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Ramble in the Jungle: This Day in 1961, October 1stFellow Country Wo/Men, Lend me your ears. We are not here to bury our country. It is not dead. Not yet. Never. We are here to help it rise from the ashes of a deliberate sabotage and resentful dismemberment of a fledgling Democracy, to a modern West African Anglophone State which would have been 55 Years old today.Children looking up ... Citizen Self-Rulers of TomorrowWe are facing elusive obstacles comprising of events, circumstances, and most unpredictable of all: People. The elusiveness is compounded by situations that seem invisible but whose effects are visible in the communities across our country. Whether you are dreaming of a Franco-Camerounese Occupation of our territory in 2035 or not, your needs may differ from those of committed Patriots of the State of former British Southern Cameroons. A patriot of this State is someone who is sworn to the Restoration of our Statehood and the immediate End of Occupation by Franco-Cameroun and/or its Systems that perpetuate the unnecessary suffering on our People. Note: we have no problem with Franco-Camerounese citizens - some are married to us and us to them. However, we refuse to be part of a system of governing that does NOT have our interests - the Ahidjo+Biya+OneManRule System. We intend to replace it with "Self-Rule" in the former British Southern Cameroons. How?Yes ... brute force ... to occupyThe Republique of Franco-Cameroun has NOT been HONEST with the State of former British Southern Cameroons - since 1961 till date. The historical records/testimonies show this to be true - dishonesty, misrepresentations, misinterpretations of legal texts, just plain lying and virtual use of brute force in order to continue occupying a State that WAS, IS, and WILL BE: The State of former British Southern Cameroons. Our citizens might question the desire by patriots to restore our statehood. A typical question could be: what difference does it make? Here is the difference: if there is one word to remember in this write-up, that word is - Self-Rule (OK, 2 words). When you rule yourself, you have no one else to complain to, but yourself. So ... Are you afraid to rule yourself? Obviously if you are a wo/man with any sense of self-respect and self-esteem, you will always opt for Self-Rule. So question again: is anyone afraid of self-rule? You tell me.I did not make this up. Her Majesty's Gov't did. So ... Does the British Gov't still have Responsibility here? Ask Her Majesty.Let us remind ourselves again what happened in 1961. 1961 was a marquee year for our people. There are 2 dates in 1961 that have an import on the lives of our citizens, yesterday, today and tomorrow: - February 11 - October 1st On February 11 & 12, 1961, a British Cameroons Plebiscite was held in the 2 territories of British Northern Cameroons & British Southern Cameroons. Note: plebiscite is another word for vote, referendum, ballot or poll. Voters were asked if they wanted to unite with Nigeria or Cameroun when independence is granted to the two regions. Here is the count on the number of Registered Voters: British Northern Cameroons = 292,985 British Southern Cameroons = 349,652Carving out spaces for "Peoples". We are a "Distinct People"Note and Context In 1961, 350,000 voters determined the fate of (currently) about 6 million+ citizens today. Since 1961 a lot has changed. For the better or for worse, only citizens can say. S/He who wears the shoe knows where it pinches most. Since I am wearing the shoe I can tell you where it is ... pinching. But what will I say that you do not already know? So instead of preaching to the choir, I will leave you with something to reflect on during the 55th Anniversary of the above events in 2016. The Algebra Here is the Algebra we need to solve: How to extricate ourselves from a UN+Franco-Camerounese Socio-Political trap and still be neighbors and friends with a Franco-Cameroun that refuses to end Occupation, and is also unable/unwilling to speak the governing language of our People: English. Our people should not need to learn French to survive. But they do now ... or they try to. Have you heard our people speak French? I have. Ahem! And that is NOT fair because the Franco-Camerounese citizens in the Cameroons learn to speak English as a dessert to their already majority entitlements. Ok, should I repeat that? I think I will. Here it is again: Franco-Camerounese citizens in the Cameroons learn to speak English as a dessert to their already majority entitlements.Self-Rule: Every vote should count. It is your backyard. No one else's. Africa is big. So everyone can have some space to breath.Citizens of the State of former British Southern Cameroons are already "bilingual" as it is: We speak our tribal languages first, then English. If you ask me, that is bilingual enough for a Wo/Man on the Street. Now if you want to add a third language, that is an entirely different matter that the individual citizen should decide on. That is why we may have citizens speaking Chinese, Russian, German, Swahili, Kwazulu etc ... but it is most important that the language of governance of any Community of people should not be a Ping-Pong game. You do not want mistakes in the hospital surgery room, because of a "bilingual" miscommunication. Governing a people has to do with very serious issues, so the writ of the language has to be clear, precise, to the point and apply directly to the people, in a language they clearly understand and can parse easily. Or else how do you dispense the law/justice if the writ of laws is caught somewhere between one so-called "official" language and the other? They say "bilingual", but you and I know that this is just on paper. And if you observe closely how the law is implemented, it could have been written with disappearing ink for all that it is worth. So when someone comes up to you from the Camerounese govt, the only language to speak to them is ... English. If they do not understand, then are they not violating a core principle of the arrangement between our two peoples? You tell me. Under other skies, a violation of this sort results in a legal process of correction. So if the law were written equitably, and our State + its citizens had equal status in this dispensation, no one from the State of former British Southern Cameroons will need to speak French - ever. But individuals can learn it, speak it, translate it, interpret it - in fact do whatever they want with it, but when it comes to government and policy in our State, the medium of communications is English, period. Why? History you cannot erase.This is not a Naija movie. This is history. Things happened and were recorded for posterity to do with what it sees fit.But this is not why this day - October 1st - is important. All future generations of our citizens will remember this day with sadness - until the Occupation ends. Our ancestors who stood the lines excitedly thinking they were preparing a firm foundation for a nascent brilliant, free and democratic English-speaking West African Nation, are looking to us now with mixed emotions of anxiety and hope, that we tie the loose ends up, put a bow on our State and celebrate our freedom everyday with pride and gratitude for the blessings that our land and people represent in today's world. I would have liked to say Happy Independence Day Brothers/Sisters, but we have a lot of work to do.Blessings TribalMonk
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