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RAMBLE in the JUNGLE · Textbook · Unit 3: The Cameroons: History, Freedom and Institutions

Issue 3.3

Do Strong Institutions Matter More Than Strong Leaders?

YESWanaku Verdzekov, Institutions of AMBAZONIA? (2023)
NOEditorial counterpoint, Institutions Are Built by People (written for this book)

Learning outcomes

After reading this issue, you should be able to:

Define an institution and name the main types of social institution.
Explain the author's argument that institutions outlast individuals.
Evaluate examples of leaders who built or weakened institutions.
Analyse how a writer uses a memorable image ("cook beans for GrandMa").
Write an argument about leadership and institutions in a community you know.

Introduction

If you are new to the Cameroons. Cameroon is a country in Central Africa, on the Gulf of Guinea, bordering Nigeria. It was a German colony from 1884. After the First World War it was divided: about four-fifths went to France and one-fifth, on the Nigerian border, to Britain. The British part was run together with Nigeria. In 1961, after a UN vote, the northern part of the British territory joined Nigeria and the southern part ("Southern Cameroons") joined the newly independent, French-speaking Republic of Cameroun in a federation. In 1972 the federation was replaced by a single, centralized state. Today, English is the main official language in the two western regions and French in the other eight. Since 2016, a conflict in the English-speaking regions has pitted separatist groups, who call the territory "Ambazonia", against government forces. See Appendix A for a full timeline.

Institutions and "strongmen". Sociologists define institutions as lasting structures that organize social life. They commonly name five main types: political, educational, economic, family and religious. In politics, the word also refers to bodies such as parliaments, courts, election commissions and the civil service.

In a 2009 speech to Ghana's parliament, US President Barack Obama said that "Africa doesn't need strongmen, it needs strong institutions". The phrase became famous and much debated. Supporters cite countries where leaders stayed in power for decades while courts and parliaments were weakened. Critics point to leaders who built strong institutions, and to countries with strong-looking institutions that did little in practice.

The author, Wanaku Verdzekov, supports self-rule for the former Southern Cameroons. She calls it by the name its supporters use, AMBAZONIA, and calls the Cameroonian state LRC (for La République du Cameroun). She argues that dismantling local institutions after 1972 left a "trust vacuum" that no individual can fill.

As you read, ask: When something goes wrong in a school, a club or a country, is it usually the people or the system?

YES

Institutions of AMBAZONIA? (2023)

By Wanaku Verdzekov

"Humans come and go. Institutions last much longer."

What does this mean for AMBAZONIA? Answer: everything.

For the past century, our people have been thrown and tossed from one authority to another, and in the meantime the very foundations of our indigenous Ambazonian communities have been deliberately dismantled or thrown into disarray.

Another 40 years in the desert?

Without pointing accusing fingers at Portugal, Germany, Britain or France (and its proxy agent, LRC), the citizens of AMBAZONIA need to recognize the problem in order to analyze and solve it. Absent that, we could be in our own man-made desert for another 40 years.

Was colonization a civilization?

Many colonized Africans grew up assuming that Europeans colonized the people of the "Dark Continent" to bring them "light". Or, as some African elites thought (and still think), that colonization was a civilizing mission by European agents slicing and dicing land in Africa for themselves. How long has it taken for at least a few Africans to realize that was not the case?

Colonial institutions that have little to do with community members' lives

British Southern Cameroons, aka AMBAZONIA, has been in conflict with French Cameroun, aka LRC, since 2016. Moreover, this conflict has been apparent since 1961, with a UN-approved experiment to put two formerly colonized African states (colonized by different European states, Britain and France) into one state, for reasons that today make no logical or common sense.

And the kicker is that the current UN dispensation avoids revisiting this issue like the plague. The result: conflict, loss of human life and the perpetuated suffering of the people of British Southern Cameroons, aka AMBAZONIA, under a regime whose institutions have little to do with the daily lives of these communities.

Institutions vs individuals

The simplest trick in the book, from the get-go, was for LRC to dismantle the institutions that held the citizens of British Southern Cameroons together as one unit, one people.

The question citizens may ask is: what is an institution (in the context of Ambazonia)?

AMBAZONIA: left with nothing!

Fact: Ambazonia was colonized (you cannot "uncolonize" it or just forget that it was). So citizens have to deal with past colonial rule, the institutions used to colonize, and also the individuals and positions within those institutions.

