They were commissioned yesterday June 17 at the Yaounde Conference Centre.

Members of the first International Colloquium on Civic Education and National Integration to be held in Cameroon from July 8 to 10, 2013 were commissioned yesterday June 17 by the Minister of Youth Affairs and Civic Education, Bidoung Mkpatt. During the commissioning ceremony in the presence of a host of government ministers and eminent professors in the country, Bidoung Mkpatt said it was time for the members to develop strategies that will inculcate the spirit of patriotism, public discipline, unity and national integration which is lacking amongst many Cameroonians.

With the increase in corruption, degradation of habits, persistence of ethnic and religious intolerance, Minister Bidoung Mkpatt said this hinders efforts to develop the society. Taking cognisance of the Head of State's speech while addressing the youths on February10, 2013, when he said "the Civic spirit, we will never say enough, is the foundation of every society. Our churches, our temples and our mosques have to become real schools of civic education, of rigour and morality," the minister has decided to work on the issue.

He said the call for youths to adopt exemplary behaviour laid the theoretical foundations and necessary orientations for a reference document on Civic Education and National Integration in Cameroon. As such, during the commissioning event, copies of the national reference document on Civic Education and National Integration were distributed to committee members for brainstorming and enriching.

It is from the document that training programmes on civic education and national integration will be developed. The Minister of Higher Education, Professor Jacques Fame Ndongo used the event to urge scholars from the higher education sector whose academic competence cannot be over emphasised, to fully participate in the upcoming colloquium which is taking place under the theme, "Civic Education and National Integration: Stakes, Challenges and Perspectives for the Construction of an Exemplary Cameroon."