NI JOHN FRU NDI, THE S.D.F. AND THE OBSESSION FOR FEDERALISM
BY SIMON FUH NGWA.
It is no news to Cameroonians in particular and the world at large that Ni John Fru Ndi and his Social Democratic Front (S.D.F.) party have time without number emphasized their stand for a return to federalism as a panacea to what has become popularly known as the Anglophone crisis. In a civilized and democratic world where freedom of speech and opinion is the rule, nobody should have any qualms with that position. Judging from the informed minds that led to the founding of the S.D.F. whose main objective was to articulate the Anglophone (Southern Cameroons) problem of constitutional violations and marginalization, hardly had the S.D.F. train left the station than it derailed. I am not a founding member of the S.D.F. but one thing I know is that I was present in Bamenda on May 26, 1990 when the S.D.F. was launched.
Thereafter, for fear of the unknown, denizens of the West Region who had settled in Bamenda massively moved their families to their places of origin. The launching of the S.D.F. according to these people was interpreted to mean restoration of the independence of British Southern Cameroons. This was later confirmed by the violent attacks on Ni Fru Ndi and the party barons by the Yaounde oligarchy who saw such a courageous move as treason. Invectives were heaped on Fru Ndi as a mere bookseller who wants to become President of the nation. The then government delegate of the Yaounde city council, Emah Basile, referred to Anglophones as “Les ennemis dans la maison”; enemies in the house, while H.E. Ibrahim Mbombo Njoya,then Minister of Territorial Administration arrogantly declared on national television that if Anglophones were not happy with their status in Cameroon, they should go and look for their own country elsewhere. In fact, the much trumpeted national integration by Paul Biya in the eighties metamorphosed into xenophobia in 1990, thus confirming the dividing line between citizens of La Republique du Cameroun and Southern Cameroons.
These xenophobic utterances reminded me of a bitter experience I had in August 1989. I happened to have watched the second leg eliminatory match pitting Cameroon against Nigeria for the 1990 world cup finals in the house of a Beti neighbour in Bamenda. After Cameroon’s 2-0 victory over Nigeria, we were all jubilating and the neighbour’s six year old son walked up to me in total surprise and asked me in French, “Vous aussi vous etes contents? N’est-ce pas ce sont vos frères qu’on a battus?” (You too are happy? Is it not your brothers who have been defeated?) I was shocked and dumbfounded that even Francophone toddlers were taught by their parents to treat us as foreigners in our own country. That notwithstanding, Anglophones committed to safeguarding national unity forged ahead with their Francophone compatriots believing that the unholy union could be panel-beaten to accommodate the two cultures.
That was not to be because hardly had the xenophobic dust settled than it resurfaced again in 1992. Mr. Fru Ndi was highly acclaimed winner of the 1992 Presidential elections but barred from entering Etoudi on the grounds that a foreigner cannot rule Cameroon as Fru Ndi himself was to confess sometime in 1993 after a visit to Francois Mitterand in the Champs Elysees. He told some of his NEC members including the then 2nd Vice National Chairman, Dr. Martin Ngeka Luma at the Airport hotel in Tiko that François Mitterand advised him to accept the post of Prime Minister because an Anglophone can never rule a French province.
Prior to the 1996 municipal elections, Mr. Fru Ndi promised mayhem should there be any rigging. The elections were not only massively rigged but S.D.F. lists were rejected in S.D.F. strongholds. Cameroonians waited for the S.D.F. tornado but not even a soothing breeze was emitted by the party. In 1997, the S.D.F. was alleged to have won 92 out of the 180 parliamentary seats but was sympathetically offered a paltry 43 seats by Gilbert Andze Tschoungui, then Minister of Territorial Administration. In a televised interview, Mr. Fru Ndi assured Cameroonians that his 43 parliamentarians were going to cause an earthquake in the National Assembly. Truly enough they attempted a stir in the National Assembly which exposed certain parliamentary development packages which had hitherto been a secret reserve of the members of parliament. Thanks to the S.D.F. the likes of Monchipou Seidou and co. were prosecuted and jailed for misappropriation of public funds. Thereafter, the S.D.F. started nose diving down the precipice.
In 2001, Mr. Nfor Ngala Nfor and Mr. Augustine Feh Ndangam of the S.C.N.C. presented a copy of a London based magazine,” The Economist International of July 2000 to Mr. Fru Ndi in his Ntarikon palace. That edition of the magazine had an article entitled; “The S.D.F. vs S.C.N.C.” in which the editor asserted that the S.D.F. was losing considerable ground in Anglophone Cameroon due to the influence of the S.C.N.C. without gaining corresponding ground in Francophone Cameroon. They went on to predict that in the next Parliamentary election the S.D.F. was going to lose more seats. Instead of heeding to the advice from such a seasoned magazine with informed opinion, Mr. Fru Ndi snubbed it and true to his inconsistent nature resolved that the S.D.F. will start taking part in all national events. Mr. Nfor Ngala Nfor issued a press release requesting all English speaking Cameroonians to boycott all national celebrations.
To counter the S.C.N.C. press release, Mr. Fru Ndi issued a communiqué announcing the S.D.F. participation in National day celebrations all over the National territory. As if that was to be the magic wand for him to win corresponding ground in Francophone Cameroon, he personally participated in national day celebrations in Bamenda for the first time. Feeling very important as the leading opposition leader in Cameroon, he expected a VIP treatment at the Bamenda grand stand. Curiously enough and in typical La Republique du Cameroun style, he was ushered a seat on the third row behind Provincial Delegates and Provincial Chiefs of Services. I believe Mr. Fru Ndi thought walking away would have constituted more humiliation so he frustratingly accepted the humble position he was projected to. He later dejectedly turned down an invitation for the reception that followed.
