SPEECH DELIVERED TO OROKO CULTURAL ASSOCIATION MEMBERS IN TORONTO

Speech to Oroko Toronto August 1, 2009

by
IyaMelissa Nambangi
Executive Director, Minnesota African Women’s Association, MAWA

My Dear Oroko Brothers and Sisters, Guests and all here present:
It gives me great pleasure to be in Toronto this evening… my first trip out of the United States since I arrived there in 1992. This gathering was worth the trip because Oroko and matters related to Oroko are very close to my heart.
There is so much I want to share with you today – and I was told I could talk for up to 25 minutes. I don’t know who told any of you that someone with a journalism and university lecturer background can speak for only 25 minutes. I have a feeling I will be speaking for 25 and a half minutes.
A speech like this one needs to be a presentation. I can not only celebrate the fact that my Oroko sisters and brothers – and children too in Toronto – have realized the importance of coming together as family with all the demands of time that implies – and end there. I must also point out to you – from my experience, from other people’s experiences – the challenges and opportunities that such a venture brings along.
First of all, I want to remind you of the experience back home whenever someone is travelling to mbeng’a bakala… there is much joy. Even those who are not friends or family but belong to your village are proud that someone from their village is going abroad. To their mind, whether they benefit individually or not from this person going abroad, the fact remains that they can also say “someone from their village is in a developed land” and this implies that their village is not left in the dark ages. We need to take a leaf from the Europeans, explorers, Vasco da Gama and co. When they went to other lands, they sought to make it benefit their own land. Granted, this was at our detriment as the explored but think how much their countries and descendants have benefitted to this day from the blood, sweat and riches of Africa.
So it is, that we cannot come abroad here and make it all about ourselves. We are out here and Oroko land must feel and see the results of her children being abroad.

