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| ByJackson W, Nanje |
I
came across the expression “going native” or nativism politics while in
graduate school when my Professor, James ''Jimmy" Allen, used it in explaining President
Bill Clinton’s appointments of his Whitehouse staff. Going native, he
explained, is when you bring your classmates, schoolmates, friends, hometown
friends or anyone you have known growing up into government in total disregard
of others who are equally competent or more qualified to do the same job.
President Bill Clinton had done exactly this. He brought people from his
hometown Arkansas and from Oxford and Yale universities to populate his staff in
the Whitehouse. This is a vital political tool because many other US Presidents
had used it prior to Bill Clinton and they continue to do so; it is a political
norm. Going native is another form of tribalism, cronyism or nepotism in which
people of a specific ethnic group vote only for candidates from their ethnic
group running for office even if their opponent is more qualified than they are.
They vote such candidates into office because of the goodies they expect their
votes would deliver for their communities or municipalities if their preferred
candidate wins. In this narrative, we are going to examine two things: how
Cameroon presidents and the Ndian and Oroko people have handled nativism
politics.
Cameroon
is 58 years old and has had only two Presidents: Ahmadou Ahidjo and Paul Biya.
During their time as presidents, they formalized and normalized the idea of
going native to a disappointing reality. It is true that the Muslims and the
Beti were hired by Ahidjo and Biya respectively in alarming numbers in every
government position. In the October 7th election, if the exit polls
remain true, a new president could seemingly be on the pipeline in Cameroon and
the Bamileke are already jubilating and making clamoring statements which indicate
that it is their turn to maximize the spoils of Cameroon by the new Bamileke
leader, Maurice Kamto. Whereas staff appointments of US presidents are limited
to key appointments in the Presidential Cabinet, that of Cameroon exaggerates
by going native in basically most of the important appointments all over the
country. It is however important to note that “going native” is not necessarily
a bad thing. Absent of an employee vetting agency, which often attests to
someone’s good character, leaders are therefore obliged to hire friends that
they have known since life’s beginning. Secondly, it is a reward to those who
invested political capital in their campaigns that elected them into office.
In
the recent Presidential elections of October 7, 2018, the people of Ndian
division had a son-of-the-soil (Hon. Joshua Osih) running to become president
of the Republic of Cameroon. Over the years, I, just like the Ndian and Oroko people
chosed and relied on the CPDM party to bring development or transformational
changes to our division and to our people. Despite the unquestionable deceitfulness
by the party, the Ndian and Oroko people have, over the years continued to vote
overwhelmingly in support of the CPDM. In the last 36 years, the party’s interest
is clearly only in our votes and not our interest. The art of nativism politics
is a strange phenomenon to the Ndian people. When Ahidjo ran for president,
almost all the Muslims voted for their son. And, every time that President Biya
has presented himself as a candidate, every Beti voted for him. Similarly, when
John Fru Ndi ran for the presidency in the early 90s, all the North Westerners came
for him like herdsmen chasing their cattle. Here comes Hon. Joshua Osih, a
native of Ndian division. It is true when we look at the exit polls, he was
able to win the South West Region at the end of the night; however, he was sent
away by his people who overwhelmingly voted for President Paul Biya in total
disregard of their native son whom they’d sent away before and was embraced by
the people of the Littoral Region who saw absolute value in him. The
questions which must be answered by the Oroko people are the following: (a) why
do we hate ourselves so much to the point that we can’t even vote for them in
an election that they are vying for our votes? (b) What can we learn from other
Cameroon tribes that are successfully using the nativism politics to advance
their cause?
The
Oroko people have totally embraced individualism which is a form of destructive
politics rather than collectivism, which is productive politics. My Oroko
people do not understand how the politics of numbers build a society to a
productive end. This partially explains the backwardness of the tribe because
they continue to vote 100% for the Cameroon People’s Democratic Movement party every
election period even as they are aware that the party will not address their numerous
problems which should be a return for their loyalty. Hon. Joshua Osih only
picked up a few percentage points in Ndian division from the Toko district,
which continues to be loyal to their native son.
Honorable
Joshua Osih is a major player in the national polity of Cameroon and the Oroko
people should be made aware that his resolve has been tested time and time
again amongst his Oroko people and nothing has come of it to cement the
relationship. His loyalty will continue to remain with the Littoral people who
have elevated him to national prominence. Therefore, he should never be accused
by his Oroko people in the future for not supporting them because their reward
to him every time he has come asking for their votes has been rejection. For
him to defeat an incumbent (President Paul Biya) in the Presidential Elections
in 2018 in the Littoral Region speaks volume to the naivete of the Oroko people
who have abandoned their own child time and time again for a foreign grab. In
most Oroko internet talk groups, Hon. Osih has been defamed by his people as a loser.
They are not contributing to his rise to stardom but tomorrow they will require
help from him. You can only reap what you sow. And in the case of Hon. Joshua
Nambangi Osih, the Oroko people have not sowed or invested anything in the past
in him to be able to reap something in the future (betafo ba isoh—shameful acts!!!).
The
Ndian and Oroko people must learn how to play tribal or nativism politics not
because it is the best form of politics to practice, but because of its
deliverables akin to a tribal society such as Cameroon. And knowing that Cameroon
is still a very primitive society, most political issues are vastly viewed through
a tribal lens than through a citizenry lens. It is our hope that if things are
viewed differently in the future with leaders rejecting tribalism, nepotism and
cronyism over citizenry, Cameroon will develop into an iconic African nation.
The fact that nearly all tribes are using nativism politics to advance their people
and society, for the Oroko people and the Ndian people not to see it as a usable
political tool for now, it is basically foolishness from a people who have continued
to embrace backwardness over modernity. (O
ma isoh---no shame!!!)
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