‘Les Temps Des Opportunités’: Magnifying An Astute Statesman!

Official activities of the President of the Republic of Cameroon for the month of February 2021 have been compiled for public consumption. Those who missed out on any of President Paul Biya’s activities for the month or would desire to revisit them have been served the opportunity on the platter of gold. They can now do so at their convenience.

The February 2021 edition of ‘Les Temps Des Opportunités,’ a bilingual publication of the Civil Cabinet of the Presidency of the Republic is out. The magazine has as illustration an imposing photo of the Head of State on the front-page confidently holding a ball and backing one of the giant infrastructure that hosted the sixth edition of the African Nations Football Championship that Cameroon blissfully staged from January 16 to February 7, 2021.

The choice of the opener and its illustration is no doubt borne out of the accolades poured on the Head of State by the President of the world football governing body (FIFA), Gianni Infantino on January 15, 2021 during an audience granted him at the State House by President Biya. This was on the eve of the kicker of CHAN which Cameroon successfully organised to the satisfaction of sportsmen and football diehards within and without Africa.

The choice of the editorial team of ‘Les Temps Des Opportunités’ to open the Columns of the Head of State’s Audiences with that of the FIFA strongman speaks volumes of existing ties and huge sacrifices President Paul Biya made to get sublime football infrastructure Cameroon now boasts of. The Covid-19 context that pushed the CHAN competition to 2021 and the morose global economic environment it heralded made it a double task for Cameroon securing internationally-acceptable sports infrastructure as well as managing the competition with the strict respect of the safety measures. “Who else could provide such guarantee other than Cameroon’s number one sportsman – President Paul Biya,” the magazine states.