2016 ACCER Awards: 13 Outstanding Journalists Named Ahead Groundbreaking Ceremony on Tuesday

On behalf of the Independent Judging Committee, Aimable Twahirwa from Rwanda said the judging was a rigorous and a competitive process which saw outstanding entries from each category being selected. He presented the names of the thirteen finalists and mentioned that this year’s Awards was encouraging compared to the past entries. He further stated that the 2016 edition had finalists fairly representing almost all the regions of Africa. All thirteen finalists were selected from the Print, Radio, Photo journalism and online categories. The 2016 ACCER Awards finalists as announced include; Aaron Yancho Kaah (Cameroon), Addeh Midadji Daniel (Togo), Andrew Mambondiyani (Zimbabwe), Atayi Babs (Nigeria), Diana Wanyonyi (Kenya), Fousseni Saibou (Togo), Francis Mugerwa (Uganda), Madafime Didier Hubert (Benin), Mercy Adundo (Kenya), Ngala Kilian Chimtom (Cameroon), Nichodemus Kioko Kovandi (Kenya), Suy Kahofi (Côte d'Ivoire), Zaina Kere (Democratic Republic of the Congo). The 2016 ACCER Awards Gala Night where the winners from each category (Print, Radio, Photo journalism and online) from among the finalists will be announced and the Awards will take place in Addis Ababa on Tuesday, October 18, 2016 at the United Nations Conference Centre, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.

Notes to the Editor

About ACCER Awards

ACCER Awards is a PACJA initiative aimed catalyzing African media coverage on climate change and environment. It was initiated in response to creating awareness on climate change and environmental conservation by way of rewarding exemplary Environmental Journalists in Africa. The goal and inherent intention of ACCER is not only to reshape the African narrative as espoused in Climate Change and Environment debates, but also to build a new culture of and consciousness on how we utilize biological resources in our environment and reduce our carbon footprint. About PACJA PACJA is the largest alliance of CSOs with members in over 45 countries in Africa with membership of over 1500, embodying one African voice on environmental and climate justice.

When News Breaks Out, We Break In. (The 2014 Bloggies Finalist)

Shocking: I was Offered N20million to Donate My Sperm - Nollywood Actor, IK Ogbonna Reveals

 Nollywood handsome hunk, IK Ogbonna, has sent the internet buzzing with mixed reactions after he made a controversial statement on his highest temptation so far.

IK Ogbonna and his wife, Sonia

 

Speaking in an exclusive interview with LIB on Thursday, October 6, popular Nollywood actor and model, Ikechukwu Mitchel Ogbonna, widely known as IK Ogbonna revealed his highest temptation since coming into prominence as he narrated how he strived so hard to get to the top.

 

"There are times when I was broke to zero Naira, I’d leave my friend’s place to visit my sister at the bridge clinic to ask for as little as -N-2000.

"On that faithful day while sitting waiting for my sister, a woman met me with her husband and offered me N20m to donate my sperm, who probably could be impotent."

 

Speaking further, the father-of-one, also stated that after several thought; he couldn’t withstand gifting his own offspring. 

 

"After having several thought about the offer, I told myself that I would be a very great man someday, and my kids will live out of sight because that is the highest temptation; I have ever experienced all my life."

When News Breaks Out, We Break In. (The 2014 Bloggies Finalist)

Meet Kwalar Helen Muyi: The Outstanding Teacher

Kwalar Helen Muyi

There are two categories of teachers. Those who joined teaching profession as a calling and those joined it because they needed to get into the public service.  Kwalar Helen, the Head teacher of Government Practicing School Binju in Nkambe Central is a teacher by calling. Meet her for a talk for the first time, and just from her voice you will understand that she is a refined teacher. Three simple things make her a good teacher. They are so simple, yet so tough to notice. The same qualities are found in a good principal, and a good high school or university teacher.

The question as to whether female teachers encourage girl education finds an answer in Kwalar Helen's abilities as an outstanding teacher in communities she taught. Her trappings as Head Teacher at GS Njap and now GS Binju have proven beyond reasonable doubts that putting more female teachers into school management positions and the classroom make the female teachers become positive role models to young girls. "Children have more need of models, than of critics" says Joubelt. In fact, what makes Kwalar Helen an outstanding role model teacher and head teacher is that she creates the conditions under which learning takes place. Though Primary Schools in Donga Mantung Division performed poorly at the 2016 First School Leaving Certificate examination, she was one of the few that stood out of the madding crowd with quantitative and qualitative results. One of the most gratifying aspects of a school teacher is measured in the knowledge children learn and what they produce as results.

Teaching is primary school can’t be any different and giving children a diverse range of role models and opportunities is one of the keys to success. Primary teachers work with children between the ages of three and eleven and are required to teach all of the subjects which are in the national curriculum, and Kwalar Helen has been doing it with a lot of dexterity.

Happy Teachers Day Madame




















When News Breaks Out, We Break In. (The 2014 Bloggies Finalist)

Meet Ken Martin Atanga, The Teaching Teacher, School Administrator

It is not an overstatement to say that a great teacher can change lives and reshape communities. As some of the most influential role models in communities, teachers are responsible for more than just academic enrichment. One of such great teacher whose trappings have gone beyond the four walls of a classroom is Ken Martin Atanga, the Principal of GBHS Nkambe. Ken Martin is a teacher par excellence, a school manager and a teaching teacher.

 He is such a teacher that is committed to the students’ well-being both inside and outside the classroom. What makes him a teaching teacher lies in the fact that every morning, Ken always take some time to talk to students on the important life lessons that will help them succeed beyond term papers and standardized tests. A teacher who teaches everywhere he goes.

