“To Anna (Dr. Bide Asome’s
wife) and to the rest of Pa Lang’s surviving children I say ‘ashia’ for the
enormous losses you have all suffered. I am truly sorry and you should all accept
sincerest heartfelt sympathy from my family” Jackson Nanje
 |
| By Jackson W. Nanje |
Bide Asome summarizes his book, As Waters Gone By as, “a reminder of the
fragility and resilience of human life in the face of disaster”. True, when
confronted with disaster of the magnitude of the Limbe landslide and Flood,
humans are basically defenseless and rendered insignificant. However, survivors become
resilient by developing coping skills to deal with the aftermath of the
disaster. This is what I gathered from the author’s summation of his work. He is right to think of the book in this
way. However, this writer of A Sequel to As
Waters Gone By, after reading the excellently written book by Asome arrives at a
slightly different conclusion---that of a chaotic government (of Cameroon), which operates without
an Emergency Management Plan that ought to address disasters of any kind, if and when people are confronted by them. What is intriguing about the Cameroon government
is that, one would think that after so many notable disaster occurrences in the
country such as the violent Lake Nyos disaster that killed 1,700 people and more
than 3000 livestock some thirty (30) years ago, and the repeated Mt. Cameroon volcanic eruptions that has,
on several occasions, chased inhabitants of Sanje, Batoke and Bakingili villages from
their homes and equally destroyed farmlands, it should have been lessons learnt by the government
of Cameroon to put in place a concise Disaster Management Agency to prepare
for, and mitigate disasters, before and when they occur. Rather, a policy of
wait-and do-nothing has been put in place. Good governance enables preparedness
for disaster and not to react to it when it occurs.
The Sequel lays emphasize on some of the boiling issues
the writer eloquently writes about which, in my opinion, depict the ineffectiveness of the
government of Cameroon that lacks the capabilities or the aforethought in
enacting policies that would safeguard its people against disasters. We shall likewise
take an in-depth look at the South West Region, which is situated on the
coastline of the Atlantic Ocean and with rivers Ndian and Mungo and three
mountains---Mt Cameroon (13354ft), Mt. Kupe Muanenguba (6772ft) and Mt. Rumpi
(5801ft) with a notable history of volcanic eruption. Furthermore, we shall discuss
the social issues or myths which the author writes about that almost sent the central
character (Pa Lang) to early death (even though the governments’ inability to
rehabilitate the victims was the primary cause of Pa Lang’s death years later)
and explore ways (by way of education), of diffusing such myths which is quite
pervasive in our primitive Cameroonian communities from ever reoccurring. It is
here, too, that we shall discuss the merits of the book and suggest a pathway for
Cameroon and the South West Region on ways that disaster can be mitigated,
prepared for, and if they do occur, how the response team can respond to disasters and so too to rehabilitate the victims of disasters.
 |
Dr. Bide Asome
(Author) |
Scientists have always for good writers
make. The late Peter K. Palangyo of Tanzania who wrote Dying in the Sun is one of such excellent writers who traded his
profession as a biology lecturer for a successful career in fictional writing.
I can see Dr. Bide Asome, a Pharmacist, making a similar career transition,
trading medication for penmanship. Asome has captured the imagination of the
readers in his first literary work by creating literary suspense throughout the
book. As Waters Gone By is indeed a
traveler’s handbook. It is difficult, even to those who do not have the
appetite for reading, to shelve the book to engage in something else once they start
reading it. There is intense curiosity to want to know what he has written in
the next page and page after next. Asome’s fluidity and excellent penmanship
reminds me of another excellent Cameroon writer, Mongo Beti, who wrote Mission to Kala. The language is simple
and soft and the author is artful in bringing the storyline and language to an
elementary level in order to enable 'the rolling stone to gather moss' to reverse the idiomatic expression of Publilius Syrus or for the
general understanding and appreciation of his narratives.