When I first arrived in the United States in 1992, I met an African American lawyer who told me the strangest thing. She said that God planned for her ancestors to be slaves and struggle to build America so Africans too could enjoy the beauty of that land. I thought that was extreme but I could see her point. However, I don’t think we have to shed blood and tears for Oroko land to benefit from her children being abroad.
What we have to do, is borrow the good ideas, good procedures that work in the lands we now sojourn in and adapt those to suit and improve our Oroko land in particular and the South West Region and Cameroon in general. For example, as individuals or a handful of friends, we can send a few books back home, send some medical supplies but all that is a drop of water in the bucket in the face of what will truly constitute development for all Oroko people.
We have to learn how to act as a group. Too often, we get confused by the notion of democracy and freedom of speech and end up holding up projects with interminable arguments. Everybody wants to express their own opinions; we set deadlines and do not meet them because one or two people are not satisfied. And in true “divide and conquer” tradition that we have learned from our colonizers and now see our politicians utilizing this same tactic all the time back home, when we can’t force the group to do things our way, we splinter off and start trying to promote our individual village groups.
We have to remember that there is strength in numbers. Let me use an allegory to make this point: My village is Big Bekondo. I am a Big Bekondo leaf on an Oroko branch on a Meme or Ndian trunk on a South West tree on Cameroon soil. No part is too small or too big. Take away the leaf and photosynthesis suffers which will affect the whole tree; take away the branch, and there is nothing to connect the leaf to the trunk, etc. etc. We all need each other.
If the people of Massaka get a road, the people of Big Bekondo should rejoice because the law of proximity prescribes that Big Bekondo will most likely get a road next or it will be easier for a road to be built to Big Bekondo because there is one so close to it. Instead, our usual tendency is to say: “Why did Big Bekondo get the high school. It ought to come to us.” Then the neighboring villages start trying to bring down the Big Bekondo High School or destroy it. We tend to see our neighbors getting something as though it deprives us of getting the same thing. We need to learn from these countries we live in how to live and let live. If Big Bekondo has a High School, maybe the next village should focus on trying to get a vocational school there, or a health clinic or a bank. That way each village is supplying a need for its neighbors and all the establishments are sustained.
By this same token, we should recognize that if something bad happens to the people of Kumba, or Muyuka or any of the towns of Fako Division, the Oroko people should be very concerned because it is not too far from us and may be reaching us next.
Many of us have forgotten or never learned our history. We do not know the ancestral relationship we have with the Doualas, the Bakweris, etc. The interconnectedness of the South West province is something that will give us strength if we learn about it and make that land our business too. My Oroko identity is not diminished by my claiming the Ndian, Meme, Sawa, South-West identities. It all comes in handy at various levels. My role as Cameroon TV news anchor opened my eyes to this inclusiveness. I was tagged the South West anchor immediately by my colleagues who wanted to keep out South Westerners from certain top positions in the CRTV structure. But then I realized that all South Westerners were proud of me, not only the Oroko people. In fact, when I went to Buea to cover the President’s visit to the South West, I was very touched by the Mayor of Buea, Mr. Becke Smith, taking me round to all the older respectable elders at the grand stand and telling them in Bakweri, “this is our daughter from CRTV”. Then he kept on speaking to me in Bakweri and I just felt embarrassed that unlike my parents, I could not understand and speak Bakweri, Duala and all our other cousin languages. In fact, most of our parent’s generation can communicate with the Doualas and Bakweris, each speaking their own language but each understanding what the other is saying.
From that day of the President’s visit to Buea, I recognized that I was a child of the South West region too. So, if anyone is destroying the Korup Forest, it is my business. So is it my concern too, if the deep sea port of Victoria is never resuscitated, or a son or daughter of the soil is not allowed to head the CDC or Sonara, or the roads to Mamfe remain non-existent, etc.
To best illustrate the point of unity, let me recite this well-known poem by a German Pastor Martin Niemoeller
First they came for the communists, and I did not speak out-- because I was not a communist;Then they came for the socialists, and I did not speak out-- because I was not a socialist;Then they came for the trade unionists, and I did not speak out-- because I was not a trade unionist;Then they came for the Jews, and I did not speak out-- because I was not a Jew;Then they came for me-- and there was no one left to speak out for me.
This is why we must speak up. When we speak out for others, we are actually speaking out for ourselves. When we take care of others, we are taking care of ourselves. Remember that. So, too, it is that, when we destroy others, we are also destroying ourselves.
I don’t want to lose track of the fact that we need to talk on ways to make Oroko land look like it has educated children as you all are; that it has children o mbenge. It will take all of us to make this land great. It takes the men, it takes the women, and it takes the youth.
We are all connected.
Inasmuch as we should try to emulate democracy and freedom of speech, we need to apply the other rules that put a stop to the abuse of this democracy and freedom of speech. I have been part of so many Cameroonian groups, African groups and we all end up suffering a lot of abuse in trying to lead such groups. Last year, I decided to do a paper on why many of our Cameroonian and other African projects die a natural death and I discovered that all the dynamic and hardworking leaders I knew of, in so many Cameroonian and other African groups, eventually got fed up and stopped being part of the group. When I asked them, the general response I got was that: I can never do anything for that group again. The amount of abuse I got there was enough”. So, we eat up our leaders.
This is an experience I have had. It seems as though the concept of the “servant leader” that is so prominent in the US is something we cannot handle. To us, a President of a group should sit back and pass orders. When we have those who work very hard and selflessly for the group, we immediately start treating them like our servants. If you have not been in such a position, you may not know how insulting and annoying it is for a group member who is not putting in any time or constructive effort to achieve something in the name of the group, to come to meetings everyday just to grill those who do the work about how they do it or how they should have done it. So, Oroko Toronto, if you want your hardest working members to continue doing the work, show them some appreciation and also take on tasks yourselves. As I said, Oroko is about all of us.
I am not trying to say we should not criticize each other or the association leadership. We should but it should be done with love and respect, not with the intention of hurting feelings but with the intention of getting things done. If you really believe that using another approach will work better than the one currently used, then by all means, offer your services and do it. Nobody likes to be constantly told what to do by someone who is not doing anything for the general good. We all have the same time constraints – work, taking care of children, work, etc. If you think you are too busy to contribute your time and effort to developing Oroko, and then by all means, let those who contribute the time and effort do it the way they know best. I have seen so many groups that have turned on their leader at the instigation of a blow-hard, and when that leader is out of the group, they remain stagnant. You cannot afford to let your active leaders be hassled so much that they get fed-up and drop the whole effort. If it really comes to making a choice, always choose the person who sacrifices much for the group over the loud mouths who only talk and do nothing constructive.
I saw this story on the internet that I don’t know if it is true or was just a made-up story but it illustrates a point I want to make:
Apparently, this guy – a paysan, I’m told – was driving on the Freeway in Houston when he realized that the traffic camera had taken a picture of his car. He thought to himself, “I was not going above the speed limit. Why would that camera take a picture of me? It must be faulty.” So, to prove his point, he turned around and drove slowly past that same camera. It took another picture of him. He obstinately decided to give it one last try. He drove by a third time and it took a third picture of his car. A week later, he got 3 tickets for driving without his seat belt on….
The point I want to make here is that, oftentimes we are looking for faults so much that when we see one, we focus on it and spend so much energy trying to bring down someone because we do not like him or we want to be President, that we miss out on all other things that are going wrong in the group. Or we miss out on all the good things that are equally happening.
We have to make Oroko an “all-of-us” affair, not like the Tortoise in the folk-tale with the name “all-of-us”… in fact, that tortoise could also be a lesson for us because see what happened when he took on the name “all of us”, ate all the food and the birds abandoned him. If you don’t know this story, ask any older Oroko person to tell you. If you have not told it to your kids, you are missing out on a wonderful opportunity to teach some ethics and morals.
When I say Oroko is an “all of us” affair, I mean we must learn to be inclusive but also know when to cut off the limb that is causing “go slow” or discord in the group. I want to reiterate the importance of those leaders and members who contribute fully to the cause of the community: never let such people go. Let me tell you this other experience:
A few years back, the Oroko Atlanta group spearheaded this project of an Oroko Cultural and Resource Center back home. I was so impressed by it that I flew to Atlanta about 4 times that year just to help with packing up the shipment, adapted the manual I had prepared for my organization, MAWA, for the Oroko Cultural and Resource Center board and sent it to the representatives in Kumba, worked with an Atlanta lawyer and got a non-profit established for Oroko-USA. It was a wonderful affair back home. I received a DVD of the opening ceremony with various Oroko dance groups and elite present at the ceremony. I was so impressed that one of the board members had actually read through the 40-page manual I sent and was quoting copiously from it. Well, what became of that Oroko Cultural and Resource Center? It died down and I was told that one of the prominent members in Cameroon decided to kill it and turn the idea into his own individual business. I am so disappointed and feel personally hurt by this act. This is a situation where the Oroko group out here should have taken action to stop this man from appropriating our hard effort. Maybe we should start drawing up legal contracts and following through with law suits when an individual usurps the whole group’s effort. By the way, I brought that manual here for you because it is my hope that Oroko Toronto would one day do something back home for us all to be proud of.
On to other matters: one of the biggest fears I have, is that some centuries later, history books may record that “there used to be a group of people in this land called the Oroko people but they ceased to exist”. It scares me because it can so easily happen. This is my rationale for making this statement: Being welcoming, as our name Oroko implies, does not mean being foolish. If we keep on ignoring some of the things that undermine us, undermine our group efforts, undermine our villages, we may come to this unfortunate pass. If we continue giving away our land to non-Orokos, selling our land… in my village, residents from a non-South-west group actually have their own chief and have the nerve to confront Big Bekondo people and tell them: “We chief talk say …” This is incredible. I don’t know if that situation still exists today but you cannot have more than one chief in your own village – every other visitor, resident may be a stranger but he or she is still subject to your village chief. Better yet, a non-Oroko person being chief in an Oroko village? How’s that? Why are we so laid back that we will truly have our land pulled out from under our feet? Lesson number 2 to take from these developed countries we live in … be nice to strangers but make them work for everything they get from you. If they want to become chiefs in your land, then they have to take on citizenship. But... I don’t know about Canada, the United States makes it very clear; you can become everything but president if you are not a natural born citizen of the US. Let’s be proud enough of Orokoland to make those who want a piece of these villages actually work hard for them. I’m sure we have chiefs and members of Oroko royal families here… take these words to heart and make your land friendly to strangers but let your village benefit from their presence and let there be definite advantages for children of the soil and boundaries that no visitor can cross.
So, you are in Canada, we are in the US, others are in China, Korea, Italy, etc. Most of these countries when you hear them mentioned an image immediately pops into your mind. Japan – electronics! Belgium, cars! America – heaven!! Okay, that may be an exaggeration but what comes to your mind when you hear Cameroon (sorry, soccer slacked off, it appears), South West region? Ndian – oil? Korup Forest? Oroko... what? Can we create an image for the Oroko area? We have to find a way to bring some of the great things we have learned abroad to our land. I know one of our biggest drawbacks is that a whole group can make every effort to achieve something and one member will either misappropriate the funds or do something equally selfish – like the case of the Oroko Cultural & Resource Center in Kumba. Such a situation is the right time to go the American and probably Canadian ways… sue them! Let them pay back the funds or face the law. When it comes to Oroko, it is not about you or about me. It is about us. If I don’t like a plan but the majority likes it, I have to hold my peace and go with the flow because it is about us all.
For nine years now I have been involved in the world of community based non-profit organizations. For 7 years I have been running one I created. So, for 7 years I have been championing African women’s issues not because I don’t think men have issues too, but because there were many other groups championing African men’s issues. But in working on women’s issues, we have always looked for ways in which our efforts will benefit the whole family which includes our precious men, of course…
Together with other African women leaders like Naomi Tutu and the women of Akina Mama wa Afrika, and various other African women leaders and scholars, African women in the Diaspora have come to determine the role of African women abroad. After looking at them closely, I realized that they can be applied to African men, Oroko men and women abroad. So, I decided to share them with you because I’m cool like that ---
Here are the roles: translator, interpreter, upholder, enforcer, and change agent, to Empower, representative / ambassador and connector.
As a translator, we make sure that our cultures and values, our people are not misrepresented. We make sure that for every negative image the media shows about us, we tell of ten positive things about us. We cannot continue allowing those images be our reality otherwise; your children will be ashamed of being African and probably just neglect their Oroko identity. This is why I applaud Florence Ayissi, an Oroko woman in England who decided to counter the negative stories by showing Africans in positive pursuits. That’s how come we have the BBC-produced Award winning documentary – Sisters In Law – which follows 4 cases in Kumba before Judge Ntuba – my own younger sister – and Justice Ngassa, and others. I brought along a copy and maybe we can watch it over the weekend.
I have this very Minnesotan approach – passive aggressive – to dealing with unpleasant remarks about Africa. I immediately counter by recounting some really bad stuff on the news about things that happen in my state of residence or the country. For example, one of my students at the University – when I was teaching there – decided to embarrass me by stating very loudly that there is so much AIDS in Africa because of polygamy. My response was, “then all the people of Utah should be dead or dying from it too.” The rest of the class laughed uneasily. This also happened to be around the time that the polygamous cults of Utah were in the news and nobody was feeling too proud of them. He then continued by talking of too much prostitution in tourist East Africa and I countered by bringing up Heidi Fleiss. Needless to say, that was the end of the battle and the semester ended without my having to deal with such grief from him anymore.

