The “Anglophone Problem” simply put is the determined attempt to stop the introduction and implementation of “Jacobin” principles in a culture that knows and has thrived on basic notions of justice liberty, hard work and accountability.

The people of the Northwest and Southwest regions of Cameroon like every other Cameroonian in the other eight regions of the country just want the minimal instruments of public administration to be brought close to the people like every normal democracy. They just want to save people the trouble of travelling long distances for obvious services and be subjected to the humiliation of having to express themselves in a language they do not understand and be belittled by uncouth and arrogant operatives.
They just want to have the peace of mind that they will be judged by legal experts who will apply the law and not decide their guilt before it is proven.

They just want their kids to be taught by teachers who speak the language of their children and grade them on merit.

The so called Anglophone problem is the determined cry of a patriotic cultural group to save a country that is regressing at an alarming rate in the face of a government that’s breaking all the records of incompetence, laziness and corruption. It is the cry for the soul of a richly endowed country that was better placed than South Korea on the ramps of development in 1984 to but today is a Very Poor, Heavily Indebted Country (PPTE) today.

It is the cry of a country with one the highest literacy rates in Sub Saharan Africa, forcing its human capital into economic exile when it refuses to stay home and perfect the art of dishonest living, crookedness and con artistry just to survive.

The “Anglophone Problem” is the patriotic cry of a people who believe in the potential of their country and so love it that they are willing to die for it to secure a future for generations to come. It is dubbed “Anglophone” because the corrupt government wants to pit both cultural entities against each other in their Machiavellian style. Bilingualism and multiculturalism have never been a problem in Cameroon and will not begin to be now.

The Anglophone problem is indeed a Cameroon Problem.

• What happened to Cameroon Airlines and its many planes that sang the glory of our country throughout the skies of Africa and Europe?

• What happened to Cameroon Shipping Lines and our fleet of ships that took our produce out to the world and brought development back to our country?

• What happened to the National Produce Marketing Board (ONCPB) that was the bread and butter of our hardworking farmers and the future of many generations of Cameroonians that did not need to migrate to urban centers to live comfortable lives?

• What happened to the Tourism Board that put our country on the map and brought in visitors from all over the globe to admire our country, our creativity and invested in it in ways that benefitted our people right in their localities?

• What happened to the timed and published development plans that enabled every Cameroonian to follow-up and monitor the progress our country was making? What happened to leadership that thought and worked for the country?

• What happened to that Cameroon that was not only our pride but also a magnet that attracted our neighbors to our country in search for a better life?

We listen to deep Cameroon talk. Their language is clear and Cameroon should be careful. Our local chiefs, guarantors of our traditions all agree that the so-called Anglophone problem is indeed a Cameroon problem. No region in Cameroon is proud of their existence after 34 years of the Paul Biya presidency, not even the Southern region, his own region of origin.

We listen to the youth talk and Cameroon should be careful. Their language is loud and clear even though the government still thinks it is just for dance and show. Valsero, Krotal, Xmaleya and the others are not from West Cameroon but they decry the same failures of their country towards them. Yes, they are beginning to see what blind allegiance to the corrupt methods in their country is really doing to them.

The steadfastness of West Cameroon is hardening and opening the eyes of Cameroonians and government should be careful, unless their ultimate aim is to destroy Cameroon. Cameroonians honor Paul Biya as one of them but are beginning to see through the smoke screen of a presidency that is all glory and no real work. They are getting tired of a government that has become a cult for the magnification of too few even as it denigrates the masses and punishes them for demanding better. “Cameroon, nay a? ….Me siki dzam toub”, demands Krotal between a wail and a rap (What’s up Cameroon?… I’m not going to run away). Between breaths in the bucolic stupor that has been encouraged in Cameroon for decades, the young people are beginning to see their existence of no opportunities and what’s more, the imposed inabilities to even complain about it. Cameroon should be careful, unless of course the government’s objective is to create chaos as an escape channel for a regime that has wasted the destiny of its people for 34 long years.

A government whose foot is on the throat of its people is a dying government. Competent and devoted Cameroonians miss the train to serve their country every day because they construe their input as opposition to Paul Biya and the CPDM. They miss opportunities to step up and work for their country because criticism of the government has been construed to mean being against Paul Biya. And Paul Biya has been erected to mean Cameroon.

Cameroon is perceived through the prism of Paul Biya and without Paul Biya there is no Cameroon. Of course, with the majority of the country being below 50 and Paul Biya being president for the past 34 years, most Cameroonians do not see Cameroon without Paul Biya and what’s more, most Cameroonians view the mediocrity in which they live as the very definition of life. For lack of a better experience, they do not see a better outcome even though the nature in them dreams of a better life that they cannot even envisage. But government should be careful. A lot has changed. Myths are no more and taboos are losing their scare.

The government response so far has been dictated by sheer arrogance and stupidity. Except you believe that the president is responding to some occult non Cameroonian audience, his silence is amazing. Nothing else explains it although Cameroonians have gotten used to him being notoriously absent from the country. A simple conciliatory speech with appeasing undertones would have put Paul Biya back in the hearts of his countrymen.

Instead, with shame of his irresponsible and failed management that has destroyed a dynamic and heavily endowed country for the past 34 years starring him in the face, he went down the wrong road again. He came down with the thinly veiled arrogance characteristic of failure and dared the people. West Cameroonians took his bet in a final rejection of his archaic Jacobin system of government and the repression that has followed ever since has only helped to harden positions. They figure it is worth dying on the soil of their ancestors than in the Mediterranean or in some distant and not so welcoming land.

West Cameroonians believe thanks to history, that they know a better method that has made its mark all over the world, federation, and are proposing it to their beloved country. Cameroon was a federation once and only the determination to put the interest of an ex-colonial master before that of country caused government to shed it. It was a mistake and it is time to correct it.

When people are no longer afraid to die, fear becomes obsolete and counterproductive. There are competent young Cameroonians living in Cameroon, who understand their existence better than the cronies in government today. For the sake of future generations, let them have their country back. They know how to make it the rich and blessed land the anthem says it is.

Let every Cameroonian know

As things stand today, we fear that the arrogance and the vanity of the exposed and humiliated government are leading it to set the stage to commit genocide in West Cameroon. The only explanation for removing access to the internet is to prevent social media to publish their exactions to the world. We fear government is planning the summary execution of patriots who have dared defy them by refusing bribes.

We fear that government will execute these people and blame it on the angry people and use these murders as an excuse to commit genocide on the people of West Cameroon. Without the internet, we won’t be able to show these actions to the world and our word will be as good as nothing.

Every Cameroonian should know that we will all have a duty to explain to posterity what happened and what we did to prevent it. Let every Cameroonian know that the country existed before Paul Biya and the CPDM and will continue to exist after Paul Biya and the CPDM. Let every Cameroonian know that our essence is that which will continue to exist after Paul Biya and the CPDM, as it existed even before the Portuguese named this country Rio dos Cameroes. Even as we are tempted to sit back in fear or in ignorance and watch as a depraved few, out of arrogance and disdain, massacre patriotic citizens of our fatherland to decorate their crowns, we should know that posterity will hold us accountable for today.

SEB-BAM