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SEQUACIOUS REPORT OF THE ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING-AGM-HELD IN LIMBE ON DECEMBER 1, 2012

 
                              

The National President, Col. Sone Ajang addressing members of the alma mater                            

By EHABE Jerry Nnange-Masango

Secretary General (NEXSA)


     Well, suffices to know this report is riding on Great Ebah Ntoko’s which for the sake of reference features after the end of this report. Without contradicting it, this report is a sequel that completes it.
                                    But where should I start reporting?
     With the over head banner?! But President Ebah Ntoko has already talked about it even though he forgot to mention that, given the nature of Limbe, where a myriad of activities take place as evidenced by the plethora of banners across major areas of the city at any given moment, that of NEXSA had a pride of place as it was the first that visitors saw as they made their way into Limbe before the others;
 
                                                                      Or
     With a linear reporting of the AGM program of procession, led by the Famous Presbyterian Church Brass Band, from Trinity Hotel to the Bifunde Business Center. But Limbe President, the Great Ebah Ntoko has already commented on this issue. Let me therefore add that, being the commemoration of the World AIDS day and with taxi drivers having their meeting, implying traffic volume was low, it looked as if freshly painted Limbe ceded the streets for the AIDS procession led by the SDO for FAKO and the NEXSAN procession led by Vice President Simen Michael;
NEXSANs emblemized the school image during procession from Trinity Hotel to Bifunde
                                                                       Or
     Roll things back from where it all started--- at the eve of the AGM, as delegates arrived at the Trinity Hotel where the host chapter, Limbe NEXSANs, was on hand to receive them. They savoured their traditional NEXSAN dish of corn chaff at the Hotel restaurant before they held a preliminary meeting, to familiarize themselves with the program at the end of which, it was free time, which most delegates used diligently at the popular Bamboo Lounge Cabaret, to relish the sweet side of Limbe on weekend nights;