I have had to learn a lot about my culture in order to handle this translator role well. When other Cameroonians think they will make a mockery of our people living in “calabod” houses, I first of all correct them that it is clapboard, and then talk of the coolness inside when the weather is as hot as it gets in the South West region – this I explain, shows the scientific mind of South-Westerners to realize that using clapboard for buildings will give them respite from the heat. There is no insult too small or too big – each needs to be dealt with immediately because the intent of the insult on your tribe or any group you belong to is in order to make you feel small or insignificant.
Some years ago, I was housing a Cameroonian woman and her child – rent-free, and all in the US – and she had the nerve to say, “those Oroko people, we had our own houseboy from there”. I looked at her, living off an Oroko woman and having the nerve to say that especially since I know she did not come from a family that could afford houseboys. Then she went on to insult Kumba people as a whole. Unfortunately for her, I knew enough history to tell her how Kumba gave refuge to her people and how the former regime punished Kumba severely for giving refuge to maquisards, etc. She shut her mouth. Passive aggressive… Minnesota style. It actually works!

Interpreter – a bit similar to translator.
Upholder – we cannot let our children abroad lose touch of our culture. We have to uphold it and teach them. Every culture changes but the change must come from within. If you do not know your culture, then you cannot improve it. So, we have to teach our children our culture.

Enforcer – a stiffer form of upholding. When I got to the US, I learned to value my culture because I met so many Americans who admired the fact that I had a culture and lamented the fact that they had none or were just trying to create some.
I don’t want to leave everyone with the impression that the cultures we now live in are in any way superior to ours. By no means! They do have some good qualities we can learn from and use, but we do have our own good qualities too.
Look at the way we respect each other and age. I remember when I was growing up; I never heard any of my parents call their friends by their names. It was Mami this or Papa that, Mr. Ayamba, Mrs. Motale, Nyanga’asu, Sang’asu, Iya, Tata, Sango… and so on and so forth, and we are rich in those titles. That also taught us to respect those friends and they in turn treated us like their own children. Now, out here, what do I hear: Some guy calling his wife across the dance floor: “Dialle!”, or some woman calling out: “Sakwe. Let’s go!” What are we teaching our children? Calling an adult like that is quite disrespectful because we grew up knowing that you do not call adults like that. I remember most people respond to that by asking: “Why are you calling me like a child?” When you yell out your spouse’s name like that, or introduce him or her to younger people as “Dialle, or Malike or Ote”, you are engendering disrespect for that man or woman. Then when some smart mouth kid walks up to you and goes, “Ote” you are shocked.
You have to realize that we live in countries which are inhabited by others who came from different lands and therefore they do not have the same sense of community that we do. In trying to level the playing field of their past atrocities in the days of slavery where only certain colors could be called “Mister” or “Master”, they are taking away all marks of individual respect that still mean a lot to us. As a result also, they have become very individualistic, a thing that cannot work in our cultures – at least not for a long time. So, when we try to pick up certain behaviors thinking that they are cool because they are practiced out here, let us also remember that we do not have their history or their practices.

I’ve heard some Africans argue that if they tell their children to call adults with respectful titles like Mr. or Uncle or Aunty, their children will not have self-esteem. Really?! So, they have these kids who go around annoying most African adults by calling them by their first names. As one Liberian woman told me: “It hurts me to my bones when an African child especially calls me by my first name”. “Why the African child mostly,” I asked her. “Because they know better”, was her simple response.
We need to bring up our children so that other people will love them, because we cannot be by these children 24/7. I have 3 kids whom everybody tells me, “o they are so polite. What nice children, etc.” But the fact is that, if anybody were to behave in an abusive manner towards my children, as polite as they are, they will tell you very politely to back off! The fact that they address adults respectfully does not mean I have brought them up to be doormats.
Change Agent – that is what we must be for our Oroko people. We take what we have learned here and make a positive change back home.
Empower – need I delve into that? We are out here, we have the resources, and we know where we can go for certain things. We need to use this knowledge to help our people. Every now and then, I go on the internet and search for funding that has been giving to villages in Cameroon for projects like pipe-borne water, electricity to the village, farmer’s cooperatives, etc. I never saw an Oroko village listed. But I saw so many other non-South-West Villages with $100,000 from various European firms, American foundations, etc. Does it mean we don’t have these needs? Is there really no Oroko associations back home that we can trust and partner with to help them get some of these funds? Always remember that hardship is a reality and we must try to compensate one or two persons back home to enable them chase down and acquire such funding.
We are representatives or ambassadors of Oroko abroad. Let everyone see you and know that Oroko people are educated. Are caring but not foolish….
Connector...
Among the many other positive aspects from our culture is how we love and care for each other. You and I know people who are now something in life because a neighbor or family friend educated them. We know those who were houseboys or babysitters and the families rewarded them by educating or training them in a vocation. So, when foreigners and some of us who have lived abroad so long we are confused enough to think we are now Americans, criticize our Cameroonian Middle and upper class for having houseboys, we need to point out that the fact that out here some of us do similar jobs and are called home makers or some such fancy-schmancy name does not make the job any different. What we should be concerned with is the abuse that some families back home heap on their house-help. It is not right at all!
What kind of a mother and big sister will I be, if I don’t talk of women and girls issues? To put it very short and simple: if you think something or practice done on you will hurt you, then it should not be done to a woman either. We have the same red blood running through our veins; get hurt by the same things, etc. I once remarked to an Oroko colleague out in the US about how I’ve noticed Cameroonian men doing chores at home, caring for the baby, etc. WHEN they are married to a white woman. And his explanation was that the white women are not used to harsh treatment. Excuse me?! Who are these women who are used to harsh treatment? I am not, and neither are my friends and we are not white women. Please, respect. We have to respect each other.
And one big plea on behalf of the women: Oroko people, you have to do something about this issue. Number One, that whole deal of the man’s sister’s children inheriting him. What do you want to happen to your own children and wife? It is so bad in my family that our paternal cousin has boldly given birth to 10 children and though she has a husband, has declared that my first brother does not need to have any children, he should just come and take some from her and raise them! It is okay to take care of your sister’s children too, if you have the money. But please, stop insulting Oroko women with this traditional belief that “only a woman knows the paternity of her child, so the man’s true relatives are those born by his sister”. Please! I’ve not yet met an Oroko woman who marries a man but plans to have children with someone else. But, if you really have that fear in you, go for a DNA test and take care of your children! I know many individual Oroko men who now resolve that matrilineal inheritance issue by leaving wills that give their property to their widow and children. That is good, but we need to re-evaluate this issue at the level of the Oroko group so the poor and uneducated will be equally protected even if they do not leave wills.
That said I am so glad and honored that you invited me. I want to reiterate that this business of being Oroko is about all of us. We must build and develop our land and people. We cannot in all good conscience stand on the outside looking in. Oroko is about all of us – not one person. It is about the villages, it is about the towns, it is about the divisions, it is about the South West region. It is about the coast, it is about Cameroon. We have to leave a mark so everyone hearing Oroko will say, “Ah, yes, I know them. That region has children in the developed world. That region has people who are educated”. I thank you for your attention.



