Steemit Engagement Challenge S2W2 | Steem4Nigeria Contest | No place like home: Tell us why you prefer your country to any other country

Introduction

Hello my fellow Steemians in the steem4nigeria community, accept greetings from Cameroon, the country of legendary hospitality where everyone is treated as citizens. My fellow Steemians, in Cameroon foreigners are well treated than even citizens. If you doubt this, then pay a visit to Cameroon or better still relocate to Cameroon and experience what I am saying.

It’s always a pleasure participating in wonderful contests as such allowing us to talk about our countries in this community. I think among other communities from season 1, Steem4Nigeria is the only community I see their challenge topics interesting. Without wasting any time, permit me to share an introduction to my country.

Open a brief introduction that tells us about your Country.

Cameroon according to political reasons is believed to be in central Africa but practically if you look at the map, Cameroon is in West Africa. From my findings, why Central Africa instead of West Africa, I realized that our leaders in those days wanted to be in Central Africa to be a giant amongst Central African states and not in West Africa to be undermined by the giant West African states such as Nigeria and Ghana.

Cameroon has mixed cultures inherited from different colonial masters. However, the official languages spoken in Cameroon are English and French. Therefore all public documents are written in English and French. So you do not need to stress yourself trying to figure out what the document is all about. Pidgin English is equally used mostly by English speakers and some francophones such as the Bamilekes’. Cameroon has over 250 tribal groups, which means that we have over 250 local languages spoken by different ethnic groups.

Cameroon is referred to as “Africa miniature”, meaning that everything you can find in any African country is found in Cameroon. Therefore, just this fact alone, makes me feel home is the best.

What are the great things that interest you about your country?

There is a popular saying that “there is no other better place than home”. Yes, this was popular amongst some of us who traveled to other countries for greener pastures. Each time when we seat and a friend plans to go back home, there is so much joy 🤩. So, permit me to share with you guys the things that will make me have so much interest in my country.

: cost of living in Cameroon is not expensive as compared to other countries. With your little earnings, it is easy to save and build a house for yourself.

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: we have varieties of foodstuffs in Cameroon, ranging from vegetables, fruits, cash crops, traditional crops, etc. We have good soils that account for the different varieties of food grown in Cameroon.

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: Even though we criticized our government for bad governance but there are still some developments that benefit citizens directly or indirectly. Many Cameroonians are not aware of the fact that we do not pay high electricity bills. The reason for this is that the government though privatized the company but had to subsidize it so that everyone can afford to use electricity.

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: This is another great thing that interests me about my country. Citizens in Cameroon do not pay tuition fees in all state universities. Oooh yes, we pay only registration fees and study for free. One good thing is that when you perform well, the registration fee is given back to you as presidential grants. For this reason, my country is always closed to my heart.

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: the bilingual nature of Cameroon is another thing that is interesting to not only citizens but even to foreigners. Its multi-cultural nature with over 250 ethnic languages, makes the country unique.

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: No region or tribe in Cameroon is not welcoming. I can take a tour throughout the national territory without any fear because the government has a responsibility to protect me.

Which of the things mentioned above do you prefer your country for, over other countries?

First I preferred my country for the fact that citizens are allowed to pay registration fees in all state universities. You do not pay tuition fees and as I earlier said, when your performance is good, the registration fees is refunded in the form of presidential grants. I have studied in South Africa and the tuition fee was high and each year, the costs increased. Meanwhile during my undergrad studies in Cameroon, due to my good performance, I received presidential grants throughout my study. This means, I practically studied for free. The government created a restaurant on campus and subsidized it for students to eat at little or no cost. You just need to purchase a ticket at the restaurant which cost about $0.2, and a plate of food is served.

Freedom is another thing I prefer my country for over other countries. One of the reasons I decided to return to Cameroon after my studies in South Africa was because I felt there was no freedom. You could not move freely, worst when your visa expired. The stress I went through for visa renewal because the embassy in Cameroon delayed issuing me a visa and I could not meet up with my studies on time. I arrived when the first semester was almost over. But my visa issued stated the date of the academic year on my admission letter. So, my studies had to be shifted, meaning I had to reapply for visa renewal.

Language is what I prefer Cameroon to other countries. You can freely communicate in English or French and both flow just so well. If you are an English speaker, you can communicate with a french speaker with no issues. Unlike countries where they are limited to just one national language.

I will prefer Cameroon over South Africa because the cost of living in Cameroon is far cheaper than the cost of living in South Africa. While in the university in Cameroon during undergrad studies, my accommodation per academic year was over $400 but in South Africa during my postgraduate studies, accommodation per academic year was over $2000.

No Place like home: If you eventually leave your country in search of greener pastures, would you be willing to come back because of your response in (3).

😂😂😂As I am writing this post, I am so comfortable and secure in my house now after studying in South Africa. Indeed there is no place to be compared to home. Sorry to compare my country with my experiences in South Africa guys, South Africans are good loving people but a few bad hands make it look hard.

Permit me to share my experience in South Africa. This is just my experience and no grudges are attached. On my first day in a lecture hall, the first thing I noticed was that blacks sat on one side and whites sat on another side. The lecturer was white South African, and she was somehow biased towards blacks. The lecturer raised a question and one of our classmates, a white South African answered the question but was wrong and a black South African interrupted her to make a quick correction. The white South African got annoyed and confronted the other black South African. To cut the long story short, she boldly told her in the presence of the professor that next time you do that when I am talking, I’m gonna shot you🙆‍♀️🙆‍♀️.

Oooh my God, I was like am I in the correct place. I waited for the professor to intervene but she said nothing. From that day, I knew I cannot stay there after my studies.

In Cameroon, you will never hear of students coming to school with guns and when offended, your life is wasted. When I was in South Africa, I can remember a case a child shot the teacher to death with a gun, and while in court, the court ruled in favor of the child because he was a South African and the teacher was a foreigner. They claimed that the teacher caused the child to shoot her. This will never happen in Cameroon because that child needed to be taken to a rehabilitation center, for proper upbringing. The state of Cameroon has correction centers for children as such which the state manages. From all indications, the child will be a nuisance to the public and needs urgent attention and care.

Conclusion

I will not overemphasize on this but all I can say is that home is home and no matter the matter, home to me is the best.

Let me use this opportunity to call the attention of @graciella, @monjuapollonia @goodybest, and @majerius to tell us why home will always be home to them no matter the matter🤩🤩.