Menchum: Wum Council compensates, sends off 200 holiday workers.

This was during a closing ceremony held at the deliberating chambers of the Wum Council building. It was chaired by the Senior Divisional Officer, SDO of Menchum, Abdoullahi Aliou. 

This was in the presence of religious and traditional authorities of the area.

The 200 holiday workers who began the exercise July, were each handed 30,000 FCFA to enable them to return to school.

Speaking during the ceremony, Menchum SDO, Abdoullahi Aliou, was all praises for the Wum Council, for the continuous annual initiative which he said, has been making back-to-school easy for hundreds of students.

The Menchum Chief Executive pleaded with the Mayor of Wum Council not to relent his efforts in supporting the youth. 

Emphasising the importance of the exercise, the senior civil administrator, urged Mayor Dighambong Anthony to consider increasing the number of students recruited for the holiday job.

“I appreciate the work of this holiday workers” the SDO said at the closing ceremony.

He added that: “This is a wonderful initiative and it has to continue. For eleven years, the council has been doing this exercise”.

Taking the cue, the Mayor of the Wum Council, Dighambong Anthony Mvo, thanked the holiday workers for the work carried out during the two-month exercise.

He advised them to use the money profitably especially on their education. 

Speaking further, Mayor Dighambong thanked the administration of Menchum, parents and population for the continuous support offered the Wum Council.

Tracing his motivation to assist the students through holiday jobs, Mayor Dighambong recalled that “When I was growing up, I happen to have done holiday job with the Wum Area Development Authority, WADA. I come from a very poor parental background. I had no means to pay my school fee but thanks to the holiday job I did with WADA, I was able to pay my school fee. So, when I became Mayor in November 30, 2013, the following academic year, I decided to come up with this initiative alongside my councilors”.

“We decided that it will be proper we give hope to the hopeless children who are found in this municipality and that is how we started the holiday jobs. We started with 50, we went up to 100 and today we are 200. Our wish is that once the means are there, we will increase the intake” he continued.

“Today, we saw children testifying that they have been able to do holiday jobs for seven years to be able to pay their fees from Form One to Upper Sixth. It is very touching. I believe that where there is love, there is peace. We are not doing this because we have too much money but because we have the children at heart” he added.

It was disclosed that the Wum Council spends close to seven million francs on the exercise which seeks to keep students busy during summer holidays.

It should be mentioned that the first batch of 100 holiday workers began working early July and ended on July 31, while the second batch began on August 1 and ended on few days ago.

During the two months period, the holiday workers went cleaning public offices, churches, hospitals and schools. 
 

Mayor Dighambong uses sports to preach peace

Meanwhile prior to yesterday’s ceremony, the Mayor of the Wum Council had used his annual football tournaments organised in parts of the municipality to preach peace and effective schooling in the area.

The cup finals were staged at the playground of GBHS Wum and Ndzejam community field on the outskirts of Wum.

Speaking Wednesday at the close of the 23rd edition of Mayor Dighambong Anthony 's Unity and Peace tournament, held on the campus of GBHS Wum, Menchum SDO, Abdoullahi Aliou had called on the youth of Wum to embrace peace and prepare for effective school resumption. 

The SDO appreciated the two finalists for good playing styles and mature football before appealing on them to galvanise all efforts for an effective back to school. 

The civil administrator had appreciated the donor for his dynamism in organising the tournament for the past 23 years. 

For his part, the donor, Mayor Dighambong Anthony saluted the efforts of all the committee members, players, team presidents, forces of law and order, as well as Menchum administration for the support to ensure a successful tournament. 

He promised to continue supporting the youth “if and only if they embrace to peace”.

Mayor Dighambong used the occasion to explain the importance of education before urging the players to return to the classrooms on September 8. 

This article was first published in The Guardian Post Edition No:3555 of Friday September 05, 2025