.png) |
| The award-winning narrative by Bide ASOME |
The main plot of As Waters Gone By is set in Limbe, Cameroon with subplots in
Maryland, USA and Bu village in the North West Region of Cameroon. The disaster
happened in Limbe, the news about the disaster was delivered to Pa Lang and
children in the United States where they held memorial services and finally,
Bu village was the place of Pa Lang and his wife’s birth; and, it was their final resting place. The writer begins the book with the
protagonist, Pa Lang, traveling to the United States of America to visit his
daughters, grand children and son-in laws for the first time ever with his wife
intentionally staying behind to look after their other children. He was unaware
of the misfortunes that nature had preserved for his family which, he was later
accused of having used mystical powers (powers he never had) to wipe away his beloved
family. Curious of bringing back new stories of the much talked about journey
from United States of America to his wife when he returns to Cameroon, he was confronted with a problem
which, the constant reflection of it was the ultimate cause of his own death.
Families desperate for land to live and
farm had built homes in the hills of Mabeta New Layout in Limbe and in total
defiance of government building codes, exposing them clearly at risk of a
possible disaster. However, an irresponsible, poorly-trained code enforcers at
the Limbe City Council did nothing to enforce the code. Had the Limbe City Council enforced the building codes Pa Lang and several others would have been aware of the risks involved in building in the area. But they did not do so thereby exposing many hundreds at risk. When the heavy rains
came through Limbe, it was evident that what many had thought (feared) about (of the
land collapsing on the homes of residents in Mabeta New Layout) was indeed what happened. Most of
the houses collapsed and many families lost their lives.
One thing that we should all know is that
human beings would settle even in high risk areas if they face no resistance
from government authorities; however, this type of risky settlement patterns
should be prohibited by an effective government which should be capable of
assessing those risks and enforcing the necessary codes in the books. It is
rather unfortunate and regrettable for the Limbe City Council authorities to blame
its citizens for settling in vulnerable areas of the city when the council has the
law on their side to prevent such risky settlements. The council is culpable or
should be held responsible for exposing its citizens at risk.
Myth of the Bu People of the North West Region
In a country like Cameroon,
with hardly any known system of organization in place to inform, prepare and
educate the population about the destructive nature of environmental hazards
the natives will always seek solace in outdated and retrogressive beliefs that continue to
plunge the society further into medieval ages. Ill-educated people, relying on
their old redundant customs and traditions as a testament of justice for all have,
in many cases, have been responsible for the faith of innocent people. Yes, it is absolutely true that Pa Lang
was exonerated from charges that he’d killed members of his family who were
clearly victims of the flood and landslide. They contend that he’d carefully planned
this wizardry to leave his family behind (in Cameroon) and ‘escape’ to the United States of
America while they perish behind. It is the belief that those who implore such
mythical powers to kill members of their families do so because of their desires
to get-rich-quick and usually, the killers themselves are hardly in the scene
of the crime. What a backward way of castigating people of crimes they did not commit! Why would a man who has spent so
much of his life-savings, to educate his children to some of the finest
universities around the world, indulge into such acts against them? It
completely defuses the thinking of Bu villagers, Pa Lang’s accusers.
A man who’d suffered great loss was
rejected and transformed into a caricature of human vice by his people
who could have implored some degree of reasonableness by empathizing and sympathizing with his family and search
for ways to rehabilitate them from their terrible loss. The ill-effect of over-reliance on
superstitious beliefs continues to drench us into backwardness; and, it is the root cause for our lack of
social progress. The response to disasters such as the Limbe
landslide and flood is treated quite differently in developed countries. The
lives of the survivors are considered the most important during and after a
disaster. They usually always implore the last phase of the emergency
management system, that is, rehabilitation of the victims to normalize their lives unlike
what obtains in Cameroon, where accusation of “nyongo”or the use of mystical powers
reigns supreme amongst village-thinking folks.
