Mancho Bibixy, The Face Of the Revolution: ONE YEAR ON

One Year into the Southern Cameroons Independence Revolution; where do we go from here?

On this day the 21st of November, 2016, Southern Cameroonians woke up to a new dawn in their political history as “Anglophone” citizens in the Cameroons. The much publicized and awaited sit home strike action by all Anglophone teachers’ trade unions to decry the Francophonization of the Anglophone subsystem of Education, finally went into force. Before the people could come to terms with seriousness of the teachers strike action, a courageous youth, history teacher and journalist, Macho Bibixy appeared at the Chief Ayamba Avenue in Bamenda, standing inside a coffin placed on top of a small car and holding a Holy Bible. He had come out to protest against the poor road network and other social amenities in the city under the stewardship of the colonial Government Delegate to the Bamenda City Council, Mr. Vincent Ndumu. As he announced his readiness to die for the course, the youthful population started building up, and that was the start of what is today referred to as the Coffin Revolution. BaretaNews brings to you a summary of this brave move till date.

The colonial government responded brutally and by the end of that day, peaceful citizens were shot dead and Mancho’s coffin had been destroyed on the streets of Bamenda by colonial forces. As the days went by, the strike momentum was increasing and the resistance was mounting. It was becoming a general strike action by all Southern Cameroonians. The bloody response by colonial forces to the University of Buea students’ protest within that period further sent tempers flaring and by the end of the day, the social media especially whatsApp and Facebook had been transformed into revolutionary weapons by the Southern Cameroons youths. The demands of the people were also increasing, as the youths and general masses were now dictating the direction at which the teacher and lawyers must go. Calls for a return to the post 1961 and pre 1972 two State Federation were becoming louder and LRC and CPDM colonial agents were becoming uncomfortable.

A massive rally in Buea, by the Chairman of the Social Democratic Front (SDF) party, Ni John Fru Ndi, and his members of parliament, in solidarity with the maimed UB students, sent political jitters down the spines of Yaounde and colonial agents who now saw it as a challenge and an avenue to wax political muscles in the field with the SDF party. That is how the colonial government briefly abandoned negotiations with teachers and lawyers, and dispatched political bigwigs for an abortive unity match in Southern Cameroons. While that organized in Buea was deserted by the population, that of Bamenda was transformed into a battle ground between irate youths who were bent on teaching a colonial agent Atanga Nji a lesson of his life and colonial forces. By the end of the day, about six innocent citizens had been killed by colonial forces, one of which was Akum Julius, a student of the University of Bamenda, who had come home to collect food from his parents, but was unfortunately caught by a stray bullet in front of their home. A police station and the official vehicle of Atanga Nji were bunt down by the population and he was smuggled out of the town through a military helicopter.

As dialogue between the colonial government and leaders/representatives of trade unions and civil societies finally went sour due to increasing brutality and the insincerity of government’s negotiators, the concept of Ghost Towns came into play. The massive response by the populace to the first and second Ghost towns called by leaders of the Consortium sent a clear message to Yaoundé that they were no longer in charge of Southern Cameroons. Even with the banning of the Consortium and the arrests and imprisonment of its then President, Dr. Barrister Nkongho Felix Agbor-Balla and Secretary General, Dr. Fontem Neba, including a strong Southern Cameroons voice, Justice Ayah Paul Abine, did not weaken the people’s resolve. The three months internet blackout which was like the joker of the colonial government did not change the game on ground as two vibrant Southern Cameroonians, Comrades Mark Bareta and Tapang Ivo Tanku, successfully piloted the revolution from the diaspora. It was within this period of the internet blackout that Mancho Bibixy, the leader of the Coffin Revolution was successfully arrested and ferried to Yaounde, after several failed attempts by the colonial regime.

By the time Southern Cameroonians were connected back to the internet, it was now true to the people at the home front that all the information they had been receiving through viral text messages was true. The struggle had morphed from a strike for the resolve of teachers and lawyers grievances, to a demand for the return to federalism and finally to an independence restoration revolution, with the creation of the Southern Cameroons Ambazonia Consortium United Front (SCACUF), a body of different revolutionary groups to collaboratively push the independence restoration agenda and headed by Mr. Tassang Wilfred, one of the Consortium leaders who had escaped to Nigeria for safety after the arrest of two of his Colleagues. From SCACUF to the Southern Cameroons Ambazonia Governing Council and presently to the Interim Government of the Federal Republic of Ambazonia, the majority masses have given their support to the leaders with just one goal in their minds – the Restoration of the independence of Southern Cameroons. The release of three revolutionary leaders and a few others by the colonial administration was welcomed with a lot of euphoria, but that did not change the people’s resolve to be free from the hands of LRC.

On the 22nd of September, 2017, the Southern Cameroons people took the colonial government unaware and went out massively to send two clear messages to the colonizer – the illegal marriage is over and release all our compatriots in your prisons. On the 1st of October, 2017, the Independence of Southern Cameroons was officially restored by the interim President, H.E Sissiku Ayuk-Tabe. The massive protests of 22nd September and the massive celebrations of 1st October saw the unleashing of genocide by the colonial forces, carefully supervised by colonial authorities. More than 200 Ambazonians were killed, more than 1000 arrested and thousands displaced from their homes, most of whom are currently taking refuge in neighboring Nigeria. Since then, the mayhem has continued but this hasn’t change the determination of the people. In fact, the brutality and genocide has radicalized Ambazonians who are now yearning for the resources to be made available for them to defend themselves and continue to resist for the complete liberation of the homeland.

Today being the 1st anniversary of the revolution, the momentum is still on and the heat is even getting hotter despite the reopening of some city schools and the determination of some colonial agents like the mayor of Buea to kill the ghost towns. However, the level at which the revolution is at the moment is not very much dependent on the school boycotts and Ghost towns, but on serious diplomatic efforts and self-defense actions on ground. The people are increasingly being terrorized and extorted by colonial forces who think they can kill the moment through these means. The people now depend very much on the diplomatic breakthroughs of the Interim Government and the Self-defense actions of revolutionary warriors. Whatever it is to be done and however it is to be done to completely liberate the homeland; that is what the people on ground zero do not know. What they do know is that Ambaland shall be free and their own duty is to resist the occupier and they have been doing just that from the 21st November, 2016 to today 21st November, 2017.

IF the colonial authorities of La Republique du Cameroun (LRC) were to successfully kill this Revolution today and gain back full control of Southern Cameroons/Ambazonia, the people would ever live to regret why they had to join the teachers’ strike on the 21st Novemeber, 2016. This means that, Southern Cameroonians would never be free to move on the streets of LRC, not to talk of working with LRC citizens in the same offices. The people would have worst nasty encounters with LRC citizens in government offices, not to talk of the colonial forces. LRC would do everything at their disposal to buy over every possible revolutionary mind in Southern Cameroons, and if possible eliminate any resistant voice that would be difficult to buy over. In fact, Southern Cameroons revolutionary diaspora would never be able to see their families, except family members visit them or they would be targeted and eliminated immediately they are sighted around the airports vicinities in Douala or Yaounde. MANCHO BIBIXY and all Ambazonians in their gulags would have become their preys and they would use them to setup warning posts for any future dissenting voices in Southern Cameroons. In all, Southern Cameroons activism would be silenced in perpetuity. One year into the Revolution, is any Ambazonian ready to live such a life?

Happy Revolutionary Anniversary

Agbor James, BaretaNews Political Ananlyst