President Paul Biya and government officials at all levels, should bury their
heads in their hands in shame; meditating on their failure to the nation and seek restitution, instead
of celebrating.
***********
Those who failed in their
education and some who at one time or the other, contributed to the economic
downturn of the nation continue to be recycled in public offices giving them
the opportunity to continue perpetuating their failure in the affairs of the
nation.
By Ekinneh Agbaw-Ebai*
The point needs to be made, and with emphasis,
that whatever the motives of its organizers, there is no compelling need for any
elaborate celebration of the much-touted independence and reunification
anniversary. So, the planned celebrations in Buea should be cancelled. Only a
day of sober refection should be observed with all Cameroonians pondering their
journey to where the nation is and what they should do to turn things around. If,
and whenever the President decides to visit Buea, Cameroonians should dress in
black; in mourning, and use the occasion to remind him of all that has failed
in the country. No celebrations. No public fanfare. Three years behind
schedule, and still uncertain of the exact date, there are no indications, as
to when the President will travel to Buea for another waste of time and
taxpayers money. When every direction points to the way back, the road does not
lead to anywhere new! As such, two things are evident: either the journey has
been futile or the navigator is a scalar quantity: having magnitude but lacking
direction. Sadly that is what Cameroon has become.
When Southern Cameroons achieved political autonomy from Britain in 1961 and
voted to reunite with French Cameroon, Anglophones envisioned a bountiful
country. Although there was a foreboding sense that the new nation might be
unworkable, the federal constitution coordinated the bonds between the two
federating units to ensure national cohesion.This architecture was unhinged in
1972, when in a fit of authoritarian madness, President Ahmadou Ahidjo staged what
undoubtedly was a constitutional coup d’état; unilaterally abrogating the
federation in an emblematic display of forced statecraft. Many years on, Anglophones
who have been reduced to second class citizens in their own country can only
look back in anger and imagined what would have been had Ahidjo not abolished the
federation. It is just enough to say that this was probably the most wicked act
perpetrated against this nation by Ahidjo.
With that singular action, Ahidjo snatched defeat
from the jaws of victory and Cameroon’s manifest destiny with glory was halted
by a mindless dictatorship.The result has been a Cameroon still questioned by
many Cameroonians; a nation full of promise but still in doubt of itself. This
inevitably, has led to a rising crescendo of misguided calls for secession.Truth be told:
whatever marginalization Anglophones have suffered within a united Cameroon
dispensation, is far more the product of the politics of personal destruction
by self-seeking Anglophone politicians than any concerted effort by successive
Francophone-led governments from Ahidjo to Paul Biya.Therefore, the challenge
for all Cameroonians is to rise above those parochial considerations that
cripple our aspirations from becoming a more attractive and progressive
country. Glib talk of secession and “anti-frog”
lamentations are, therefore, inappropriate and inconsequential in the present
circumstances.
It is just as well that the President has recognized
that there is really nothing to celebrate. What on earth can be the
justification for such celebration in a country beset with multidimensional
antediluvian and pedestrian problems such as lack of potable water, decrepit
infrastructure, poor health care, insecurity, grueling poverty, deteriorating
standard of education, unemployment and receding fortunes which have forced its
best brains to flee the country? Would it not smack of a giant dancing naked in
the full glare of the public? Cameroon is burning and the leaders are fiddling!
Any reunification celebration is some fiddling too much.To make matters worse,
the bond that binds Cameroonians together appears at the very best, tenuous; if
not snapping, and threatening fundamentally the unity of the country. It is
perhaps right to say that at no time has the basis of Cameroon’s existence as a
nation been as furiously assailed. The unity in diversity, hitherto advertised
as “Africa in miniature” has been supplanted by the diversities in the unity,
such that an average Cameroonian sees himself first in the mould of his tribe
and ethnic nationality. This explains why the country is structurally fragile,
giving rise to negative and frightening prognostications. This state of affairs
is exacerbated by insensitive political leadership that prides itself in a
false sense of direction with little or no accomplishments to show.