As a way forward,
the government should make considerable efforts to diffuse these unfounded
myths which exist within our society by educating them about the causes of
disasters and what should be done once disasters occur. It is the responsibility
of the government to introduce disaster management courses in our high schools
and universities which are centers for reformation.
The
roles of the Cameroon and South West Regional governments in addressing
Emergencies
Why can the government of Cameroon and that of the South West Region not look into the foreseeable future and put plans in place aimed at minimizing disaster re-occurrences all over the national territory, stretches my understanding of their
approach of confronting this problem beyond belief. The emergency or disaster
management has four phases worthy of any government’s keen examination and
implementation: Mitigation, Preparedness, Response and Rehabilitation.
a)
Mitigation: What the Cameroon and the South
West Regional governments ought to know is that, disasters can happen anytime and
anywhere even in places least expected. It is therefore imperative for these
governments to start preparing now as oppose to doing so after a disaster has occurred.
Once disaster best practices are put in place, it reduces the likelihood of loss
of life and property when disaster does occur. It also reduces the burden of
the tax payers and other members of the community who are always the ones to
shoulder the financial responsibilities of any disaster because the losses shall be
minimal. And knowing that Cameroon and the South West Region have been too
prone to disaster, best practices to minimize losses of life and property
should be central in policy formation.
There
should be efforts made at establishing emergency management agencies in many of
the vulnerable areas of the country and adequate funding should be given to
such agencies.
b)
Preparedness: There is a thin line between
preparedness and mitigation. While mitigation involves the putting of disaster mechanisms in place
to reduce loss of life and property before disaster occurs, preparedness is how
society’s coping mechanism ones disaster has occurred. Knowing that disaster
can occur anytime and anywhere, the ability of how prepared the government and the people
are to face it, is crucial? We know that in the Limbe landslide and flood disaster, just like
the Lake Nyos disaster, the government and the people were not prepared for these
disasters. Lessons learned?
If
any lessons have been learned by the Cameroon government and the regions where
these disasters have occurred done to prepare the citizens from future disasters? Education is the least and the most potent effort governments can take
to sensitize citizens who would be equipped with the necessary tools to prepare
for it. Keeping adequate food supplies and fortification of their homes to
withstand the adverse effect of disaster are some of the things that citizens
can do if the government fails to take the first step to educate society.
c)
Response: This is the phase after the
disaster has occurred. What do you do to rescue survivors or victims of a
disaster and their property? It is a critical phase of any disaster. The author
indicates on page 75 that, “during the Limbe disaster, it took over twenty-four
hours for a disaster relief team to come from Douala, some fifty or more miles
away.” He lamented by stating that, “more lives would probably have been saved
had help come sooner." This is an indictment of the system in place in Cameroon
which is vastly ineffective. The governments of Cameroon and the South West
Region must set up emergency response agencies, equip and train the emergency
response team on best practices to enable first responders to a disaster scene save lives and property. The
benevolence of citizens is usually a vital addition to the emergency management
first responder team; but the trained team of any government is vital.
In As Waters Gone By, Asome chronicles the
chaotic state of the makeshift response team to the Limbe landslide and flood
disaster. It is important to underscore the importance of this makeshift team
acting as first responders as the writer opined; however, such makeshift team can never substitute a well
organized professional team if the governments had one in place. Professionals
in any field are always the answer to many of our problems not untrained
individuals who are littered all over the surfaces of Cameroon. It is therefore the recommendation of this
writer to the government of Cameroon and especially to the region of the South
West, which is prone to disasters, to organize their priorities towards setting
up an emergency management agency. This
is particularly critical to the South West Region which is surrounded with
disaster possibilities (several mountains with fault-lines, the Atlantic Ocean,
rivers Ndian and Mungo, lakes Muanenguba and Barombi and an Oil Refinery which may risk a combustible
explosion).
d)
Rehabilitation: This is where the scars of
the disaster victims ought to be handled by professionally-trained individuals hired and trained by
the government. Citizens want to be assured that their safety shall be in good hands
if they were to be victims themselves, tomorrow.
