RAMBLE in the JUNGLE

Cameroun – Happy 50th Anniversary?

By Wanaku Verdzekov · 20 May 2010 · The Cameroons

Tags: history, independence, may-20, oct-1-1961

Cameroun: Happy 50th anniversary? On May 20th? Truth or untruth?

I am sorry, but "fiftieth anniversary of independence on May 20th"? Of what year? Really? Independence from whom? Does any colonial power remember granting independence to any of the Cameroons on a May 20th?

In the Information Age, how can untrue statements like this be made without anyone raising a finger? Maybe no one cares. Does anyone? If you ask me, celebrating a May 20th 50th anniversary is a lie that stinks to high heaven: untruth made to look like…

And the younger generation might swallow this hook, line and sinker, and would not hesitate to start their own lies. Whom would you blame?

British Cameroons was part of British West Africa. Truth: half a penny was worth more than half a CFA franc.

Celebrate, but be kind and truthful. If it is the May 20th I know of, it has not been 50 years yet. And if that is the May 20th we are talking about, what happened on that day again? Do you remember?

Blessings
~wv

1 October 1961: "Day of true independence, nipped in the bud."

— Wanaku Verdzekov

Reading & grammar

Reading level: Gr 9–11

Understand

What date does the author dispute, and why?
What does the author fear the younger generation might do?
What date does the author give for "true independence nipped in the bud"?

Grammar focus: direct questions in a series. "Of what year? Really? Independence from whom?" Short questions in a row show disbelief. Note from whom: whom is the object form after a preposition.

Try it: Write three short questions in a row that express surprise about a claim in the news.

Discuss: What date should a country with a complex history celebrate as its national day? Argue for one approach.