On identity and civic responsibility in Cameroon

You may disagree with me on all or some points, but its my opinion. Feel free to give me feedback, respectfully and honestly.

Do we know who we are? Look in the mirror, and check if you know who you really are. Not what society or your family thinks you are, nor what ur role models think you are, not what your peers think you are

If you asked me whom I am, first and foremost, I am a Cameroonian, a proud son of the grassfields of Bamenda, an arrogant marksman of Akum lineage. It is not by choice - my DNA, reflexes, actions, thoughts and character are conditioned by my identity. That is my weapon, my shield, my unique selling point as I take on the world. You can't make jewelry out of clay, but you can mold a decent sculpture. When I got my special skills work permit in South Africa, they asked me: What is your special skill. I said I speak French. Pass. Later my friend at immigration said I qualified to apply for South African papers. I asked: what for?

Bear with me. Nigerians know and own their identity better - we seem to have a difficulty with that, and we suffer for it.

See, the average Nigerian is unapologetic about his accent, his heritage, his culture, and his loud, seemingly uncouth personality. Like Donald Trump, he takes pride in being different, rather than cowering beneath the smokescreen of other better marketed cultures. Thus, he inspires us to admire, acknowledge, follow and even adopt his style. The accent and mannerisms that used to be the laughing stock of the continent have suddenly become a global symbol of swag, confidence and success. South Africa, Africa 's richest and most advanced entertainment industry 'lowered their standard' and set up Mzansi Magic in a bid to emulate the bare, basic, non-sophisticated Nollywood flair imposed by Africa Magic - with considerably less success. It was really about natural identity, not effort or investment.

We Cameroonians, we fail there too often. Because we do not understand or respect out own identity, we find it hard to inspire anyone to admire or follow us. Worse still, we find it easy to deprecate ourselves - we unwittingly detest our compatriots for being what they are - our socioclones. So we often feel we have no choice than to seek for belonging elsewhere.

This is not a political tirade, but our abject lack of self-esteem and obliviousness to self-worth tends to dictate our socio-political status quo.

We all know Cameroon is in a pretty bad shape - but it is our mess. If your house is dirty, you buy detergent. You do not run to your neighbour's compound and watch tv.

There's a dude called Uncle T from Stevens Music. He is one of the most outspoken critics of Cameroon that I know. But I respect him a lot because he saw it fit to jump into the mess and start a record label that has directly impacted hundreds of lives, as well as inspired thousands. He, together with his brothers, used his passion to create a tangible difference. Right now, he's probably somewhere complaining about the messed up state of Cameroonian affairs; and like most, he's probably been hard hit by our system in many ways - but still he used his passion to make a difference. There's a lady in Bamenda called Anrette who is braving the War and ghost-towns to run a classy restaurant cum culture hub, called Cube. There's a an agriculture entrepreneur called Roland who relocated from the USA, left his family and comforts, and put aside his fancy degrees and is building greenhouses to feed the nation affordably. What more can you ask of a Cameroonian? To do that, u must first recognise and admire your own identity - that is the fuel that will drive your noble endeavours, even when the odds are stacked against u. Those are real revolutionaries.

Millions of Nigérians, Ghanaians etc are quitting the useful infrastructure, amenities, social security and the comfort of their glossy foreign jobs, relocating to the homeland, and helping build a new magical Africa. We are witnessing a youth-led revolution from Ground Zero where the ammunition is self-pride, identity, foreign-acqired skills, passion and new technology inter alia. The order of power is changing irreversibly in favour of the new breed of passionate, militant techopaths. Even Nigerian 'feymen' know that their money has to end up in Nigerian investments. Tiwa Savage left a relatively lucrative music career in the West to sleep in Don Jazzy's studio in Nigeria. Today, together with scores of other returnees (Banky W, Dbanj etc), she is writing a new chapter in global entertainment. Why ? She took a chance on their common identity and her people loved themselves enough to give her a chance.

Meanwhile in our case, keyboard warriors sat in their comfort of their foreign rooms and ordered schools to shut down and property to be burnt. They rallied people to sponsor arms so that youths go in the bushes and die. Water na water - but meanwhile they partied and their own kids went to school. And then they lost control of the fighters on GZ and started fighting among themselves. They had a valid case - the sad anglophone problem. But somehow they became part of the problem. And today, they will tell you Cameroon is a mess, they want nothing to do with that mess. Wait till the struggle is over - when all out brains have eloped to Douala and Yaounde, and all that is left behind is guns and their wielders.

I feel bad about the injustices that my Anglophone people have suffered. I also feel bad about the problems in the far North with Boko Haram. I feel Bad about the injustices that theBaka people face in the South as they fight for a piece of their ancestral land to conserve their identity and culture. Our country needs help.

But change does not only come from the top.

To be useful to our country, we must first know who we are and be proud of who we are. If you are proud of your heritage, you will not sponsor the destruction of your village in Cameroon, while holding village meetings in the US.

A lot of decisions in the anglophone struggle were not made out of love for the people, but out of a deep desire to achieve power by any means possible. Sounds familiar?

We need to préserve and be proud of our identity and who we are. We seek change by preserving and building, not destroying. You see What the Kumba diaspora is doing de Kumba? That is What happens when you have a reinforced sense of identity. K-town might be regarded as the epicentre of street-wisdom, but the rhetoric comes from the pride that Kumba people have in their city's heritage And in moments of need, that self-pride galvanises into positive action for self-preservation. We should learn from Kumba, and its strategic 'branding'.

If you born ya pikin, e wowo, we go still call am cute baby. Den we start buy e better rubbing oil, shape e ngopo with hand. Na so Di ting dey.

I am a proud Cameroonian. I decry a military that slaughters its women and children. Against a system that disempowers youths and dis-enables entrepreneurship. Against a state where to be anglophone means to be second-class. Where merit means little, where hardwork and honesty are no guarantee for success.

But I am Cameroonian and proudly Cameroonian. In the fight for a better Cameroon, I respect the political opinions of all Cameroonians, as long as they do not encroach on life and personal freedoms of other Cameroonians. If I dont love my Cameroonianness enough, i cannot love, uplift or speak well of my Cameroonian neighbour. We have an great fight to change Cameroon. But first, we love ourself, Cameroon.

Perhaps the worldwide panic caused by the unfortunate Corona Virus is another reminder that the world is not only a global village, but everyone, everywhere is vulnerable. There is no place like home. Focus on knowing yourself and building your home - if not for yourself, for your children.

#ChroniclesofaCameroonian