Ntumfor Barrister Nico Halle Elected President Of BOBA Douala Chapter

Ntumfor Barrister Nico Halle, the international legal consultant and reputed crusader for peace and justice, has been elected the President of the Douala Chapter of the Bali Old Boys Association, BOBA, which is the association of former or ex-students of the renowned Cameroon Protestant College, CPC Bali. CPC has as proprietor, the Presbyterian Church in Cameroon, PCC.  Worth noting that Ntumfor Halle among other things is currently a member of the National Commission for the Promotion of Bilingualism and Multiculturalism.

The election of Ntumfor Barrister Nico Halle as President of the BOBA Douala Chapter took place on July 4, 2023, during an elective general meeting of the Chapter at the Douala residence of Ba Nkom Raymond Dinga Gwanyalla, the former National President of BOBA. His residence has been the permanent venue for the meetings of BOBA Douala Chapter for over 10 years today. Worth noting that Ba Nkom Raymond Gwanyalla who is into business today, is a retired senior Customs Officer who last served as the Director of Customs.

Free, Fair And Transparent Elections

Meanwhile, the election of the new President of the Douala Chapter of BOBA in the person of Ntumfor Barrister Nco Halle, at the July 4 meeting, also saw the election of other executive members. The elections were conducted by a five-man team headed by Barrister Jude Khan, were unanimously saluted by all the BOBAs at the occasion as free, fair and transparent.

It should be noted that though Ntumfor Barrister Nico Halle was the lone nominee for the post of Chapter President, he rejected the proposal of being elected by general acclamation, saying that he did not consider such a system of election as democratic. Halle who is an international election expert insisted that voting proper should be conducted. That was done, and all the members confirmed their trust in him by casting all their votes for him. Worthy of note that Ntumfor Barrister Nico Halle who is also an election expert as well an international election observer, was a member of the National Elections Observatory, NEO.

Meanwhile, the mandate of the new President of the Douala Chapter of BOBA and the other elected EXCO members is four years, renewable once. Ntumfor Barrister Nico Halle took over as President of the Douala Chapter of BOBA from Dr Assam George, who had served the maximum of two mandates.

New EXCO Of BOBA Douala Chapter

The new Executive Bureau of the Douala Chapter of BOBA that was elected on July 4, 2023, stands as follows: PRESIDENT – NTUMFOR BARRSITER NICO HALLE. VICE PRESIDENT – TAKWIFOR JOSEPH MOFOR. SECRETARY GENERAL – FONTEM AYIYU. VICE SECRETARY GENERAL – NDONUE PAUL.   FINANCIAL SECRETARY – GANGBOBGA CHARLES. TREASURER – MUSI GISELA LUM. SOCIAL SECRETARIES – EKWE EMMANUEL, MFUH ODILIA, LUCIA ATABONG. AUDITORS – TANGYIE SOLOMON, MEKAM GAELLE. CHIEF WHIPS (DISCIPLINE MASTERS) – FONKWA BRENDA, Dr. VICTOR MOKUBE, Dr ASSAM GEORGE, PA ENYIH SCOTT. ADVISERS TO THE PRESIDENT – BA NKOM RAYMOND  GWANYALLA, PA AYUKEBA, HON STEPHEN NJINYAM, REV PROF LEKUNZE  EDWARD, PA ENOW SUNDAY aka Bronco, DR VICTOR MUKUBE, DR ASSAM GEORGE, PA ENYIH SCOTT.

EXCO Enlarged With Creation Of New Posts

Meanwhile, at the first meeting of the new EXCO of BOBA Douala Chapter headed by Ntumfor Barrister Nico Halle, a decision was adopted to enlarge the Executive Bureau in a bid to make the Chapter more effective in its mission. Some new posts were thus created in the Bureau, and some members of BOBA Douala Chapter co-opted into the Bureau. The newly created posts and the BOBAs co-opted to the posts are as follows: SONG MASTER – TANGYIE SOLOMON. COLLEGE OF LAWYERS – BARRISTER JULIUS ACHU, BARRISTER KHAN JUDE, BARRISTER NKUAMWA PHROBERT (Spiddy), BARRISTER LOBE COMFORT.  The EXCO also added SANKOH VICTOR to the list of Special Advisers to the President, and BENGWELLA NDIFON GAMUA to the list of Chief Whips (Discipline Masters) of the BOBA Douala Chapter.