Ms. M. N. Nambangi, M.A. (Journalism & Mass Communication, Univ. of MN) - Executive DirectorImmigrant of Distinction Award, 2008; Woman of Distinction Award, 2006Minnesota African Women's Association - MAWA2207 N. 2nd St., Minneapolis, MN 55411Ph: 612/588-7666; Fax: 612/588-7972
Satellite Office: Brooklyn Park, MN 55443 -PH: 763/541-2224www.mawanet. org; check out African dolls & decorative pillows at www.mawanet. org/shop
(Home of the African Girls' Initiative for Leadership & Empowerment, AGILE)Mission: Promoting the health and well-being of African women and their families through research, education, advocacy and programming.

A glance at the Healthcare in Cameroon:Challenges and Opportunities by Dr. John Nkengasong

Dear Friends, Fellow Cameroonians, happy 20th May Anniversary.
It is an honor to join you all today to celebrate the 37th anniversary of our great nation, Cameroon. I will like to thank Lady Kate Njuema for inviting me to give this brief remark on health issues in Cameroon.
As the old song “Hotel of California” so rightly states, you can check out of the Hotel but can not leave. So, we can all be residing outside of Cameroon but we are all Cameroonians at heart, and do not need to belong to any political party to contribute to nation building. I owe no loyalty to any political party in Cameroon. It is, therefore, in this framework that I will be making my brief remarks this evening
According to the People’s Health Charter, health is a social, economic and political issue, and above all a fundamental human right issue. Health is primarily determined by the political, economic, social and physical environment and should with equity and just development be a priority in policy making at all levels. Like most countries in sub-Sahara Africa, Cameroon, with an estimated population of 18 million inhabitants, faces a huge burden of diseases ranging from tropical infections, emerging infectious diseases, to chronic illness, previously restricted to developed countries. I will like to share with you some numbers that would provide insights into the disease and health burden in Cameroon.

Life expectancy is about 50 years.
Maternal mortality rate is 730 per 100,000 live births.
Infant mortality rate is about 87 per 1,000 live births
Total expenditure on health a % of GDP is 5.2%
Physician density per 10,000 inhabitants is 2
Coverage for Vaccine Preventable Diseases is low

Infectious diseases are taking a toll on the population: the prevalence rate of tuberculosis in 2006 is 236.8 per 100,000 inhabitants, and the prevalence of HIV in the general population is estimated at 5.3%
Chronic diseases and road traffic injuries are on the rise; with an estimated 15 - 20% of the population in the urban areas is hypertensive, a proportion that has up to now been seen only in developed countries. Moreover, about 6% of the population is diabetic. It is predicted that by 2020, road traffic injuries may rank very high among causes of disability-adjusted life years lost in Cameroon due to the upsurge in the number of vehicles per inhabitant.
Against this background and challenges, the government of Cameroon has committed to providing quality healthcare to the people. For instance, over 60, 000 HIV-infected people are presently receiving life saving antiretroviral drugs, thanks to the support of the Global Fund for AIDS, Tuberculosis, and Malaria. This is a remarkable achievement given the limited number of partners that have provided technical assistance to Cameroon in this effort. In addition, compared to other countries in Central Africa, Cameroon ranks high in terms of the number of well trained and qualified healthcare workers.

Despite these efforts, there are still many worries when one takes a critical look at the health system in Cameroon.
It worries me that Cameroon has not created an enabling environment to meet Millennium Development Goals 7 and 8 for health (reduction of child mortality & the improvement of maternal heath, and the fight against HIV/AIDS, malaria and other diseases).
It worries me that Cameroon is not modernizing its health sector fast enough to meet up with the health sector needs; for instance, by creating specialized schools: Faculty of Pharmacies, Faculty of Dentistry, School of Public Health —etc. These structures will help train future skilled workforce to uplift the health sector and offer the opportunity for self-employment.
It worries me that we have not developed public healthcare which is a cornerstone for preventing and controlling diseases in any society.
It worries me that accountability and administrative efficiencies remain an obstacle to achieving universal healthcare in the country.

Despite these worries, there are opportunities that Cameroonians in the Diaspora can contribute to enhancing the health system in the country.
The government should take benefit of the Diaspora population and facilitate ways they can contribute back home.
The Cameroon Diaspora should also reach out to the authority, using appropriate approaches, to lend their contribution to strengthen the health system in Cameroon.
Lastly, most often, in genuine effort to help alleviate hospital needs in Cameroon the Diaspora sends electronic medical equipment that ends up being a burden to the local hospital or health center, due to lack of maintenance capability. We should only ship medical equipment which are easily serviceable in the country.

Thank you for your kind attention.
Long live Cameroon

The Cameroon Delimma

THE CAMEROON DILEMMA
By
Denis A. Foretia, M.D.

Progressive societies thrive not only from constructive government economic policies but equally from a significant growth in private sector investments and marked involvement of the citizenry. The upward mobility in certain African countries can be directly, or at least, partially attributable to the implementation of fair investment policies in these politically stable societies. For the last decade, we have witnessed continued erosion of democratic and social institutions in Cameroon. We have seen the increasing proliferation and institutionalization n of many corrupt practices throughout every sector of government and private institutions. Not surprising, there has been no indication of a reduction in capital flight and the handicapping of investment opportunities in our country.

With a gross domestic product (GDP) of more than 25 billion dollars, significantly greater than that of Ghana or Cote D’ivoire, it is extremely worrisome that economic and infrastructural development continue to lag behind. Cameroon’s Human Development Index (the United Nations comparative measure of life expectancy, education, literacy and standards of living for countries worldwide) for 2008 was just 0.51, indeed, shockingly lower than that of Equatorial Guinea or the Republic of Congo. The situation is even worse. Prime Minister, Ephraim Inoni, in the 2009 draft budget submitted to Parliament, made what many would consider extremely bold predictions among which was his expectation for Cameroon to be increasingly seen within the international community as a business-friendly hub in sub-Saharan Africa. The reality is not only bleak, but indeed very far from his predictions. The 2009 Doing Business Report (the World Bank Groups’ ranking of objective measures of business regulations, enforcements and the suitability for foreign investments across 181 countries of the world) has Cameroon ranked at 164, six spots worse compared to the 2008 ranking and indeed our country is even worse than Robert Mugabe’s Zimbabwe. Think about it: investors would rather go to Zimbabwe than come to Cameroon! It is extremely appalling that it takes an average of 426 days to obtain a Construction Permit by a local or foreign firm in Cameroon compared to the less than 100 days required to obtain these permits in Kenya. How do we really expect to lure investors to Douala, Bafoussam or Kribi? For a country that enjoyed a healthy annual growth rate of 6-7% from 1970 -1985, the current predicted growth rate of ~2% crystallizes just how deplorable the situation has become.
The failure to implement any sort of economic reforms has had the predictable effect of alienating both local and foreign investors. For a country in dire need of investment capital, it is very telling that at least 30% of federal capital is being hidden in foreign banks or bundled up in foreign assets. The political climate has only deepened the economic frustration. The arrival of multiparty politics in the 1990s was indeed welcomed as a potential to align ourselves as a strong emerging democracy in continental Africa. Yet the constant manipulation of the people, the restriction of political and social critique and multiple violations of human rights have served to completely erase whatever progress had been made. The constant use of the state police and the military to incite terror only compounds the problem. This has helped to create a nation governed by two laws: that for the poor and another for the rich and connected. The economic frustration has no doubt had the effect of hemorrhaging intellectuals who flee the country in search for better opportunities abroad. Not surprising, a 2006 report by the Ministry of Health projected that most of the 3000 practicing medical doctors may leave the country by 2009 in search of better remuneration abroad.