The total
cost to rehabilitate the Limbe landslide and flood victims was estimated at
$3.000.000 (1.5bnfca). And huge sums of donations came from individuals and
international relief agencies all over the world. There was also ten (10) additional new
housing units donated by the Limbe based Oil Refinery company, S.O.N.A.R.A, as
a genuine rehabilitation initiative to the victims. It is sad to know that of
all these grandiose generosity by relief agencies, none of the victims benefited from it and no
Limbe Council City authority in charge with the distribution has ever been questioned for misusing or stealing
the funds meant for the victims to the consternation of the Cameroonian citizens
and the world’s relief agencies. It
is painful to even mention that, Pa Lang who was hit the hardest received a
total sum of $540.00 (270.000fcfa) even though enough funds had been raised to take of him and others. Some received as little as $80.00 (40.000fcfa).
A corrupt system and corrupt people at work! Even the housing units which were
donated a couple of years later by the Oil Refinery company was refused the
victims for reasons completely appalling to them. Yet, thieves of the Limbe
disaster are still walking scot-free and the disaster victims have been dying
one after the other of frustrations caused by governments that failed its survivors. It was the same faith suffered by
the victims of the Lake Nyos disaster in the North West Region of Cameroon who
recently received some exercise books from the government as compensation of
the heavy losses they suffered thirty years later. A government shouldn’t be this
cruel to its citizens.
Thievery
and misappropriations of funds of this magnitude by the Limbe City Council
charged with the responsibilities of ensuring that disaster victims are
properly rehabilitated as Asome
stated in As Waters Gone By should
not be accepted by any one. The government of Cameroon and that of the
South West Region should establish an Investigatory Commission, to look into the
issues and bring culprits of this gross misappropriation and thievery to face
justice.
What
must be done to improve disaster management in Cameroon
On page 75, the author did a remarkable
job in providing some recommendations to the government of the South West Region especially
on what must be done to somehow arrest disasters, prone to the region. He stated
that since the region is vulnerable to flood, landslide and occasional volcanic
eruptions, it is therefore imperative for the government:
1)
To establish a permanent presence of a local
emergency management system in the region as this would be of tremendous
benefit to the citizens of the city. This agency would identify and assess the
potential risks to the local community, enforce building codes and zoning, and
possibly provide an early disaster warning system to citizens.
2)
To establish academic courses on emergency or
disaster management procedures in high schools and universities not only in the
South West Region but in academic institutions throughout the land. Since
mitigation, preparedness, response and rehabilitation are integral components
of disaster management, it is imperative that these teachings are obtained
in an organized system.
3)
To ensure that institutional corruption is
contained by an established agency it is imperative to recruit professionals who
will project a positive image of the new agency. Institutional corruption
should be thoroughly investigated and culprits brought to justice. Like many
Cameroon government establishments, accusations about corruption and corrupt
practices are foundational and should be contained
4)
By
creating an emergency management agency throughout the country, it will reduce
the likelihood of corruption and increase the possibility of accountability
because picking people from street corners to assist in disaster management is
the wrong way to handle any crisis. The street wanderers turn disaster
personnel overnight, do not protect the lives and property; they are only there
to loot as much as they can. It is the testimony from the author and several
other investigative interviews conducted by Nanje School of Creative Thinking
that there was gross misappropriation of donated gifts by these so-called
volunteers.
5)
To ensure that the public is informed on emergency
management safety methods, education should be rigorously pursued as an
essential component of the system.
The governments of Cameroon and that of
the South West Region should study the critical issues that Asome raises in his award-winning As Waters Gone By and gradually look into
ways of creating Disaster Management Agencies and provide full funding for the
agencies.
To get a copy of this award-winning book by Dr. Bide Asome click the link below
https://www.amazon.com/As-Waters-Gone-Asome-Bide/dp/163268831X/ref=sr_1_5?ie=UTF8&qid=1511477414&sr=8-5&keywords=as+waters+gone+by
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