But guess what: once LRC took down any and every Ambazonian institution, the positions available to the individuals who ran them were taken down too, leaving NOTHING.

As a reference point, it helps to look at a few definitions of institutions and their importance in "society". [This points to sociology, whose experts can give more meaning to the chaos in the Cameroons in general, and in British Southern Cameroons, aka AMBAZONIA, in particular, in order to help our people.]

What are the five main types of social institution? The five major institutions in sociology are political, educational, economic, family and religion.

As a citizen of Ambazonia, try to picture which Ambazonian institutions fit these descriptions. Of course, other categories of institutions can be created, or already exist, but the point here is this: when a community of people is organized for success, these institutions are as stable as a rock, providing consistency in policy and a place for younger citizens to bank their hopes.

What if s/he gets hit by a bus?

Absent that, relying on an individual raises the question: what if s/he gets hit by a bus? Then what? Find another workhorse?

The smart thing humans do, and have done for millennia, is create and maintain solid institutions, and protect them as if the life of the community depended on it.

The struggle keeps going in recursive circles

We are witnessing the dismantling of institutions in AMBAZONIA, for reasons I still cannot explain to the younger generation. If these institutions are not rebuilt, let no citizen wonder why the "struggle" keeps going round in recursive circles.

Trust vacuum

REPEAT: the dismantling and breakdown of institutions in Ambazonia creates a TRUST VACUUM that can only be filled by a REDO of those institutions. Again, why are institutions important? No matter what political leverage an individual or group has in AMBAZONIA, as long as some institutions are not on board, there is going to be a hiccup.

Building blocks of states: land, people and institutions

Given that there are many institutions, the question becomes: which are the most essential? We can list the same categories (political, educational, economic, family, religion) and fill in the blanks. If you ask me, at this point Ambazonia should be clear, in all five categories, about what each institution represents and means for them. If citizens do not know, or are not aware, would it matter to anyone? LRC would prefer that citizens have little or no conscious understanding of the building blocks of states: land, people and institutions.

Back to the future

If citizens remember, the beginning of the "active" struggle was triggered by the Teachers' Union (educational) and the common-law lawyers (legal institution). A few episodes of the struggle have featured religious leaders commenting on, or suggesting, how to bring peace to British Southern Cameroons, aka AMBAZONIA. Most citizens of Ambazonia belong to a religious constituency. So, as an institution, religion plays a part in the restoration of Ambazonia. It is interesting to note that the individuals leading religions do not really matter, because they can be hit by a bus. But the institution remains. The question is: within the State of Ambazonia, what part is this institution (or any other) playing to help end the suffering of the people of Ambazonia, without compromising with the lying, diabolical UN–France–LRC bind that has held since 1961?

Rehash: strong individuals (proverbial "strongmen") do not cook beans for my GrandMa in Ambazonia. Strong institutions DO cook beans for her.

So…

Ija'iku fɨlasi!

Institutions Last, Individuals Don't

11 April 2023

Unless we want to ISOLATE ourselves and not deal with the rest of the world, AMBAZONIA needs to create and maintain INTERFACES that other "interfaces" can recognize, understand and work with.

So far, the language and posture of those claiming to represent my GrandPa in AMBAZONIA have not scratched the surface of this interface-building business (not yet).

There is a way to talk to humans, friends and enemies alike. It requires tact and, above all, "cultural dexterity". Running into other athletes' lanes in a relay race (politics) is a no-no and can cause unnecessary accidents.

INSTITUTIONS LAST, INDIVIDUALS DON'T.

So where will CHILDREN bank their hopes? In an institution, or in an individual? Some of our ancestors knew the answer. Is the new generation really that ignorant?

Citizens should make wise decisions, unless everyone has become a Nyamfɨkah.

Ija'iku fɨlasi!

— Wanaku Verdzekov

Written in April 2023 (with a short companion post of 11 April 2023); lightly edited for this book. LRC means La République du Cameroun.

Institutions Are Built by People

Editorial counterpoint Written for this book, not by Wanaku Verdzekov.

This essay was written for this textbook to present the opposing side fairly. It is not by Wanaku Verdzekov.

Wanaku Verdzekov puts it memorably: strongmen do not cook beans for GrandMa, but strong institutions do. It is true that a country run by one powerful person is fragile. When that person falls ill, dies or turns bad, everything built around them can collapse. But the essay's contrast between institutions and individuals is too sharp. Institutions do not fall from the sky. People build them, lead them, and sometimes save them.