New Items Added To Agenda Of Monthly Meetings

Still in the same light to try to make the BOBA Douala Chapter more effective in its mission, the new EXCO of the Chapter at the first meeting presided over by the Chapter President, Ntumfor Barrister Nico Halle, also introduced some new items on the agenda of the traditional monthly meetings of the Chapter which takes place on THE FIRST TUESDAY OF THE MONTH.  The innovations are in fact part of Ntumfor Halle’s VISION for BOBA Douala Chapter during his period as President of Chapter.  A new President and his EXCO of the BOBA Douala Chapter has the freedom to introduce a new vision, which they think will enable the Executive Bureau to better run the Chapter to enable it to effectively function in line with the MISSION laid out by the association.

Meditation And Prayers

One of the innovations is the introduction of MEDITATION/PRAYERS at the start of every meeting. It will be conducted by a pastor who is a BOBA. Observers and analysts will definitely agree that this is a very important item, especially at the start of a meeting of an association of former students of a mission school. The innovation also goes to reflect what the new President of the Douala Chapter of BOBA, Ntumfor Barrister Nico Nico Halle, told THE MENTOR that contacted him in Douala on Wednesday, August 16, 2023, that BOBA is a spiritual association. The important value, spiritual, is thus supposed to be reflected in the association’s meetings.

Talks On Contemporary Issues

Another innovation introduced by the new EXCO of BOBA Douala Chapter, is that at each monthly meeting, there will be A Talk On Contemporary Issues for 10 minutes. Observers and analysts will also definitely agree that this is a very good idea.  Ntumfor Halle as well told THE MENTOR that BOBA should also be a forum to help members to improve intellect, mentality and mind-set. The introduction of educative talks thus is very important to members of such an association.  Wise people strive to learn other things each and every day of their lives.

Introduction Of Rotatory System Of Hosting Meetings

Meanwhile, the new EXCO of BOBA Douala Chapter headed by Ntumfor Barrister Nico Halle, at their first meeting also adopted a resolution introducing a new system of hosting the monthly meetings of the Chapter.  While the premises of Ba Nkom Raymond Gwanyalla will remain the PERMANENT meeting place of the Douala Chapter of BOBA, the monthly meeting of the Chapter will however henceforth be hosted by members in a rotatory system.

Ntumfor Halle explained to THE MENTOR that the rotatory system has been introduced to enable members of BOBA Douala Chapter to know the homes of each other.  “We had an embarrassing situation here where a senior BOBA, unfortunately, passed away, and members were calling each other to find out the location of his home or where he was living. It was really unfortunate”, Halle painfully recalled.

The new BOBA Douala Chapter President said they will start by visiting the homes of senior BOBAS, and then move on to also visit the homes of junior BOBAs. ‘It is important for us to know, or at least have an idea, of where each and every member of BOBA Douala Chapter lives. As BOBAs We are supposed to be each other’s keeper. Each time we are informed that a BOBA is sick for example, and the Chapter has something to assist, we should know where we are going to”, Ntumfor Halle explained.

Ba Nkom Raymond Dinga Gwanyalla

Ntumfor Barrister Nico Halle once more reiterated that despite the introduction of the rotatory system of hosting meetings of BOBA Douala Chapter, the residence of Ba Nkom Raymond Gwanyalla in Douala will remain the permanent venue of meetings of the BOBA Douala Chapter. He paid tribute to the man whom he addresses as Big Brother, for having generously offered his residence to host BOBA meetings for many years now. “We have because of the love we have for Ba Nkom Raymond Gwanyalla, unanimously decided to maintain his residence as our permanent meeting Place.  He is such a nice guy. Ni Raymond is somebody whose generosity is legendary. I am still to meet any BOBA who has not benefitted from him directly or indirectly”, Ntumfor Halle said.

Worthy of note, that Ba Nkom Raymond Gwanyalla is the former National President of the Bali Old Boys Association.  As Ntumfor Halle recalled, it was in August 2022, that is a year ago, that Ba Nkom Raymond Gwanyalla’s team handed over to a newly elected National Executive Council of BOBA headed by Prof Barrister Tita Nji, after being at the helm of BOBA for the maximum period of two mandates.

Time Of Meeting: 7 to 9 pm

Talking about the monthly meeting, the new EXCO of the BOBA Douala Chapter which is headed by Ntumfor Barrister Nico Halle, at its first meeting adopted a resolution fixing the time of the meeting that comes up on the FIRST TUESDAY OF THE MONTH, to run from 7 – 9 pm. That is a duration of two hours. This is a break from the past when there was no precise time for the meeting to end. The new President of BOBA Douala Chapter has explained that it will be good for the meetings to end early, so that people can go back home on time to prepare for work the next day.