After the proclamation of the 2002 parliamentary election results and as earlier predicted by The Economist International, the S.D.F. dropped from 43 seats to 21 and in 2007 they dropped to 17 seats losing considerable ground in Anglophone Cameroon but gaining none in Francophone Cameroon.
Mr. Fru Ndi is a very inconsistent man with no focus. After the successful commemoration of the 40th anniversary of the confiscated independence of British Southern Cameroons whereby several people were arrested and detained including the late Dr. Martin Luma who doubled as 2nd Vice National Chairman of the S.D.F. and National Chairman of the S.C.N.C., the next S.D.F. NEC (National Executive Committee) meeting had a heated debate on the issue. NEC members accused Dr. Luma of embarrassing the party by playing an active role in two organizations with divergent objectives. A motion was moved for him to drop one of them and an interesting drama ensued. A Francophone NEC member took his Anglophone peers to task by asking who of them will vote against the independence of Southern Cameroons if they had the option to do so. Nobody, not even the National Chairman, Fru Ndi, had the courage to raise a finger. Today, he turns around to shamelessly tell the world that federalism is the best option for Cameroon.
Let Fru Ndi garner courage and tell the world that he is obsessed with federalism because he finds himself inextricably linked to La Republique du Cameroun because of the illicit wealth he has amassed over the years and not because he believes federalism is the best form of government for Cameroon. If that were so, then he would have courageously raised his finger in 2001 that he will vote against the independence of Southern Cameroons. If far back 1990, the government of Cameroon could ask Anglophones to look for their own country elsewhere, what is therefore Fru Ndi’s interest in fighting to remain glued to them?
In 2011, when the President of the supreme court proclaimed the results of the heavily flawed Presidential elections, the S.D.F. filed in several litigations most of which were rejected by the same supreme court sitting in for the constitutional council. Mr. Fru Ndi openly told the judges in the supreme court that since they had rejected him, he too had rejected them and will never set his foot in their premises again. Thereafter the SDF, PAP,APF and CPP all parties headed by Anglophones planned a protest rally in Yaounde which was proscribed by the Senior Divisional Officer for Mfoundi on the grounds that Yaounde is not a capital for foreigners and requested them to go and demonstrate in their own capital, probably referring to Buea. On his return to Bamenda, he encountered more humiliation when Gendarmes blocked SONAC street and were forcing him to go through Ayaba hotel. His furious supporters came out, blocked the road and even burnt the car the Gendarmes used to obstruct his passage. They equally told Mr. Fru Ndi that they had had enough of Yaounde and that the solution to their problem will not come from Yaounde and openly challenged him to throw his weight behind the S.C.N.C. Informed wisdom says a true leader is one who listens to his people. By being so glued to his personal agenda against the aspirations of his people, is Fru Ndi portraying himself as a true leader?
Again in 2013, Mr. Fru Ndi promised to boycott senatorial elections if the play ground was not level for all the contestants. Curiously enough, after a meeting with North West C.P.D.M. big shots and in his true inconsistent nature, he went in for the election as head of the S.D.F. list for the North West even though nothing had changed in the electoral rules. Of course, you all know what the result was.
In his recent outing in Europe on BBC Focus on Africa, he openly declared his intention to challenge Biya in the 2018 Presidential election if voted during his party’s primaries. If, for over 27 years at the helm of the S.D.F., the party’s performance has been going down the precipice, what magic wand does he intend to use to turn the tides? If Cameroonians are criticizing the C.P.D.M. for dictatorial and monolithic leadership, can the S.D.F. claim to be any different? No doubt then why Fru Ndi and his S.D.F. are so obsessed with a federal system of government because they know that in a free Southern Cameroons/Ambazonia, there will be no room for dictatorship and monolithic leadership. The situation of the S.D.F. today can be likened to the days of slavery whereby S.D.F. militants represent the house slaves and the rest of Southern Cameroonians represent the field slaves. While the field slaves were fighting to regain their freedom, the house slaves uncertain of what the future had in store for them were fighting to remain as slaves provided they were sure of the crumbs that trickled down from the master’s table. The S.D.F. Parliamentarians, not sure of a seat in Buea, prefer the crumbs from Yaounde and are therefore fighting to forestall the independence.
In his book, “Arrow of God”, late Professor Chinua Achebe says, “No man, no matter how great he is, can ever win judgment against his people”. In that same book, he says a stubborn fly follows the corpse into the grave. If Mr. Fru Ndi and his S.D.F. think they are so great that they can stand on the way of Southern Cameroons’ independence, then they should know that they shall always be regarded as traitors by Southern Cameroonians. If they think that they represent the interest of Southern Cameroonians, then they should get the A.U. and U.N. to organize a referendum for Southern Cameroonians to vote on their political future with La Republique Du Cameroun. It should not be S.D.F. forcing the bitter pill down the throats of Southern Cameroonians as Mr. Fru Ndi has been forcing his agenda down the throats of S.D.F. militants. They should know that restoring the independence of Southern Cameroons is a God-ordained mission enshrined in the Bible which no human power can forsake; see John 8:32, Psalm 37:34, Proverbs 23:10,11. No matter how long you stir a mixture of water and oil the two shall never become one solution. No matter how long citizens of the two Cameroons have co-existed they can never become one people for they are diametrically opposed to each other. If Mr. Fru Ndi and his S.D.F. are the stubborn fly to follow the corpse to the grave, then they alone should be ready to go down the grave with La Republique Du Cameroun. They should leave the rest of our dignified Southern Cameroonians/Ambazonians out of it. God bless our beloved fatherland.
Simon Fuh Ngwa – Resident of Kumba, and Meme Secretary of the outlawed S.C.N.C. – From Bafut, Mezam County, Southern Cameroons
