Indomitable Lion’s Clinton N’Jie: Time to shine?
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Southern Cameroons Crisis: All Anglophone Conference Goes Underway in America
The All Anglophone Conference designed to enable all Southern Cameroons’ factions to find a unified position on the way forward in efforts at resolving the conflict in the two English-speaking regions of Cameroon.
The Washington conference will also help to soften certain positions and iron out some of the differences that have made it hard for Southern Cameroonians to take a common stance that will help them deal with the Yaounde government that has unleashed a reign of terror on civilians in the two English-speaking regions of the country.
Though some factions like the group led by Dr. Cho Ayaba have refused to attend the Washington conference, the first day clearly revealed that most of the Southern Cameroons factions are looking forward to dialogue that can help bring about the cessation of hostilities in the country.
Some 5,000 Cameroonians have been killed ever since the conflict started in 2016 and the government’s refusal to embrace calls for an inclusive dialogue implies that more hostilities are in the offing.
Reports by rights groups have placed the blame for the hostilities on the government’s doorstep and the government’s intransigence is provoking the wrath of countries such as USA, Canada and the United Kingdom which hold that an unstable Cameroon is bad news to the entire sub-region.
Stay tuned for as our correspondents talk with the various stakeholders.
By Kingsley Betek in Washington
Southern Cameroons Crisis: HRW Indicts Yaounde Government in its Report
Human Rights Watch (HRW), a global rights monitoring organization has slammed the Yaounde government in a report (https://www.hrw.org/news/
The Group noted for its objective reports points a finger of accusation to army soldiers for their cruelty in the two regions in this report released in the Kenyan capital of Nairobi. HRW has not minced its word in this new report that clearly indicts the government and its forces.
“Government forces in Cameroon’s Anglophone regions have killed scores of civilians, used indiscriminate force, and torched hundreds of homes over the past six months, Human Rights Watch said today. Armed separatists have assaulted and kidnapped dozens of people during the same period, executing at least two men, amid intensifying violence and growing calls for secession of the North-West and South-West regions,” the report says.
The report speaks of the inhuman violence perpetrated by government forces. It indicates that violence has intensified since October 2018 as government forces have conducted large-scale security operations and separatists have carried out attacks. The report calls on the government of Cameroon to investigate allegations of human rights violations and ensure that civilians are protected during security operations. The report also urges separatist leaders to immediately direct their fighters and followers to halt all human rights abuses and to stop interfering with children’s education.
“Cameroon’s authorities have an obligation to respond lawfully and to protect people’s rights during periods of violence,” said Lewis Mudge, Central Africa director at Human Rights Watch. “The government’s heavy-handed response targeting civilians is counterproductive and risks igniting more violence,” the report says.
Human Rights Watch research shows that since October, security forces, including soldiers, members of the Rapid Intervention Battalion (BIR), and gendarmes, killed civilians, used force indiscriminately, and destroyed and looted private and public property.
In one case, witnesses said, Cameroonian security forces attacked the village of Abuh, North-West region, in November and burned an entire neighborhood to the ground. Satellite images and photographic evidence obtained by Human Rights Watch show the destruction of up to 60 structures.
A woman in her 40s said she spent three days hiding in the surrounding countryside with her five children after the attack: “When I came back to the village, my house was gone, with everything inside. I am left with nothing but my clothes.”
The government’s near-total lack of prosecutions for crimes by security forces in the Anglophone regions has protected those responsible and fueled abuses.
The government’s near-total lack of prosecutions for crimes by security forces in the Anglophone regions has protected those responsible and fueled abuses.
At least 31 members of the security forces were killed in operations between October and February, in both the North-West and South-West regions, according to credible media reports and information collected by Human Rights Watch.
Witnesses said that separatists assaulted government workers, teachers, and students, preventing them from going to work or to school.
Kidnappings by separatists have also surged, including more than 300 students under age 18 kidnapped in at least 12 incidents. All were released, most after a ransom was paid.
