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Thursday, February 6, 2014

Cameroon Census Project: Interesting Debate Ongoing on the Viability then and now of the Southern Cameroons. Anglophones falling apart in Britain.

The Glasgow Herald - December 1, 1959.

REPORT ON SOUTHERN CAMEROONS

LAGOS, Nigeria, Monday.Tthe Government of the Southern Cameroons have been told that at its present state of development the territory would not be capable of surviving as an independent nation.

The report of an inquiry conducted by Sir Syney Philipson, former chairman of the Ibadan University College Council, recommended that a further period of British Trusteeship might help the territory develop financial strength. Reuter.
  • Mukefor Dennis Besong Tambe A good read for SCNC stalwarts and historical revisionists.
  • Frederick Ambe And for all Cameroonians, know their history, understand why some people are dissatisfied with the status quo.
  • Mukefor Dennis Besong Tambe The once mighty British Empire builders had been enfeebled economically by two World Wars and were in no mood to nurse Southern Cameroons into a viable state. Erstwhile leaders of Southern Cameroons took their territory's destiny into their own hands and campaigned vigorously for reunification with their brotherly East Cameroon.
  • Dibussi Tande The Phillipson report has been challenged over the years, including by Reuben Frodin of American University, barely two years after its publication. The case has been made in many quarters that the dire predictions in the report were simply to coerce Southern Cameroons to stay within the Nigerian federation. In fact what the report actually says is that Southern Cameroons would need a minimum of one million pounds sterling per year for capital development and an initial nonrecurring expenditure of $1.6 million in the event of separation from Nigeria. Notice the focus on separation from Nigeria which the report said would be disastrous for Southern Cameroons. 

    Phillipson also predicted the collapse of the Southern Cameroons public service in the event of the departure of Nigerian and British administrators. However, as we have seen, the West Cameroon administration was able to survive in spite of this departure (see former Governor Enow Tanjong's recent interview in Cameroon Tribune for an eyewitness account). 
    In the end, the report was a product of its time rather than an accurate predictor of the future. After all, didn't SC end up being the "money maker" for the Cameroon Republic with the discovery of oil reserves in rio del Rey?
  • Mukefor Dennis Besong Tambe Dibussi Tande. I have studiously avoided wading into Governor Tanjong's recollections of the nascent West Cameroon civil service. We all know that high ranking expatriates (including British) served in that civil service. I have a bound copy of the Wes...See More
  • Moki Monono Union with East cameroon meant 50 years of no roads beween Mamfe and Bamenda and Mamfe and Kumba!We jioned a rich territory only to suffer from total neglect for 50 years!
  • Mukefor Dennis Besong Tambe Moki Monono. You are judging after the fact. The reality in 1959 was dire. Anglophones have actively participated in the contemporaneous politics of spoils that has aggravated the economic plight of the Anglophone regions.
  • Dibussi Tande Mukefor I agree that the economic situation of West Cameroon was dire after 1961 as evidenced by National Assembly debates that you refer to, however, this was largely due to the manner in which the economy of the territory was "integrated" into (or is it annexed by?) that of the French Cameroons. Too long to discuss here.

    BTW, no need to shy away from Governor Tanjong's interview which sheds light on how West Cameroon dealt with the issue of departing expatriate civil servants. Excerpt: "My action really was to make sure that the vacant places left by the departure of both Nigerians and the British in the public service were filled by Cameroonians. At the time we had recruitment of secondary school leavers. It was not actually recruitment because, as soon as they came out, we posted them to vacant posts in the ministries. So it was as if it was a posting and not really recruitment, as such, because we just needed them. As far as senior posts were concerned, these were also vacant and as soon as a Cameroonian returned, he found the post in the public service....

    We got Cameroonians back from the public service of Nigeria to the public service of West Cameroon. I was in the commission that visited Lagos in 1964 to make sure we had these civil servants. Most of them who decided to come back were integrated. I remember in particular our public works store department was lacking in personnel and we had to encourage Cameroonians to come back and all of them who came were integrated in the stores department of the then public service."

