Paul Biya is responsible for the disastrous state of Cameroon by Elie Smith

Paul Biya is responsible for the disastrous state of Cameroon

The economy is down, unemployment sky high, corruption beyond words. Poor governance and appalling human rights record. Crises everywhere in the country. The area in which Paul Biya has demonstrated his incompetence is in the management of the Anglophone crisis. His friends in Cameroon and abroad will frown at this, but it’s the truth.

The current problems began with professional demands unmet by the government and metamophosed into a political demands, for historic wrongs to be corrected.

If you are an honest Cameroonian, you will know that, behind each professional demands of Anglophone Cameroonians, lies the grief of having been cheated in this Union.

What is shocking in all this is that, Paul Biya knows the root causes of the current crisis. But he has refused to address them. He thinks brutal force will beat Anglophones into submission. In his desire to suppress Anglophone Cameroonians, he is not only supported by some Cameroonians, but shockingly by western countries who claims to be custodians of democracy and respect for human rights.

It is now evident that, we are on our own and those western countries marketing liberal democracy prefer dictatorial regimes that serves and protect their interests.

To show that Paul Biya masters the causes of current crisis, he even presided over a special commission in 1978 and had as deputy, a certain Dorothy Njouma. Yet, he keeps on behaving like an ostrich. Most people who were part of the 1978 commission are either quiet or have become apologists of the regime.

In that 1978 commission , the only person who seems to be bold and honest enough to admit that, the people of West Cameroon have been cheated is David Abouem Achioyi.

The rest have either shut up their mouths as already stated or are acting like Paul Biya by either refusing the truth or brutalising Anglophones and yes, some moderate Francophones. Presiding over Cameroon for 35 years, Paul Biya has succeeded a feat, the destruction of the capacity and ability of most Cameroonians to think rationally. He is a calamity to this nation-state. His victims are mostly those who claim to be intellectuals.

These ones are the most dangerous, because they are using their knowledge for sinister purposes. Then you have the rest, who for fear of being arrested or losing the little privilege that, the system may have given them, tend to be moles and zealots in betrayal and in refusing to accept the reality.

Today, you can’t say or write anything about the current crisis, especially when you relay the truth, without you bring called names. What those refusing the truth want is that, the atrocities taking place in the two English-speaking regions of Cameroon should be ignored. However, they want you to denounce the killings of Cameroonian security forces.

What supporters of Paul Biya and his crimes committed on Anglophones, fail to understand is that, for Anglophones to have arrived at this state, they have undergone a lot of injustices in this country. These injustices are not the mere insults of Biafra, Bamenda or les enemie dans la maison. It’s also about wanton killing, rape and now forceful exile, which didn’t start today.

As I write this, there are about 30 thousand Anglophone Cameroonians in exile. Many more have been killed, their properties and villages destroyed. But without shame, most of those who claim are our compatriots publicly call for the assassination of Anglophones. Any Anglophone who is out spoken is either sidelined or shown the door if he is working.

But the one solely responsible for the demise of our nation-state is Paul Biya

Elie Smith

Journalist

Failure of Colonial Education and Policies In Cameroon: A Descent of No Return by Sessekou Asu Isong

ENAM has failed Cameroon with colonial education and policies! One of the greatest calamities ever conceived and implemented by a creature walking on two limbs is this monstrosity called ENAM. The curriculum was designed in the nineteenth century by the French colonial masters. It wasn’t fit for purpose then and it isn’t fit for purpose now. But, the intellectual inactivity of the so-called academic authorities in French Cameroon have failed to grasp this simple fact. This nineteenth century model of education was intended by the colonial masters to educate the natives of the day on following their orders. It was accepted as true by the colonialists that the native was intellectually and physically inferior. This system of education was designed to purport such scandalous falsehood. This absurdity, still sustained by this idiocy of a regime is designed for students to study magistracy and administration. Intakes are admitted after a fraudulent selection process. The old mantra of ‘it’s not what you know, it’s who you know’ is its motto. The place is full of the well-connected not the academically brilliant. Even by its standards, this year’s intake was embarrassing. When you hear some people talking about this disaster of an establishment, you might be forgiven to think they are talking about Harvard Law School or London School of Economics. To accurately appreciate an educational organization, one would have to look at its graduates. If a great number of its graduates are making great contributions to their societies, the logical conclusion is that it’s a great institution. That can’t be said of ENAM It’s pathetic that future graduates go in with the dream of coming out to join an ever expanding public service with one intention- join the bribery and corruption conveyor belt. Upon graduation, they get their ‘matricule numbers’ and are posted so they can start ripping the rewards of their labour. Thus we find ourselves with magistrates and administrators who don’t understand the law, people and are clueless about administration. Now, the conundrum presents itself. The products of ENAM are running the country. They are faced with a crisis, the first real political difficulty to face the nation since 1961 and have no answers. They find themselves with nineteenth century schooling and directives in the twenty-first century. I suppose some of the lessons they take at ENAM are; if someone opposes your policies and politics, offer them a huge bribe to buy their silence if someone opposes you, ban them from entering the country of their birth. if someone has a different point of view from you, hunt them down even if it means breaking international law. citizens protest peacefully, shoot them. In the twenty-first century, the political, legal and administrative gods of La Republique, who habitually products of ENAM collectively believe that it’s not abnormal to try citizens in a military tribunal. Kim Jong-un must be aghast at the legal system in La Republique. Many in government haven’t grasped the enormity of the task facing the nation. The policies of the last 57 years have failed the people of British Southern Cameroons woefully. But with a degree of self-importance never before seen upon planet earth, the administration of La Republique led by products of ENAM are failing to see their apparent shortcomings. Until and unless it’s accepted that these colonial policies and education model are not adequate to deal with twenty-first century problems, many in Cameroun are in for a massive shock. The shoot to kill policies of the past intended to quiet legitimate protests will not work. As Ambazonians, we refuse to accept outdated and imperialist institutions and instructions as they have no place in this century. Until these policies and abuse stop, we shall resist, resist and resist arrogance and occupation till the end.

Sessekou Asu Isong