In one case, a man in his 50s said separatists kidnapped and held him for ransom days after the October presidential election – an exercise the separatists opposed – as he drove between Kumba and Buea in the South-West region. He was taken to a remote base operated by the Ambazonia Restoration Forces – one of the armed separatist groups operating in the Anglophone regions and affiliated with the Ambazonia Interim Government – where he said he saw fighters execute two young men. “They were accused of voting,” he said. “They were beaten to death.”
The report also urges Cameroon’s partners, France in particular, to step up pressure on the government to hold those responsible for abuse to account, and ensure that any support to Cameroonian security forces does not contribute to or facilitate human rights violations.
It also calls on the UN Human Rights Council to ask the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) or relevant UN experts to conduct a fact-finding mission into allegations of human rights abuses in Cameroon. Members of the UN Security Council should formally add Cameroon to the Council’s agenda, request a briefing on the situation from the UN Secretary General, and make clear that individuals responsible for serious human rights violations could face sanctions.
“It is absolutely essential for the Cameroon government to restore the rule of law in the Anglophone regions and to hold those who target civilians to account,” Mudge said, adding that “Leaders of the separatist groups should stop abusing civilians and show they are willing to resolve this crisis.”
The rights group says that on February 12, it sent a letter with its findings to Ferdinand Ngoh Ngoh, secretary general at the presidency requesting a response to specific questions. The government’s March 22 response denies state security forces carried out abuse documented in this report. The government added that its security forces all undergo human rights training prior to deployment and that about 30 cases are pending before the Military Courts in Bamenda and Buea for crimes including torture, destruction of property, violation of orders, and theft.
Both the separatist leaders and government authorities are not accepting responsibility for their atrocities despite evidence proving that there a lot of inhuman atrocities being committed in the two regions. The Yaounde government has consistently denied any allegations of atrocities despite evidence to the contrary.
Fuler Ayamba, the Secretary General of the Ambazonia Defence Forces (ADF), said in a March 14 letter to Human Rights Watch that the ADF “impresses strict discipline on the fighters” under its control. With regard to allegations of large-scale kidnappings by the armed separatists, Ayamba said that these were carried out by the government to tarnish the image of ADF and other armed separatist groups or by opportunists seeking to exploit the crisis for their own gain. The ADF denies it was involved in any kidnappings around Teke. Human Rights Watch cannot confirm that ADF has command control over all fighters in their zones.
Sako Samuel Ikome, acting president of the Ambazonia Interim Government, a separatist group, said in a March 19 email that some members of the Ambazonia Restoration Forces have committed abuse and have been sanctioned by the Interim Government. Ikome denied that the group was involved in any kidnapping of students in Nkwen. He blamed violence in the regions on bandits and government-sponsored groups.
But it is sexual atrocities by the government that are keeping many analysts around the world awake all night. Human Rights Watch documented three cases of sexual violence by security force members. Two women and one girl from a locality (name withheld) in the North-West each said that BIR soldiers raped them in January. Aid workers in the North-West and South-West regions expressed concerns that similar cases go unreported.
“Sarah,” a 22-year-old mother, said that two BIR soldiers raped her at home in early January: “I was in the kitchen with my baby and a neighbor, [when] two military with BIR uniforms entered my home.” When she couldn’t provide information on the whereabouts of the separatists, one soldier threatened to kill her: “He put me on the ground while the other was holding my hands. He raped me. Then, the other raped me too. After that, one asked me whether he should be giving me money, around 5,000 or 10,000 CFA (US$8 or 16). The other said: ‘We should just go, go fast.’ So, they left.”
Sarah went to a medical facility for post-rape treatment the same day. However, she said that she did not report the sexual assault to the authorities out of fear and shame of stigma. She said she has experienced anxiety and insomnia since the rape and has sought support from a religious organization.