    I believe that if Southern Cameroons had become independent in 1961, it would have figured out a way to survive the economic hardship – just like many other less endowed African countries did.
  • Jude Eze No, Mola Tanda, Ahidjo heavily subsidized SC with sludge funds and appropriations. Shortage of funds to run the SC government gave RC maximum advantage in dictating the political landscape, one of which is the abrogation of SC to WC. SC/WC had only one asset, and that is CDC, with its subsidiary investments in transportation, produce, and lumber. It must be noted the CDC had a federal budgetary mandate in Nigeria, qualifying it for federal subsidies - this status RC continue to maintain till date. On the oil reserve issue, SC oil wealth and how much it contributes to the national budget of Cameroon remains a subject of intense academic, political, and monetary debate. But before launching a confab on such a debate, we must acknowledge the fact that since its discovery, oil production in the WC basin has been shrinking from 120000bpdy to about 400000 after the GTA (Green Tree Agreement). The wealth reserve of SC/WC is over-inflated: imagine as at today, Bakossi people don't fish in Mungo River in Western Bakossi because there is no fish migration from the seas as a result of a waterfall near Etam. Same thing, Cameroon huge oil reserve is not bringing money because it is underneath the mountain and contaminated with sulfur/sulphur. Note: if Bakassi had had the oil, Nigeria would not have pressured UN into accepting a deal that extended her territorial water by 150NM offshore, giving her a total of 250-300 NM maritime economic zone offshore, thus, allowing her offshore drilling sovereignty in almost 70% of the Gulf of Guinea basin. Cameroon as a whole has limited offshore mileage because of the geomaritime location of Gabon, Equatorial Guinea, and Nigeria. As of SC/WC, her territorial waters and offshore economic zone did not exceed 50 NM because of the geomaritime location if Equatorial Guinea, and Nigeria's expanded zone SS and SE of the Bakassi estuary. I think the Philipson Report was accurate.
  • Moki Monono West Cameroon revenue sources were federalised. The burden of financing primary education was also very heavy on the West Cameroon government which had abolished educational rates established earlier by A.D.Mengot. The inability of the West Cameroon government to meet its bills was the "Motif" Ahidjo used to close down the state of West Cameroon.
  • Jude Eze Molas, you are absolutely correct. Secondly, the Ahidjo's regime got further angry when it realized the ills of the "huge oil reserve", as major upstream companies and their financial houses, like Boston Bank started folding up and quitting Cameroon, a...See More
  • Louis Mbua The Phillipson report was a political Whitewash. Oil was known to exist in the Rio Del Rey region or Victoria Division as far back as 1908 under German protectorate (It must be noted that Cameroon was not yet a German colony). Secondly,Southern Cameroon had a huge human resource base, and a relatively ample educated work force as noted by Gov Enow Tanjong. To base an economy only on natural resources is to discount human ingenuity. Jude, West Cameroon had very many assets with potential to grow including the Tiko Wharf which strongly competed with Port Harcourt etc.I wonder whether it was French Cameroun who ran PowerCam. Today nobody can effectively run an electricity company. So, what is this about Southern Cameroons not being viable? This was a lie.
  • Louis Mbua Also, the West Cameroon government didn't have the powers to raise their own income tax. All taxes went to Yaounde. There was nothing wrong with that as it was a Federation. However, as Mola Moki Monono noted, this was used by Ahidjo (and France) to withhold Federal allocations for West Cameroon so as to destroy it. The state had many institutions that employed many people and many income generating resources such as cocoa and coffee. What happened to the taxes that were sent to Yaounde?
  • Frederick Ambe Thanks, Jude Eze for this edifying comment. You know, we do not learn our history in school and one is bound to resort only to rumour and eye-witness impressions in attempt to get facts on the goings on that have landed us in this quagmire.
  • Jude Eze Louis, West Cameroon had only one asset, and that is CDC. CDC is the parent company of Tiko/Victoria ports, Cameroon Bank, Mountain Hotel, Tiko Airport, the palm, rubber, tea, banana plantations, the troley rail network etc. Oil wad not gushing out until
  • Louis Mbua Jude, that is untrue. The CDC came after the Tiko/Victoria ports, and the Tiko Airport. The railway lines were there before the CDC. Tiko Port beat Port Harcourt in goods imported and exported in the 1950s and 1960s. I saw these things. The figures wil...See More
  • Louis Mbua Jude, that is untrue. The CDC came after the Tiko/Victoria ports, and the Tiko Airport. The railway lines were there before the CDC. Tiko Port beat Port Harcourt in goods imported and exported in the 1950s and 1960s. I saw these things. The figures will also line up with what I have given. Again, I didn't say oil "gushed" out. What I said was that oil was known to exist in LARGE quantities in the Rio Del Rey Area in 1908. This was discovered by the Germans and NOT by East Cameroon, French or the British the 1960s. These are lies.
