Dear Mr. Atenkeng,
Thank you for your honest, thoughtful reply. I am sorry if I do not answer your questions as posed. The simple reason is that most of the questions border on negationism or historical revisionism. However, when faced with a problem, there are several hats one can wear to solve the problem. If you wear the hat of an Anglophone secessionist, there is nothing you can see other than the partition of the country Cameroon into French and English. If you are a benefactor of the corrupt, parochial, and patrimonial system led by the junta Biya and his coterie of Anglophone and Francophone elitists and thieves, all arguments made against the government do not make sense. However, if you are a pragmatist like I am, your focus is to reach an end–goal. To do so, you must let go the emotions, even how strong they might be.
I believe in open debates. The public interest is well served by healthy public debates. However, the ongoing school boycott, disagreements, and discussions over the marginalization of Anglophone Cameroonians by regime junta Biya Paul, Philémon Yang, and their coterie of thieves has been hijacked and distorted by both the secessionist rebels and government extremists such as Issa Tchiroma.
The price for blocking constructive, reasonable, and respectful debates on substantive issues is the maintenance of the status quo. In fact, the divisive and impoverished claim for secession by power hungry still-birth Anglophone groups is an attempt to pollute our politics and culture, pitting Cameroonians against each other, and diminish our capacity as a people to intelligently build the cooperation needed to address the challenging problems of bilingualism, linguistic inequalities, internal self-determination, and kleptocracy in our country. This plays to the divide and rule tactics of the kleptocratic regime of the junta Biya.
I am an Anglophone Cameroonian, and no one can claim to feel the pain of marginalization more than myself. The Cameroonian Constitution affirms English and French as the official languages, equal in status, rights, and privileges. However, successive governments have given unfair advantages to French-speaking Cameroonians by illegally making French the de facto political and administrative language of the nation. Thus, in the current administrative structure, even a High School graduate who can run his mouth in French with little or no brains, may fair better than an erudite Anglophone professional who cannot express her/himself properly in the French language. I used the word 'nation' above not as a coincidence, nor a defined territory with physical borders, but about our shared state of mind, language, religion, traditions, cultures, customs, and beliefs as a people.
Cameroon is one of the many weakly institutionalized polities scattered across the continent of Africa. The problem of Cameroon is not an Anglophone vs. Francophone one, but a kleptocratic ruler, Biya, surrounded by a coterie of thieves, who are expropriating the wealth and livelihoods of their citizens and transferring them overseas. He stays in power by ensuring that there is no significant base of support in the society that can oppose his rule. To this effect, the divide-and-rule political strategy is used, whereby Biya uses rents from natural resources and funds from 'foreign aid' to bribe individuals and groups to maintain his position.
Moreover, junta Biya operates his mercantile system in blatant disregard for the laws of the land. He maintains uncertainty and vulnerability by frequently rotating ministers and other governmental positions, and ensure that those appointed understand that appointing them is his personal discretion, and is akin to bestowing favors on his subjects. Using devices such as bribery and intimidation prevents the emergence of any systemic opposition within the top organs of the state, the ruling party, opposition parties, or within the civil society. Anyone in government that dares to oppose his rule goes to prison on either political or corruption charges. After all, in a patrimonial system, everyone has their filthy fingers in the people's cash. Thus, any act of disloyalty, dishonesty, and non-cooperation might lead to imprisonment on corruption, nepotism charges, or forced exile.
To depose a kleptocrat like Biya, Cameroonians need to cooperate, and the kleptocrat's goal is to undermine such cooperation. Another means to end kleptocracy is to cut off the channel from which they obtain funds to bribe opponents and their lap dogs such as ministers, Chiefs, Fons, the police, and military among others. It is not a surprise that the greatest benefactors of Biya's kleptocracy are Francophones. The inner core of a kleptocratic regime is replete with close kinship, ethno-regional and persons with personal ties to the kleptocratic regime junta.
The kleptocratic rule of junta Biya and not Francophone Cameroonians is our problem. Cameroonians of all stripes need to cooperate to depose the kleptocratic regime led by junta Biya, yet such cooperation is defused by tribalistic and belly politics, whereby the regime punishes citizens, regions, and tribes who oppose their kleptocratic rule and redistribute rents and benefits to those who support kleptocracy. Here again, the secessionist got it wrong by pointing fingers to Francophone Cameroonians, many of whom are facing the same suppression. The State of Cameroon is controlled and run for the benefit of the individual Paul Biya, and a small coterie of Anglophone and Francophone thieves, who use their power to allocate a significant fraction of the country's wealth to themselves.
The Revisionist Argument
As Cameroonians, our historical events are subject to critical consideration. However, historical revisionism is particularly the case when new evidence is discovered that needs to be considered. For example, how can you debate someone who is still skeptical if "the plebiscite and Referendum ever happened?"