Every strong institution had founders

The institutions we admire began as the work of determined individuals. Botswana, often praised as one of Africa's best-governed states, owes much to its first president, Seretse Khama, and his colleagues, who chose to build honest courts and a professional civil service when they could have enriched themselves. Nelson Mandela's decision to serve only one term as South Africa's president set an example that strengthened the new constitution. Leaders like these do not replace institutions; they create them and teach others to respect them.

Institutions can be empty shells

Many countries have parliaments, courts, election commissions and constitutions on paper, yet these do nothing to limit the powerful. A court is only as strong as the judges willing to rule against the government. An election commission is only as strong as the officials who refuse to fake results. When people with courage are missing, institutions become buildings with signs on them. The author knows this: she describes institutions in Cameroon that exist but "have little to do with the daily lives" of communities.

Crises need leaders

When a country faces war, disaster or collapse, institutions often freeze. Someone has to decide, persuade and take responsibility. The author herself calls for "interfaces" that other countries "can recognize, understand and work with", and warns against running into other athletes' lanes. Building such interfaces takes skilled, tactful individuals. Even a well-organized movement needs someone to speak for it, negotiate and keep it together.

Leaders and institutions depend on each other

Good leaders build good institutions, and good institutions produce and restrain good leaders. A healthy school, party or church trains future leaders, and a healthy constitution limits their terms and checks their power. It is not a contest between the two. The danger is not strong leaders as such, but leaders who are not accountable to any institution.

Choosing people still matters

Finally, the author urges citizens to make "wise decisions". In practice, that means choosing people: voting for honest candidates, appointing competent judges, trusting capable elders. However strong an institution is, it is always run by someone. Citizens who ignore the character of those people, trusting that the system will protect them, may find that the system is only as good as the people inside it.

Conclusion

The author is right that no people should put all their hope in one person, and that institutions last while individuals pass. But institutions and leaders are not rivals. The real task is to find leaders who will build institutions stronger than themselves, and institutions that will outlast and correct their leaders. GrandMa's beans need both a good kitchen and a good cook.

— Editorial counterpoint

Vocabulary

Word or phrase	Meaning in the readings
institution	an established organization or custom (a court, a school system, the family)
disarray	a state of disorder
civilizing mission	the colonial claim to bring "civilization" to others
dispensation	a system or order of things
workhorse	someone relied on to do all the work
millennia	thousands of years
recursive	repeating in cycles
trust vacuum	a gap where trust used to be
interface	a point where two systems meet and connect
strongman	a leader who rules by personal power
accountable	required to explain and justify one's actions
civil service	the professional staff who run government departments

Comprehension questions

Literal (find it in the text)

What saying opens the YES reading?
Which five types of social institution does the author list?
Which two groups does the author say triggered the "active" struggle?
Which two leaders does the counterpoint give as founders of strong institutions?
What does the counterpoint say GrandMa's beans need?

Inferential (read between the lines)

Why does the author ask "What if s/he gets hit by a bus?"
What does the author mean by a "trust vacuum"?
Why does the counterpoint say institutions can be "empty shells"?
How does the counterpoint turn the author's own image of beans against the YES argument?

Critical (evaluate and respond)

Think of an institution you know well (a school, church, club or council). Would it survive if its leader left tomorrow? Why?
Which reading better explains why some countries are well governed and others are not? Use evidence.
Was Obama's statement right? Use this issue to argue for or against.

Is there common ground?

Both writers agree that no community should depend on one person, that institutions last longer than individuals, and that citizens must choose wisely. The counterpoint agrees that unaccountable strongmen are dangerous; the author, in calling for tactful "interfaces" with the world, accepts that skilled individuals are needed.

They disagree about which comes first. The author says strong institutions protect communities from depending on individuals. The counterpoint says institutions are built and kept alive by people, so leadership and institutions depend on each other.

A shared conclusion might be: build institutions that train, choose and limit leaders, and choose leaders who strengthen institutions rather than themselves.

Debate and writing prompt

Debate motion: This house believes that Africa needs strong institutions, not strong leaders.

Divide the class into proposition and opposition. Each side must use at least two pieces of evidence from its reading and answer the other side's strongest point.
After the debate, hold a vote, then discuss which arguments changed minds.

Writing task: (400–600 words) Write a profile of an institution in your community. Explain what it does, how it chooses its leaders, and how it would survive a change of leadership. Conclude with one improvement, using ideas from both readings.