To Francophone Cameroonians

William Shakespeare, in one of his plays, wrote,

There is a tide in the affairs of men. Which, taken at the flood, leads on to fortune; Omitted, all the voyage of their life Is bound in shallows and in miseries. On such a full sea are we now afloat, And we must take the current when it serves, Or lose our ventures.

Cameroon is at such a crossroad today. It is at that point where each of its genuine and patriotic citizens, must speak out for the interest, not of self, a few, the conceited, the immediate gratifiers, but of the majority. The time is now for all Francophones to (re)examine closely the injustice, torment and torture, and huge wrong done to Anglophone Cameroonians since their free-will acceptance to join with La Republic du Cameroun (LRC) in 1961 to create an experiment in a federated nation.

Cameroon’s colonial history has provided the country with the best gift of being able to pull together what was good in the German, French, and English administrative systems to build a unique Cameroonian blend that could serve the interest of all and join Canada as models to the world. Unfortunately, this has not been the case. The Francophone centralized system and direct administration has sucked out the juice from the thinking of Cameroonian leaders such that they cannot see beyond the self, their immediate families, and the now. 

Anglophone Cameroonians have offered nothing but good will, wealth and riches to LRC, served as refuge when France was slaughtering their freedom fighters, provided examples of good management, respect for the law, the importance of the force of argument, and a window into how good governance looks. They have displayed, magnanimously, how power can be won through the ballot box, as in 1992, and not stolen with the use of force. Now, at this dire moment, they are again displaying for the world to see, that real power belongs to the people, from below, and not from above. That the destiny of the nation belongs to the people, the people who are the final arbiter as to the extent to which they can tolerate any abuse of power.

    Yet, the legacy LRC has bequeathed to Anglophone Cameroonians after 55 years of union is a bitter and pathetic one. To name few: endemic nepotism, very bad roads, reckless greed, poor health care, huge unemployment, corruption of the first magnitude, marginalization at all levels of state and para-statal institutions (military, legal, government: central and regional, education: secondary and higher, language use, health etc), colonization spirit, and the stealing of national wealth.

Can any Francophone Cameroonian in their rightful mind, apart for the same old names that have been rotating since the 1980s, say that Cameroon is a success? How can the so-called Francophone elites, after taking care of their immediate stomachs and children, not see that the country is drowning along with those outside their circle?

   LRC has failed to grasp even the most simple act of decency in a democracy: that the argument of force does not lead to victory; that responding to peaceful protesters with torture, rape, brutal beating, and imprisonment does not demonstrate power at all, but are the signs of a weak, myopic, and dictatorial regime. Any regime that assumes that force can replace the need for dialogue or that meaningful dialogue can take place after the use of force on its citizens is an evil regime. By the way, is it not this brute force, ignorance, non-chalante and deaf ears attitude that has brought LRC to the present impasse? History teaches us that no government can survive for too long by brutalizing its own citizens. 

  At the end of day, Francophone Cameroonians are content with their choice and system of government because if not, they can take immediate action. Luckily, history has many recent examples they can copy from: Tunisia, Egypt, or the present Anglophone example. But it will be stupid and foolhardy on their part to think Anglophone Cameroonians share in their contentment. Just as Anglophone Cameroonians have taken the courage to seek for a return to federalism or outright separation, the Francophone Cameroonians can learn from that and if they really think they also have a problem, then the ball is in their court to prove it by putting words into action.

History deals with progress, change over time, and the efforts to build a better tomorrow. Let me ask Francophone Cameroonians: what type of Cameroon history have your intellectuals been teaching in your schools about Southern Cameroons? What type of advice have they been giving to Biya about Southern Cameroons? Have they been teaching and reassuring Biya that Southern Cameroons was a conquered territory?

   Let me asked Francophone Cameroonians: what have you gained from the 34 years of the Biya regime? What has Biya failed to accomplish in the last 34 years that you imagine someone getting ready for a “nursing home” can still provide in this technologically savvy and dynamic twenty-first century? What imagination and inspiration can Biya provide to the youths who form the bulk of the population? Can’t you see that Biya’s era is long gone? Does Biya guarantee your dignity, freedom of movement without constant police and gendarme check points, and liberty to generate the ingenuity within the youths? Can you learn the value of peaceful resistance and the force of argument to make a change? Are you really free?

   Let me asked Francophone Cameroonians: how many Anglophone Cameroonians have you seen shipping their children across the Mungo to attend schools in the LRC? Yet, many secondary, high school, and post-secondary schools in Anglophone Cameroon are flooded with Francophone students, coming in to devour what they rightfully know is an education of the mind, a system of education that allows you to think independently and freely. 

   As LRC gained its independence in 1960, France made sure it methodically eliminated the genuine nationalist fighters and handed power to those who did not understand the meaning of independence. Ahidjo and later Biya have all acted as figure head or custodians, taking care of a land and people on behalf of a foreign power, France. Who can imagine that a head of state will feel more comfortable visiting, staying, investing, and regarding a foreign country more as home than his? Ahidjo and Biya have both failed woefully in putting Cameroon first and taking advantage of the bicultural legacy France and Britain left behind.

    Hindsight is always 20/20. Anglophone Cameroonians are today at a loss, are regretting the fateful decision some of their elderly statesmen made in 1961 to hitch the future of Southern Cameroons to that of LRC. But who could have known then that LRC will, in bad faith, exploit the good intensions of the Southern Cameroons leaders as a sign of weakness in such a callous way. The time has come to right that wrong. 

   It was only a matter of time for Anglophone Cameroonians to call it a day; and the time has come. Again, is LRC ready to see the hand writing on the wall and institute meaningful change?

Zacharia Nchinda, Ph.D History Dept. MATC Africology Dept. UWM