Commonwealth Telecommunications Organisation launched at UBa

The General Manager of the Telecommunications Regulatory Board, Jean Louis Beh Mengue,on June 29, launched the Commonwealth Telecommunications Organisation, CTO, at the Campus of the University of Bamenda, UBa.

Talking to Northwest Governor, Aldolphe Lele L’Afrique, UBa authorities and students the boss of the Telecommunications Regulatory Board said the choice of the UBa to host the launching of CTO was not by chance because it is an Anglo-Saxon University.

He presented some advantages of the coming of the CTO to UBa and other higher institutions of the Northwest to include; capacity building and training in Information Communication Technology, ICT, development programmes with regard to policy, regulation, technology and business development. UBa, he said, will actively participate in national, regional, and international ICT events; the institution will also benefit from advisory and consultancy services, research, information and publication services.

Impressed that the Commonwealth Telecommunications Organisation Central Africa Regional Office relocated in Bamenda for the launch, Governor Lele said it was just the natural order that is being respected and urged UBa authorities not to let the opportunity slip off their hands. “It is my hope that the university will take full opportunity to gain from this partnership. I say so because this organisation has created jobs for most youths and their standards of living improved.

Earlier, the Mayor of Tubah Council, Martin TanjongMushungong, said the University of Bamenda in Bambili, hasbeen growing in leaps and bounds with the influx of students who are inquest for information communication technology .That, notwithstanding, Tanjong enumerated teething problems plaguing the university to include; inadequate water on campus, electricity, hygiene and sanitation and much more.

The Mayor said he was impressed with the advantages accruing from the presence of the CTO and termed them as a blessing because “development of the University is equally the development of our municipality”.

The UBa Vice Chancellor, Prof. Edward Edokat, said the teaching and learning process in a university of the future like UBa, cannot be complete without information and communication technology, which has made great advances in research and has molded the world into a global village.

The CTO is an international development partnership between Commonwealth governments, non-Commonwealth governments, businesses and civil society organisations. It provides to its members an effective means of achieving social and economic development through knowledge-sharing programmes in the use of ITCs including telecommunications, broadcasting, IT and the internet.

Created in 1901, it is the largest and oldest Commonwealth membership organisation committed to using ITCs appropriately and effectively for development (ICT4D). Its mission is to promote, facilitate and guide members using ICTs to deliver effective development interventions.