Joe Dinga Pefok (Uncle Joe)
“Religious Knowledge Is Being Treated With Scorn And Disdain In Our Society. How Can We Develop The Nation Without The Fear Of The Lord? Corruption, Which Is In Many Forms, Has Been Widespread And Very Deeply Rooted In Our Society For Many Years. There Are Corrupt Guys At All Levels, Vertically And Horizontally. But The Fight Against Corruption Has Been Selective”.
The reputed Anti –Corruption Crusader, SIR DR NTUMFOR BARRISTER NICO HALLE, has asserted that Cameroonian youths have an important role to play in the fight against corruption, that has for many years been so widespread and so deeply rooted or entrenched in our society. Asserting as well that the fight against corruption, which has since become a canker worm in our society, is as well a fight for the development of the nation, Halle says Cameroonian youths that constitute a majority of the population, equally have an important role to play in the fight for the development of the nation.
However Sir Dr Halle, reputed for his honest or frank talk, has said for Cameroonian youths to able to effectively fight against corruption, and contribute to the development of the nation, they first of all need to be moulded both spiritually and morally. Halle who is a devout Christian, has expressed deep concern that unfortunately, many youths today are into corruption, and other criminal activities or deviant behaviours like cybercrime including scamming, as well as banditry, gambling, homosexuality, drugs, tribalism, xenophobia, smoking, hate speech, prostitution, and so on. “It is really sad’, he noted.
An interview By State Media, CRTV
Meanwhile the Anti –Corruption Crusade, Sir Dr Ntumfor Barrister Nico Halle, was speaking in an interview granted the State media, CRTV, which came up in the programme, ‘Issues in the News’. The interview was in connection to the recent publication by the national anti-corruption commission commonly known by the French acronym, CONAC, of its 2024 report, which revealed that the Commission recorded or identified over 8,000 (over (eight thousand) cases of corruption in the year, 2024. The interview also coincidentally came up just after the celebration of the 60th anniversary of the national youth day, in the country. This led CRTV in the interview, to also get the anti –graft crusader to talk on the Cameroonian youths and the fight against corruption.
Religious Knowledge Being Treated With Scorn And Disdain
Talking on Cameroonian youths and the fight against corruption, the Anti – Graft Crusader and devout Christian, Sir Dr Ntumfor Barrister Nico Halle, stressed that for Cameroonian youths to be able to effectively contribute to the fight against the canker worm in our society, corruption, they must first of all be moulded spiritually and morally. Talking about the moulding of youths, Halle explained that the proper upbringing of a child starts at home with what is commonly referred to as ‘home training’ by parents (Proverb 22:6). The education or the moulding of the child at home, is then supposed to link up with the education or the moulding of the child in school, with lessons on core moral values, precisely the teaching of religious knowledge.
But Halle regretted that unfortunately the teaching of core moral values is absent in most of our schools, especially public schools, as religion is being treated with scorn and disdain by authorities. Religious knowledge is not been taught in public schools, and when student from a mission or denominational school succeeds to have a pass in religious knowledge at the GCE, he is told that religious knowledge is not recognized , and thus cannot be considered among the subjects for admission into higher public institutions.
“How can we effectively fight corruption without embracing core moral value, without seriously embracing moralization? How can we develop the nation without the fear of the Lord, which is the beginning of wisdom?”. Halle questioned. “The teaching of core moral values – moralization – should be introduced at all levels, because academia alone will not develop the people. Education, including bilingualism without morality, only produces clever devils, pseudointellectuals, who cannot work for the interest of their nation”, Halle asserted.
CONAC’s 2024 Report
Meanwhile, as regard the 2024 report by CONAC, which revealed that over 8000 cases of corruption cases were recorded or identified in the country in 2024, Sir Dr Halle noted that the report definitely paints a bleak picture. But he said the real situation is definitely even worse, because it is certain that there were many more cases of corruption that CONAC did not discover or identified. “As a matter of fact, if we are saying that, CONAC recoded over 8,000 cases of corruption in a year, this is really serious. But the real situation is certainly worse. You must understand that when you hear 8000 cases, multiply by four. Think of the story of Zachaeus in the Bible. So if you multiply that by four, it gives you 32,000. And the report talks of over 8000 cases, meaning that an estimated number of cases of corruption that occurred in the country in 2024were over 32,000”, Halle pointed out.
