The country is gradually receding to the
transmutation trajectory of a civil war; there is fire on the mountain and no
one is running. This should worry the president
By Ekinneh Agbaw-Ebai*
Just when it seems the Biya regime has hit the lowest ebb in governance
capacity, it manages to find a further depth in ignominy. The failed meetings
between government and representatives of Anglophone teachers and lawyers who
have been the arrowhead of the recent protests was yet another predilection of
the government digging its own grave beyond the proverbial six feet. Little
surprise the outcome was a typical Cameroonian tragic-comedy of errors in which
the government brought odium upon itself and advertised in spectacular fashion,
how lies and deceit have been elevated to instruments of statecraft. In a continuing orgy
of ineptitude and self-delusion, the government tried to put a positive spin on
the fiasco even after the Anglophone teachers and lawyers staged a walkout in
Bamenda and Yaoundé.
This is more than embarrassing as it
betrays a government lacking in the vital
attributes of democratic engagement. The empty grandstanding will do nothing,
other than escalate the Anglophone problem beyond the point of no return. Once
that happens, the government should banish the thought of an abortion after the
baby - an independent Anglophone nation - is born. So, while the window of
opportunity is still open, President Biya must be told in unmistakable terms
that the solution to the Anglophone problem is either a federation or
independence for Anglophones. The President may pretend not be in a hurry to address the problem, but the
truth is that time is not on his side.
There are reasons for Anglophones to be outraged
by the meetings which are a rigmarole begging the main issue. To begin with, how
could the
government dispatch a team of Anglophone problem deniers to resolve a problem,
they ipso facto believe, does not exist? Fame Ndongo who denies the existence of an Anglophone problem as part of
the negotiating team only confirms the government’s capacity to shock and
scandalize is infinite. Besides, insisting a deal-breaker like federalism is “off
the table” only vindicates Anglophones, who suspect, with good reason, that
these meetings are merely a subterfuge of divide and conquer, aimed at
deflating the momentum of the Anglophone struggle, while running down the
clock. If this is the sinister calculation behind government’s thinking, then
it is a suicidal mistake.
Some stories are best told straight. The
false equivalency by Francophones who equate federalism to secession speaks to
an ignorance that is tantalizing and manifestly hypocritical, to say the least.
Their illogical arguments are further rendered unacceptable because they wittingly
or unwittingly, confirm the fact that they consider Anglophones as a conquered
people who can be abused with impunity and their natural resources pillaged to finance
the conspicuous consumption and ostentatious lifestyles of corrupt bureaucrats in
the name of national unity. What could be more dishonest and self-serving than denying
that Anglophones have a right over their God-given resources? Indeed, the lie
of an illusional united and indivisible Cameroon has been glued and nourished
at the monumental expense of Anglophones who have bent over backwards to
breaking point in accommodating the parasitic cabal of Francophone ethnic
jingoists who, in their dementia thought patterns, believe they can abuse the
instruments of state power to criminally sustain this dubiously crafted
Luciferian contraception called Cameroon. This is a hypocritical reality that
must be dismantled and Anglophones are saying enough is enough.
It bears repeating that Anglophone
Cameroon produces over 60% of national GDP and gets back next to nothing. It is, therefore, provocative, insulting
and irresponsible for Francophones to derisively dismiss the Anglophone problem.
When a people complain of discrimination and marginalization in a country they
call theirs and express a desire to secede as a result, it is not rocket
science to know that the best way to respond is not by rolling out the tanks and
soldiers. You don’t use force to keep an aggrieved partner in a relationship
he/she has expressed a desire to quit. You keep an aggrieved partner in the
relationship by addressing his/her grievances.
Regardless of what anyone may think about the Anglophone
problem, what even President Biya cannot dispute is that Anglophone grievances are
genuine. Anglophones have lost faith in the country and the status quo is not sustainable. After 55 years of
marginalization and discrimination, there is no better time than now to address the structural and
institutional challenges facing the nation. And Anglophones
have made no secret of their intentions to secede if the government refuses
dialogue and the return to a federal system of government. But the odor of petrifying
arrogance from government officials is matched by their patronizing bellicosity evidenced by
their outright rejection of federalism. This is sheer nonsense. Truth be told;
Anglophones are not begging for federalism. If the government refuses dialogue,
then Anglophones are left no choice than to restore their independence.