In another case, also from January, three BIR soldiers raped a 23-year-old woman and a 17-year-old girl in the same home. The victims, who were neighbors, said that the soldiers arrived around 8:30 p.m. and accused them of hiding separatists. The soldiers then raped them in front of two children. The soldiers also attempted to rape another woman in the same home. She said the soldiers were dressed in the BIR uniform. One took me outside and asked me to undress. I begged him to let me go. He said he will kill me if I don’t take off my clothes. He put his gun between my legs and tried to force his way into me. I resisted. My baby was crying loud. I asked the BIR to let me check on the baby. He accepted. That’s how I was spared. The baby saved me, but when I entered, I saw my sister and my neighbor on the floor. They had been raped by the other two soldiers. When [the soldiers] left, we cried.
Though the government is rejecting all these allegations, it is clear to everybody around the world that the crime syndicate ruling the country for more than three decades will never be repentant. The country’s president, Paul Biya, has never acknowledged that mistakes have been made under him even when the economy and the civil service are collapsing. Corruption and inefficiencies are gradually killing the country and this puts Cameroon on the path to self-destruction. If the world does not step in, Cameroon will join other countries that are in the club of countries plunged into poverty and conflict by sit-tight dictators.
By Kingsley Betek and Linda Embi in Yaounde
Algeria constitutional council denies it has met on Bouteflika’s fate
Algeria’s constitutional council has dismissed reports that it has met to decide whether President Abdelaziz Bouteflika is fit for office, state radio said on Thursday, after the army called for his removal and allies deserted the ailing leader.
The report came two days after the Algerian army’s powerful chief of staff, Lt. Gen. Ahmed Gaed Salah, called on the constitutional council to rule whether the ailing 82-year-old president is fit for office.
Such a ruling would have to be ratified by a two-thirds majority in the two houses of parliament.
The remarks by Lieutenant General Salah were the first instance of direct intervention in the crisis by the military. The Algerian army had previously praised the protesters and said at the same time that it would not tolerate chaos, but it had also refrained from directly calling for Bouteflika’s removal from office.
Mass protests began across the country after Bouteflika announced his bid for a fifth term in office earlier this month. Under increasing pressure, the Algerian president ultimately dropped his bid for another term, but protests have continued, demanding that he step down.
Earlier in the day, Hundreds of protesters again took to the streets of central Algiers to demand Bouteflika’s resignation and also to criticize the country’s entire political system.
“Thieves, you have destroyed the country,” they chanted.
Algerians rally to demand Pres. Bouteflika’s resignation
Under Article 102 of the constitution, the chairman of parliament’s upper house, Abdelkader Bensalah, would serve as caretaker president for at least 45 days after Bouteflika’s departure.
Even if Bouteflika quits, there is no clear long-term successor.
Since suffering a stroke in 2013, the 82-year-old Bouteflika has been using a wheelchair and has rarely been seen in public.
Source: Presstv
Human Rights Watch Blasts Cameroon; Military Rejects ‘Biased’ Report
A new report from Human Rights Watch says Cameroon’s military has killed scores of people and burned down hundreds of homes in its campaign against separatists in the country’s Anglophone regions. Cameroon is rejecting the report as grossly biased.
Government spokesperson Rene Emmanuel Sadi read a communique on
Cameroon state radio CRTV, saying troops fighting separatists in the country’s northwest and southwest regions have remained professional in protecting its citizens.
The communique said although soldiers in the English-speaking regions have been victims of relentless attacks from separatist forces, they have not stopped protecting people and their property. It added that in no situation have the forces torched houses or indiscriminately shot at citizens.
The acts of bravery and patriotism exhibited by the soldiers is exemplary, the communique stated.
That message has been repeated over and over in reaction to the latest report from Humans Rights Watch, which accuses Cameroon’s military of killing scores of civilians, using indiscriminate force, and torching hundreds of homes over the past six months.
The report said that in one case, Cameroonian security forces attacked the village of Abuh in the northwest region and burned an entire neighborhood to the ground. It included satellite images and photographs as evidence.
Separatist violence
The report also said armed separatists have assaulted and kidnapped dozens of people, executing at least two men amid intensifying violence and growing calls for secession of the northwest and southwest regions.
All kidnap victims were released, most after a ransom was paid, according to the report.