Also looking at the CONAC report which reveals that over 8000 cases of corruption cases were recorded in 2024 in the country, Halle wondered why in Cameroon predators are usually smarter than the fight against corruption.
“CONAC Is Not Empowered”
Meanwhile, Sir Dr Ntumfor Barrister Nico Halle appreciated the work CONAC is doing, under the leadership of its President, Rev Dr Dieudonne Massi Gams, whom he described as “a man of integrity and honour”. He said he has known Massi Gams for many years, and recalled that both of them worked for seven years at the National Elections Observatory, NEO, which was commonly known in the country by the French acronym, ONEL.
While congratulating Rev Dr Massi Gams, for the great efforts that he and his Commission are making in the fight against corruption in the face of all odds, Sir Dr Halle pointed out that the one big problem CONAC has, and which is making the Commission‘s impact in the society not to be felt the way it is supposed to be, is that “CONAC is not empowered”. He noted that COAC is just consultative, or that the commission only identifies situations and report. He pointed out that CONAC for example has no power to get people that have been identified as embezzlers of public funds, to refund the money to the State coffer, or to drag them to court to face the full weight of the Law. Halle said this makes some people to refer to CONAC as a toothless bold dog.
“But I think CONAC is making an effort. It should be empowered”, Halle reiterated. He pointed out that corruption is an evil that has been around for many years, and so it is not something that can be easily off rooted. He explained that with corruption deeply entrenched in the society, CONAC, which is a State institution, cannot be effective in the fight against corruption, by ending at the level of denunciation, without the capacity to take action. The Anti- Corruption Crusader urged the powers – that – be to empower CONAC, for the commission to be able to effectively fight against corruption in the country, and not being ridiculed as a toothless bold dog by some Cameroonians.
Talking about the fight against corruption in the society, the Anti – Corruption Crusader observed that the fight has not been objective, as it has rather been selective, discriminatory. “There are corrupt guys in the society, vertically and horizontally. They go around the place. People see them. Let us be honest”, Halle bluntly pointed out.
“Corruption Is In Many Forms”
Asked what can be done to end or curb corruption in the society, the expert in the fight against corruption, Sir Dr Ntumfor Barrister Nico Halle, first of all stated that corruption is in fact in many forms, though people tend to see corruption only when money is involved – bribery or embezzlement. He explained that corruption can be material, mental, spiritual, physical, financial, and so on. “People think of corruption only in the form of stealing or embezzling g State funds, or using money to bribe somebody. But if you are for example being discriminatory, if you give jobs to people based on tribalism or nepotism, that is, giving jobs only to your people, you are not being fair. You are being discriminatory. Instead of using the criteria of competence to recruit people, you abuse your office by allowing yourself to be influenced or corrupted by tribalism or nepotism in the recruitment of workers. That is corruption”, Halle pointed out.
Women Who Use Their Bodies To Get Jobs, Are Involved In Corruption
As another example, Halle said: “If you must open your leg in order that you can be employed, that is a form of corruption”. This is interesting, not only because it is a common malpractice in the society, but because those that are involved in these misdeeds, especially the females, do not seem to realize the fact that they are involved in an act of corruption. But as Halle rightly pointed out, the fact is that a female job seeker that uses her body to influence or to corrupt somebody, to get a job, is involved in corruption. So also is the man who slept with her also a corrupt fellow. It is the same thing with some unscrupulous female students who sleep their unscrupulous male teachers, to get high marks in subjects that they performed poorly. Students jokingly talk of sexually transmissible marks. But that is corruption. The student, who indulges in the malpractice, uses her body to get marks she does not deserve. The two parties, that is, the male teacher and the female student are partners in crime. They are both involved in corruption.
