Cameroon has been a united and integral bicultural country, since its union with Southern Cameroons in 1961. In fact the progress of cultural integration in Cameroon is amazingly positive especially considering the delicate political changes that have happened in the country in the course of its evolution.
Since the separatist movement gained popularity in 2016, Allot of Elite from the Anglophone Regions who could otherwise have played an important role towards solving the crises, have remained quiet, not because they are indifferent but because they can't understand why the need for separation. They don't reject that we have problems which may be particular to us, but they don't think those problems warrant a separation or the heavy penalty the populations are currently suffering under the ongoing armed conflict. They believe there is still hope for constructive development and that energy should be put towards making realistic steps in the direction of better living conditions for everyone considering of cause our specificities.
The Cameroon government and its agents on the other hand are outright angry and bitter. They say the authority of the state cannot and should not be challenged and in their shoes anyone would do the best in their ability to protect the integrity of his fatherland.
Separatists feel the best choice for former Southern Cameroons now part of Cameroun, is outright independence, and are bent on pushing the population to the point where the relationship with the Cameroon government will become completely ruptured and independence will become the only survival option. While the right to self-determination, is quite understandable. Each party is right in his own eyes. The big question is why do I think both parties are heading for failure?
First, the Cameroon Government through its ineffectiveness, and inefficiency has fallen into the separatist trap, by focusing on fighting the Armed Groups while ignoring to build a relationship with the local populations which is what is most important.
The Cameroon government is adamantly slow to implement its own existing constitutional institutions, talk less of yielding to other reforms.
The Cameroon government ignores that the world is changing and that people expect things to happen faster and more accurately in this era. They also ignore that people are more aware and sensitive than before.
They seem unaware that each an every act of any civil servant or politician especially CPDM members, paints an image of what the whole government system is.
Members of the Government and CPDM party officials, still see popular protest as a fight to throw them out of power instead of a call for them to do a better job. They continue to play divide and rule between the North West and South West Regions, Ignoring that these two regions have some commonalities, and even if the techniques may work in the short term, unless these common problems are solved, in the long term, their same grievances will come, up over and over again.
On the other hand, Ambazonia Groups, completely push and force their ideology on the people like a religion and those who fail to adhere to it are heavily punished or stigmatized and blacklisted. I would say the Ambazonia groups are somewhat careless of the sufferings of the people whom they claim to be liberating. In fact the population seems to be pushed to take hypocritical positions in public for fear of their own safety.
Ambazonia leadership is unstructured, full of conflict, and lack coordination and expertise. And the big question citizens ask themselves is “Even if we end up getting independence, are we ready for that type of a country?”
The Anglophone Cameroon diaspora has always contributed to development back home, and one would think that if all of this energy, skill and money they have spent in the last two years on war, was spent on investing in local startups and community development as well as lobbying and advocating for realistic political goals within the concept of a united Cameroon. Allot will have been achieved, and especially lives would have been spared.
As far as the politics of the matter is concerned. Anything can happen. The separatist may succeed, the Cameroon Government may succeed. But all of them will have failed to do the one thing they claim they want. Which is to take care of the citizens of the regions they claim are dear to them. #HumanityFirst
Since the separatist movement gained popularity in 2016, Allot of Elite from the Anglophone Regions who could otherwise have played an important role towards solving the crises, have remained quiet, not because they are indifferent but because they can't understand why the need for separation. They don't reject that we have problems which may be particular to us, but they don't think those problems warrant a separation or the heavy penalty the populations are currently suffering under the ongoing armed conflict. They believe there is still hope for constructive development and that energy should be put towards making realistic steps in the direction of better living conditions for everyone considering of cause our specificities.
The Cameroon government and its agents on the other hand are outright angry and bitter. They say the authority of the state cannot and should not be challenged and in their shoes anyone would do the best in their ability to protect the integrity of his fatherland.
Separatists feel the best choice for former Southern Cameroons now part of Cameroun, is outright independence, and are bent on pushing the population to the point where the relationship with the Cameroon government will become completely ruptured and independence will become the only survival option. While the right to self-determination, is quite understandable. Each party is right in his own eyes. The big question is why do I think both parties are heading for failure?
First, the Cameroon Government through its ineffectiveness, and inefficiency has fallen into the separatist trap, by focusing on fighting the Armed Groups while ignoring to build a relationship with the local populations which is what is most important.
The Cameroon government is adamantly slow to implement its own existing constitutional institutions, talk less of yielding to other reforms.
The Cameroon government ignores that the world is changing and that people expect things to happen faster and more accurately in this era. They also ignore that people are more aware and sensitive than before.
They seem unaware that each an every act of any civil servant or politician especially CPDM members, paints an image of what the whole government system is.
Members of the Government and CPDM party officials, still see popular protest as a fight to throw them out of power instead of a call for them to do a better job. They continue to play divide and rule between the North West and South West Regions, Ignoring that these two regions have some commonalities, and even if the techniques may work in the short term, unless these common problems are solved, in the long term, their same grievances will come, up over and over again.
On the other hand, Ambazonia Groups, completely push and force their ideology on the people like a religion and those who fail to adhere to it are heavily punished or stigmatized and blacklisted. I would say the Ambazonia groups are somewhat careless of the sufferings of the people whom they claim to be liberating. In fact the population seems to be pushed to take hypocritical positions in public for fear of their own safety.
Ambazonia leadership is unstructured, full of conflict, and lack coordination and expertise. And the big question citizens ask themselves is “Even if we end up getting independence, are we ready for that type of a country?”
The Anglophone Cameroon diaspora has always contributed to development back home, and one would think that if all of this energy, skill and money they have spent in the last two years on war, was spent on investing in local startups and community development as well as lobbying and advocating for realistic political goals within the concept of a united Cameroon. Allot will have been achieved, and especially lives would have been spared.
As far as the politics of the matter is concerned. Anything can happen. The separatist may succeed, the Cameroon Government may succeed. But all of them will have failed to do the one thing they claim they want. Which is to take care of the citizens of the regions they claim are dear to them. #HumanityFirst
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