  • Mukefor Dennis Besong Tambe Louis Mbua. Perhaps teachers, primary and secondary school graduates were not the best civil service material for a nascent country. Some of our erstwhile political leaders have owned up to their ignorance and political naivety. Governor Tanjong has co...See More
  • Mukefor Dennis Besong Tambe Louis Mbua. You are splitting hairs. CDC was the successor organization (trustee) to the historical assets of Southern Cameroons 'banana republic'.
  • Louis Mbua You see, Mukefor Dennis Besong Tambe, I am from a Teacher background. Teachers read books, and are aware of the geography and history of their locality and the world. Commercial exploitation is a different activity from knowing. Southern Cameroons was at least 100 times Lumumba's Congo in terms of the educated work force. You are making a mistake: Southern Cameroons was not a colony but a UN Trust Territory unlike Belgian Congo. As a result, there certainly would have been far more educated people there. I do not want to name names. As to oil, I do not need any evidence from colonials. The locals knew it was there because they saw it. The Germans merely confirmed it.
  • Louis Mbua Mukefor Dennis Besong Tambe, the CDC is not the "successor" of anything. It was a company that rose out of the ashes of several wars and the burning down of places. The good thing is that it helped all Cameroon. Before the CDC, other powerful events had occurred that created the ports, airports,plantations, industry, railways, towns, education and cities. There were larger towns and commercial endeavours before the CDC or the colonials.
  • Ntemfac Ofege People, I found this input from Prof Carlson Anyangwe in an ITW to Abakwatimes most revealing. 3. Question of economic viability. The person you refer to also says there was ‘reunification’ because Foncha and other Southern Cameroons politicians conceded at the UN that the Southern Cameroons is economically not viable. Just because those statements were made does not mean the Southern Cameroons was indeed not economically viable. Even those who are doubting Thomas now know that the Southern Cameroons has always been economically viable. But why were those statements made? It was all part of the British strategy to induce the Southern Cameroons to return to Nigeria. The strategy started with Sir Phillipson’s 1959 consultancy report, commissioned by the British, on the consequences of the separation of the Southern Cameroons from Nigeria. In an interim report based only on a two-day visit to CDC plantations in Tiko and Victoria, Sir Phillipson claimed that the Southern Cameroons as an independent state would not be economically viable. This was a rushed report. The British wanted it for use at the upcoming 14th session of the United Nations General Assembly as evidence of its claimed non-economic viability of the Southern Cameroons so as to support “the consistent firmness” of its repeated view at the UN that the Southern Cameroons must be integrated into “the socially advanced protectorate of Nigeria.” As the Southern Cameroons delegation was preparing to leave for the UN, Sir Phillipson purposely made the report available to the delegates so as to deflect them from pushing for separate independence. At the UN Foncha, Mbile and Ntumazah repeated Sir Phillipson’s line. This was echoed by Edmond of New Zealand, Espinosa of Mexico, and Sir Andrew Cohen of the UK who also mentioned “the added difficulties concerning staff” (a comical situation where the British were pleading their own failure to build Southern Cameroons human capacity as a reason for denying the territory independence). But Afghanistan and Guinea rightly pointed out that the question of economic viability was irrelevant when it comes to decolonization. Miss Brooks of Liberia who was in the chair then concluded that paragraph 2 of the draft resolution before the Committee “would serve to allay any apprehension that the Southern Cameroons might become independent as a separate entity, an eventuality which all were agreed should be ruled out in view of the territory’s limited economic potential.” 
    Now all this was incorrect. First, in the law of self-determination it is for the people to determine the destiny of the territory and not for the territory to determine the destiny of the people. Secondly, the economic viability issue was a red herring. If it was really a critical issue one wonders why the UN never conducted an economic assessment of the territory to determine is economic potential and viability. Thirdly, after that UN session, and with the objective of the economic non-viability thesis having been achieved, Sir Phillipson proceeded with his consultancy assignment for another week and wrote a final report. In the final report he stated that the interim report he had released was “of restricted circulation as it seemed advisable that those attending the 14th session of the General Assembly of the United Nations from the Southern Cameroons should be acquainted with my provisional conclusion.” He then admitted that the interim report was obsolete and should be disregarded. His final report came up with a more nuanced conclusion to the effect that “as a completely independent and sovereign state, the Southern Cameroons would not, at its present stage of development, be viable.” That was in 1959 and by 1961 even that final report had become out of date. 
