Labour Day: CTE Ndu Strengthens Relationship with Workers

By Haruna Mohammadou

It is widely acknowledged that quality fetches high prices and value addition may also be achieved through greater efficiency. However, with better logistics and a cordial atmosphere between management and workers, there is bound to be progress. It could be by improving and extending the reach of agricultural activities, but also more importantly improving working and social conditions. The Cameroon Tea Estate Plantation-Ndu is staking everything on improving the quality of its products and working conditions at the workplace. This is so because since 2011 that a new manager was appointed to the plantation, the sum that some workers earn in return, is little short of a miracle. This was part of the engagement the manager of CTE told his collaborators during Labour Day celebrations. He said that Ndu Tea plantation will make sure that HIV/AIDS becomes a thing of the past and they are advocating for zero stigmatization and zero HIV/AIDS.

Mohammadou Kabiru: Manager

When George Washington Carver in one of his theories on great people said that “when you do the common things in life in an uncommon way, you will command the attention of the world”, certainly he was dreaming of the type of managers who do not only give instructions but lead for others to follow. In fact this uncommon ways of doing things has made the Plantation Manager of CTE Ndu, Mohammadou Kabiru the most dogged character in present time. He has within a very short time branded himself with the familiar circuit of great silent achievers. More sustaining harmony, trust and above all transparency in the collective proffers have served him as guiding principle. When he went out of the box and set the example by making work at CTE Ndu plantation workable for all those who were disgruntled against the past management, he entered record books.

The True Leading Manager

A manager is traditionally perceived as someone who only gives instructions. Yet Mohammadou Kabiru is more of a leader than just a manager. Interesting, CTE workers have testified that Kabiru is the only manager that entertains suggestions from the workers on how to improve their working conditions and on how they can collectively add value to their activities to boost the company’s output. Through this approach he gained the confident and trust of the

Mohammadou Kabiru leading by example at Nkambe Grandstand

workers. Mohammadou Kabiru has all the qualities of a true leader worth emulating. Naturally, he is very a kind person. He is the only Manager who has made all the improvements for workers to have a good life, not for his own interest but for the general interest of all, they say. He is role model; whose devotion to instill hard work and his constant present with workers in every value chain has changed many things positively. He is not only a leader, but a father, husband, brother, and a friend that many have been leaning on and would continue to lean on.

He is looked upon as modernizer because he possesses these qualities: leadership and vision, good management abilities, social and economic inclination, ability to provide security and to protect the environment as well as having the skill to cultivate good relations in communities with different cultural, racial and social backgrounds.

When Mohammadou Kabiru was appointed in 2011, his drive, passion and commitments have been inspiring and have driven many successful changes. His savoir-faire and managerial skills caught the admiration of the administration which earned him a medal on May 1, 2013.

On May 1, 2014, the Njuh Dance Group of CTE in one of their songs sang that: “Mohammadou Kabiru represents a new generation of leaders in the Donga Mantung Division”. Usually, managers hide but not Mr.Mohammadou Kabiru. Only dishonest ones hide but since this Manager of CTE Ndu has proved to be an honest man and a dedicated servant who believes in human rights and fights everyday in the defence of those very important concepts which are often violated today, he has made himself the peoples’ manager. During Labour Day celebrations in Nkambe, people were shocked to see him march-pass with other workers. As one senior administrator puts: he is a mixer and that is why CTE is growing from strength to strength”. At the end of the day, CTE left Nkambe with two prizes. This was the first of its kind in the history of the Ndu Tea Plantation. The elated workers chant in honour of their Manager for trailing them into a breakthrough which is multi-dimensional. Cameroonian ace musician Prince Afo Akom in one of his sound tracks said that “creativity is not sold in the market” and to it, I will add, that creativity is talent of integrity. The questions that always come to our minds when we are found in from of people with extra abilities have always been why it is so difficult for human kind to understand great people. The answer is that great people always live ahead of time; they live in after, after tomorrow in their actions and thoughts. Like the famous Nostradamus, the Man who saw Tomorrow, great people are people who more often than not see tomorrow. And because most of those around them are myopic, they do not understand them and tend to misinterpret them erroneously.

The great American Statesman Abraham Lincoln once said “I will like to be remembered that I picked the weeds and planted flowers”. As a matter of fact, it is this very declaration that reshaped the United America to what is popularly known today as the “American Dream”. It is this inspirational quote that continues to inspire leaders around the world to make a difference in what they are trusted to do. Judged to have been inspired by this quote is also Mohammadou Kabiru’s whose inputs at the level of CTE Ndu is creating a weave of unbelievable success story. He falls in the first category of new breed of workaholic individuals with Cameroon Tea Estate whose dream has been that of making the difference. This pragmatic gentle has attested further than doubts that in picking weeds and planting flowers he will surely change lives. His achievements have been realized through realistic perceptions, efforts and the skills he is putting in place at CTE Ndu.

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