On Wednesday June 28th, 2021, President Fote and First Lady Laura hosted a dinner in honor of SJC Sasse Proprietor, Bishop Michael Bibi, at their residence in Waxhaw, NC. Members of SOBA Carolina as well as some community members were present at the dinner.After a delicious dinner which featured some fine Cameroonian delicacies, the National Leadership Team took some time to have a meeting with Bishop Bibi. Secretary General Divine Tange came from Minneapolis, Minnesota and Chief Accounting Officer and Financial Secretary Edwin Atem came from Atlanta, Georgia to attend the meeting. Prior to the Bishop’s visit, the NLT had asked SOBANS to share thoughts, topics and questions that they wanted the NLT to discuss with the proprietor in preparation for the meeting.
The NLT had a very productive meeting during which Bishop Bibi once again reaffirmed his commitment to working with SOBANS to improve conditions in our Alma Mater and work towards our common goal of transforming SJC Sasse into the historic and iconic place it deserves as a premier institution of learning. They discussed some issues that have been of grave concern to SOBANS. Some of these include the current state of the physical structure of SJC Sasse, maintenance and upkeep of the campus, recent changes in the leadership over the past few years and an overall vision for the future of SJC Sasse. They shared recommendations from the SJC Vison task Team as well as from other SOBANS, and posed some tough questions to the Bishop.
Bishop Bibi acknowledged the concerns of SOBANS and shared his plan to ensure safety and security of the students, as well as continued maintenance of the school. He noted that after being abandoned for three years due to the Anglophone crisis, SOBANS should exercise some patience as the rebuilding will take some time. President Fote thanked him for the extensive renovation work he did to get the campus ready for students to come back on campus after a three year absence, and the steps taken to ensure the safety of the students, which includes building of a fence around the main campus.
Several commitments and agreements were reached. Notably, the proprietor committed to allocating 255 of net annual revenue from the school back towards maintenance and upkeep. He also agreed to the creation of a Heritage Board that will oversee maintenance efforts and projects of SJC Sasse. He asked President Fote to work with President General Ayuk Iyok on the modalities of this Board. President Fote assured His Lordship that he had already been having conversations with President General Iyok on this and other matters and that we were in sync and on the same page. A detailed report of the meeting was shared with SOBA America through our Signal Platform and via the Board to chapters.