    http://fr.scribd.com/.../Abakwa-Times-Interviews...
    www.scribd.com
    Professor Anyangwe, one of the fathers of the Southern Cameroons movement discusses the origins of the Southern Cameroons and the problems with its decolonization that resulted in in black on black colonization by the Republic of Cameroon. (La Republique du Cameroun. In this interview he debunks Dr…
  • Mukefor Dennis Besong Tambe Ntemfac Ofege. Why did the League of Nations put Cameroon under Trusteeship if the opinion of an administering power should be irrelevant? Perhaps you should back date Cameroon's economic viability to 1919. That way, British opinion would have been immaterial in 1959. "At the UN Foncha, Mbile and Ntumazah repeated Sir Phillipson’s line." Southern Cameroons leaders agreed with Sir Philipson's assessment which would not have been based solely on a "two day visit" as Carlson Anyangwe states. There were economic statistics on Southern Cameroons GDP. The SCNC is obfuscating and you know it. Classic Monday morning quarterbacking.
  • Louis Mbua Well, What are these statistics Mukefor Dennis Besong Tambe. To the very best of my knowledge, that territory had never been "poor". Today people keep writing about "poor". What evidence have you got ? When was there a mass hunger or unemployment apart from today. Anyway what happened to the Re-unification celebrations? One is shocked to see people supporting clear injustice. Ok, let Biya and his regime invite the UN and the British to celebrate the Unification ("50TH" anniversary). We'll see how this would be possible with all the deception that went on since 1959. Nobody of international stature and integrity will attend such a "grande ambition" because all is based on falsehood.
  • Mukefor Dennis Besong Tambe Louis Mbua.Mola, rest assured that the British High Commissioner and UN Representative in Yaounde will join our Reunification celebrations in Buea. We are putting the final touches to the required facelift. Anglophone political leaders have long failed to clamour for a facelift to their erstwhile political capital. We now have a lot of work in our hands before the party.
  • Ntemfac Ofege Dear Mr Mukefor Dennis Besong Tambe. Upon request I'd email you the transcripts of the various UN Committee Sessions on the Southern Cameroons which proves that under duress the Britisher retracted his so-called findings on the Southern Cameroons. Also, the very early Southern Cameroonian nationalists did not give the Germans respite in the rejection of German colonisation but I do also have documents to prove that the Germans knew about mighty oilfields onshore and off the shores of the future Federal Republic of AmbaBimbia long before the British took over.
  • Louis Mbua Mukefor Dennis Besong Tambe, If you invite the British High Commissioner in Yaounde to a party, he will attend -- if you are "good" friends. This is completely different if Prince Charles/Queen/Cameron or the UN Secretary General are invited, and they accept and come. Well,in this case, THEY WILL NEVER COME. So, why don't they test this challenge and invite them.
  • Louis Mbua Mukefor Dennis Besong Tambe, the trouble in Cameroon is that people enjoy pomp and circumstance without knowing the exact meaning, and that they are prepared to sweep everything under the carpet to look "good". Well, there is good news and bad news. First, the bad news: nobody takes such people seriously. Now, the good news: those who attend will drink, dance, eat and then regret......
  • Mukefor Dennis Besong Tambe Louis Mbua. Mola, those of us who have slugged it out in the private sector to earn our keep would not mind frolicking in State largesse for a change. After all, our State revenues are footing the bill. Some of you enjoyed State largesse as sponsored students in fancy foreign universities.
  • Louis Mbua Ok. Enjoy Mukefor Dennis Besong Tambe. But man no forget tomorrow, man no make erreur.
  • Dibussi Tande Jude , I am not sure what part of my comment you're disagreeing with . The facts and figures that you've provided above do not contradict my position. No one is arguing about the basic facts in the Phillipson report - the Southern Cameroons economy wasgloomy to put it mildly. What many take issue with the report are the conclusions which were tailored to suit British political intentions for Southern Cameroons. If we were to use the Phillipson standard on today's Cameroon, then we will probably have to shut down the country and hand over the keys to Equatorial Guinea! The Phillipson report was an economic report with a political conclusion. BTW, it was not only the Southern Cameroons economy that was shored up by the British. Check how much the British spent to make up for the Nigerian deficit during that same period.

