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

Issue 3.5

Should Young People Protest as Soon as They See Injustice?

YESEditorial counterpoint, Sometimes You Must March Now (written for this book)
NOWanaku Verdzekov, Youth Question: What to Do? and Set Up to Fail (2015)

Learning outcomes

After reading this issue, you should be able to:

Summarize the author's four steps for young people.
Explain the difference between spontaneous and organized protest.
Evaluate historical examples of youth-led protest.
Discuss the right to peaceful assembly and the responsibilities that go with it.
Write a personal action plan for responding to an injustice.

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.

Young people and protest. Young people have led many of history's protest movements: against segregation in the United States in the 1960s, against apartheid in South Africa (including the Soweto uprising of 1976), during the "Arab Spring" of 2010–2011, and in climate strikes around the world since 2018. International human-rights law protects the right of peaceful assembly. Researchers such as Erica Chenoweth and Maria Stephan have found that, in the twentieth century, non-violent campaigns succeeded roughly twice as often as violent ones.

The author, Wanaku Verdzekov, wrote these two posts in January 2015 for young people in the English-speaking regions of Cameroon, two years before the protests of 2016. Nyamfɨkah is a word in Kom, the author's home language, meaning "bush animal"; the author uses it for people who act without dignity. Chop broke pot is Cameroonian Pidgin for greedy, wasteful consumption.

As you read, ask: Is it braver to act now, or to prepare first?

YES

Sometimes You Must March Now

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 gives young people sound advice: know your history, sharpen a skill, build groups you can trust, and think before you take to the street. Planning is valuable, and protests without a plan can end in tragedy. But history also shows that waiting until everything is organized can mean waiting forever. Some of the most important protests began before anyone had a complete plan.

Injustice does not wait for a plan

When people see an injustice happening in front of them, such as a police killing, a stolen election or a sudden price rise, they often respond at once. In December 2010, a young Tunisian street trader set himself on fire after officials seized his goods. Within weeks, protests across Tunisia had forced the president to leave, and the movement spread across the region. No one had planned it. In Nigeria in 2020, young people poured onto the streets against police brutality under the banner #EndSARS, organizing through social media as they marched.

Organization grows through action

The author advises building small "entities of trust" before acting. But many movements build their organization while they act. People who meet at a protest find each other, share phone numbers and form committees. Leaders emerge from the crowd. In South Africa in 1976, students in Soweto marched against being taught in Afrikaans. Their march was organized quickly, and the brutal response to it turned many of those young people into lifelong organizers. Action can be the school where organizing is learned.

Waiting can serve the powerful

Those in power often tell protesters to be patient, to wait for the right time, to go through official channels first. Sometimes this is good advice; often it is a way of delaying change. If young people wait until they have studied their full history, mastered a skill and built a network, the moment may pass, and the injustice may become permanent. In another Ramble, the author herself warns that those in power are "playing a wait-and-see game, waiting for the kids to die before them".

Protest is a right

In many countries, peaceful protest is a constitutional right, and international human-rights law protects the freedom of peaceful assembly. Telling young people they must first prove they have thought hard enough can become a way of excluding them from public life. Adults are rarely asked to pass such tests before they vote or speak.

Safety still matters

None of this means protest should be careless. Protesters can plan for safety even when they cannot plan everything: stay in groups, know your rights, keep protests non-violent, record what happens, and have a way to get home. Research on protest movements has found that non-violent campaigns have succeeded more often than violent ones. That is a lesson worth learning before, during and after any march.

Conclusion

The author asks: "When you take to the street, do you know how it is going to end?" Often the honest answer is no. But not knowing the ending has never stopped people from starting. Young people should think, learn and organize. They should also know that when injustice is urgent, the right time to act may be now.

— Editorial counterpoint

Youth Question: What to Do? and Set Up to Fail (2015)

By Wanaku Verdzekov

Text A: Youth Question: What to Do?

To our youth:

I have heard the question so many times: "We now know our situation in the Cameroons. Now, what do we do?"

#1 The number one thing to do, as a young citizen of the State of former British Southern Cameroons, is to KNOW at least the outline of our state's history. That is key to knowing where we are coming from.

#2 Sharpen at least one skill. Every human has a skill (even a stopped clock is right twice a day). Yes, you have a skill. Identify it and sharpen it. You will need it sooner than you think.

#3 Establish your own entities of trust. This could be as small as two citizens who know our history and trust each other to be committed to the restoration of our state.

#4 Hold meetings, but avoid anyone who does not bring anything to the table.

These are more than enough tips to keep us busy.

The number one thing NOT to do is take to the street without first having an intellectual conversation with yourself about why you are taking to the street. When your intellect is at peace with your reasons for taking any action, your body language will exude dignity, and don't be surprised when even Nyamfɨkahs respect you.

