TIPTOPSTARS

A country whose youth is not progressive in its perception of life, is entangled in the web of a serious development crisis. The height of such crisis is the delay to graduate from a job-seeking course that could stubbornly refuse to provide the pass mark that qualifies young persons to move on to the creation of opportunities. This becomes even more disturbing, when such young persons are endowed with great talents, yet depend wholly on a government that only entertains a handful at every given national opening. The danger this scenario presents could be the most dreaded thing a country would want to face, especially in the heat of competing economies.

Cameroonian youths, especially graduates from universities and other higher institutions of learning might have fitted squarely in this thesis a couple of years ago. However, today, that doesn’t seem to be the case anymore. Either out of government’s snail-pace approach in developing its youth or cotemporary awareness, characterized by an amazing improvement in information and communication technologies (ICTs), Cameroonian youths have developed their thinking faculty.

The first thought that has surfaced is that of their endowment with a natural gift (whichever one each of them may have), vested in everybody. This gift, they have come to terms with, can turn an individual into a successful enterprise.

Undoubtedly, this mindset is doing the trick and that young Cameroonians are pulling mountains today, is no longer news.

It is this new dispensation that seems to leave no Cameroonian indifferent, that has definitely inspired Ngoh Dalida, herself, one of such movers and shakers. The young, yet talented media personality (broadcaster and writer) in celebrating this new movement, has brought up her thesis in a brilliant way – a magazine that reports on the evolution of the youth sector, telling the success stories of young Cameroonians in various domains in the process.

#Team237Mag, the said publication, sees that light of day on Wednesday, October 19, 2016. “It’s a 2014 dream that is coming true and I can’t wait to present this beloved project to Cameroon,” Dalida told TIPTOPSTARS. “Mine is a generation of young people who are not only amazingly talented, but are so passionate about what they do and ready to defy all odds, in a bid to reach the apex.”

Such zeal, to the Douala-based media personality who also works for Canal 2 English, is irresistible and holds her attention so firm. “Celebrating these folks via a publication would not only be creating another source of inspiration, but contributing enormously to the development of the Cameroonian youth,” Dalida explained.

According to the publication’s founder/CEO, #Team237Mag was initially conceived as a TV talk show which she and her team ran for a while last year, until sponsorship became hard to come by. “We weren’t ready to kill the dream, so we transferred it into print and the outcome was this sumptuous quarterly that is being awaited with a lot of anxiety,” said Dalida.

Against the odds of usually thin financial resources, the initiator of the project and her team have been able to settle on some of the best things that would constitute a typically admired Cameroonian magazine – glossily coloured, good editing and Charlie Ndi Chia (Publisher) on board.

“This is because Cameroonians have grown to extents that they would easily differentiate between good and bad quality,” Dalida explained. “We opted for quality work in a bid to satisfy the taste of our potential readers and thank God, the veteran Charlie Ndi Chia is on board to ensure that.”

Meantime, #Team237Mag will be unveiled at a ceremony billed for Wednesday October 19, 2016 in Buea. The magazine launch event already endorsed by scores of renowned Cameroonian entertainers will be hosted by actors Jeffery Epule and Elynn Fesse Basil and promises to be a crowd-puller.

Packaged in three months by a Charlie Ndi Chia led team of fine editors, the maiden edition of #Team237Mag is printed in 20 pages at Macacos, one of Cameroon’s frontline printing outfits, based in Douala. When it goes into circulation, it would be affordably procured for 1,000FCFA.