OUR DAILY STRUGGLES
Despite the fact that the government can be squarely blamed for being passive, ignorant and indifferent to the plight of the economy especially in relation to the standard of living in the vast majority of the country, we as Cameroonians, have to directly confront our unwillingness to forcefully seek concrete solutions to these predicaments. While the government continues to sheppard an economy that, on a daily basis edges towards the end of the cliff, the police state of the Cameroonian government notwithstanding, Cameroonians can no longer afford to remain insignificant bystanders. As we all know, history teaches us that a government indifferent to its people has ceased to be a government and we must be mindful of this.
To propagate any significant improvements in Cameroon, we, the Cameroonian people must, unequivocally, confront what yours truly has termed the Cameroonian Curse. While Cameroonians have been blessed with one of the highest literacy level in the world, we have very little to show for it. We are very quick to complain about an issue, slow to propose any critical steps to reverse course and we are even very unwilling to work, to dedicate the time and commitment necessary to make a difference. When push comes to shove, we recline on our armchairs and let others deal with the problem. This is the Cameroonian Curse. We see this everyday in our lives, in most of our business ventures, in community organizations and in other joint projects. We deplore the corrupt state of affairs in the government and in the country. Yet at every juncture, in most of our njangis, in most of our family meetings and community projects, in most of our student organizations and professional societies both in Cameroon and in the diaspora, we have been unable and unwilling to rid ourselves of this corrupt gene. Truth be told, there are many individuals, groups and organizations that are leading the way in reforming the process, that are spearheading projects that seek to transform the modus operandi in the communities to make inclusivity and accountability a central priority. The reality is that these reformers currently make up an insignificant minority amongst us. We are called to not only shed ourselves of the curse but also to realize that a reasonable transformation of OUR country cannot and will not occur if we continue to remain on the sidelines.
The constant oppression of the Cameroonian people by the government especially during the height of late Forchive’s tenure at the Intelligence Services has had the unique role of trampling on the morale and community ethos of the country. Cameroon is indeed an oppressed nation. If there is anything that has been learnt from studying oppressed societies, it would be the fact that the oppressed, like the bullied kid, will one day find the strength to stand-up to the oppressor. Cameroonians for decades now have been led to believe they are not of any good, that their lives should and will be controlled by a handful of elites who are almost completely removed from the constant struggles of the bayam-sellam in Marché Mbopi, of the plight of the pousseur in Marché Mokollo or the struggles of students at the university of Buea or Ngoa-Ekele, who are begging everyday just to live to see tomorrow. By doing what they do, the Bayam-sellam and pousseur are able to send their equally hardworking children to the University of Buea and Ngoa-Ekele. Yet, these children are quite aware that upon completing university, they will go back to do what their parents are doing because there are no jobs available for them anywhere. We know of many Bayam-sellams and pousseurs; hardworking people who form the backbone of Cameroon. Yet they are treated as the nobodies in Cameroon, they are told they don’t matter and that they don’t have an opinion. They are told there is no hope for them because they do not count. Despite these, they continue to toil in the factories, the proceeds of their hard labor stashed in many unidentified foreign bank accounts by members of the administration. We have become increasingly familiar with permutations of these stories.
Our elites cruise on the expressways of these foreign cities to verify their recent bank deposits and upon their return are strikingly not bothered by the foot-deep, pot-holed pavements that are considered motorable roads in Cameroon. Have they not been to Accra-Ghana, Abuja-Nigeria, Lilongwe-Malawi or Gaborone-Botswana? Have they not seen what some of our African brothers are doing? The paradox is particularly vexing when you consider the fact that banks cannot function in our country because of a paucity of capital but at the same time Cameroonian elites have millions in foreign banks, helping to capitalize an already well-capitalized system. It is indeed very sad that in our country, which is tremendously blessed with abundant natural resources, the appointment of an individual to any position of responsibility is seen as a license to embezzle. Nominations to strategic positions are left to politicians and not technocrats with the ability to bring about meaningful and durable change. One cannot help but wonder what the future holds. How unpatriotic have we become?

REMITTANCES FROM ABROAD
A study from the Development Prospects Group at the World Bank revealed that in 2005, approximately 232,000 Cameroonians immigrated to western countries mostly to France, Germany, the UK and the United States, representing an alarming 1.5% of the total population. Most of these migrants were skilled workers with about 15% holding advanced degrees. They represent the ever increasing number of emigrants from Cameroon and the ballooning Cameroonian diaspora. Remittances to Cameroon from the diaspora in 2005 were at least 65 million US dollars. Realizing that this represents only officially recorded remittances, the true size of remittances including unrecorded flows through formal and informal channels is believed to be much larger. The contribution of the diaspora to the country’s gross domestic product is significant in that it gives the people access to direct, hard currency rather than having the capital holed up in foreign banks. Cameroonians in the diaspora contribute greatly to our country’s wellbeing and must now take the lead in articulating and spearheading the economic, social, infrastructural and political transformation that is paramount to reversing the current deplorable conditions in the country.

CREATION OF HUMAN CAPITAL
Reflecting on the paucity of leadership in the “Negro” population of the United States, the famed historian W.E.B Dubois in a landmark paper in 1903 - The Talented Tenth, argued that there was a need to train at least 10 percent of the population to become “leaders of thought and missionaries of culture among their people.” These individuals, he argued, would develop the leadership capacity to fight for social change and the end of white oppression in the United States. Today, I submit to you that Cameroon is in dire need of talented leaders, across all sectors of the management spectrum. We are in need of leaders who are not afraid to challenge the status quo, individuals who inspire trust and demand innovative strategies to positively affect others, men and women with sound intellect and compassion, who use their power of influence to promote our development. We need these leaders in every aspect of society – we need them in administration, business, politics, academics, the arts and sciences; we need them in our schools, in journalism, the civil service, the military and police academies; we need them to finally stand up for justice and accomplish the difficult responsibilities they are being called to shoulder.

WHAT CAN WE DO?
The Cameroon Dilemma is seen in our inability, as Cameroonians, to look squarely at our problems and forge a unitary agenda to attempt to change course. It is seen in our unwillingness, at least in the political arena, to unite diverse schools of thought on the patriotic demands of our country. We have, for the most part, relegated the functioning of our country into the hands of a select few, who are apparently aloof to the daily struggles of the average Cameroonian family. To tackle this dilemma and attempt to correct the current lamentable direction of our country would require, at the very least, a renaissance of our nationalistic values. We must realize that Cameroon is OUR country, our motherland and we ought to treat it like that: a source of our cultural identity and social mores which have combined to produce a superb citizenry. Cameroonians across the board must seek to continuously nourish the motherland and not attempt, at every opportunity, to suck it dry of its natural resources, its economic potential or its ability to nourish the next generation of fledgling Cameroonians. This is why the embezzlement of public funds and the ravaging of our country’s resources is indeed a terribly unpatriotic act that we see repeated a hundred fold by individuals in government and beyond.
We must emulate the examples of our African brothers especially the fledgling democracy in Ghana and the institution of financial and economic reforms in Nigeria. What does it say of a country in which inter-ministerial financial transactions are carried out by the deposition of huge sums of raw cash – transported in bags! – From one ministry to the other? What does this say of our banking system, of our financial entrepreneurship or our ability, as a government, to function in the 21st century? Indeed, if the government is not interested in developing our country, then the time has come for all Cameroonians to ask it to make way for fresh, uplifting and patriotic leadership. The time has come for us to stop being passive bystanders while our country is being raped of its full potential. This is the time for us to speak loud and clear, in Cameroon and abroad, that we expect better leadership from those currently in-charge.
At the same time, we, as individuals, must take concrete steps in contributing to the growth and development of our country. Do we really want our country to become the new “Somalia” or do we want it to steer in the direction of prosperous democracies like Malawi and Botswana? Our answer to this question would determine how involved we want to contribute to our development. The Cameroonian diaspora is in a unique position to provide novel leadership for us all. We must organize ourselves into instruments for economic progress and vehicles for social change. We must lead in the creation of economic, social, political and policy think-tanks that would lobby and pressure the local and central government to effectuate major changes in economic and investment policies. These changes will undoubtedly lead to our economic prosperity. Various institutes and independent think-tanks such as the IMANI Center for Policy and Education in Ghana and the Kenya Institute for Public Policy have been central in the growth and development of these nations and we must learn from what they have been able to accomplish.
Despite the poor business environment, we, Cameroonians from all walks of life but especially those in the diaspora, must lead the way in investing in our motherland and stop the exodus of capital into foreign banks. The government, on its part, must seriously truncate its dependence on foreign aid which has had the unfortunate but predictable consequence of curbing Cameroonian ingenuity and entrepreneurship and has propagated deep-seated corruption across all sectors of the economy. Even if Cameroon does not borrow a single dollar again, according to the World Bank, it would only finish paying its current debt by the year 2050. Now think about that. Where is the money going?