    In the same vein, no one argues that the federal government supported West Cameroon financially between 1961 and 1972, and that this was one of the reasons Ahidjo used to justify the dismantling of the Federal System. However, there is abundant literature today that clearly shows that that same federal government deliberately created and reinforced the conditions for this dependence. This is a fundamental element that cannot be ignored in any balanced analysis of that period. Of course, this does not absolve West Cameroon leaders of any financial blunders that they may have made on a variety of issues.

    Back to my original point; The Phillipson report's dire predictions were largely shaped by non-economic considerations. I believe southern Cameroons would have found a way to alleviate, if not resolve, its economic issues had it become an independent state - just like other African countries did. This was the 1960s and an independent SC would have had other options to seek financial redress other than the British exchequer.
  • Mukefor Dennis Besong Tambe Dibussi Tande. Perhaps you are right that Southern Cameroons would have muddled along. I doubt though, because more endowed countries like Zaire are still muddling along today because of initial unpreparedness. I also suspect that the British were wary of brewing tribal tensions. Southern Cameroons tribes were increasingly at daggers drawn.
  • Dibussi Tande Mukefor Maybe, maybe not - but Zaire is an extreme example. I doubt though that an independent SC would be dealing with this kind of road network half a century after independence...http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rjQOrEQTbDk
    www.youtube.com
    Ekok-Mamfé, Cameroon, september 2012, rainy season. Ben and Daniele from Switzerland in a Nissan Patrol. Mariska and Jan from The Netherlands in a DAF YA 444...
  • Jude Eze Louis, CDC is the successor corporation to a Deutchgesellschaft Gmbh, I don't know the exact name. After the final defeat of the Germans in the Battle of Dschang, their properties in Cameroon became war spoils. After intense negotiations, the Britishdecided to sell CDC to a French Company, which indigenous Nigerians like Zik, and Sir Odemegwu Ojukwu protested to the Court of St James, and the entire real estate was put in a London auction, and was bought by Nigeria and returned back to the indigenous people of Fako whose land was confiscated, and their fate sealed in mountain reservations with only drinking water that flows till date. CDC was never a British company by any means. CDC became incorporated while headquartered in Lagos, and most of its produce shipped to Britain. CDC, with federal subsidies started venturing in other areas such ad transportation, banking, hotel/hospitalities etc, among these ventures are troley rails, seaport, airport, mountain hotel, Cameroon bank/development bank. The generation, transmission, and distribution of electricity was done solely by the Electricity Corporation of Nigeria, ECN. It must be noted that federal appropriations from Lagos and Enugu to keep these ventures solvent was what created the mutual assured distrust between the Igbo politicians who lobbied hard to get this money and the NW politicians who got angry at the unequal distribution and appropriation of federal money for infrastructure development in Southern Cameroon. This is the main reason of the recalcitrant behavior of NW politicians, and the beginning of the secession from Enugu first, and then, Nigeria. This is where the Igboman became the devil that many Cameroonian see today. The Tiko port was heavily funded from Enugu to facilitate movement of people and cargo to and from major markets and industries in the Eastern Region. The truth is that SC , with limited resources, apart from agriculture, was not financially viable. The whole idea of Ahidjo wanting a united republic of Cameroon was to advance century-long Islamic vision of conquering West and Central Africa and ruling it from the Tuareg deserts in Mali to Mid-Atlantic, and not because of natural resources in SC.
