A total of 103 best-performing students from last year’s public exams have been placed on honour roll by the North West Regional Assembly. The students hail from the conflict-hit North West region, where an armed conflict has been raging since 2017.
Fru Angwafor III, president of the Northwest Regional Assembly announced in a press briefing on Sunday, September 15, in Bamenda ahead of the 14th session of the Assembly to be held from September 16 to 18, 2024.
With a majority from grammar secondary schools in the region, a few have also been selected from technical schools.
“We will honour 103 of the best-performing students from last year’s end-of-course examinations; forty-five of these from technical schools our overriding focus,” announced Fru Angwafor III, president of the assembly said.
He also noted that as part of their statutory duties, “we continue to support secondary education, and as part of this session, we will be donating 32 computers and accessories to the ICT units of 32 top-performing secondary schools.”
During the press conference, he unveiled the agenda of the 14th session highlighting key issues on the table for deliberations.
The North West Regional Assembly was created 45 months ago. According to its president Fru Angwafor III, the moment is timely for stocktaking as their mandate nears expiry.
“This moment presents a timely opportunity to evaluate the ground covered and to review the projects executed from 2021 to 2024,” he said adding, “This review will focus on ensuring that our initiatives have been executed with equity and spatial territorial coverage, especially considering the ongoing sociopolitical crisis that has resulted in significant movement of populations within and out of the region.”
Over 80 deliberations have been adopted by the House since 2021. However, some of the deliberations have not been implemented.
“We will assess which of these have been effectively implemented and identify the challenges that have prevented others from being executed,”
The session will also see the presentation of the Assembly’s balance sheet in terms of the diverse projects undertaken which include studies, constructions, rehabilitations, environmental initiatives such as tree planting, and social support provided to vulnerable groups across the region.
Projects matured for 2025 will also form the basis of deliberations at the 14th session.
“As we look ahead to 2025, we will also discuss consolidated mature projects that have been identified through consultations with local communities, civil society, peace and development committees, and other stakeholders,” Fru Angwafor III said.
The region is still without a dry port despite it being discussed by the Regional Assembly in 2021.The industrial zone as well has remained in a thick bush with no signs of industrialization.
The North West Regional Assembly was created to address the development needs of the region within the decentralization framework steming from a national dialogue held in 2018 to address the Separatist armed conflict in the Anglophone regions.
With devolved powers from the central administration, the local population is yet to feel the impact of the decentralized body. Bad road infrastructure, unemployment, inadequate healthcare, the persistence of the armed conflict, and partial functioning of schools amongst others are some of the many difficulties facing the region.
