Hello everyone, hope you're doing great today. I wish to share with you this amazing national event in Cameroon, Africa. Youth Day is celebrated in many Countries and Cameroon happens to be one of the Countries that recognizes this day. Infact Cameroon holds the day as a national public holiday on February 11th every year. Today 11th February 2025, is celebrated as the 59th edition of the Youth Day Celebration
√ It is the day to honour all the youths and to
appreciate the importance of education. The day is celebrated holding parades, folklore, singing, and sports competition by youths to mark this annual event.
° ORIGIN OF 11th FEBRUARY AND WHY IT IS CELEBRATED AS A YOUTH DAY IN CAMEROON.
√ As a matter of fact many Cameroonians do not really understand why the youth Day is celebrated on the 11th February, the date that is historically known as the the prebiscite. On the 11th February 1961 a plebiscite was held in the former British Cameroon aimed at deciding it's fate. It is noted that the British Cameroon was given two choices to gain its independence by either joining the Federal Republic of Nigeria or the already independent French Cameroon while their counterparts of north Cameroon voted to join the Nigeria.
√ The President addresses the youth:
It is a tradition that every year on the eve of the youth Day, the head of state addresses the youths. And this is replayed on every ceremonial ground to the authorities and the youths. In a nutshell, this year the President appreciated the youths and encouraged them to standup to the test of the challenging times. He however said that the government under his leadership was doing everything possible to address the issue of youth unemployment, and advised them not to fall prey to bad influence and miss track. As much as the state was doing everything possible to recruit jobs seekers into the public services, not everyone can be recruited either into public service or private sector. He advised the youths to seek the numerous opportunities at their disposal to make the best out of it. He cited agriculture, fishing, digital economy and entrepreneurship. He always congratulated the indomitable Lions of Cameroon for their performance in the CAF selection. And pledged government support to ensure it success, but he however stressed the importance of team spirit and solidarity as indispensable values that can contribute amazingly in their performance
°YOUTH DAY CELEBRATION IN THE OTHER DIVIDE OF THE COUNTRY.
√ According to the bicultural background of the country Cameroon, which is bilingual in nature, the two divide used to celebrate this great event with great attention until the sociopolitical upheavals brought untold division, hatred, killings, kidnappings, ghost towns, etc. Thus the francophone zones are relatively peaceful unlike the anglophones that have been in war for close to eight years. The Youth Day Celebration which was celebrated on the theme, "Jeunesse, Maturité, et Responsabilité pour la consolidation de la paix, de la securité, de la croissance économique et du processus démocratique"was a great success where children came out in great numbers and in uniform to give the day the grandeur it deserves unlike the anglophones zones.
° YOUTH DAY IN CAMEROON; THE CASE STUDY OF BAMENDA
° The Youth Day Celebration in Bamenda was done under tight security at the commercial avenue here in Bamenda. The theme of the 59th edition of the youth Day was "YOUTH, MATURITY AND RESPONSIBILITY, FOR THE CONSOLIDATION OF PEACE, SECURITY, ECONOMIC GROWTH AND DEMOCRATIC PROCESS"Students and pupils could rarely be seen in their official uniform for this great celebration. Before this day, there has been a lot of killings in the City that even scared people from moving freely despite the public holiday. Though the separatists had always imposed lockdown on this day, this year has not been different. Only school in green zones actually took part in the parade but under tight military security.
√ At the time of this post, no incident has been reported. I just hope no casualties is registered.
Images: source facebook