It defies common sense that the government is
creating committees to negotiate with Anglophones, while government apologists
take to the airwaves to deny the existence of a problem the government claims
it wants to solve. This most certainly, is not the way to solve the Anglophone
problem. It
must be stated unequivocally that threats of intimidation and brimstone on
Anglophones can only harm the very cause of national unity which the government
is seeking to advance. In real terms,
the committee meetings underscore the yawning disconnect between government’s
ostrich-like grandstanding and bad faith towards Anglophones. The pig-headed
effort to address grievances specific to lawyers and teachers outside the gamut
of the Anglophone problem indicates the Francophone regime is stuck in the
past. You cannot use yesterday’s solutions to solve today’s problems. It will
not work.
Biya can no longer pretend not to understand that Anglophones
want a dialogue to discuss their future and the government should be under no
illusion about the explosive potentialities and danger to national unity, posed
by the Anglophone problem. It appears the President seems more
preoccupied with the ceremonial aspects of his job and has lost sight of the
reasons Cameroonians elected him. Biya must understand that as an employee of the Cameroonian people, he has a
constitutional obligation to listen to grievances from every section of the
country and to address them. Military force will solve the Anglophone problem
and history offers valuable lessons to that effect.
No word can be too strong to condemn the overwhelming force against
peaceful Anglophone protests and the extra-judicial killing of Anglophones. The
ongoing militarization of Anglophone towns smacks of a deliberate attempt to escalate
the situation. In due course, Anglophones will be compelled to respond to the
provocation by meeting force with force in legitimate self-defence. Let no one
be fooled that Anglophones will stand idly by and watch soldiers shoot and kill
them like game. When push eventually comes to shove, the jackboots on the
streets of Anglophone towns will become an army of occupation and legitimate reprisal
targets. The soldiers might have all the weapons of mass destruction, but
Anglophones own their towns; master the terrain and outnumber the invaders and
with history on their side, they will overcome. So Quo Vadis?
With negotiation now at an impasse, and
the strikes poised to continue, there is a sense of foreboding in the horizon.
Obviously, the government will continue to preach dialogue, while deploying
brigandage and executive lawlessness to suffocate the protests. Already,
Anglophones are endangered species against whom the might and resources of the
state are being deployed. Cameroonians of conscience, including Francophones are apprehensive of the Gestapo
tactics and invidious persecution of Anglophones; fearing the country is
gradually receding to the transmutation trajectory of a civil war. This should
worry the president.
The government’s refusal to dialogue
with Anglophones is nothing but a manifestation of the culture of arrogance and
impunity that has been the modus operandi of successive Francophone governments
from Ahidjo to Paul Biya. Regrettably, Biya’s failure to show leadership by taking
ownership of the Anglophone problem is a pointer to the abysmal level of the
political leadership in the country and its immaturity. The Anglophone
case is predicated on the force of the argument and the government’s recourse
to the argument of force is a meaningless show of crude power. It is
bewildering because it is happening under a supposedly democratic government. It
is also ironic because democracy has inbuilt institutional mechanisms, both
formal and informal, for addressing differences and conflicts. Interestingly,
the accommodation of dissent is a fundamental element in any democracy.
Cameroon’s greatest strength is her
diversity. It should never be denied. Without doubt, there are things Cameroonians
in their linguistic and ethnic differentiation have as common values that
should be the basis for their unity and strength. To paraphrase former US
President Bill Clinton, in a different context, there is nothing wrong with Cameroon
that cannot be corrected by what is right with Cameroon. All Biya needs to do
is get Cameroonians together; give them the opportunity to chart a new way
forward, and rediscover those binding ethos of the nation and why it profits
all of us to be Cameroonians. The Anglophone problem is a ticking time bomb that requires presidential
leadership and political will to defuse. The President
can continue to ignore the problem at the nation’s peril.
*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, USA. Talk back at ekinneh@yahoo.com
