If the deluge of proposals and speculations from mostly CPDM stalwarts are anything to go by, then President Biya could be at the threshold of clutching the coveted Nobel Peace Prize Award.
After traditional authorities for the Centre region crafted messages on giant sign posts and erected on major streets in Yaounde; in which they stated that President Biya merits the Nobel Peace Award, a CPDM lackey, Antunka Livingstone Antunka, Monday brandished to The Cameroon Journal a supposed letter from the International Nobel Peace Prize Committee confirming reception of his nomination of President Biya for the award.
Recently, the nation was awash with talk as to the fact that Biya was being proposed by some CPDM sycophants for the Norwegian initiative.
They said it wasn’t going to come as a surprise if Biya picks the prize, given his enormous efforts, they said, to preserve peace in Cameroon for decades.
Antunka, an Academic Counselor who heads the group of Cameroonians gunning for the award on behalf of Biya was received at the Norwegian Nobel Institute on December 13, 2013.
"The file has already crossed the preselecting phase and would be endorsed at the next meeting of the committee.
It is backed by many peaceful operations carried out by President Biya both locally and internationally including his shrewd and peaceful handling of the Bakassi crisis, the organization of international peace conferences like the conference on Maritime Security staged in Yaounde in June 2011." Antunka told the journal.
The Nobel Peace Prize which was instituted in November 1895 is aimed at rewarding actors and promoters of peace worldwide. The prize carries a token of 1.3 billion FCFA and is awarded by the International Nobel Prize Committee based in Oslo, Norway.
Antunka who is also a municipal councilor has, however, decried the fact that some individuals who want to be seen as being behind the push and who have a penchant for money are exploiting the opportunity to blossom their images in front of the Head of State.
"Some even go as far as extorting money from the political elite." He said.
Antunka remarked that he and his team would remain serene and focused until the idea matures. The award, if won, Antunka touted, would embellish Cameroon's image abroad, bring in tourists and even foreign investors into the country.
Some of the past winners of the world's most coveted award include former South African Head of State, Nelson Mandela, Barack Obama, Koffi Atta Anan, Jimmy Carter, among others. This is the circle that Biya hopes to belong to when all is said and done.