Political And Spiritual Will
Meanwhile, as to what can be done to end or curb corruption in the society, the Anti – Corruption Crusader and devout Christian, Sir Dr Ntumfor Barrister Nico Halle, while reiterating the fact that corruption is unfortunately so much entrenched in the society, said there is the great need for a combination of both political and spiritual wills, to be able to effectively fight the canker worm (corruption) in the society. He added that authorities concerned also have to strive to ensure that they get the right people in posts of responsibilities. Not loud sounding but unpatriotic and unscrupulous persons that are out to serve their selfish interests, rather than work for the interest of the country and people. “We are putting the wrong people into certain offices. Get the right people. Cameroon has some honest people with proven probity”, Halle strongly recommended.
Sir Dr Halle added that if good measures that can reduce unemployment and poverty in the society can also be put in place, that will certainly also help to reduce corruption in the society. He stated that most of the guys at the lower echelon in society that get involve in corruption or that promote corruption, are people who are unemployed and hungry, and do not hesitate to grab any little thing that comes their way in the name of ‘motivation’, for them to indulge in one ugly thing or the other, like in the stuffing of ballot boxes at elections, or becoming hooligans.
Halle said things have exacerbated with the rising moral decadence in the society. He warned that moral decadence is not good for any nation.
Derailment Of Clergy
Asked if the global Churches have failed in their prophetic mission, the Anti – Corruption Crusader and devout Christian, Sr Dr Ntumfor Barrister Nico Halle, was as blunt or frank as usual. Hear him: “The prophetic mission has missed its part for the most part. How can we explain the level of graft, electoral malpractices, victimization, theft, lies – telling, tribalism, embezzlement, sexual exploitation, defamation, corruption, and so on, in our Churches today! Kleptomania, Megalomania, all present in our Churches today. This is despicable”.
Hear Sir Dr Halle again: “Most of the clergy that are supposed to be leading people, the world, to salvation, have been derailed by materialism. There is the unbridled quest for power and money. Also, go to our Churches on Sundays, and see some of the people who occupy front pews. From Monday – Saturday, follow them around and see what they do. Terrible things! And on the following Sunday, the same people come to our Churches and again sit on the front pews, because materialism or money, no matter the source, is what commands in our Churches today”. Halle said worse still is the fact those Christians who are concern or worried about the wrongs doings, going on in the Churches, and dare to raise their voices, are branded as rebels, while Pastors who dare to speak out are sent on punitive transfers to the periphery.
“The Fear Of The Lord Is The Creed”
Meanwhile, in his last words or take home message as the interviewed rounded up, the Crusader against corruption, Sir Dr Ntumfor Barrister Nico Halle, known to be a spiritually strong personality, recommended “spiritual rearmament and a prayer for divine intervention” (Second Chronicle 7: 14), as the way out for the society, from the grip of corruption that has been so much entrenched in the society for many years. He asserted that spiritual rearmament means the fear of the Lord.
“Let us be glued to the fear of the Lord, which is the beginning of wisdom. When you fear God, there are certain things you cannot do. If we fear God, the resources of our nation which are huge, will be used for the good of the people, and not left in the hands of a few, hardly two percent, living in arrogant – opulence, while the rest are in what we call abject squalor. So the fear of the Lord for me is the creed”, Sir Dr Ntumfor Barrister Nico Halle, declared.
An Outstanding Crusader For The Good Of Man And The Society
Worthy of note that the Anti –Corruption Crusader, Sir Dr Ntumfor Barrister Nico Halle, who is professionally an International Legal Consultant, has also been a reputed Peace and Justice Crusader for over 30 years. He also crusades against Hate Speech, Tribalism and Xenophobia. Sir Dr Halle holds the record of having received over 200 national and international awards, as recognition for the great work he has been doing, including huge personal financial sacrifices he has been making, in the different domains in which he has been crusading for the good of man, the society, the African continent, and the world at large.
A devout Christian, Sir Dr Halle however is a respecter of all main stream Churches or religious organizations, including the Moslem faith. Though a Christian of the Presbyterian Church in Cameroon, Halle never hesitates to say that he worships God, and not a religious denomination.