Interesting to note, that Ntumfor Barrister Nico Halle will host the next general meeting of BOBA Douala Chapter at his residence, on Tuesday, September 5, 2023.  It will be the first meeting to be hosted in the new rotatory system.

Worth noting as well that at the monthly meetings of the BOBA Douala Chapter, members among other things eat ‘cornchaff’ which is a very popular meal for students at boarding schools in Anglophone Cameroon.  The ‘cornchaff’ reminds the BOBAs of their days at CPC Bali.

Importance Of Sensitization

Meanwhile, the idea to introduce regular sensitization on topical or contemporary issues into the agenda of the BOBA Douala Chapter is in fact laudable, as it is an aspect that is very important, or better still indispensable, in an association that cares about its members who are of all categories and age groups.  As Ntumfor Halle stated, the Douala Chapter of BOBA is for all BOBAs, men and women, boys and girls; that is old and young. “BOBA is a blanket word that covers all former students of CPC Bali, be they male or female, be they young or old”, he asserted.

Talking about young people in general in our society today, they need a lot of counselling by morality and legal experts. THE MENTOR thinks that it will be a good idea that members of the newly created College of Lawyers in the EXCO of the Douala Chapter of BOBA, as well as the men – of – God that are BOBAs of the Chapter, to be brought up to time during the monthly meetings, to counsel the youthful members in particular against common society ills like scamming, fraud and prostitution.

The common tendency in the youthful population of our society today is to try to make money the fast way. Many of them who indulge in serious criminal acts like scamming and fraud, do not really weigh the legal implications of what they are doing as well as the moral consequences of their actions. Some of them even consider themselves as being tough, because they think they are ‘fast’. There are also many young ladies today that see nothing wrong with somebody “to use what she has to get what she needs’. Tomorrow the same persons will accuse their innocent aunts and uncles of having ‘blocked’ them from getting married, or precisely from getting suitors, whereas they ‘blocked ‘themselves by flirting around.

Even some of the big people in the society that get involved in fraud and embezzlement of public funds, do not initially really weigh the legal implications of their actions. It is when the person is caught or indicted, that it dawns on him that he has plunged himself, and thus his family as well, into a big mess.

“We Have Been Elected To Serve’

Talking to THE MENTOR when contacted in Douala on August 17, 2023, the new President of BOBA Douala Chapter, Ntumfor Barrister Nico Halle, emphasised the fact that he, like the other fellow members of the new EXCO, was elected last July 4 to serve the Chapter, and not otherwise. He said his election as the President of the BOBA Douala Chapter is a mark of confidence bestowed on his humble self by fellow BOBAs to serve their Chapter. He promised that he strives to live up to expectations.

Ntumfor Halle also called on his fellow members of the new EXCO to always bear in mind that their elections are for them to serve, and they will together all work hard to make BOBA Douala Chapter better than they met it. Halle argued that if a new EXCO takes over the running of an association, and at the end of the mandate the association has not progressed from what it was when they took over, then they have failed.

“When you are elected to an office, you should strive to serve the people or members well, our imperfections notwithstanding. Nobody is perfect. But we should strive towards perfection. We should not try to exploit the talk that nobody is imperfect as a cover to do wrong things or to be lazy”.

BOBA Is Apolitical And Must Remain So

The President of the Douala Chapter of BOBA, Ntumfor Halle, also stressed the fact that BOBA is apolitical, and so it must remain. He said BOBA is not by that in any way against members that are politicians, for it is the right of each individual person to decide whether to be involved or not in partisan or party politics. He said all that BOBA which is an association that is apolitical demands of members that are into politics is that when coming to BOBA meetings or activities, or when they have to do anything in the name of BOBA, they should PLEASE, LEAVE  HOME OR LEAVE OUT THEIR POLITICS.

Ntumfor Halle also cautioned that the BOBA Douala Chapter is not supposed to be used by any member, including the Chapter President, as a platform to upstage himself for whatever purpose. He as well stressed the importance of self-discipline in an association. He said his EXCO places much importance on discipline in the Chapter, and that this is the reason why a number of senior BOBAs of repute, are in the new EXCO of BOBA Douala Chapter, as Discipline Masters (Chef Whips).

“My Vision As Chapter President is Inclusion”

Ntumfor Barrister Nico Halle recalled that in his acceptance speech following his election as President of BOBA Douala Chapter last July 4, he told fellow members of the Chapter that his vision will be that of inclusion. “As members of BOBA, we have to strive to build peace, love and harmony among ourselves. We have to be each other’s keeper”. He observed that there are quite a number of BOBAs in Douala, that for one reason or the other are not members of the BOBA Douala Chapter. He said the new EXCO of the Chapter will work to encourage those BOBAs in Douala that are not members of the association, to come on-board.