The political culture, ethical values and high
moral standard bequeathed to the country by the fathers of reunification have
given way to a culture of incompetence, political opportunism, graft,
brigandage, self-centeredness, insensitivity, impunity, mediocrity and greed.
Nothing seems to be working in the country today due largely to a
heart-breaking and pathetic dearth of statesmen and patriotic leaders. Only a
cynic and an unpatriotic citizen would find something to celebrate in the life
of a nation that has lost her way, shredded her heritage and dumped the values
that made her promise so much so early. What this portends basically is that
for Cameroon, the labor of heroes past has turned out to be largely in vain,
and their hopes now lie forlorn. What then is the basis of the reunification
celebration? If it is intended as a nation-building tool, it is at once trite
and futile, as it sits logic in the head. Patriotism comes not from the
celebration of a coupling arrangement, but the benefits it has delivered.
Does it not advertise the tragedy of the celebrations
that tired old men who should be savoring the joy of deserved retirement after
years of service to the country are the people coordinating the event? It is
bad enough to have a reunification celebration at all; the symbolic gesture
inherent in charging those responsible for the sorry state of the nation with
its prosecution makes it worse. A country that recycles its men of
yester-years, especially as a result of their past failures, as is
typically the case with Cameroon can hardly be said to have made progress and
embraced the world of new ideas. Of course, a leadership, having proven
incapable of rising up to the challenges of personal example, is not
necessarily redeemed by its constant reappearance at the rescue gate. That,
unfortunately, is one of the tragedies Cameroon has had to grapple with.
It is so bad that the refrain is that the best Cameroonians
are outside the government. This tragedy is a vicious cycle: the woeful state
of the country due to poor political and economic decisions have made
government and politics the most rewarding source of livelihood, the only
thriving business, the surest way of climbing to the top with little or no
sweat. Those who failed in their education and some who at one time or the
other, contributed to the economic downturn of the nation continue to be
recycled in public offices giving them the opportunity to continue perpetuating
their failure in the affairs of the nation. The result is what obtains today: widespread
ineptitude compounded by honor and integrity deficit.Cameroon has suffered
enough from a recruitment policy based on considerations other than merit;
enough is enough!
After many false starts, dashed hopes, and
perennially low expectation, now is the time to seek a change of direction. We
need to reset the agenda for the country, to lift the conversation from the
mundane level where it currently resides. And this can only be done by a new
kind of leadership. Such leadership must be driven by a sense of urgency to
correct the contradictions in the nation, to infuse hope and purpose in the
citizenry. It is a different culture of leadership that will galvanize the
country in a totally new direction, and place emphasis rightly on the interest
of the people, not the temporary occupants of high offices.
It bears repeating that what the country needs is
not any celebration at all. The proper thing on this auspicious occasion is to
do stock-takingor self-evaluation. Like an arranged marriage, reunification is a
work-in-progress; not a
comfortless union, in which neither husband nor wife can negotiate
reconciliation or divorce.Cameroonians need to do a thorough examination of
themselves to see whether they are where they should be at this point in time; whether
the dreams of the fathers of reunification have been accomplished. This would
enable them chart a path to the future devoid of past mistakes. Certainly, a
return to true federalism within a 10-state federation is the ultimate step
towards rebuilding the country and redefining its sovereignty.
The American historian, Gerda Lerner, tells us that: “the
main thing history can teach us is that human actions have consequences and
that certain choices, once made, cannot be undone. They foreclose the
possibility of making other choices and thus they determine future events.”
This is the hard and bitter lesson of the 1961 Plebiscite. Anglophones better
accept and live with this reality because all their yearnings for independence
will remain at best, a luxurious desire and mere wishful thinking.Let every Cameroonian stand up for a few minutes
on the celebration day to reflect on where the nation is and where it is
headed. Just a day of reflection; no celebrations, please!
*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 Freedom House, he is a Consultant and
lives in Boston, Massachusetts, USA. Talk back at ekinneh@yahoo.com
No comments:
Post a Comment