Ilaria Allegrozzi, senior central African researcher for Human Rights Watch, said since October, at least 170 civilians have been killed in more than 220 incidents in the two regions.
“We have accounts from victims with material evidence, including photographic and video evidence, satellite imagery, showing the destruction of homes and also medical records,” she said. “Ahead of the publication of this report we have also shared our findings with the government. And we have sought its response which we have incorporated. Nevertheless we do maintain our independence and impartiality.”
Allegrozzi said Cameroon government should respect human rights instead of complaining about the report.
“We understand that the government might not share all our findings,” she added, “but we firmly stand by these findings and we stand by the victims of abuses we documented and whose rights we want to see protected.”
Yvonne Mumah Bih, a civil society activist in Cameroon, also said the military is committing abuses.
“To tell you how deep this problem is,” she said, “look at the number of youths that have lost their lives. Should we continue in that order? I say no. Why has it become a situation where civilians are killed? It is time we talked of humanizing the military.”
Human Rights Watch is calling on both the government and the separatists to restore the rule of law and bring peace that has been absent from the English-speaking regions of Cameroon for three years.
The unrest began in 2016 when English-speaking teachers and lawyers demonstrated against the growing dominance of French in the officially bilingual country.
Source: VOA
Slow progress for Yaoundé-Douala highway
Progress remains slow for the construction of the highway connecting Cameroon’s two largest cities, Douala and Yaoundé. The two cities are some 202km apart and the new route is intended to improve transport between Cameroon’s capital, Yaoundé, and its key commercial city and port, Douala. The existing National Road No3 linking the two cities currently suffers from heavy congestion and the new route will help alleviate the problem and cut journey times, boosting both capacity and safety.
Around 30km of the new highway has now been surfaced. The construction work is being carried out by the Chinese contractor, China First Highway Engineering Company (CFHEC). The project to construct the new highway link includes access roads and will also improve transport to and from Yaoundé International Airport.
Source: WorldHighways.com
Southern Cameroons Crisis: Half a million civilians displaced in skirmishes
CASH strapped humanitarian organisations are struggling to cater for about 500 000 civilians displaced after clashes by the military and pro-English separatists in Cameroon. The skirmishes have left scores dead in the Central African country.
Conflict in the Northwest and Southwest regions emanates from grievances that the government dominated by French speakers is marginalising English speakers. “Most of the victims are women and children,” said Babar Baloch, United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (UNHCR) spokesperson.
He said displaced people faced grave situations in Cameroon or neighbouring Nigeria, where some vulnerable civilians had sought refuge.
“Having fled with very little, they are arriving in impoverished host communities where food supplies are strained and with few facilities for health, education, water and sanitation,” Baloch said. Disputed elections incumbent Paul Biya won in October last year have added to the tensions in the country of some 24 million people.
UNHCR requires US$184 million (R2,66 billion) for its operations in Cameroon and Nigeria. This includes $35,4 million (R511 million) urgently needed for life-saving assistance. Many of the displaced victims in Cameroon are living in overcrowded conditions without proper shelter or health and sanitation support.
The safety of women, children, unaccompanied and separated minors, people with disabilities as well as lactating and pregnant women is of concern. In Nigeria, Cameroonian refugees are hosted in settlements and more than 47 villages along the border.
Source: CAJNEWSAFRICA
Oppressed English speakers targeted in escalating Cameroonian conflict
The conflict ignited almost three years ago; when minority English speakers in the Ambazonia region of Africa’s Cameroon started to speak out against the onslaught of persecution and discrimination of the dominant French-speaking government.
Only the response from the leadership was fast and furious. The situation has since escalated into a bloody battle of linguistics.
“The English-speaking, independent minority have been marginalized and treated as slaves and second class citizens. This is unbearable,” Pastor Abanda Nche, 45, told Fox News from his home in Ambazonia. “If anyone speaks out against the atrocities and loathing committed by the military, you are targeted and killed, beheaded, and sometimes instantly burned alive.”