He has promised to pay the registration fee of the first 10 ex-students of CPC Bali in Douala that are not yet registered members of BOBA, that turn up for registration.  He said he thinks that some of them are keeping away from the association because they do not yet have something concrete to do, and so do not have money to pay for their registration fee, which is 50,000 francs per member.

Helping The Unemployed To Find Jobs

The new President of the Douala Chapter of BOBA has in fact observed that there are quite a number BOBAs that have not been employed, that are hanging around Douala. Here is the position of Ntumfor Barrister Nico Halle on this issue: “Those BOBAs that have the possibilities to help some or all of them should try to do so. What does it mean to belong to BOBA, if we cannot help each other? It is not just to come and eat ‘cornchaff’ and go. BOBA has come past ‘cornchaff’ eating.  What are we doing to help the other BOBAs that have left school and do not have jobs? We should love each other and strive to assist those in need. Otherwise, there is no need to have BOBA. What is the need having BOBA, if we are not there to help each other!”

Giving Back To The Alma Mata

The new President of the BOBA Douala Chapter, Ntumfor Barrister Nico Halle, said one of the major and permanent commitments of the Douala Chapter, which is one of the main Chapters of BOBA, has over the years been to strive to give back to CPC Bali, what the institution gave the members. “We have a responsibility to regularly go back, and take care of the place that gave us the knowledge that has placed many of our members in the limelight. We have to remain grateful to CPC”, Ntumfor Halle stated. He explained that the National Executive Council, NEC, of BOBA, works in collaboration with the association’s Chapters that make financial contributions to NEC, to carry out important projects in CPC Bali.

Worthy of note, that the Presidents of the different Chapters of BOBA are also Vice Presidents of the National Executive Council of BOBA. Thus Ntumfor Halle who was elected President of BOBA Douala Chapter last July 4, also automatically became one of the Vice National Presidents of BOBA.

Ntumfor Barrister Nico Halle And The PCC

As the Pastor of the Presbyterian Church, PC Bonamoussadi, Douala, Rev Pastor Jones Ayuk Ebot, who is Presbyterian Secretary for the East Mungo South Presbytery recently asserted at a public ceremony in Douala, it is difficult to categorise Ntumfor Barrister Nico Halle, for he is so many things in one. We will here just limit Ntumfor Halle to the level of the Presbyterian Church in Cameroon, PCC, since the story is about CPC Bali. Ntumfor Barrister Nico Halle is the former President of the East Mungo South Presbytery of the Christian Men Fellowship, CMF, of the PCC, as well as the former National President of CMF. Halle is also a former member of the Board of Trustees of the PCC.

From Basel Mission College To CPC

Worthy of note that CPC Bali and St Joseph College Sasse which are among the most prestigious colleges in Cameroon, are two oldest colleges in Anglophone Cameroon. CPC which was created by the Basel Mission was initially known as the Basel Mission College Bali. The name of the institution was changed to CPC after the Basel Mission in Cameroon gained its independence from the Basel Mission in Switzerland, in November 1957, and became known as the Presbyterian Church in Cameroon.

No doubt that many of the past and present big names in the Anglophone Community in Cameroon were or are products of CPC Bali. They include among others: the late Hon Simon Achidi Achu (former Prime Minister of Cameroon), Philemon Yang (former Prime Minister of Cameroon), Late General James Tataw, Late Rev Dr Solomon Nfor Gwei  (former Member of Government), Prof Chumbom, Late Prof Vincent Tita Nji, Hon Tatsi Ntang Lucas, Zachaeus Mungwe Forjindam, Raymond Gwanyalla, Peter Esoka, Prof Barrister Tita Nji,  Barrister Nico Halle, Dr Assam George, Rev Prof Lekunze Edward among many others.

Also worthy of note, is that CPC was for many years solely a boys’ school. But then when later a high school section was created, it was opened to both boys and girls. Later the secondary school section too was opened to girls.

It should be noted also that CPC which was forced to shut down following the escalation of the Anglophone Crisis, reopened its doors during the 2022 / 23 academic year.  Though schools across the country will officially reopen for the 2023 / 24 academic year early next month (September), CPC Bali is reported to have already resumed classes for the new academic year.

By Joe Dinga Pefok (Uncle Joe)

Facebook: The Mentor

Email: djpefok@yahoo.com

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