There are still a large number of secessionists who engages in historical revisionism by believing that the Plebiscite and Referendum never happened, and in thirty years there will be more. This negationism (historical revisionism), or attempts to rewrite the history of the Republic of Cameroon by minimizing, denying or simply ignoring essential facts such as the plebiscite and Referendum will not lead to secession or solve our problems as Cameroonians.
Interestingly, the self-appointed politically correct secessionists think of themselves as the sole possessors of the Anglophone Cameroon truth and refuse anyone the right to differ. My primary intention for writing is not to unmercifully beat down opponents with the secessionist & irredentist club, but to lend my voice to the majority of Cameroonians, who stand against the elusive mass conformity and thought supervision Ambazonia State promoted by the secessionists and irredentists.
As a minority, I do not want to be coaxed into seeing myself as an adversary to the state and fellow Cameroonians, just because they happen to speak French. The secessionist or those seeking for the elusive Southern Cameroon are fighting the wrong fight that is not winnable. The real fight we need to expense our much-needed energies and resources on is how to motivate Cameroonians in their diversity to end the kleptocratic 'Caskets of Dead People' in Yaounde.
I call on all Cameroons – Anglophones, Francophones, from the Rhumsiki valley in the Far North, to River Dja and Ntem, and to Menchum Falls, extending to Kette, to shun every element seeking to turn our fellow countrywomen and men against each other. As students of history, we all know the destruction of lives and property that abounds such secessionist and irredentist claims. As a people, together, we can eject the inept regime junta and his coterie from the driving seat of our great country, and install a responsive leadership.
Augustine Enow Agbor ………. A Proud Cameroonian
The outcome of my life is not more than three lines: I was a raw material I became mature and cooked And I was burned into nothingness. Rumi
On Sunday, August 20, 2017 5:16 AM, "Atemkeng Denis denatem@yahoo.com [cameroon_politics]" <cameroon_politics@yahoogroups.com> wrote:
Dear Mr Enow,
Greetings.
I wish you were correct in your thinking, but you are so far off the mark that I don't think you are speaking at all from reason. I would rather say you have taken your position and then you are finding a way to justify it. Your words such as secession, and the like tell me that you either don't know the rules on which the formation of states is based or you think in the case of Ambazonia those rules should not be applied. Fortunately, those who think like you are such a small minority that we should not worry about them.
Greetings.
I wish you were correct in your thinking, but you are so far off the mark that I don't think you are speaking at all from reason. I would rather say you have taken your position and then you are finding a way to justify it. Your words such as secession, and the like tell me that you either don't know the rules on which the formation of states is based or you think in the case of Ambazonia those rules should not be applied. Fortunately, those who think like you are such a small minority that we should not worry about them.
If you truly want to base your decision on clear thinking, I would like to ask you the following questions.
1. What would be your reaction if Nigeria took over your so-called beloved Cameroon? Should Ambazonians react the same when your beloved Cameroon takes over their own space of existence on earth?
2.What makes you think that someone else other than Ambazonians should rule the territory of Ambazonia?
3. Every rule of current international law says that Ambazonia is a different country from Republique du Cameroun. Why do you think Ambazonians should surrender their country to foreigners?
4. Did you see the instructions given by the French to Republique on how southern Cameroonians should be assimilated? These instructions were published by Dr. Ayim.
5. You confuse the nature of the problems we have within the Southern Cameroons. The south westerner is not imposing a new kind of administration on the north westerner, he is not imposing a foreign language, he is not causing any cultural genocide, he is not asking him to fly a foreign flag, sing a foreign anthem and so on. All these are things Republique is imposing on us. In other words, the problems you have within your own house are completely of a different order from the problems imposed on you by foreign occupation. Would you think despite the similarity Canada would accept to be taken over by America?
6.Have you ever wondered why new countries are ever being born in the world? Hardly a decade passes without a new country emerging. Why? Do not give your children a destiny they will live to regret. You are not the first to entertain those illusions of living in peace with LRC. Foncha died a very miserable man, because of that obstinacy. Have you seen where the French and English cultures have lived in peace? Perhaps you love to be assimilated. Why not simply become a citizen of LRC and let southern Cameroonians exercise their inalienable right to rule themselves?
7.Finally, give yourself any reason why the fate of these two completely incompatible peoples should be joined. Can you?
My Brother, we can persuade ourselves in any way we like. Why don't we simply call for a referendum to hear from the people of Ambazonia? Unfortunately for you the colonisers that you are supporting think that Ambazonians are a captive people. They are terrified by the truth of the matter. Your support of slavery and colonisation will not even cause those you support to look in your direction. Let those who want to live like human beings take their destiny into their hands. All of those saying no to self rule, and this when they are ruled by the most barbaric people I know, should migrate to LRC.