Commonly referred to as the Anglophone region, the self-declared Republic of Ambazonia – which is home to most of the country’s 25 percent English speakers have long been deemed the nation’s most poverty-stricken and underprivileged.
“Cameroon is imploding from the inside and the level of uncertainty is extremely dire,” noted David Otto, director of Counter-Terrorism and Organized Crime for the Africa-focused Global Risk International security firm. “There are multiple cases of systematic rape, summary executions, extortion, public decapitation, mutilations, amputations, arson in villages, hospitals, unlawful detention, mass arrest and humiliation tactics from both state and non-state actors.”
He said that more than 2,000 Cameroonians have been “disappeared” or killed, and many more seriously maimed or wounded by the bloodletting actions perpetrated by both armed separatist groups, government forces and “criminal elements” taking advantage of the crisis.
“There is a scorched earth policy of the military burning down houses, hospitals, schools. Bodies are burned to hide the evidence,” Nche claimed.
Men arrested in connection with Cameroon’s anglophone crisis are seen at the military court in Yaounde, Cameroon, on December 14, 2018. – Nearly 300 people who were arrested in connection with Cameroon’s anglophone crisis will be released on Friday, a day after being pardoned by President Paul Biya, the defense minister said. (AFP/Getty)
Data provided to Fox News from the Armed Conflict Location and Event Data Project (ACLED) underscored that since the start of this year alone, there have been some 46 battles, riots, protests and other violent incidents. 30 separate battles between Anglophone separatists and the French-dominant government, and at least 15 more that have resulted in violence against civilians – resulting in 11 reported fatalities.
According to UN estimates, more than 400 have been killed in the mayhem, and a further 437,000 people have been displaced, the vast majority being women and children. Over 100 schools have been burned to the ground, and entire villages are said to have been erased.
Last month a Cameroonian nonprofit group the Rural Women Center for Education and Development documented that over 300 school-age girls had become pregnant as a result of rape, perpetrated by all sides of the conflict, with many resorting to savage and life-threatening abortion methods.
Abductions by militias have also become commonplace. Last week, a 20-person university football team was kidnapped during a training session, and after days of apparent torture, were finally released and taken to the hospital. Such crimes are often committed without a group claiming responsibility, and fingers are pointed at the government and at Anglophone separatists.
Much of the frustration of the Anglophone community has been spurred by the protracted, iron-fist governing of Cameroon’s Francophile government, led by 85-year-old President Paul Biya. He has ruled since 1982 but spends the majority of his time in Switzerland.
In response to queries over whether any pressure had been put on government leadership over the alleged atrocities, the Swiss embassy in Washington told Fox News that they encourage “dialogue between the government and humanitarian organizations” and that “as a neutral and multilingual country, Switzerland further tries to support the handling of bilingualism in Cameroon.”
The Cameroon Embassy in Washington did not respond to a request for comment.
And although the slaughter has attracted little international attention since its inception, U.S. officials are starting to raise red flags over the matter.
“We continue to be extremely concerned about the situation there,” Ambassador Michael Kozak said earlier this month following the release of the 2018 Country Reports on Human Rights Practices, which underscored the “ongoing and excessive and arbitrary violence committed by the government and its security forces.”
“Not only do you have terrorist organizations, but then you’ve got the dispute between the Anglophone regions and the central government. We have had many discussions with the Cameroonian authorities about the need to investigate and hold accountable security forces when they commit abuses.”
While not explicitly a conflict that is religious in nature, given that both English and French speakers make up the 53 percent who deem themselves Christian, devoted churchgoers say they have been swept up into the turmoil despite their constant cries for peace on all sides.
The Council of Protestant Churches of Cameroon declared in November that over 50 primary and secondary schools, as well as Christian hospitals, have been impacted. Late last year, the military also took over four churches and turned them into military barracks. A few weeks earlier, some 79 children were abducted by gunmen from a Presbyterian Church school in the region’s capital, Bamenda, and returned – withered and psychologically scarred – days later, while their teacher and principal remained in captivity. The boarding school was forced to shudder after threats of further aggression.