  • Mukefor Dennis Besong Tambe Dibussi Tande. What a shame to have a major road in this condition. Cameroon is littered with many such roads. Again the failings of Anglophone and Francophone politicians. We have had three Anglophone Prime Ministers, an Anglophone Minister of Public Works and Manyu ministers in every government since 1961. There is no attention to outlying provinces.
    22 hours ago · Like · 1
  • Dibussi Tande Mukefor This is the gateway to Nigeria, Cameroon's number one trading partner...
    21 hours ago · Like · 1
  • Louis Mbua Mola Dibussi Tande, The Sir Philipson report was already biased from the beginning. Southern Cameroons economy was tied to Nigeria; it was an autonomous UN territory in the Nigerian Federation. So, how was he to decouple that economically and humanly and then safely come up with an economic conclusion without bias? Now, people keep saying Ahidjo subsidised. How? Did the people of West Cameroon not pay taxes to Yaoundé? What happened to these taxes and how much? -- Co-corporation and income? CDC is still paying corporation taxes and land rents to Yaoundé. How much since 1961? Nobody can tell. Tomorrow people will say Yaoundé “subsidised” Anglophones. How?
  • Jude Eze Louis, most of the tax revenues from SW is from custom duties and other businesses. Limbe has no oil, Ndian has, but it is useless, otherwise EUROIL would have join the Upstream League. The night fire on top of the mountain is not honey, it is volcanic fire. If it was honey, sosucam would have gone out of business.
  • Louis Mbua Jude, I am not talking about oil. I am talking about income and corporate taxes in WC. Now, the tax revenues and earnings of people and industry and business. For people to keep saying things like they were "subsidised" is grossly misleading unless the people were beggars who never worked. These are lies.
  • Louis Mbua Also, if they think it is a "burden", why are they still there? One would expect that if people are a burden to another people, they'd pack and leave. So, let them leave and see whether everybody there will die of starvation and want. We keep saying things that make little sense. The most important thing is to work on the strengths of each group in a nation. This idea about "they had this, that one didn't have" is what is killing Africa with people fighting everyday because "they have and the other didn't". How is one to put a material value to human resources in the first place? Were we not laughing at Equatorial Guinea just 20 years ago? This was in assumption that we "have" while they didn't: completely discounting their human potential.
  • Jude Eze Mola Tande, my "no" was not an objection to your comment, but a general outcry.
    16 hours ago · Like · 1
  • Jude Eze Louis, what income and corporate taxes. How many companies were in WC - with the exception of Bata in Moliwe, all others were subsidiaries of CDC. Second WC did not have a solid income tax base because of the limited economic activities in the region. Now, the port in Tiko was an inland river jetty with maximum draft to handle vessels up to 10000tons, but it was jetty design to supplement Bota Port which did not have such draft for larger vessels. Most shipments were smuggled, thus depriving the state of revenue, but how much, not enough to pay powercam bills. The people paid poll tax which was mainly used to support healthcare delivery, even that, WC could not handle the cholera outbreak in 1970.
  • Louis Mbua Really? Jude, I believe you are discussing somewhere else. This is Tiko Wharf in its hey days of Southern Cameroons. It was designed by the Germans and built with native labour, many of whom died. No tax base? Is this some kind of a joke?
  • Louis Mbua Tiko Wharf again. About 1959 when the Sir Philipson report was written.
  • Louis Mbua Jude, you wrote:"The people paid poll tax which was mainly used to support healthcare delivery, even that, WC could not handle the cholera outbreak in 1970." It wasn't "Poll tax". It was an equivalent of National Insurance contribution as in the UK.Who told you they could not handle the cholera outbreak? You think it is today that elderly people and children cannot obtain treatment? People die everyday from the most basic of illnesses. It is not how large a nation is in size but how they care for their population so that they may develop socially, politically and technologically. Now that was Tiko in 1959. Fast forward today. Can we imagine what it would have looked like 55 years later? What a disgrace. it is the reverse!
