Southwest Governor, Bordchair and school authorities pose for a picture
By Njodzeka Danhatu
Some 782 students from the Cameroon Opportunity Industrialization Centre, OIC have been tasked by the Governor of the Southwest Region, Bernard Okalia Bilai, to not disappoint society upon graduation.
The Governor made the statement on Wednesday, December 6, as he presided over the graduation ceremony of the 25th batch of students of the institutions.
The Governor told them that the graduation was just the beginning of the journey to what the future holds for them.
“Remain discipline and don’t follow the crowd. I wish success in your endeavours,” he urged the graduands.
According to Okalia Bilai, OIC is graduating the students at a time when the government is laying emphasis on vocational training.
“Our country faces a problem of youth unemployment, that is why the government adopted the policy of vocational training as means to fight poverty,” he said.
To him, the high numbers graduating illustrated the quality of training offered by OIC and exhorted the management to redouble its efforts in equipping the students with the skills required to create jobs.
The students are graduating from the seven of the eight departments – auto mechanics, building, and woodwork and hotel cattery, among others.
According to the OIC Programme Director, Marie Limunga, the graduation was celebrating a significant milestone of the work carried out by students in three months of field work and 19 months on campus.
“You have conquered the challenges and today are armed with the important tools – not the certificates – but the knowledge you need to be self-employed,” she said.
To her, the nature of the programmes is holistic and that explains while the school scored 100 percent in the last government organised exams.
She said the employers can trust OIC students with jobs and opportunities and also thanked the parents for trusting them with the future of their students.
However, the Board Chairperson of the school, David Mafany Namange, who is also Mayor of Buea Municipality, urged the graduating students to go out with a sense of mission and perform their duties as worthy Ambassadors of OIC.
“You have the opportunity to create a better future for you, your families and Cameroon. Despite the challenges, do not give up. Utilize your skills,” he urged.
The students were very confident that they have acquired the knowledge the need to become what they want to be in the future.
“It was not easy at the beginning but we leaving better than we came in. OIC has transformed our lives. We are grateful the companies that accepted us during training. Now we have the right skills and attitudes to do it” said the outgoing senior school prefect.”
The Cameroon OIC Buea was created in 1986 with five departments and, today, it boasts eight departments and having trained over hundreds of thousands.
The occasion was marked by the presence of senior administrative officials in the region as well as the local and traditional authorities.