IN A NUTSHEL
All of us, as Cameroonians, must increase our level of philanthropy, our level of community involvement and promote the spirit of lifting our brothers and sisters when they fall. Some of us have been incredibly blessed to be able to afford three-square meals a day, but we should never forget that in this same country of ours, thousands of folks go to sleep everyday with empty stomachs, unsure of what tomorrow brings. We should never forget that thousands of our countrymen are languishing in pre-trial detention with no prospects of answering charges in a court of law for many years. We must not forget that while hardworking Cameroonians struggle on a daily basis to setup business ventures and strive for financial success, their every move is being castigated by pot-belly politicians and administrators at the Douala seaport and other bureaus who demand preposterous bribes for services they are supposed to be providing to the citizenry. The pervasiveness of corruption can only be confronted if there is sincere political will and, with the current government waist-deep in the corruption game, any expectation of a credible anti-graft campaign is at best a fickle whisper and at most, impossible. Indeed, what type of a country have we become? Where are we heading with these types of practices?
Now is the time for us to usher in a new brass of leaders to replace this old vanguard whom, by all indications, have ran out of any durable ideas and are gripped, rather, with inexplicable fear and a determination to beat down its people to submission.
This is the time for us all to remember that the status quo would remain unchanged and would most likely worsen except we all stand up and speak with one voice, loud and clear and demand the implementation of progressive policies and that the Cameroonian people must be first on the agenda rather than the pot-bellies of the political elites.
The time has come for Cameroonians all over the world to categorically reject the divisive policies of the government and participate, constructively, in nation-building and the advancement of ethnic, tribal, religious and political tolerance across all sectors of the social strata.
We can no longer afford to continuously exit our country because of an inflexible political culture which is very repressive to novel ideas.
Indeed, we, as individuals and groups, can and must make significant contributions in our communities, in our villages and in our country. We must rid ourselves of the ambivalence of the past, we must collectively embrace each other, put aside our petty differences and take concrete steps towards forging a more holistic, dynamic and prosperous Cameroon.

*Dr.Denis Foretia is a Resident in General Surgery at the Emory University School of Medicine in Atlanta, GA-USA*

Is the Grand Old Party (GOP) or the Republican Party Bereft of Ideas?

Is the GOP Bereft of Ideas?

By
Prof. Emmanuel Konde

It has been noted that power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely. The Republican Party (GOP), at onetime the American political party of ideas, no longer has any new ideas to offer. Its longevity in power—having ruled for 20 years during the last 28 years (1981-2009)—has rendered the GOP decrepit of ideas. Wallowing in abject confusion, the national Republican Party has since the ascension of Barack Obama to the presidency determined to launch negative criticism after negative criticism against nearly every program the president has proposed with the avowed aim of distorting, obstructing, and obfuscating.
All in all, the GOP seems bereft of novel ideas. Consequently, it has become the party of negativity, sinking to the level of distortionists, obstructionists, and obfuscationists. Beyond tax-cuts, the only thing it has to offer the country in this moment of crisis is negative criticism. If this is the political strategy of the Republican Party, it should be made abundantly clear that it will lead them to nowhere.
Indeed, the GOP should learn from English anthropologist A.R. Radcliff-Brown, who had postulated in Structure and Function in Primitive Society (1965) that “purely negative criticism does not advance a science. The only satisfactory way of getting rid of an unsatisfactory hypothesis is to find a better one.” This applies to the science of politics driven by ideas. Yes, America is anxiously waiting for some new ideas from the Republican Party, ideas that would counter those of the ruling Democratic Party.

Nearly three decades ago I was a student at a Midwestern college where the conservative ideas that catapulted Ronald Reagan to the presidency were crafted. That college is Hillsdale College, and the program responsible for the making of two successive Republican administrations was fashioned at the Center for Constructive Alternatives (CAA). Among the leading Conservative minds that frequently came to CAA was the venerable late William F. Buckley, Jr. (1925-2008), founder of the conservative weekly National Review. Buckley was a veritable catalyst, a man of ideas and builder of the system of thought that contributed to the actualization of the presidencies of Ronald Reagan (1981-1989) and George H.W. Bush (1989-1994).

Unfortunately for the GOP, the mastermind of the driving ideas of late twentieth-century political conservatism, William F. Buckley, Jr., died on February 27, 2008. Buckley left a gaping hole in the Republican Party. Mentally weakened by their overly consumption of power, there seems to be none among the existing conservative minds capable of building a system of thought as powerful as Buckley’s to sustain the apparently flustered and flailing GOP.

As an eye-witness to, and student-participant of, the making of the glory days of the GOP, I am deeply disturbed by the current disorientation of the conservative movement. In politics as in real life, one cannot eat her cake and expect to still have it. Rather than expend ineffectual negative criticism against the Obama agenda for America, conservative thinkers should lick their wounds, go back to the drawing board and, like the late Buckley did, begin afresh the process of building a new system that would sustain political conservatism in the 21st century.
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"The problem of power is how to get men of power to live for the public rather than off the public." Robert F. Kennedy

Creative Thinking Slide Cinema

An Introspection of the Manyu People of Cameroon

Why the educated Manyu elite has not evolved a national political representative since (independence) E.T. Egbe and A.D Mengot

By Jackson W. Nanje

There are things about which many of us are reluctant to write or say. This reluctance stems from a variety of sources, which include: fear of potential reprisals, desire to maintain friendships and other affiliations, and our natural wont not to offend. But good intentions do not necessarily produce good results. Consequently, when we hold back progressive ideas because of our desire to be nice and inoffensive, social progress never takes place and our people will continue to do the same things over and over. Our lack of courage to help steer the course of social progress is at the root of our societal stagnation and in some cases, retrogression. Such is the case about the Manyu people of Cameroon, of whom I am about to write. Now, whether my thrust is courage or folly, I will defer such judgment to my readers. All I ask is that people should read this with an open mind, understand and think seriously about it, and perhaps, if they think it fit and proper, join in this discourse and improve on my shortcomings. I believe the United Negro College Fund (UNCF) is correct when it says “A mind is a terrible thing to waste.” I also believe that the Manyu mind of Cameroon is wasting in internecine struggles, which is the focus of this piece that proposes to do two things: (1) discuss the educational attainments of the Manyu people and how they have misused them; and, (2) demonstrate how unity of purpose among the Manyu people can alter their fortunes in Cameroon and better the lives of their fellow countrymen.