  • Louis Mbua Tiko port again. Jude, there is no "river" within the Tiko port system -- it is asea port -- Atlantic ocean and not a "river port". The river is in Douala --The river Wouri. This river brings sand that clogs the Douala port at the estuary. 10000 tons and you think this is small? An average car weighs about 1 - 2 tons.An elephant weighs about 6 tons.So, about 1700 elephants could dock there at a stretch or 5000 - 10000 cars. Now,please answer me. What happened to these tax revenues from 1961 - 1972 or 1975?
  • Jude Eze Tiko is like Calabar, not in open sea like Limbe or Lagos. The water in Tiko is fresh water and not sea water - it is the estuary of River Mungo. Yes, Tiko Port has maximum draft but the ingress from open sea is narrow and not buffeted enough for international maritime traffic. At low tide, the draft drops terribly low. In those days much of traffic were of CDC. There was a rail into the port for the hauling of banana, rubber, oil, and timber. Most imports to SC are done transshipment modes - that is, they arrive Lagos and shipped to SC by road and sea. The more reason why Nigeria wanted to invest in the Limbe as lately as during the Clinton Administration when Transport Secretary Rodney Slate visited Yaounde to negotiate investment at the Limbe Port.
    2 hours ago · Edited · Like · 1
  • Louis Mbua Jude, Tiko is not Calabar where you have the River Akwayafe as a "waterway" port just near to Bakassi. River Mungo does not empty in Tiko! It joins the river Wouri as tributary before emptying into the sea. That is why River Wouri is very huge -- about one mile wide -- the Bonaberi bridge spans it -- in Douala. The water where Tiko port sits is sea water -- salty and not fresh water. I have shown you photographs which totally contradicts your imaginings. There are many smaller ports in Tiko apart from the main one in the photograph-- Bwenga, Modeka etc
  • Louis Mbua Jude, the Tiko port is an example of Engineering marvel. Calabar trails far behind. Firstly, the Germans cut out all the possibilities of vehicles coming into the port and used narrow gauge railway system, and thus maximised/optimsed available space. Secondly, only the best ship pilots could navigate their way into the port with the countless channels and stand just straight on the edge of the quay. You didn't need any "jetty" to go into the ship to off load cargo from a 10000 ton ship. Look at the third photo. Is that the same as Calabar! Please, it is unncessary to try to down play the history of that part of Cameroon. We know it because we saw it, and are aware of the lies that have been paraded by enemies of the people. Please, do not fall for such massive falsehoods.
  • Ntemfac Ofege Gentlemen, Could I make bold to suggest to MessrsJude A Ozughen. Jude Eze. Louis Mbua. Emil Mondoa. Dibussi Tande.Mukefor Dennis Besong Tambe...and all who care to join them to engage in a community service? Answer this question for us: Is Project Southern Cameroons Economically Viable? Find herein attached a draft that we worked on some years ago. An update and a review of this document will be very useful in the coming days. Could I make bold to suggest that the Judes chair this project? Thanks in advance.http://fr.scribd.com/doc/2088223/Socam-Prosperity-Pact
    www.scribd.com
    Private Document, for BSC Government
  • Emil Mondoa Of course, it is economically viable, more viable than independent Gambia. The professor from Ibadan who proposed prolonging the trusteeship for some years had the right answer. After all there were entities that were declaring independence from UK as late as 66 and 68. One of the things that the UK did was to hand over customs and excise to Yaounde. These are huge revenue streams for any government. The real reason we are in today's situation has nothing to do with economics, but with the fact that Britain regarded Nigeria at the time as a client state, and preferred Southern Cameroons to be part of that client state. It did not. Envisage another scenario.


