From Personal Salaries to Free Photocopies: How One Gift from MP Agho Oliver Answers Teachers' Appeal
"We have been crying and longing for this gift," Ndonwi Bridget, the headteachers' representative for Bafut Subdivision, told Journalists who were present for the Bafut Head Teachers' Association (BAHA) Annual General Meeting.
The occasion was the BAHA Annual General Meeting, which was held on Saturday, June 6th, 2026. But it became something more than an administrative gathering when the Member of Parliament for Bafut/Tubah Constituency, Hon. Agho Oliver Bamenju, delivered what teachers described as one of the most practical gifts they had ever received: a Canon PIXMA G3410, a wireless, all-in-one printer, scanner, and photocopier donated to the Basic Education Inspectorate of Bafut.
To understand why a single printer moved grown professionals so much, you need to understand the paperwork burden that quietly grinds at Bafut's educators every month. Punctuality records, assumption-of-duty forms, effective service reports, beginning-of-year registers the documentation cycle is relentless. And until last Saturday, every sheet produced came at a personal cost.
"Teachers have been suffering a lot because we have periodic documents we submit each month," Ndonwi Bridget explained. "We have punctuality records. We have beginning-of-year forms. We have effective service reports. And many others. Head teachers have been running their schools from their own salaries. This gift will enable us to photocopy these documents and hand them to teachers free of charge which will reduce costs. We are indeed very, very happy."
THE GIFT AND WHAT IT DOES
The Canon PIXMA G3410 is not a flashy machine but it is a deeply practical one, and that distinction matters enormously in Bafut's resource-constrained environment. Its refillable ink tank system can produce up to 6,000 black-and-white pages and 7,000 colour pages from a single bottle set, at a fraction of the cost of traditional cartridge-based printing. In a subdivision where printer cartridges are not always readily available, and where budget cycles leave little room for supply runs to Bamenda, that kind of self-sufficiency is not a luxury, it is a lifeline.
The machine's wireless connectivity means multiple teachers and administrators can print directly from their devices without clustering around a single desk. Its scanning function allows the Headteachers to digitise and archive records that were previously at the mercy of time and damp. The photocopying capability means that forms can now be reproduced in the office, on the spot, without cost to any individual.
Chikelem Boniface, the Inspector for Basic Education in Bafut, described the machine's arrival in terms that left little doubt about how badly it had been needed.
"In the office we did not have a photocopier that was a really problematic area for us, because documents could not reach the public on time," he said. "We want to thank the MP who has come to our rescue. When we went to him, we did not know how far it was going to go. But today we are seeing his efforts giving us something we will use every day in this office."
Brenda Ichu, who represented the MP at the event, framed the donation in plain, purposeful terms. "I came with a package: a three-in-one printer, photocopier, and scanner to assist teachers with the work of printing," she said. "To take off the burden of movement from one location to another. To put in place the opportunity for them to do every document they need within the office. And to relieve them from every stress that comes with that."
THE BROADER PICTURE
The moment of celebration, however, sat alongside a frank accounting of challenges Inspector Boniface did not shy away from naming them directly.
Examinations for Bafut pupils continue to be held in Bamenda rather than in Bafut a costly anomaly that forces students and supervisors to travel unnecessarily, and one that the Inspector described as beyond the subdivision's power to resolve on its own. The staffing situation is equally pressing: years of insecurity have pushed teachers to request transfers out of the area, leaving classrooms without qualified staff even as student enrolment holds steady. And the rise of community schools speaks to the depth of the structural problem.
His message to teachers was to "be resilient in times of challenges" and to "develop a coping mechanism." He also confirmed that a redeployment exercise planned for September would aim to return teachers to functional schools.
A YEAR IN REVIEW
The BAHA president's annual address was a careful blend of pride and honesty. The association, she noted, had managed to pay office rents without financial strain, furnish the inspectorate with chairs, forge a working relationship with the Divisional Officer, and register pupils for all end-of-course examinations without incident .
Yet the president also named the pressures too: the annual emergency fund contribution that weighs on every teacher; the unexplained reductions in running credits; and most pointedly, the reality that nursery head teachers continue to fund the day-to-day operation of their schools from their own salaries.
Last Saturday's gift landed with such force. A printer is, in isolation, a modest thing. But for Bafut Headteachers, last Saturday, it was something else entirely: proof that someone had listened, and that the asking had not been in vain.
As Ndonwi Bridget said simply: "We are indeed very, very happy. It is a wonderful gift."
By Bamenjo Petronilla
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