Manyu people misuse and abuse of their education attainment

The Manyu people of Cameroon are one of the most educated groups in the country; that is, in terms of the acquisition of formal Western-type education as evidenced by certificates, diplomas, and degrees. Undeniably the largest and most educated group in the Southwest region, one would think that the Manyu native would use their education to enhance their people and native society which, to me, seems to be the main purpose of education. Unfortunately, this has not been the case.
A cursory glance upward to the Northwest brings us to another Anglophone group similarly as large and well-educated as the Manyu people: the Bali. Unlike the Manyu people, however, the educated Bali elite of the Northwest region are using their educational accouterments to continuously enhance their native society. Obviously, there exists chasm, a disjuncture, in how these two groups employ acquired knowledge. Perhaps a possible explanation can be found in the systems of social organization among the Manyu people and Bali, which no doubt influences the individual proclivity to “destructive individualism” (Manyu) or “productive collectivism” (Bali).
As a point of fact, the average educated Manyu person uses his or her wealth of knowledge not as a tool for social advancement but as a lethal implement of self and societal destruction. It is not uncommon to observe this destructive tendency at work during their tribal meetings where they usually come well-armed to parade their academic acquisitions with an air of arrogance so grotesque that the acute observer is forced to decry it in silence and despair. Although not all educated Manyu people participate in this orgy of self-pumping egos, the spectacle described here seems to me a unique Manyu character trait.

 A brief history of the “enlightenment” of the Manyu people through education

It was not by accident that the people of Manyu became educated earlier than most other Anglophone groups especially those of the Southwest region. Their early education resulted from a combination of factors, the most important of these being their proximity to Nigeria, which in colonial times had the only post-secondary institutions of higher learning that attracted British Southern Cameroonians.
Also, Mamfe, the main town in Manyu Division, was used as a transit zone by the British, Nigerian, and leading Cameroonian politicians who spoke good grammar during the period of British colonial rule. These politicians, who frequently made stopovers in Mamfe, became role models to many aspiring young Manyu people. Consequently, access to Nigerian higher educational facilities that were conspicuously absent in Cameroon, combined with the convergence of the finest minds in the Mamfe corridor, must have contributed considerably to providing the Manyu native the required ethos that increasingly spurred their interest in acquiring Western-type education.
Another significant contributing factor to the educational development of the Manyu people was the work of two of their enlightened sons—Mr. Emmanuel Tabi Egbe, former Minister of Post and Telecommunications and Chief Dr. Ako Defang Mengot, who served as Director of Education in the government of West Cameroon, who were determined to advance their tribes' people to unimaginable heights in Cameroon. It seemed as though Egbe and Mengot met and designed a plan of action that each executed with near-supernatural devotion.
Where E.T. Egbe consciously undertook to “Manyunize” the Ministry of Post and Telecommunications by extending employment to his tribes people from top to bottom, Mengot likewise opened the gates to education by offering all forms of scholarships and opportunities to every young Manyu person with the slightest potential for learning. Egbe and Mengot were hewn from a different stock, the likes of which are rare and possibly cannot be found among contemporary Manyu native nowadays. The mindset of today’s Manyu elite is radically different from that of Egbe and Mengot. The contemporary Manyu elite has the mindset of “me first” and a destructive individualistic mentality, which has succeeded in dividing rather than uniting the Manyu people.
The one and only raison d’être of a contemporary Manyu elite, is to use the Upper Banyang and Mamfe central designations--a system carved out by the pedigree to enable better governance—is today a tool for fierce battle of brother against brother and sister against sister, with no common ground in sight. In recent years, the Upper Banyang people who considered themselves as elites of the division have seen their position being challenged by the minorities (Mamfe Central and the Ejagham natives). This is what has brought about much of the in-fighting in the division. And as the Manyu natives of Ejagham, Upper Banyang and Mamfe Central exhibit irrational contempt against each other, non-Manyu observers watch the in-fighting in utter horror.
But the question remains afloat---what went wrong that has caused the Manyu native to ignore the trail of their predecessors--- in ensuring that the Manyu native continues to function under the covert plan of oneness? Or, has acquired knowledge served to the detriment of a Manyu native and also of the region? Can there be a resurrected Manyu native who can come out amidst this clout of divisive my village only-thinking politicians to actually get their people to work towards patriotic initiatives like their forebears did? These are the disturbing questions this writer is throwing out there with the hope that a progressive-thinking Manyu man can unit his people to make them abandon these antiquated ways, which they hardly see exists in them.
Now, let us examine some factors that could be responsible for the plight of the Manyu people:
a) The over-fragmentation of the tribal meetings within the division that has led to resentment in the Manyu hegemony;
b) The power struggle between the peoples of Ejagham and Banyangs and that which exists between the Upper Banyang and Mamfe Central in Cameroon and abroad;
c) We are also going to examine how other societies with educated people, have used acquired knowledge to advance their society unlike the Manyu people, who seek to destroy one another and in effect destroy their region;
d) We shall look at prominent Manyu politicians and see if they were influential agents of development or mere spectators who promoted politics of division, and;
E) Finally, we are going to examine how the Manyu people can use acquired knowledge to overcome internal divisions?

Over -fragmentation of villages into tribal meetings

 Long before now, there used to be just one traditional meeting that was responsible for the examination of the progress of the Manyu people and its region. But today, there are several meeting groups that only look after the welfare of each specific area much to the chagrin of the entire Manyu region. If you ask my candid opinion if having fragmented meetings in a region is a good thing, my response is a simple yes. But where fragmentation no longer serves a useful purpose in a region is when there is a total neglect and abandonment of the general good, obligations and cause of the region. The general meeting as in the past should still serve as a report card that examines the monthly or annual progress of the region vis-à-vis the other regions in the hegemony (country). So, if the Manyu people decide to only attend their fragmented village meetings, they may lose sight of how well their region is progressing vis-à-vis other regions. A case in point is Mamfe town, which was recently bituminized but the other towns in the Manyu hegemony remain uncared for. Progress in the region comes at a snail pace because it has fed fervently on the divisive practices of the politicians in the area. Similarly, leaders who are appointed in positions of responsibility in the government from the area tend to bring the share of the national pie only to their village of origin to the detriment of the entire region. Therefore, I implore the Manyu people, even though the problem is not unique to them alone, to start embracing patriotic values aimed at regional development.
Divisiveness of the Manyu natives in Cameroon and in the Diaspora
This fragmented politics happens both in the Diaspora and in Cameroon but tends to be exacerbated more in the Diaspora than in Cameroon. In Atlanta, Georgia for instance, this fragmentation has reached undesirable heights, resulting in the Manyu meeting in Georgia to detach from the Manyu General meeting in the United States. Why the unnecessary squabbles and scruples?
Apart from the Bali and Batibo people, whose dislike for each other spans over land disputes, no other region in Cameroon exhibits so much hatred towards each other like the Ejaghams against the Upper Banyang; the Upper Banyang against Mamfe Central people of the Manyu division. The hatred they have towards each other can spur speculations that their union was coerced. Not so. Because of administrative facilitation, the leaders before now thought that the area could progress faster if they created such an administrative demarcation. Instead, their good intentions or designations are being used today as a weapon of destruction and sabotage by each of these tribes. For example, the two recent parliamentary elections that pitted Honorable Rose Abunaw Makia and Mr. Bate Epey both from Mamfe Central and Upper Banyang respectively, in which the incumbent parliamentarian emerged the victor, it has led to intense hatred of the Mamfe Central people by the Upper Banyang natives. Even in their second parliamentary bout, and recognizing thereafter the powerful position that Mrs. Makia occupies as Vice Speaker of the National Assembly, - a position that benefits the two Anglophone regions, and that which should be revered, and which no South Westerner has ever occupied since independence, - the Upper Banyang people were resolved to get her out because of tribal arrangements. This is where I believe that education is not serving its useful purpose or that the priorities of the Manyu natives are misplaced. The Upper Banyang people would rather prefer to give up a powerful Vice Speaker position in honor of traditional arrangements to someone, in this case Bate Epey, who, being a newcomer in parliament would have no voice of his own, rather than propel Vice Speaker Rose Abunaw Makia to potentially become Speaker of the National Assembly.
Cameroonians should examine what I am about to write and evaluate for themselves what is wrong with this picture. The Speaker of the House of Assembly is retiring in a few months and Honorable Rose Abunaw Makia (from Mamfe Central) is contending for this position, with a good chance of becoming Speaker. Also, there is another ministerial hopeful (from Upper Banyang) fancying his chances of being appointed by the president. In Cameroon politics, two of such powerful positions could not be given to people of the same region. So therefore, it is either the speakership or ministerial position. The ministerial hopeful actually believes that the only means for him to be appointed minister by the President of the Republic is by ensuring that she looses the speakership race. I leave the rest to the Manyu people to deduce. But whatever decision they’ll make, they should understand that regional politics here at play in choosing someone with a slight propensity of being considered for a ministerial position over someone with a good chance of winning the speakership of the legislative branch of the government may come back to hunt them.