Simon Munzu, a former UN official, who is campaigning for peace in the Anglophone regions of Cameroon, shows a threat message posted against him on social media by separatists during an interview with Reuters in Yaounde, Cameroon.(Reuters)
At least 100 pastors from the Presbyterian Church in Cameroon, according to the Church’s official account, are estimated to have fled their homes as the situation deteriorates.
“When churches attempt to mediate or assist members of one side of the crisis, they become targets for those on the other side of the conflict,” explained Jeff King, President of International Christian Concern. “And in the midst of violence, Christian institutions have been figuratively caught in the crossfire of conflict.”
Source: Fox News
There are reasons why I will always support the Ambazonian Interim Government
Comrades we have already won a big part of the war. What is left is the final battle to chase the terrorists out of our land. If we are still here it is due to the shallowness and emptiness in the quality of youths we have in the diaspora. The youths at home have stood up to show us their resolve and strengths, they have sacrificed even with their lives for us to be free.
In the diaspora we have empty noise making, ego pumping, loud sounding and conspiracy theories youths. They talk big, write big big grammar with nothing to show. They hide their emptiness in complaints on why they cannot sacrifice even a meager $10 per month for the freedom of their land and people. They look for dirt and cover the place with noise to soothe their egos. They pretend to know it all and seeking for justification on why they cannot do it all or just a little bit.
Their worth is the size of their car and houses, the whisky they drink or the brand of the clothes they wear. What a waste of the type of youths we have been punished with in the diaspora. Some of them even have the audacity to complain about the greedy elders and seniors. They move around organizating zoom conferences every week but end up with resolutions they cannot and would not implement.
Their brand of activism is writing and debating on social media. If our youths in the diaspora were just even 10 percent as committed or effectively engaged as those at home, we would be telling a different story, singing a different song today about our revolution. So sad. Very very SAD
Christmas Ebini
Indomitable Lions: Joseph Desire Job was a strange signing to make but ended up as Middlesbrough’s surprise package
Joseph Desire Job was not the most outgoing person both on and off the pitch. But the Cameroon international knew how to get the job done.
No more so than in the Carling Cup final against Bolton Wanderers when he scored the opener after only a couple of minutes and then won a penalty shortly afterwards.
In this respect few Boro players can claim to have made a greater contribution than Job at the Millennium Stadium.
And, for a while, there really was only one Job on Teesside.
True, he blew hot and cold during his time with the Boro. There were many games when he did not make the hoped for impact.
However, his slight appearance was deceptive. He quick off the mark, excellent at inter-linking play and at times clinical in front of goal.
Still, Job was a strange signing for Boro to make in the summer of 2000. He was a full Cameroon international, but he had made limited appearances for his club Lens.
In addition, for an orthodox striker, his goals-per-games record in France was not exactly great.
It also didn’t look as though he was on Boro’s radar for much of the summer.
Yet manager Bryan Robson was clearly impressed enough to fork out £3m for the 22-year-old, who arrived at the Riverside at the same time as Alan Boksic, Christian Karembeu and Noel Whelan.
If the figures are correct, then Job actually cost more to sign that Boksic. That, naturally, does not take into account Boksic’s eye-watering wages.
In terms of seeing out his contract and his immense Carling Cup contribution, it’s possible to argue that Job gave better value for money than Boksic.
He was certainly given no time to settle into his new environment in the Premier League.
He went straight into the starting line-up for Boro’s opening match at Gordon Strachan’s Coventry City, where he was paired up front with Boksic.
Even better, Job marked his debut in style by scoring the opening goal of the game in under 20 minutes, when he headed home from close range following a left-wing run and cross from Boksic.
Afterwards, Job’s career on Teesside turned into a bit of a rollercoaster ride.
He failed to hold down a regular place and spent part of his second season back in France when new Boro boss Steve McClaren sent him out on loan to Metz.
When Job returned to the Boro, he was sidelined for a while with a serious injury which he suffered in a clash of heads with West Brom defender Darren Moore.