         Delegates were arriving at the Trinity Hotel in Limbe with admirable elegance

 
                                                                        Or
     With the venue, the preparation of which Limbe beseeched to the beauty, humility and greatness of simplicity by professionally and meticulously decorating the hall wherein the elegantly uniformed NEXSAN delegates fitted in the décor like gold in a setting of silver while beholding themselves in awe!
                                                     NEXSANs at the AGM
                                                                          Or
     With the end, that is, the roof top Gala night at the posh Savoy Palmz Hotel, Bota, to seal off a successful AGM once again. But even this too the Limbe president has already told the story except that I have to add two strong moments of the night, namely: (a) the popping of the champagne and (b) the award given to the chapter with the highest attendance. Midway to the dancing, the National President gave Great James Ewane, his technical adviser, the honour to pop the AGM Gala champagne. James Ewane, a toast master par excellence, used the opportunity to familiarize delegates again, before the toast, the theme for this year’s AGM which read, “All Towards Sustainable Enterprise for NEXSA”. This is the theme he personally coined during the last National Executive Meeting of the forgone NEXSAN year, to suit the purpose of the just ended AGM. Explaining the theme, he emphasized on the following words: “ALL”, “Sustainable”, “Enterprise” and “NEXSA”. He continued, if you studied at Nyasoso but do not belong to NEXSA by fulfilling your fiscal and physical obligations vis-à-vis the Association, you are a cheat; and worse still, you are cheating yourself. Furthermore, he emphasized that, all we have been doing in previous AGMs is Enterprise, and be it the Constitution or the Finance Charter or lately, the NEXSACO project. That, the latest enterprise, NEXSACO, is for the sustainability of NEXSA without which the Association may not survive. At this juncture, the champagne powerfully exploded and the sound hyperbolically reverberated back and forth on Mounts FAKO and Fernando Po before being followed by thunderous applauses from the floor. It was a sign of good omen for the staying power of NEXSA. Long before President Ebah Ntoko could post online, the Atlantic Trade Winds had already taken the news and spread over the five continental oceans that, NEXSA has not only come a long way but has come to stay. A second strong moment was the award of the second [heart] cake to the Chapter with the highest attendance in this AGM. Bamenda won this prize. Like President Ebah Ntoko said, the first cake [a football field] was cut during the NEXSAN plenary session at Bifunde as a fundraiser. And what a successful in-house fundraising that was!
                                They posed for a photo up after a successful AGM
                                                                    Or
     Should I start by reporting the next AGM (that is 2013), which will still take place in FAKO Division, precisely in Tiko, and to still have once more the indescribable FAKO factor?
      Let us start with the AGM proper. Take for example, Limbe, as host of the AGM, is a chapter that has gone down in NEXSA annals as the mother of her revival. And the chapter chooses a venue like the elegant conference room of the Bifunde Business Center Complex, holding up to 80 NEXSANs from 11 Chapters in that venue. It also provided NEXSAN delegates with custom folders containing a challenging agenda that comprised, inter alia, the NEXSACO project. Take away artificial air conditioning and replace it with natural ocean breeze after it has been filtered by the luxuriant trees of the Limbe Botanic Garden before getting to the Bifunde venue. That was the reason why the 80 NEXSANs, who were working under natural temperature and no pressure, to deliberate for 7 hours even without the provision of beverage, consistent coffee breaks, and sumptuous catered supper. What did we get?
We got an end product (resolutions) that was read as the proclamation of the day as follows:
  1. The AGM opted for Category One Microfinance Institution out of the 3 Categories that were presented. Category One, has, as attribute, One Man One Vote One Share; in other words, equal share for everybody.
  2. Due to the technicality of the NEXSACO document, to facilitate assimilation of its essence, the resource persons, shall produce a succinct reader-friendly hard copy, make multiple copies and distribute to chapters through their presidents for use in the first National EXEC meeting following the New Year.
  3. The Audit Report was appreciated. And adopted and the Auditors should make binders for distribution to chapters presidents and other appropriate quarters.
  4. Following recommendations from the Auditors that “in spite of some lapses in record keeping, leading to an apparent surplus of 34,791 FCFA, the closing bank account balance as at 1st December 2012 of 1, 632,939 FCFA and this amount should be adopted as the opening balance of next period.
  5. That the constitution needs review.
  6. The Finance Charter does not only need modification but needs to be implemented too.
  7. Acknowledgement of greetings from the Diaspora who unfortunately could not participate in the plenary session because of erratic Skype connection interruption. The Diaspora should however, take note of the fact that Olive Ada Bume is highly indebted to the Association, NEXSA.
  8. The host of the next AGM – 2013 – is Tiko, in a date to be announced.
The Keynote Speech
     After the handsome host Chapter President, Ebah Ntoko Justice gave his concise welcome address to the beautiful people called Great NEXSANs, the National President followed by stating three reasons for holding the AGM in Limbe:
     Firstly, that the Association was giving the child NEXSA to her mother Limbe because the latter was responsible for the revival of the Association. Secondly, it was to respect tradition to rotate AGM. Lastly, to use the AGM as an opportunity to make Limbe sit up.
     He thanked and congratulated the Principal on the improved GCE examination results. He said somnolence of Executive members was due to lack of initiative, leaving everything to revolve around the National President, who is already overburdened by work schedule, NEXSA schedule and family responsibilities. A typical example, he pointed out, is the funeral of former Principal Epie Njumbe Ferdinand which coincided with the preparation of his [National President’s] father’s burial. Since he was not there to ensure that NEXSA show up, no other executive member or NEXSAN did provoke reaction and that is why NEXSA was absent. He said when we harness our efforts for a common cause, the burden to govern, becomes lighter. And that if NEXSANs remembered what he, the National President, has endured in the past two years – loss of his son, mother and father – they, especially the Executive members, would have helped in circumstances like the Njumbe case. He used the opportunity to ask NEXSANs and the Executive in particular to be proactive rather than being reactive at best, and inactive, at worst. He however, exonerated those executives who take initiative within their sphere of competence and make a lot of sacrifices for the Association. These individuals know themselves.