PS: It is not as if, after restoration, every citizen of our state will walk around with free money in their pockets. On the contrary, if you look at the numbers, we are more likely to be in debt (thanks to 50 years of "chop-broke-pot-ism") than swimming in money. Then what do we gain, some might ask? Freedom, which comes with responsibilities. And if you ask me, as long as I am responsible for cleaning my backyard, I can also clean my front yard, and no Nyamfɨkah should stand between the back and the front. So it is time for the Nyamfɨkahs to step aside. No hating, but when a system becomes a nuisance to the way people need to live their lives, it is time to call a Nyamfɨkah by its name: Nyamfɨkah!

Text B: Set Up to Fail

"Swag"

I tell my brothers and sisters to speak up and speak out, but not to become a Nyamfɨkah. You are much more precious than that. Once you have made peace with your intellectual reasons for refusing to accept a system that is set up for you to fail in life, then when you take to the street, even the way you walk (your "swag", as some young people call it) will be dignified. It is not magic. It is just the way real humans (not Nyamfɨkahs) are wired.

Principles

There are principles that, when followed, work as if by magic. For example, if you are going to start something, make sure you also plan how to finish it. Question: when you take to the street, do you know how it is going to end? If not, it is good to plan that part of the operation before starting.

We are not Nyamfɨkahs, and we will refuse to be treated as such, just by the dignified way we, our children and everyone committed to our cause carry ourselves.

Sharpening skills

There is much to do, especially individually: for example, sharpening skills. Every citizen will have to do something to earn a living. The era of "chop-broke-pot-ism" will suddenly come to an end. What will you do?

There will be opportunities for ALL kinds of things to be done in the new state. Think of the skills that will be needed, and the list is endless. Between public- and private-sector products and services, higher-education graduates will be so busy there will NOT be time to ask for an export "33" again. You would be thinking (you chemistry graduates) about how to start your own breweries in Mbengwi, Manyemen or Fontem.

Question: will the coming of our new state end "chop-broke-pot-ism" in the eastern Cameroons? That is a question for the experts in that system to answer. Are you an expert in the Camerounese system? You tell me.

Set up

We have been set up for failure. And those responsible know what they are doing. If not, their ignorance is beyond compare. Trust me: the people of the State of former British Southern Cameroons are living in a system set up for them to fail in every human endeavour. And that, my friends, is a wicked thing for one set of "Africans" to do to another.

The ancestors and our children are watching.

TribalMonk

PS: Nyamfɨkah literally means "bush animal". In a social context, it describes humans who show tendencies similar to those of a bush animal. If they start walking on all fours, it becomes a psychiatric problem. But an upright-walking human behaving like a bush animal is called a "Nyamfɨkah"… until the behaviour changes.

— Wanaku Verdzekov

Written on 7 and 8 January 2015; lightly edited for this book.

Vocabulary

Word or phrase	Meaning in the readings
outline	the main points, without details
entities of trust	small groups of people who trust each other
exude	to show a quality strongly
dignity	self-respect and the respect of others
swag	slang for confident style
principle	a basic rule for behaviour
era	a period of time
wicked	morally wrong, cruel
spontaneous	happening without planning
peaceful assembly	the right to gather in public peacefully
non-violent	not using physical force
brutality	cruel, violent treatment

Comprehension questions

Literal (find it in the text)

What are the four things the author tells young people to do?
What is the number one thing NOT to do, according to Text A?
What principle about starting things does Text B give?
Which two recent protests does the counterpoint describe as largely unplanned?
What safety steps does the counterpoint recommend?

Inferential (read between the lines)

Why does the author say even a stopped clock is right twice a day?
What does the author mean when she says your "swag" will be dignified?
Why does the counterpoint say "action can be the school where organizing is learned"?
How does the counterpoint use the author's own words about a "wait-and-see game"?

Critical (evaluate and respond)

Which reading gives better advice to a young person facing an injustice today? Explain.
Is it fair to ask young people to plan more carefully than adults before speaking out? Why or why not?
Choose one youth-led movement. Research how it began and whether it was organized first or organized through action.

Is there common ground?

Both writers agree that young people have a right and a reason to act, that dignity and non-violence matter, and that planning for safety is wise. The counterpoint accepts that "young people should think, learn and organize"; the author accepts that the struggle is urgent.

They disagree about timing. The author says: think first, build trust, plan the ending, then act. The counterpoint says: urgent injustice may not wait, and organization can grow through action.

A shared approach might be to prepare in calm times (learn your history and rights, build trusted groups, agree on non-violence) so that, when a moment for action comes, young people can act quickly and wisely.

Debate and writing prompt

Debate motion: This house believes that young people should take to the streets as soon as they see injustice.

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) Choose an issue in your school or community that you think is unfair. Write an action plan in the style of the author's four steps: what you need to know, what skill you can offer, who you would work with, and how you would act. Include one way to keep the action safe and non-violent.