The behavior of a cohesive tribe: a lesson for the Manyu People.

A division as large as the Manyu, with so many educated people should have been boasting of paved roads in the area, good drinking water, a university, electricity, and many other social amenities. Sad to say, none of these things can earn a Manyu native a boost in public. So, what have all these degrees amounted to? Should a Banyang native, who was probably the first to be educated in the Southwest region, be proud of anything other than his certificates when amongst other tribal groups? Let us look at the Bamileke and the Bali tribal groups or region in paradox. These two, which are amongst the largest single tribal groups in Cameroon, are examples for any tribal group to emulate. They are united in almost every aspect of development imaginable and, have mastered the art of constructive criticism, that which advances the plight of their people and of their region. In addition, the number of educated individuals in these tribes is comparable to that of the Manyu tribes. But why is it that they have acquired knowledge to better their people and the Manyu natives are yet to? If you happen to travel anywhere within the Western and Northwest regions, their educated sons and daughters have transformed their academic and industrious achievements into the development of their native areas. These two regions are highly connected and have a lot of basic services like good roads, water, electricity etc, lacking in the Manyu area. Usually, it takes an educated and an enlightened mind to facilitate development in an area. Yes, the Manyu man is educated but is yet to be enlightened; because enlightened people put the general good before individual good.

Stagnation of development and divisive politics by prominent Manyu politicians

The people of Manyu division have benefited in having a majority of the high profile political appointments from the government of Cameroon more than any other division in the Southwest regions, but it is quite unfortunate that these individuals, other than Agbor Tabi, E. T. Egbe and A. D. Mengot, have much to be desired of them. In the history of Ndian division for instance, which is in the same hegemony, there has been only two ministerial appointments: Michael Namaya (Vice Minister of Commerce and Industry) and Dion Ngute (Minister Delegate in charge of Commonwealth). Note that Benjamin Itoe (Transport and later Justice minister was an appointee from Meme division). Manyu division has had the following high profile individuals as ministers: Emmanuel Tabi Egbe (P & T—Upper Banyang), Chief A. D. Mengot (Director of Education for former W. Cameroon—Upper Banyang), Agbor Tabi (Higher Educ. & Scientific Res.---Ejagham), Jerome Etah (Public Works--Ejagham), Ayuk Takem (Higher Educ. & Scientific Res—Mamfe Central), Chief Tabong Kima (Mines & Power—Upper Banyang), Tanyi Mbianyor (Forestry—Mamfe Central), Enow Ntui Ogork (Special duties at the Presidency--Ejagham), Egbe Hilman (Forestry—Upper Banyang) and Orock Ndep Effiong (Grand Chancellery of National Order--Ejagham). In addition to these high profile appointments, Manyu division has also boasted of many governors notably; Enow Tanjong (Upper Banyang), Tanyi Tiku Arrey (Upper Banyang), Enow Abrams (Upper Banyang) and Oben Peter Ashu (Ejagham). All these individuals have more than seventy five (75) years in service as ministers and/or governors combined. There is no other division in the Southwest province with more ministerial opportunities than the Manyu division.
If one should examine the reason why Manyu as a whole has not gained much from these high profile appointments, it stems down to the in-fighting between these three regions in the division Ejagham, Upper Banyang and Mamfe Central. With each appointment, the appointees, for the most part, seek to protect their position and practice nepotism, in total disregard to what they should do for the entire Manyu region. Upon all the ministerial positions Manyu division has had, for example, minister of works but nowhere in the division could you find a paved road; they had a Minister of Mines and Power but could not boast of electricity; they had a Minister of Post and Telecommunication but could not boast of a single telephone pole etc. On the contrary, when you take their counterparts of the Northwest region who had similar high profile positions, they brought development to their area. I sincerely think that this is the best time to reflect on how the Manyu elites could do things differently.
In many modern societies, enlightened people look back at what their predecessors did and then improve on identifiable shortcomings with developments of their own. That is one of the many ways that a society develops. But if those who preceded us did not achieve anything like the case of most Manyu politicians, the present politicians therefore have no record to perfect from. A Manyu native, despite being well educated, can hardly boast of any substantial contribution to community development but, they know well how to flaunt their degrees in public-- and degrees, not backed with achievement, does not earn one bragging rights.

How can the Manyu people overcome internal division?

Any group of people with tunnel vision can hardly achieve anything of major significance. Envy, inability to grasp concepts of constructive criticism, inability to appreciate others and learn from them, often putting themselves to be appreciated by myrmidons (blind followers) rather than those who can advance a cause, inability to recognize the ambit of one’s own abilities are some of the characteristics frequently exhibited by a Manyu man (specifically of an Upper Banyang man). So, what can they do differently to advance their region?
My first suggestion, which could be a model for many other lagging regions, is for the influential leaders of the division to hold quarterly meeting sessions to look into ways that each can contribute effectively through their various offices to the development of the Manyu division, no matter how small the contribution is. Secondly, the love of country, which a Cameroonian should be proud of, should resonate to love of region. The Manyu native should imbue or instill a positive spirit in every of their sons and daughters to carry economic development to their region and make it a paradise. Investment should not only be made in the big cities of the country; after all, Rome was not built in a day. Thirdly, they should embrace a friendly spirit towards Manyu natives all over and those from other regions because all answers to development cannot be gotten solely from one’s own civilization. If civilization is simply defined as the ability to live harmoniously with other groups of people, towns, cities and other governments, then the Manyu people must seek peace with their neighbors. Finally, I did explain how the very first patriotic natives saw all of Manyu as one in their attempt to either provide employment or scholarships to their kindred, a practice since abandoned by the new-breed politicians, who seek self-grandiosity and self-gratification. In conclusion, in order for the Manyu hegemony to be united as before, it must return to the ideals of the Emmanuel Egbe Tabi and Ako Defang Mengot---of a one Manyu with her people united for a common purpose---development.