                          The future of our Alumni: they can't wait to join us
     He equally lashed out at some Executive members who do not attend Executive meetings since they were voted into office. It is a situation that makes governance difficult; that same goes to some chapter presidents (ex- officio members) who do not attend Executive meetings and so disconnect the branch members from decisions taken by the National Executive, the consequence of which is that, branches are progressively losing steam. The cause of inaction by these elected officials is due to lack of sacrifice for the common good and cause.
     He further addressed those who identify with the Association only when there is a ceremony like graduation/prize award ceremony, AGM and the like, and described them as ceremonial NEXSANs. He reiterated that, “we are prepared to give these Ceremonial NEXSANs food and drinks since that is their point of focus” and that we appreciate their presence among us in this AGM. As recognition of fact, the faces behind the mask do not toil in vain. And that we are bound to accept them because of the bonds that link us since 1974.
              NEXSANs shall one day fill the hall like they did at the beginning
The Plenary
     Top on the agenda was the NEXSACO Project, which was prepared by Mr. Peter Alobwede, and presented by Mr. Samuel Kode, expounded on by finance experts, Mr. Samuel Sounjoh and with advice from Mr. Michael Simen; the project literally grabbed keen attention. After satisfactory answers during Question and Answer session, Category One Microfinance was adopted. Being one man one share one vote, this category is hijack proof because no matter the number of shares you have, you have only one vote. So there is impossibility of a rich individual hijacking it as his business because of his number of shares. To kick off, a minimum minimal 77.000 FCFA per (2.000 FCFA for registration, 25.000 FCFA per share and savings of 50.000 FCFA) per member for a hypothetical subscription of 100 NEXSANs will put NEXSACO in business without much ado. The enthusiasm to be part of this endeavor was palpable. More on this shall follow later in a separate document.
The Finance Report
     The one year old Finance Secretary gave a faithful report of the Association’s transactions, the figures of which will appear as a separate document in a later posting where finances before and during the AGM feature, for appreciation. Despite that it could not be considered quasi perfect, finance expert, Samuel Sounjoh, considered it a big improvement from previous reports and requested it be moved as acceptable. The details of this report will be posted as a separate document for your appraisal.
The Audit Report
     The tradition is that of the two auditors, at least one should have a professional accounting background. In this year’s committee none met that condition but being individuals who have been used to be audited in their corporate life, they knew what to look for. Thus, the audit report of the twosome of Joseph Monkam and James Ewane was so professionally done that it was highly appreciated by Mr. Sounjoh Samuel, the professional financier, commented that the audit report was excellent. This then paved the way for the house to move it as correct. The audit report, which highlighted some pitfalls in the bookkeeping of the Association, also gave suggestions on how to improve on the association’s finance recording. The entire audit report shall be made public at a later time.
The Annual Report
     Each delegate had a hard copy of the online annual report of NEXSA for 2012. As indicated in the program, it was not to be read out by the SG. Delegates had to read, digest its contents and query. There was no comment implying they took it as a faithful report of what the year had been.
The Website Moderator’s Talk
     The Cyberspace NEXSA NEXSAN made the Sovereign Body to understand that he breathes NEXSA, walks NEXSA and sleeps NEXSA. True to his virtual name and activities, he incisively on how the e-forum fared during the forgone year, especially underscoring the throwing in of red herrings that did derailed contributions related to the progress of the Association for which the website was formed in the first place. He further said, generally, most subscribers are accustomed to discussing everything but those related to the Association, citing as typical example the online lackluster reaction that greeted the preparation of this AGM. He called on us, subscribers, as the mature people that we are, to guard against the above weaknesses. He stressed that even though he would prefer for only NEXSA issues be discussed on the forum, subscribers should know when to relegate certain controversial subjects to the back burner, especially if they are not NEXSA-related. He said analysis showed that there were far more virtual NEXSANs than in real world. The forgone talk is just the sum and substance of his exposition of which a fuller version will be yours ASAP.
Fall outs of the AGM
     First, looking at the procession picture, one will realize that the ladies who were matching directly behind the band, held the mufflers upside down. Second, at the gala night, junior NEXSANs complained that the musical selection at the gala was aimed at satisfying the earlier batcher whereas the musical preference of recent ex-students of the school, which has existed for more than 30 years, was never in consideration.
Statistics
The general attendance was just a reflection of what it has always been, 80 delegates plus or minus 5. Only one 1st Batch (1974), Samma Teke Ndumbe Eyoum, was present. The youngest batch at the AGM was a 2001 NEXSAN. The batch with the highest attendance was the 1980 class, which is the 7th batch. In all other AGMs, the hosting chapter has always had the highest but not Limbe (5th position). Instead guest, Bamenda, had the highest attendance.
 Suggestions
A minimum banner should be made to use by leaders in processions so that we do not improvise with mufflers in future.
The mini NEXSA hand flags kept at Nyasoso should always be made available when we have AGM processions for individuals to hold and wave alongside mini national hand flags.
NEXSAN should preselect musical tracks in advance that will feature selection to satisfy everyone in the gamut of batches plus more, and hand to the DJ to add to his own repertoire.
That the National Executive should keep up the habit of not eating according to batch but as seated because as the National President said, every one paid the same levy.
N/B:   Mrs. Nincho Regina née Tamachambi led the association in prayers.
Director of Ceremony: Mr. Lucia Dipita Ediage (National Social Secretary)
 



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