWARD
*Sack Cameroon's Minister of Transport for poor structures and bad politics!
*Sack the General Manager of Camrail for negligence!
*Also, let Cameroonians learn to be patient. It is often said that it's not how fast we go,but how far we go! Many of those who have died do not have their names on the receipt booklet of Camrail because they were to pay at their various destinations. A surviver explained on Canal 2 International that she did not pay because they were told to pay upon arrival in Douala.
*Repair the rail lines or quit. Most of the wagons are at least 30 years old and the rail lines even have the colonial history of the German Kamerun era.
RIP DEAR COMPATRIOTS!!!
Njobe Serge Ngala
Political Science Level 4
University of Dschang,Cameroon

Yaya Touré Retires From International Football Despite His Difficult Moments Under Pep Guardiola At The Etihad Stadium

Ivorian international Yaya Touré has today announced his retirement from international football. The decision is coming at a time the team captain of the Elephants of Ivory Coast is undergoing hard times under his former and current boss Pep Guardiola. The talented and energetic Manchester City midfielder has lost favour since the arrival of Pep at the Etihad stadium at the start of the on going football season.

Earlier today, several reports suggest that Yaya Toure has been told his Manchester City career is over unless he apologises for comments made by his agent. The reports also say that Pep Guardiola issued the ultimatum after he was angered by public criticism from Dimitri Seluk in the wake of Toure's omission from City's Champions League squad. Difficult times are meant to strengthen us!  

Best wishes, Yaya Touré !!!

FC Barcelona destroys Celtic in their 2016/2017 UEFA Champions League opener

It's obvious that FC Barcelona had an upper hand over Celtic before the match even started; Barcelona is a team with one if the best attacking force in Europe namely Messi, Neymar and Suarez. But football being a game if opportunities and surprises, anything could have happened at Camp Nou. The picture below speaks for itself

Reekado Banks releases debut album "Spotlight"

Mavin Records’ pop star Reekado Banks has unleashed his anticipated debut album titled“Spotlight”, after an exclusive listening event which took place last night in Lagos and had music industry giants in attendance.The “Chop Am” crooner who has the Headie awards for “Rookie of the Year” and “Next Rated” in his curriculum vitae, is first act of the Mavin 2.0 trio to release a full body of work ahead of mega pop star Korede Bello and diva Di’Ja.The lengthy 21 track set is entirely produced by Mavin in-house producers (Don Jazzy, Baby Fresh and Altims), and features collaborations with Falz, Sarkodie, Patoranking, Vanessa Mdee D’Prince and a skit with Kenny Blaq.
SPOTLIGHT – TRACKLIST
1. Hey Stranger
2. Killah Whyna ft Patoranking
3. Problem
4.Koloba
5. Biggy Man ft Falz
6. Ladies and Gentlemen
7. Baby Oku
8. All Your Love ft D’Prince
9. Change
10. Skit ft Kenny Blaq
11. Move ft Vanessa Mdee
12. Gbagbe
13. Love My Baby
14. Na Ur Body
15. Olaoluwa
16. Today
17. Dangote
18. Turn The Lights On
BONUS
19. Katapot
20. Oluwa Ni ft Sarkodie
21. Standard 

You candownload the full album here http://bit.ly/spotlightthealbum

GABON 2016: Ali Bongo Ondimba reelected

The Gurdian has it that one of Africa’s longest political dynasties looks set to extend its half-century of rule, after sources inside Gabon’s electoral commission told Reuters the incumbent president, Ali Bongo, had won another term with 49.85% of the vote.The commission was expected to announce that the opposition candidate, Jean Ping, a half-Chinese diplomat who was previously in the Bongo family’s trusted circle, narrowly lost with 48.16%, after a fraught election that observers warned was likely to result in violence.Ping’s party, which claimed victory soon after the vote, rejected the claimed result and demanded a recount in Haut-Ogooué, a Bongo stronghold which, according to the sources, the commission was to claim had a 99.93% turnout.The national election commission (Cenap) was due to announce the result on Tuesday at 5pm local time but delayed repeatedly. It still had not declared the winner 19 hours later.Many Gabonese suggested that five days to count 600,000 votes was excessive. Residents of Libreville ventured out in the early morning to buy groceries but later stayed at home amid fears of violent protests. The army has been deployed to the capital’s streets, and opposition members reported that their houses were surrounded by police.

The Devil Has Invaded The House Of God

I have been looking at people going to church and every time I do this,something tells me that the world is seriously infected with a satanic virus. I don't want to pass any judgement on this issue because I am not better and also because I don't want to have a dirty conversation with sister Mary and brother John. Many critics say the church is the hiding place for criminals. Yeah,it's true. All those who make me feel like going to an area of no return are "people of the big churches."
In my village(Tabenken), just like elsewhere, people go to church and kill their opponents in highly contested church posts.Little girls read the '1st,2nd Readings.. ' and still commit abortions.It's been practically proven that many church leaders are witches and wizards who occupy the front seats of the church and disturb the clergy. Why are we going to church when we can't forgive our fellow brothers and sisters? Why do we call ourselves Christians when we can't stay away from evil charms? Are Christians supposed to to help orphans or make them feel depressed? People of the big churches also discriminate, drink dirty wine in dirty night clubs, dine with b**ches in wild beaches,make human sacrifices to be "great people",jealous everything that is good and invite the devil into the homes of their prosperous brothers and sisters etc. Brother, where's your Bible? Sister, where's your faith? Uncle,why are you killing people to become a church elder? Aunty, you bought charm from baba Ngala to make that innocent man be your slave husband and forgetabout his family. Why are you going tochurch? What do you know about confession? My problem is not the church. My problem is with the people of the big churches who don't want the happiness of their fellow brothers and sisters. These are the realities of life, you cannot serve God and the devil. Serve God, help the poor, pray for the sick,pray for happiness,pray for peace,pray for justice pray for Cameroon, pray for the world.
NB:I'm not an atheist. I love God with all my heart. I rather find faults in many people who claim to be Christians. Non is perfect but we should not embrace evil or glorify no matter the place and time.

Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg is in Nigeria

Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg has arrived in Nigeria for a business research trip according to the BBC.
According to a press release from his company:Zuckerberg is in Nigeria to listenand learn and take ideas back toCalifornia on how Facebook can better support tech developmentand entrepreneurship across Africa."He first visited a technology hub in Lagos called CC Hub.Facebook says it's the technology entrepreneur's first visit to the continent.He flew in from Italy where, among other things, he met Pope Francis and spoke about the "importance of connecting people, especially in parts of the world without internet access", according to Mr Zuckerberg's Facebook page.
Bellanaija.com has also reported that according toTech Cabal:There’s been a lot of Facebook-related development in Nigeria so there’s a ton of reasons why Mark may be visiting. First,Free Basicslaunched in Nigeria and Mark showed his support for theJobbermanteam. Then theChan-Zuckerberg Initiativeinvested $24 million inAndela. Also, Facebook’s developer workshop is happening tomorrow, and Facebookis partnering withCool Linkto launchExpress Wifiin Lagos some time this week.