Regards
Atemnkeng
Atemnkeng
Sent from Gmail Email App for Android
Sunday, 20 August 2017, 02:05AM +02:00 from Agbor Enow Augustine' via ambasbay ambasbay@googlegroups.com:--I have been off work for the past week and I commit my vacation to fight the Rwanda style genocide the secessionists are trying to import to our beautify Cameroon. As an Anglophone Cameroonian who sponsors more than six of my sisters' children in secondary and high schools, including two at the University of Buea, I am disgusted each time I receive a call from these kids, voicing frustration and disillusionment about their future. I say to myself; this could have been me, my life destroyed by callous internet secessionists, whose only objective is short-term fame. These young kids must now start school life far away in Douala and Nsuka Nigeria, and I am worried about their safety every day. As Anglophones, we must admit that our strategy to self-determination has been hijacked and contaminated with hate towards other Cameroonians by Ambazonia secessionist bigots, and this is not where we want to be.Therefore, it is time to cut our losses and convince ourselves that we made a mistake in buying the divisive hate-mongering secessionist ideology. Furthermore, we must ensure that we do not prolong this error. As Cameroonians, our diversity is our greatest strength, and even though we hate the current bilingual arrangement that puts French over English administratively, we rather fight to fix the system than destroy lives with a cold-hearted separatist agenda.Mao Tse Tung believed that without a political goal, revolutions like the one underway by the Anglophone secessionist movements must fail because the 'paper guerrillas' hiding in the diaspora lives off the masses and depends on them for support. As individuals start to realize that this caricature called Ambazonia is just propaganda, they will stop committing their limited resources to a failed cause. The losers will be poor students and pupils who might have lost one or two academic years. Some might not be able to return to school, because of loss of a sponsor, life changes such as pregnancy during the down time, and other unforeseen circumstances.I have always argued that the attempts to assimilate the Anglophones by successive regimes in Cameroon will never work. If a government is to thrive, it cannot be built on the needs of only part of the nation; the other part will eventually rebel. The business of government is to govern; if the people lose respect for their government, it cannot govern effectively. Without a stable political process, a government will not be stable. Administrative officials must stop clapping their hands to the junta and start identifying sources of instability all over the country and help the regime alleviate those instabilities.This is the 21st century, and it is not going to be business as usual. That is why, rather than hiring only transactional leaders who are ideal for working within the current parochial system and ultimately serve to preserve the status quo, it is time for the power in Yaounde to start infusing transformational leaders or those with both the vision and the ability to change the status quo. The almighty Chinese Communist Party recognized the challenges posed by the 21st century political and social environments and allowed transformers within its ranks.If a bad government is an enemy of the people, secessionist and irredentist revolutionaries are a greater enemy. It will be foolish to believe that the secessionist forces are fighting for Anglophones. In fact, the secessionist and irredentist forces have no country or population to defend. They have turned themselves into rebels and can attack anything, anyone, anywhere, and anytime, while the government of the Republic must defend all things, everybody, everywhere, and all the times. Thus, the secessionist's use of the Anglophone vs., Francophone historic ties to gather support and spread propaganda will not lead the Anglophones anywhere. At the end of all these mantras, we must sit down as Cameroonians, irrespective of linguistic preference and start rebuilding our nation.How can we sleep and close our eyes at night without seeing nightmares of the vulnerable kids we are tormenting at home, by promoting or even entertaining the callous secessionist agenda? If you forward any propaganda message from a secessionist aka Ambazonia, you are equally responsible for destroying the many young lives languishing in sorrow and confusion at home.Most parents and family members of students who are suffering at home, while 90 percent of their fellows are advancing their lives in other parts of the country have become frustrated like me. The frustration inherent in the secessionist's policy of school boycott; a policy that has no yardsticks and thus, no way to measure progress. Without a reliable measure of success, it is only normal for every right-minded Anglophone Cameroonians to walk away from such callous decision. The school boycott is a measure of the failure of the poorly conceived secessionist claims, and do not be part of such destructive characters, whose grand aim is to create a Rwanda style genocide in Cameroon.Do you ever ask yourself that to create their daydream Ambazonia state the secessionist rebels must ultimately defeat the government of the Republic of Cameroon militarily? If they are to present themselves to the Anglophone population as a legitimate government, they must win. This is never going to happen, and the devastating effects of such encounter are not something that any Cameroon wants to live and see. The secessionists are failing or have failed, and the costs to individual Anglophone families, and our national harmony are too high.To be successful with the Anglophone public, the secessionists must state a good strategy on how they intend to dislodge power from the government of our beautiful country. If their only strategy is propagating a school boycott, then anyone believing or supporting them must question their sanity. I am afraid that singing 'Dimabola' Ambozonia, or holding our children hostage as a path to Ambazonia is plain stupidity. Even in the next 20 years, there will no Ambazonia, and who wants to bet that poor parents, students, and pupils will set aside their education and life for so long, because of some livid secessionist hanging out in the diaspora. The actions of the secessionists do not benefit but the Anglophone public, nor the country. Actions that do not benefit both societies can only be sustained for a short time, so the end of the secessionist agenda is nigh.Augustine Enow AgborThe outcome of my life is not more than three lines: I was a raw material I became mature and cooked And I was burned into nothingness. Rumi
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