Technical education: Minister Nalova Lyonga donates textbooks authored by Cameroonians.

The books authored by Cameroonians were handed to the beneficiaries during an event staged January 10 on the campus of the Government Bilingual Technical High School Nsam, Yaounde.
The packages were handed to officials from Regional Delegations of Secondary Education and to a number of technical schools. 
The event was attended amongst others by the Minister of Employment and Vocational Training, Issa Tchiroma Bakary; the representative of the Minister of State, Minister of Higher Education, Prof Wilfred Gabsa; and the Permanent Secretary of the Council for the Approval of School Textbooks and Manuals, Prof Marcellin Vounda Etoa. 
The Governor of the Centre Region, Naseri Paul Bea, was also in attendance.
Speaking during the ceremony, Minister Nalova Lyonga called for continuous creativity amongst Cameroonians so as to ensure that citizens of the country effectively consume ‘Made in Cameroon’ products. 
“The message of this ceremony is to tell Africans that they can write textbooks, that we are not condemned to read textbooks written by Europeans but that Africans can write their own text books,” the minister insisted. 
She was blunt that: “There are many things we still need to do. We need to grow up, we need to develop”.
“Here, we have textbooks written by Cameroonians. These are books written by Cameroonians, for Cameroonians. We have reached the level where we are producing our own textbooks. Let us continue to do that, that should be our pride,” the minister concluded.
 

The beneficiaries of the donations expressed gratitude to government for the gesture. The Cameroonian book sector, it should be said, has in the past, been flooded with books authored and published largely by foreigners.
The scenario has been a source of public anger to actors in the sector who constantly decry marginalisation and neglect.
The move by Minister Nalova Lyonga to ensure the use of locally-produced books, actors in the sector say, is not only timely but highly salutary.