Celebrating Re-Unification: Reflections on the State of the Nation

 

Cameroon may have survived for 51 years as an entity, against all odds and doomsday predictions, but it remains only a land of great potentials, hitherto unrealized.

 

       By Ekinneh Agbaw-Ebai*

 

     One thing is certain: when President Paul Biya will visit Buea to mark 51 years of political re-unification, he will be greeted, sadly, by Cameroonians west of the Mungo River with a heavy heart, following years of dashed hopes, broken promises and unfulfilled aspirations. A young re-united Cameroon nation that in 1961 beamed with great promise, taken to a higher level with the discovery of crude oil in its territory in the 1970s, now ranks as one of the most backward in the world.

     That Cameroon is plagued by virtually all vices under the sun, ranging from galloping corruption, greed, nepotism, inept leadership to abusive patronage, is no longer news. Little wonder then that Cameroonians are dissatisfied and disillusioned with their condition and the state of the nation. They see no hope of escaping endemic poverty in the midst of so much opulence exhibited by a handful of persons. As the years rolled by, their hopes dwindled and their problems grew in size and number. The degradation permeates all facets of national life, from education to health, infrastructure to the economy, and even sports.

     In the midst of this rot, one factor has remained constant: poor leadership. Over the years, the leadership of this country has failed to match the competence and high aptitude of ordinary citizens, who thrive in all spheres of human endeavor, but continuously embarrassed by the ineptitude of those in charge of their country. Cameroonians excel around the world, but cannot function in their own country. Why is the system so warped that it does not allow excellence to flourish? Is the fault in Cameroonians or in the structure of governance, or both? Why is it that those charged with running the country seem completely clueless as to how to confront the enormous challenges facing this country? They seem to expect that we would wake up one day and all the problems would simply go away.

     Poor leadership apart, corruption has been singled out appropriately, as the country’s most debilitating problem. The level of the scourge is simply confounding, such that it has become a monster. Money that has gone down the drain through corruption in public places could have made a tremendous impact in the national condition. Without doubt, many other problems that have hobbled this country can be more easily tackled if corruption is curtailed.

     Most significantly, the horrendous cost of governance is at the heart of the people’s disenchantment with the government. The profligacy of the Presidency is well documented – the President himself acts as if the public treasury is his personal cash-dispensing machine. Parliamentarians who pretend to be the people’s reps have become the nation’s nightmare and an obstacle to good governance. How can anyone justify their emoluments that bear no relationship to any other employment in the country? The President cannot impress Cameroonians until he tackles the astronomical cost of governance. Slogans about “grande realizations” ring hollow and remain unconvincing. He should remove the many rapacious allowances that bestride the Cameroonian system of government. He should eliminate the odious allowances of Ministers and severely restrict his own perks, which despite their non-accountability and quantum, have been increasing geometrically.

     Complex as the nation’s challenges may be, the current holders of public office must seek to disentangle them. Their job is to solve the problems facing this country. President Biya must spearhead these efforts. The president should be worried that after 30 years in power, no reasonable Cameroonian can conclude that this country is moving in the right direction. Not only are things worse now than when Biya came to power, but it appears that sundry crooks and criminals have found a way of exploiting the lacuna in governance to wantonly convert state resources to personal use, and are not be bothered by the increasingly desperate condition of ordinary Cameroonians.

     Biya must recognize that the peace that he so often refers to is peace of the graveyard and more than ever before, the country is a disaster waiting to happen. Sadly, the CPDM, with its do-or-die approach to rigging elections, cannot extricate itself from the present mess. Most of the people whose actions or failures have provoked or aggravated the country’s problems at all levels of governance are either members or friends of the CPDM.

Unfortunately, the plunder and rent-seeking extends beyond the civil service to the unmerited mutual corrupt enrichment by officials bleeding state corporations. In sum, while hapless Cameroonians are struggling to make ends meet, these cabals are busy looting. People are being impoverished by misplaced official policies that have given vent to mass unemployment, lack of education, abject poverty, mass ignorance and desperation to survive. Values have all but collapsed; the present system is fostering a kleptocracy that is essentially unsustainable and inexorably doomed. No country can be so spiteful of its citizens, and no nation can carry on in this despicable way, and survive.

The re-unification celebrations should thus be an opportunity, not to indulge in false praise and self-delusion and extravagant fanfare or celebration when in truth, there is nothing to celebrate. Rather, the President and other public officials should be loudly ruing their failure to redress the ugly situation and initiate policies that would benefit the majority of Cameroonians. With modern information technology, the era of running government business as a secret society is over. Cameroonians are hungry for good governance and accountability and government henceforth must listen to the people whether they like it or not. Governance as a vocation should be made less attractive in order for those who truly believe in the honor of service to emerge.

     Paul Biya has a historic responsibility to change the course of history when he visits Buea, but he must avoid making grandiose announcements of projects and empty political sloganeering which have become the trademark of presidential politics. For a government that builds no roads, no new bridges, no new railway, no new ports, and no new airports, is it asking too much for the President to lead efforts to end the culture of impunity; to hold public servants accountable; give the people hope and prevent eventual collapse? When the people have no hope, and the leaders have no clue, the only option is to dismantle the existing system and institute a new one that will deliver what Cameroonians have been yearning for, for 51 years: a truly great nation.

 

***Ekinneh Agbaw-Ebai is a public intellectual and graduate of Harvard University John F. Kennedy School of Government where he was Managing Editor of the Harvard Journal of African-American Public Policy. A former Research Analyst for Central Africa with Freedom House, he is a consultant and lives in Boston, Massachusetts, USA. Talk back at ekinneh@yahoo.com.