On Wed, Feb 5, 2014 at 4:17 PM, Fred Kemah <fred.kemah@hotmail.co.uk> wrote:
 

Fellow Cameroonians,
 
The biggest mistake is to pretend as if there no anglophone -francophone  gap  currently existing within the cameroonian society back home and communities abroad.
 
London for example is the capital of angloxasonism and is the capital of  Common Wealth of which Cameroon is a member. Coherent with the fact that demography is in favour of Cameroonians of French mother tongue, it is regrettable for me to  publicly admit that  from a community perspective the Cameroonian community  in London is under the directives of our francophone brothers . And there are moments where, this has impacted controversially at the Cameroonian embassy. Please look at the mailing list of distinguished Cameroonians in the UK. Loads to desire.
 
Please note that I am not derogatory and have  nothing sinister from my narrative towards my francophone brothers and sisters. The purpose  of this email is to tell the anglophone communities especially in London that we are sleeping and for too long. Please wake up and restore the authority and respect we deserve as  anglophones.
 
Let me ask you this question: How could  you accomodate the fact that top Cameroonians from  Britain  to represent our community in Cameroon and abroad are made up of Francophones solely? It is physiological to entertain the idea that  representatives from France be made of francophones in  toto.  It is a shame that our francophone brothers are taking the lead in the US and Europe in terms of Cameroonianism in Diaspora.
 
 Some of the  reasons why we have been  surpassed by francophones are :  unexplained hatred, envy, bitterness , bias, destructive gossiping, malicious falsehood , the joy for the unhappiness of a  fellow anglophone brother , the Bamenda-Buea suspicious tendencies.
 
Please we should stop this non- sensical Buea-Bamenda hatred. Bamenda people are our natural brothers and sisters. We have one thing in common , ie the language. If we dont stop this North West -South  West bias, then  we are destined to perish as anglophones.
 
The Bamilekes considered to be the most undesirable tribal group in Cameroon because they cherish money more than God and the oxygen we all take in ,have dimonstrated coherence at all times and are currently misleading us  in the sense that they have natural francophone tendencies. Bamileke people have more sympathy for francophones.  Be reminded that you have more Bangantes as Bamileke anglophones because they were targeted by the Ahidjo regime  and had to flee their homes and villages  just to find refuge in our regions , notably SW. But it is clear to everyone that they have a proper and well structured net work with a view to supporting in each other. But Bamilékés are francophones .
 
 
I will take this opportunity to inform the Cameroonian world that I do not cultivate any form of political ambitions . I thank YOU for the numerous invites asking me to join  CPDM-RDCP and other political parties. Regrettably, the nature of my job does not permit me to engage in politics. People are badly in  need of my help as a clinician. On the other hand, I find it extremely uncomfortable to be part of a party  that has occupied a lucrative position for more than thirty years. It is a  sin for an intellectual of my calibre to endorse such a system . However, like I said on TV , we  the ordinary   citizens are grateful to Mr. Biya for the long term peace we are enjoying.
 
Regarding our political future  , this is my view : There is no opposition within the Cameroonian political setting and the main threat to CPDM , and therefore  to the future of Cameroon   are disgruntled  CPDM militants; that explains why CPDM has more political prisoners than any other so called political party in Cameroon.
 
 
God Bless Us
 
Mola Fred
 
 
 
 
 

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