Governor urged SDO to tackle Boko Haram

Helmed at both ends by two of the most dreaded security threats, pirates at sea and Boko Haram on land, the new Senior Divisional Officer, SDO, for Ndian, Chamberlin Ntou’ou Ndong, has been tasked to tackle both maritime pirates and militants of Boko Haram in the Division.

The call was made by the Governor of the Southwest Region, Bernard Okalia Bilai, on June 28, in Mundemba, Ndian Division, while commissioning Ntou’ou Ndong into his new office.

Governor Okalia Bilai instructed the Ntou’ou Ndong to be an SDO on both land and sea.

This, according to him, is because most SDOs and other administrators sent to Ndian often end up abandoning the vast maritime section of the Division, while concentrating their efforts only on land.

The maritime section, the Governor went on, is mired with unhealthy and revolting economic transactions and need to be stopped because all the activities carried out in this section have adverse effects on the population.

Aside from tackling pirates and Boko Haram, the SDO was equally challenged to wage a fierce war against illegal immigration, the importation of ammunition and to tone down the upsurge in crime weave.

The former DO of Ebolowa I Subdivision was further urged to combat illegal poaching, supervise all projects earmarked for Ndian Division, adopt repressive and stringent measures against unruly contractors, spearhead the economic development of the area by inviting friends, seek corporate institutions and foreign partners to invest in the Division and ensure a peaceful co-existence between all the communities in Ndian.

Without the above factors, “ there wouldn’t be any reason why Ndian Division should be called “a paradise in Cameroon," a Division which, the Governor said, the country has worked very hard, exploring all diplomatic means to regain, with some patriotic Cameroonians even laying down their lives to see that justice prevails over forceful occupation and mendacity.

To the outgoing SDO, Babila Akaou, the Governor thanked him for his administrative boldness and duty consciousness during his stay in Ndian.

According to the Governor, Babila Akaou will be remembered as an unwavering administrator who fought insecurity to the end, supervised the rehabilitation work on the Kumba-Ekondo Titi-Mundemba-Isangele-Akwa road and instilled the virtues of duty-consciousness in some unscrupulous civil servants under his jurisdiction.

Okalia Bilai wished the former SDO of Ndian and his family well as he moves to Mora, Mayo-Sava Division, Far North Region in the same capacity.

Meanwhile, earlier in her welcome address, the Mayor of Mundemba Council, Elizabeth Iselle Bekomba, thanked the outgoing SDO of Ndian for his diligence, firmness, untiring and devoted services rendered to the Ndian people, while promising the new SDO their utmost collaboration to make his mandate fruitful.

The Mayor, nonetheless, said even though Ndian is very loyal to State institutions, the Division is rocked by a plethora of problems among which are; deplorable road network, acute staff shortages in both primary and secondary schools, inadequate medical facilities and personnel and epileptic radio signals among others.

Governor Wants Ghost Mayors Replaced

Meanwhile, during the commissioning ceremony, the Governor stated that Mayors of Ndian who are resident out of the Division should be replaced by their assistants.

According to the Governor, the State is doing a lot to foster decentralisation and this cannot be achieved if Mayors, who are pilots of decentralisation, are not resident with their people to provide and supervise the development needs of their communities.

However, one of the Mayors who spoke to this reporter on the basis of anonymity said he cannot stay in his Municipality because Mayors and other Government officials are those targeted by Boko Haram and pirates, because they know that if they are captured, they can demand for ransom from Government.