CAMEROON GOVERNMENT HAS THE KNIFE AND THE YAM.

Even if all Ambazonian boys and girls in the bush are killed or all the Ambazonian fighters are disarmed, the crisis will not end because the subject of marginalization or injustice has not been addressed and even if normalcy returns in the anglophone regions without a sincere and inclusive dialogue, the today’s regional crisis might likely escalate into a national crisis.

So instead of repressing a people whose agitation is legitimate, swallow your pride, bury your ignorance and sit down with them and talk eye ball to eye ball. Dialogue and negotiations are always between two opposing parties. Late Cardinal Tumi set the pace, we can follow his recommendations.

Anyone who believes that Ambazonians are the cause of the present crisis and destructions in the anglophone regions is either a Pathological liar, chronically dishonest or suffering from a hyper ignoramus.

The Root cause of this crisis is Marginalization. It is the failure of the government to properly address this marginalization that became the prime cause of the discovery of the history that brought Cameroon together. When a child is maltreated by his father, he might be tempted to doubt if that truly is his biological father. When a wife is maltreated in a relationship, she would start questioning the foundation of that relationship. I NEVER KNEW ANYTHING ABOUT WHAT HAPPENED ON THE 11TH FEBRUARY 1961, ON THE 20TH MAY 1972, AAC1, AAC2 ECT UNTIL 2016.

Listen carefully, when peaceful protesters went on the streets, starting with the lawyers, they were rough handled by the police force and gendarmes, by then no southern Cameroonian had a stone or even a stick in their hands. Akum Julius was gunned down in Bamenda when no Southern Cameroonian ever dreamed to pick up arms. Teachers were beaten, and students were raped when no Southern Cameroonian had ever seen or touched a hunting gun against a fellow citizen. This was the only time in the history of South West and North West that what they use to see in war films became a reality with innocent family members drowning in their own pool of blood. 100 years after this crisis, many anglophones would still be in trauma as a result of the amount of blood and number of corpses they have seen in the course of the war. This has both psychological and spiritual far-reaching implications playing in the minds of survivors.

The SCNC never had arms, The AAC1 and AAC2 never had arms, and The consortium never had arms. What stopped Cameroon GOVERNMENT from negotiations with them?

Therefore we can say that it was the government that initially provoked, and ignited the spirit of revenge in her citizens once they were left with no other option than to fight back with arms.

If the government gave Southern Cameroonians a genuine listening ear while assuring them with an immediate plan of action based on their immediate concern raised, the agenda of separation would never have been a topic of discussion. It is the failure on the part of the government in the way these concerns were handled that blew things out of proportion and here we are today in a more complex situation.

The same government demonized protests, demonized freedom of assembly, demonized freedom of expression, and even demonized her own citizens like Honorable Joseph Wirba. These were the genuine channels together with the few leaders at the earliest stage that listening to them could have done far more good than the worst we faced today.

People who are courageous to defend the cause of the Southern Cameroonians were all threatened and intimidated. The owners of Cameroon refuse until this day to talk about this matter in Parliament.

Parliamentarians, lawyers, media houses, religious leaders, Politicians, activists, and senior statesmen and women who spoke about it were silenced by all means.

Everyone is made to live in fear, this is how the government radicalized her own citizens and made the secession agenda gain momentum.

How can you marginalize people and then stop them from expressing their pains through peaceful protests which are above all a basic human right?

Hear this, every Anglophone including those in the government was in full support of the protests, and even today, many anglophones are still in full support of the Ambazonian agenda and they sponsor it with their money because they believe that if Ambazonians don’t fight, anglophones will remain slaves in their own country. The Doualas recently protested and threatened to pick up arms, the government entered into talks with them.

There is a difference between fighting an internal war and fighting an external war. It is just impossible for the government to win in this war just as it is impossible for the Ambazonians to win too. That means this is just a money-making industry for the key actors of both sides to the detriment of the anglophone community and the economy of Cameroon at large.

So all the proponents of the military option are enemies of anglophones, this option fuels the crisis, instigates more killings and revenge on both sides and such people are eating fat from a war we could have avoided and can still be avoided.

They know that dialogue is the only authentic and lasting solution to this crisis yet they demonized the word dialogue so the killings and destruction can continue while they make plenty of billions on the blood of the same anglophones which they don’t consider to be humans enough to express their will as citizens.

It is outright wickedness for you to cheat a person, then beat the person when they complain and will want to kill the person at the same time. Even neanderthals learned to live in harmony and protect each other’s interests.

If there was justice, there would never be a crisis in the first place. No man or woman will ever want to quit a marriage with a person who treats them well. You have to convince people and give them reasons why they should stay with you, weapons cannot do the job. Killing humans has never ended a human ideology. It only helps to propagate and make it grow in geometric progression.

Use the force of argument and not the argument of force, So instead of using swords, use words, good words, instead of avoiding talking, talk the talk. This war is not winnable so stop making yourself look like a big conqueror.

Cowards use weapons to settle disputes, cowards use threats to address matters but real men use words. All wars end in dialogue leading to peace. So why would someone choose to destroy human lives only to end up coming back on the same table they destroyed in the first place?

Senegal refused to talk with the Armed separatists of Casamance for 40 years until recently they had a peace accord with them Are you also intending to prolong this crisis for another 30 years?

Am afraid that if this crisis doesn’t stop, it may escalate to a bloodbath and mass destruction that may even extend to French regions.

The government has the knife and the yam, if they truly want this crisis to end this month, they know what to do, they know who to talk to, they know where each actor is and they have all the contacts. It cost them nothing to give Amnesty and pardon to Ambazonian leaders/prisoners.

War has never been a solution to a political problem anywhere in the world.

Words are superior in these kinds of battles than swords, just use the right word to the right people and you will have the right solution right now.

Dr. Success Nkongho
7th August 2022

Disclaimer

This thoughtful research and write-up are solely the opinion of the writer. It is not in any way a justification or an endorsement for civilians to pick up weapons against its government. All human lives matter be it military or civilians.