It is not always easy to shape a person which is why it takes a great teacher like Ken Martin to do so.  Despite the fact that he is Principal of the largest school in Donga Mantung Division, he remains humble, down to earth and reflects the character of the old day teacher whose job did not only revolves around subject matter, but lessons on life. A visit to GBHS Nkambe will tell you that the man is very concern with the learning and teaching environment as the buildings have been rehabilitated, and sporting infrastructures developed. His trappings at the helm of GBHS Nkambe earned him one of the highest distinct titles in Mbum land from the Nkambe Fon’s palace  Happy Teachers Day Sir Ken Martin Atanga.

 

















When News Breaks Out, We Break In. (The 2014 Bloggies Finalist)

What You Need to Know About the Female Role Model Teacher, Madame Belinda Bame Wanyu

Have you ever met a teacher who extremely loves what he or she is doing? Talk of a Role Model teacher, female school administrator and the name that comes to mind is Madame Madame Belinda Bame Wanyu, Principle of Presbyterian High School Nkambe. The truth is that when a person is truly passionate about what he or she does, talking to that person is thrilling. "Developing a desire to learn is the kindling point of all classroom achievement" says Robert John Meehan. Madame B Madame Belinda Bame Wanyu who was recently named an Exemplary Teacher by the North West Regional Delegation of Secondary Education for producing qualitative and quantitative results at the 2016 GCE Ordinary and Advanced level, is teacher not to pgeon-hole with. She joins other teachers from across the region who have been outstanding in doing what they do with a lot of passion. As an exemplary teacher and school administrators, Madame Bame communicates with her colleague teachers on a daily basis. This allows her to make sure students and teachers are receiving the appropriate accommodations and modifications they need in order to make progress.

 A role model is a person who inspires and encourages us to strive for greatness, live to our fullest potential and see the best in ourselves, reasons why Madame Bame is admired and today many young girls would like to be like her. In fact, she is a woman emancipator, someone we aspire to be like. We learn through her, through her commitment to excellence and through her ability to make us realize our own personal growth. Happy Teachers Day, Madame

When News Breaks Out, We Break In. (The 2014 Bloggies Finalist)

Meet Afu Stephen: The Natural Born Teacher, Trade Unionist

Today is Teachers Day. In my mind I have one teacher I would have loved to hear him talk today. His name is Afu Stephen, the President of The Presbyterian Education Authority Teachers’ Trade Union, PEATTU.

He is a proud teacher, a trade unionist and above all, a reformist. I remember how on April 24, 2010 despite resistance from the Presbyterian Education authorities, he took courage in his right hand and determination in left hand to launch PEATU. I also recalled what (he) Afuh Stephen said. He condemned bribery, blackmail, tribalism and other ills within the education sector of the Church, stressing that nobody was more Presbyterian than the other and concluded that "PEATTU will fight against all such vices with all its might”.  Many factors shape a child’s success, but in schools nothing matters as much as the quality of teaching and the conditions of teachers. And nothing as well matters as much as the teacher expertise.

As we celebrate Teachers Day, Afu stands tall in the madding crowd of teachers’ trade unionists in Cameroon as an exemplary voice of the teachers and for grapping the most essential in perspective. In August 2010, Stephen Afu and Michael Kima, President and Vice, respectively, were detained following a complaint from Joseph Baboni, by then Presbyterian Education Secretary. Their crime as Manyong Peterkings puts it was for “disturbing the quiet enjoyment of “Baboni Mugabe” the then Presbyterian Education boss”.  

The clash had its origins in the wide gap between the luxury surrounded lifestyle of Presbyterian Education authorities,  Baboni for instance, and that of the average Presbyterian teacher who lives in a ghetto and feeds on garbage, beans, achu etc.

 5 years since the creation of PEATU, one can only borrow from Elizabeth Green, the author of “Building A Better Teacher” to describe Afu’s worth. He is what Elizabeth calls the “myth of the natural-born teacher”, a description that makes a good teacher to be like panning for gold.

When News Breaks Out, We Break In. (The 2014 Bloggies Finalist)

Meet Mupmbaah Harrison: The Mathematics Teacher

In our contemporary society, the job of the teacher has been relatively mistreated. But like a shoe-shiner, the teacher remains the only person who molds future professionals in all the domains. For that, what matters is what teachers accomplish and believe. The answer, after all, is in the classroom. Great teaching has long been seen as an inborn skill as critical minds continue to demonstrate that the best teachers are born, not made.

Mupmbaah Harrison is a born teacher. The warm but firm Principal of GSS Binshua in Donga Mantung of the North West Region is teacher who has caught our admiration. He has a soft voice yet is a strict teacher. Being a science teacher, Mupmbaah Harrison once told me that his best moments in school are when students give him the correct answers. Rather than spending his time musing over school administration, though principle, he is into the craft of the classroom. And he does it with a lot of dexterity. He makes sure all children are thinking hard. Not a second is wasted. Mupmbaah Harrison studied Mathematics at ENS Bambili and after graduating in flying colours, he taught in several schools as a classroom teacher before was catapulted to an administrator. Though administrator, he still holds the chalk in his hand and moves into the classroom. Did someone said only carpenters, bricklayers, masons etc are great nation builders. In fact the greatest nation builders are in the classroom. They are just more than the teachers we see them to be.  

Happy Teachers Day, sir.  

 


















When News Breaks Out, We Break In. (The 2014 Bloggies Finalist)