However the Cameroonian recovered to experience his greatest moment as a Boro player in the Carling Cup Final.
Later that year, in the December of the following season, Job scored Boro’s second goal in their UEFA Cup win against Partizan Belgrade at the Riverside which ensured that McClaren’s men qualified as group winners for the knock out stages.
He did not start Boro’s Premier League defeat at Birmingham City on a freezing Boxing Day.
However Job had to take off his warm track-suit when he came on as a sub when fellow striker Mark Viduka went off injured mid-way through the first half.
Job was restored to the line-up along with Szilard Nemeth for the clash with struggling Norwich City at the Riverside on December 28.
Boro were enjoying the games coming thick and fast and were busy on three fronts at the time.
In addition to going great guns in the Premier League they were soon to head off to tackle League Two side Notts County in the third round of the FA Cup.
They were also due to take on Austrian side Grazer AK over two legs when the UEFA Cup competition resumed in February.
The Norwich match attracted a superb holiday crowd of 34,836 to the Riverside, which is still the stadium’s record attendance.
Competition for striker places at Boro was tough following McClaren’s swoop for world class duo Viduka and Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink.
So this was a great opportunity for Job to show off his qualities to both his gaffer and also a capacity home crowd.
That’s exactly what he did. He scored twice in a three minute spell early in the second half as Boro comfortably went on to take all three points.
Joseph scored his first when sliding in to poke home a Stewart Downing free kick from just two yards.
Then he was sent clear by a clinical through ball from Frank Queudrue and took his time before slotting the ball through the legs of advancing keeper Robert Green.
Although Boro scored only twice they were in complete control all the way through against a Canaries side which was struggling badly in the league.
McClaren’s men launched attack after attack, particularly in the first half, with 20-year-old winger Downing torturing the Norwich defence and supplying a large number of crosses.
In fact the Middlesbrough-born player also went closest to adding to the score, twice bringing fine saves from Green.
Boro went on to beat Notts County by 2-1 in the FA Cup tie at Meadow Lane, but later went down by 3-0 at Manchester United in the fourth round.
They beat Grazer over the two legs but were knocked out of the UEFA Cup in the next stage by a lively Sporting Lisbon side.
The Portuguese, who included a certain Fabio Rochemback in midfield, played some superb enterprising football and won deservedly 3-2 at the Riverside.
However the win was not without a few nervous moments after substitute Job had scored one of the great Boro goals with a quite remarkable bicycle kick.
Job played the full 90 minutes of the return fixture at the Estadio Jose Alvalade but Sporting cemented their overall advantage with a 1-0 home win.
Norwich were virtually tailed off at the bottom of the Premier League for much of the season, winning just three games up until the end of March.
They suddenly sprang to life in the April, winning four and drawing one during a remarkable six-match spell which actually gave them a chance of last day survival.
Unfortunately the Canaries were unable to maintain their upturn in form and were stuffed 6-0 in their final match at Fulham. They were relegated as a result.
At the same time as the Canaries were preparing for life in the Championship, Boro were securing a second consecutive season in Europe.
Mark Schwarzer’s dramatic last gasp penalty save from Robbie Fowler ensured that Boro earned a nail-biting 1-1 draw at Manchester City.
As a result McClaren’s men finished in seventh place and were able to look forward to a second European campaign which was eventually to take them all the way to the final at Eindhoven.
Job took no part in the second European adventure because he spent the season – which was his final one with Boro – on loan at Saudi Arabian side Al Ittihad.
He certainly left the club with his head held high. Joseph’s whole league career with Boro was spent in the Premier League, scoring 19 goals in 94 appearances.
In the summer of 2006 he was offered a trial at Watford and spent pre-season training with the newly promoted Hornets.
However he was not offered a contract at Vicarage Road and returned to France to link up with Sedan, before moving to Nice.
Now long retired, Job runs a series of businesses in France promoting social development, particularly with African communities.
At the Boro he was a quiet but likeable player and something of a surprise package.
Source: Gazettelive.co.uk