post-restoration notes

Selections from the author's replies in a long discussion about what happens after the restoration of Southern Cameroons.

What happens after restoration?

Bobe Delfinus,

You raise a very important point when you wonder what exactly would happen if Southern Cameroons restored its independence. You wrote: "Human nature is more scared of a void than of a devil we know."

That is so true. Yet yours is the kind of uncertainty built into what an unpredictable tomorrow holds for all peoples. In the case of Southern Cameroons, it is further complicated by the fact that no one group holds the key to all our problems.

If you take only one thing from my post, take this reassurance: there are far too many groups, and far too many individual Southern Cameroonians, who are sacrificing everything for our cause, for you to doubt how well we will deliver for our peoples once the international community welcomes us back into the community of nations as a sovereign entity.

The issues that must be dealt with once independence is restored cannot all be settled beforehand. It has always been that way. Take the many accords (loans, credits, military and trade agreements) signed by La République acting on our behalf: the peoples of Southern Cameroons will not state their position until they have an elected authority in place, a parliament or congress. South Sudan is showing us the way right now, sorting out the loans Khartoum signed with the World Bank, the IMF, China and others. These are bridges we should not try to cross until we come to them.

What will prepare us best for what is to come is devoting our energy to acquiring the cutting-edge skills and knowledge our peoples and our land will need once independence is restored. This is true for all peoples at all times. There are thousands of Southern Cameroonians in the USA, Europe, Asia and Australia (even Alaska) whose return will be a great contribution.

At home, the University of Buea needs fewer students crowding the faculties of English, French, geography and history, and more students flooding the faculties of science, engineering and technology that will ensure our take-off after restoration.

We are the only ones who can make this happen. If we don't, who will? You tell me.

iBoisɨ
~wv

Knowledge is power

Bobe Njousi,

By steering away from the truth (history lays it out for everyone to see), we do not make things easier, only more complicated. We can blame Ahidjo and Biya, the CNU and the CPDM, all we want: for annexing our state (switching unilaterally from "Federal" to "United" to "République"), for world medals in corruption, for a lack of vision. But here is the kicker: until the question of truth is resolved, lies will keep spreading, and the results will show in the whole social, political, economic and even cultural structure of society. A society built on layers and layers of lies, illegalities and obfuscation: what do you expect? Paradise?

They say knowledge is power.
They also say power is with the people.
I say: a people without knowledge is powerless.
So our people need knowledge in order to have and use
the power that is theirs. The best help, then, is to help
our people "know" the truth. Knowledge of the truth is
the key to harnessing and using people power.
Without people, it is impossible to have or exercise power.
Without knowledge (truth), we only build on sand.
We have people. We have knowledge. All we need now is action.
Action: the first step is to connect people with knowledge,
or vice versa.

Let me know what you think.
~wv

Rebuilding a nation from scratch

Each of us is very precious. Why? Because we can make it our goal that our children do not go through the same period of darkness we have been through. The best way, in my opinion, is to work for a legal framework in which their rights are guaranteed forever.

It is hard work, and it needs people with brains, who understand how people and nations work on the global stage. We cannot be a nation in a vacuum. So each of us should try, as much as possible, to acquire the knowledge and expertise to run our own affairs. "Affairs" sounds like business, and that is really what it is.

The period now, before our state is restored, is one of learning, training and preparing for a very difficult task: rebuilding a nation from scratch. Anyone who tells you it will be easy is lying to high heaven. That is the bad news. The good news is that problems will be opportunities. Opportunities will create jobs for people with the right skills and training. If public policy creates the right climate, many people will find work, and we will have a very busy population. "Busy" sounds like "business". That is what will create growth, and give our people the hope and drive to prosperity they so rightly deserve.

Our citizens should be in "get ready" mode: get ready to be productive. The time for waiting for m'sieu to tell you what to do is over.

Who is fighting?

Before anyone starts talking about "fighting", explain to the children what you are fighting for, and why. The citizens of the State of former British Southern Cameroons do not need to fight for anything. When the UPC was fighting the Camerounese government, was the State of former British Southern Cameroons fighting with them? No. Instead, our state gave refuge to people running away from Franco-Cameroun. Our people never fought for their independence. They used the ballot box.

Talk of "war" is always counter-productive, abroad or at home. Bona fide citizens of the former State of British Southern Cameroons are not talking about war or fighting. They are simply pointing everyone to the truth about the story of their state. No one can take your freedom without your consent. So the question is: do the citizens of former British Southern Cameroons consent to giving away their freedom to rule themselves? You tell me.

Television and "sociological chemistry"

This is a live experiment in sociological chemistry. Check it: do you know when Nigeria started national TV broadcasting? 1958! When did Ahidjo and Biya "decide" to start TV in the République du Cameroun? 1985. In awareness of global horizons, Nigeria was, and is, ahead of the curve for that simple reason. It takes time to step out of darkness into the light.

To add insult to injury, a separate English-language channel has been refused to this day, in favour of a convoluted "bilingual news" broadcast that makes no sense. Nowhere else in the world does national TV news have presenters playing ping-pong between two foreign languages in the same time slot. It is a contraption for confusing information: a daily perfusion of confusion, delivered to an unsuspecting audience.

In a culture of mostly verbal communication, the size of the choir is crucial. A small choir can only succeed if it raises its volume. We will speak the truth quietly but firmly. The time for fiction is over. The children are watching.

Literacy and our languages

On the question of indigenous languages, the missing resource that spells death for all of them is literacy (the ability to read and write in any language). Question: what do you think happens to a human who speaks a language fluently but cannot read or write it, even with a gun to their head?

"NorthWest" or "SouthWest" of where?

As the years go by, the meaning of our citizenship (where we really belong) slowly fades, risking total ignorance of our history among new generations. So it is not surprising that young people born after 1972 seem to "know" a history of Cameroon that is different in more than a few ways. The same can be said of "North West vs South West". I always ask: north-west or south-west of where? These are instruments of annexation: bold, out in the open, and simple for the man on the street to understand.

In conclusion, something my grandpa used to say: "No one can take from you what you do not have." Every community in our state can ask the question: "What do we have?"

Let the debate continue…

Sewage, and taking care of our own

A lot of people (including me) blame the politics, but I will add another factor: the lack of know-how. Any African town with a concentrated population of 5,000+ people and NO working sewage-disposal SYSTEM is in for a whole lot of TROUBLE, like it or not.

If you ask me, instead of bringing in the Chinese (or whoever) to design and build these systems, a responsible government would train its own citizens in these fields and encourage local businesses to invest in the equipment and people to make them possible. Until we take care of our own waste (literally), someone else will, and we will be writing the cheques.

Independence begins in the mind

Independence begins in the mind, and happens citizen by citizen. Once your mind is free, it is easy to walk away from a situation where your citizenship is questioned every day.

TribalMonk

— Wanaku Verdzekov