ninehillsRAMBLE in the JUNGLE
Ramble in the Jungle
Reflections, opinions, questions and debates by Wanaku Verdzekov, an African writer born in the 1950s, raised in colonial Africa and educated by Western missionaries. Written 2008–2025, the pieces move from the world and Africa to the Cameroons and Kom, and come back again and again to one conviction: real community development comes only through self-rule.
About the series →The textbook: RAMBLE in the JUNGLE: Debating Africa and the World →
145 posts · page 1 of 8
African Dance Misconstrued and Misunderstood
Wanaku Verdzekov · · Africa & the Gulf of Guinea
Observe the dance of Africa, dear friends: a harmony of mind and body blends.
Tags: poem, dance, stereotypes
Leaders of the Land
Wanaku Verdzekov · · Kom & Indigenous
Before new faces touched our sand, our chiefs and elders led the land.
Tags: poem, limerick, chiefs, tradition
PoliTrickster vs The People
Wanaku Verdzekov · · Global
A government without its people is moot. Spotting a politrickster takes cultural dexterity.
Tags: poem, politics, cultural-dexterity
The War-Action-Peace-Words Loop
Wanaku Verdzekov · · Global
War is action, fierce and fast; peace is words that try to last.
Tags: poem, war, peace, language
Two Sides, Same Coin
Wanaku Verdzekov · · Global
"My people will talk to your people": in the West, a lawyer's line; in Africa, families drawn together to meet.
Tags: poem, language, culture, west-vs-africa
Hot Charcoal in Bare Hands (lyrics)
Wanaku Verdzekov · · Global
Handling hot charcoal with bare hands, burn after burn, while children watch with open eyes.
Tags: song, conflict, money, children
The Shopkeeper of Takamanda
Wanaku Verdzekov · · The Cameroons
Would a shopkeeper give the keys to one whose loyalty isn't clear? For nations too, these keys are weight.
Tags: poem, limerick, leadership, trust
Labyrinth of Truth
Wanaku Verdzekov · · Global
Finding truth is a trial, a dance against time.
Tags: poem, truth, oligarchy, deceit
The Politics We Know
Wanaku Verdzekov · · Africa & the Gulf of Guinea
How did our elders manage before? Let's look to our roots and study self-management.
Tags: poem, limerick, party-politics, indigenous-governance
Not Education, but Literacy
Wanaku Verdzekov · · Africa & the Gulf of Guinea
Literacy is more than just to read: it's the breath, the root, the seed.
Tags: poem, literacy, language, colonialism
Africa Land of Ancestors II
Wanaku Verdzekov · · Africa & the Gulf of Guinea
Eleven million miles so grand, a motherlode of precious land. Africa, rise and take a stand.
Tags: poem, self-rule, land, rural-exodus
Postcolonial Dysfunction
Wanaku Verdzekov · · Africa & the Gulf of Guinea
There will be hungry mouths to feed as long as the ability to self-rule is hindered by postcolonial dysfunction.
Tags: colonialism, centralised-power, hunger, religion
Self-Rule is Not Rocket Science
Wanaku Verdzekov · · Africa & the Gulf of Guinea
Self-rule's not some distant star; it's who we are.
Tags: poem, self-rule, colonial-legacy
Autonomy
Wanaku Verdzekov · · The Cameroons
When it's time to move, not even lions can hold them back. Self-rule is our birthright.
Tags: poem, self-rule, ambazonia
Titres Coloniaux, Cadres Vides
Wanaku Verdzekov · · Africa & the Gulf of Guinea
« Président », « Excellence », « Honorable » : des mots d'un temps passé, mais les actes, eux, restent amers.
Tags: poem, french-language, leadership
Doctrine of Freedom in the Cameroons Crisis
Wanaku Verdzekov · · The Cameroons
Freedom is at every citizen's doorstep. We simply need to pick it up, dust off the colonial years, and move forward.
Tags: self-rule, freedom, core-thesis
Power/Authority in an African Grassland Kingdom?
Wanaku Verdzekov · · Kom & Indigenous
Nchînɨ̀Kòm is built on LOVE, not dictatorship.
Tags: fon, institutions, literacy, itangikom
Institutions of AMBAZONIA? + Institutions Last, Individuals Don't
Wanaku Verdzekov · · The Cameroons
Strong individuals do not cook beans for my GrandMa in Ambazonia. Strong institutions DO.
Tags: institutions, sociology, trust, strongmen
Peace Mediation?
Wanaku Verdzekov · · Global
We need a few of our citizens to master the vocabulary of peace mediation.
Tags: peace, mediation, vocabulary
CAMEROONS Crisis – Where is the Wealth?
Wanaku Verdzekov · · Africa & the Gulf of Guinea
Since 1960, ask a GrandMa in Ngolemeduka: "Where is the wealth?"
Tags: cfa-franc, oil, bakassi, ambazonia