50TH EDITION OF THE YOUTH DAY *** HEAD OF STATE'S MESSAGE TO THE YOUTH Yaounde, 10 February 2016
My dear young compatriots,
The celebration of the National Youth Day always affords me a singular opportunity to address you.
This year, we are celebrating the fiftieth edition of the Youth Day, which is proof that the entire nation has been paying constant attention to youths for half a century now.
It cannot be an overstatement to say that our youths constitute a major asset for the nation's future. They are numerous and full of potential, dynamic and ambitious, conquering and creative.
In this regard, I wish to hail our young compatriots who have distinguished themselves lately through major innovations which are acknowledged by all. They took bold initiatives in the highly competitive domain of new information technologies and in many other domains such as agriculture.
They were not afraid. They were daring. Such has always been my recommendation to you. They were able to weather the deficiencies in our country which is still in the building process, and they have achieved the excellent results which we can all be proud of.
They are exemplars of personal patriotic commitment for our society. They deserve everyone's support. May they serve as a source of inspiration for those who are still hesitating or dragging their feet!
My dear young compatriots,
Patriotism is a virtue that some people might wrongly consider outdated. Even today, it remains a mark of responsible and nobly asserted citizenship for the nation.
Regardless of your role in society, you should be patriotic to deserve well of the nation: the farmer on his farm, the pupil or student in their studies, the workman on his work site, the teacher in the classroom, the doctor or nurse at the hospital, the researcher in his laboratory, the civil servant in his office, the trader in his shop, the mechanic in his garage, the sweeper at his workplace, the transporter driving his vehicle.
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We should each ply our trade with patriotic love. Only then will we become forces of progress for our country.
In this regard, take the example of our youths who are engaged at the war front. For the past two years, they have been protecting our country from the terrorist threat. They are sustained and driven by patriotic love, often to the point of sacrificing their lives.
Their behaviour is unlike that of some other youths who do everything possible to get recruited into the public service and then desert their duty stations while continuing to receive their salaries. They represent examples of what should not be done.
Some youths join the public service just to obtain a service number, as they are fond of saying. These do not deserve well of the nation.
The unbridled quest for easy profit and wealth is a road to perdition that should be shunned by the youths.