"When you are old and gray and full of sleep, and nodding by the fire, take down this book and slowly read, and dream of the soft look your eyes had once, and of their shadows deep,"said the Irish poet and playwright William Butler Yeats.
Cameroon's national TV (CRTV) literally took down the book from the shelf by re-broadcasting shows like "Thinking Time" with Emmanuel Jackai, and "Accord Majuscule" produced by Vincent Doumbe as part of activities to celebrate the 25 years of television in the country, this March 2010.
There was something close to depicting Yeats' "dream of the soft look your eyes had once" as CRTV turned to its lofty past and flew-in two of its famed news anchors - Eric Chinje and Denise Epote - from Washington and Paris respectively, to present a commemorative newscast.
Observing the depth of the reports by Charly Ndi Chia, Robert Abunaw, Carol Ijang Akutu, et al on the programme "Provincial Spotlight" produced in 1986; with pictures that matched the scripts written in good English; there was a feeling of bliss all around.
But, should Cameroonians live on nostalgia alone? Is this all they should expect of a public service broadcaster? Aren't they entitled to more?
The buzz created on Facebook pages where clips of this special newscast have been posted and the scores of newspaper articles and testimonies by past and current viewers of national TV either mean that these were such dazzling presenters that their aura remains for eternity or what is currently on offer is so distasteful to the point that national TV could be described at barely 25 years of existence as "nodding by the fire" like grey-haired old man!
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