ninehillsRAMBLE in the JUNGLE
What is happening on the ground?
By Wanaku Verdzekov · · The Cameroons
Date note: Undated Facebook note, written between 2011 and 2014.
Tags: politricks, culture, obfuscation
Ni Gomia,
Yes, "under the bridge" is the right way to put it.
"On the ground"? It is a struggle between the Camerounese obfuscation machine and the brave foot soldiers whose minds have not yet been captured by the pastors of the 50-year Ahidjo/CNU and Biya/CPDM dispensation.
It is not the usual game of politics (as known elsewhere), but one of "politricks", with the main tricksters pulling stunt after stunt to fool a gullible public. When a stunt fails, the tricksters get really angry and turn on the violence machine.
And all the while, the culture is being brewed to a taste that would make any decent, civilized human turn up their nose. But does it matter? To the "politricksters"… no. But to those who have sacrificed enough to reset the history of our people (of former British Southern Cameroons)… well, yes, it matters.
The kind of culture our children grow up in matters. A decent culture does not happen by accident. The current dispensation, in an atmosphere of obfuscation, is an accident waiting to happen. Oh, it has happened already. That's what's on the ground.
Blessings
~wv
— Wanaku Verdzekov
Reading & grammar
Reading level: Gr 9–11
Understand
- What struggle does the author describe "on the ground"?
- What happens when a political stunt fails, according to the author?
- Why does the author say a decent culture does not happen by accident?
Grammar focus: irony in "Oh, it has happened already". The author calls the situation "an accident waiting to happen", then corrects himself: "Oh, it has happened already." The mock correction is ironic and makes the point sharper.
Try it: Write two sentences that use a mock correction for effect.
Discuss: What shapes a young person's values more: family, school, media or government?