How Backward a Place is Cameroon?

Julius Nyamkimah Fondong

A couple of weeks ago I received a mail from my kid brother that sent me thinking. He had just returned to Cameroon from Doha, Qatar, where he spent a week attending a conference.  This is what he said: “What is bothering me now is that I cannot reconcile that side [Doha] with this so much dirt I do see around. Really wish to spend a longer part of my life that way. Even on no beer”.

In the second part of this write-up, I will revisit why replicating a Jasmine Revolution in Cameroon has fell on deaf ears. It is definitely not the absence of ingredients for an all out massive protest. 

Just so you can understand what is going on here: This was the first time this young man was travelling out of Cameroon.  The first thing he did when he arrived in Doha was to call me to complain that he couldn’t find any beer in the damn place!  Of course I reminded him that Qatar is a predominantly Muslim country where the possession, consumption and distribution of alcohol are strictly prohibited.  As a blue-blooded Cameroonian he definitely didn’t find it funny. That is the reason why I was sort of taken aback by his desire to relocate permanently to Doha, even if means giving up beer. 

So I have been asking myself the question: how bad, or how  backward can Cameroon possible be that a vibrant young man is prepared to give up one of our great  national pastimes – beer drinking  - and move permanently to a Muslim country which observes stringent rules about alcohol consumption? 

I’m extremely delighted that young Cameroonians are now travelling and seeing the world. They now have some kind of comparative lens with which to view their own lives and the level of development in their own country vis-a-vis other countries. For too long we have been fooled by the fallacious dictum: “le Cameroun c’est le Cameroun”, the implication being that Cameroon is different and unique and what is possible elsewhere cannot be possible in Cameroon.

The only thing different and unique about us is perhaps our inability to make good use of our immense human, material and natural sources for the well-being and advancement of our country. How can anyone explain the fact that more than 50 years after independence, a country as rich and resourceful as Cameroon has no express ways, no shopping malls, and not even one viable indigenous bank offering online banking services? Yet these are common features of modernization that you find all over Africa these days.

I’m not a fan of Kenyan politics but each time I travel to Nairobi I can’t help lauding the efforts of Kenyans to modernize their country: a reputed international airlines company that keeps schedules and on-time departures, a clean and orderly international airport with functional toilets, hotels and resorts manned by polite staff and TV stations exuding the highest levels of professionalism. With all its foibles and failures, Kenya stands out as a reminder that modernization can be possible even in the midst of bad politics. 

As far I’m concerned the underlying causes of Cameroon’s backwardness are three-fold. First, we are saddled with an inert political leadership that has run out of ideas and options for moving the country forward. Second, Cameroon’s middleclass (or what passes for it) has consistently shown itself as decadent, unproductive and self-serving. And third, the country has to grapple with the machinations and caprices of a corrupt, heavy and inefficient bureaucracy which is either incapable or unwilling to initiate and implement much needed systemic reforms. 

Given such inauspicious circumstances, many have asked me: is a Jasmine Revolution possible in Cameroon? 

As I write this, almost every country in Sub-Saharan Africa is more than ripe for a Jasmine Revolution. The rising cost of basic necessities, chronic unemployment among the youth and antipathy towards the corrupt aging political elite are known to have fuelled the popular revolts that led to the demise of Ben Ali and Mubarak. This is precisely the kind of situation Cameroon finds itself in today. 

But unfortunately that seems to be where the similarity ends. 

The Tunisian and Egyptian revolutions were driven by a combination of factors: a militant, fearless, internet savvy youth working together with an organized and committed middle-class under the watchful eyes of a neutral republican army. Some have been quick to dismiss Cameroonians as a bunch of cowardly drunkards incapable of standing up for what is right. 

Quite the contrary exists in Cameroon. 

Some of us are part of a generation of fire-brand, no-nonsense Anglophone student activists who in the ‘80s and ‘90s risked life and limb to confront an authoritarian regime over policy reforms we believed were inimical to our interests. We had grown up in a secondary school system where “strikes” - as we called our protests- were an accepted way of expressing popular discontent. We went on strike to protest such things as the poor quality of meals being served in the refectory, the unjustified dismissal of a classmate or unwarranted increases in school fees. As we matured we got better. In 1983 we led week-long demonstrations that finally forced the government to withdraw its so-called GCE reforms, which we saw as an attempt to francophonize our most cherished educational system. In 1990, students again led demonstrations that led to the release of Professors Tata Mentam, Hansel Ndoumbe Eyoh, and Mr. Sam Nuvalla Fonkem after they were arrested, together with some journalists, for taking part in a pro-multi party panel discussion on CRTV Radio. Student activism and militancy were also crucial to the successful launching of the SDF and the creation of the GCE Board. 

Unfortunately our younger brothers and sisters have not been able to follow in our footsteps. Today’s Cameroon youth are a politically emasculated lot, ideologically unmotivated and more concerned with the vagaries of everyday life.  Granted, they have the benefits of the internet and cable TV which we did not have in our time. But again for these people, the Internet is for scams and Cable TV is purely for entertainment. The middle class is decadent, disorganized and mundane group lacking the moral authority that can serve as inspiration for the youths. The army functions more as a private militia whose sole raison d’être is to protect the government against the governed.  So at face value it may look like a Jasmine Revolution is impossible in Cameroon.

But as one of my favorite bloggers, PaanLuel puts it, the “deep-seated exasperation among the young, hungry and angry youth over poor job prospects and unaccountable governing ruling class may come to pass in countries such as Zimbabwe, Uganda, Sudan, Gabon, Ethiopia, Morocco, Eritrea, Equatorial Guinea, Burkina Faso, Libya, Swaziland, Togo, Central African Republic and/or Cameroon”

I don’t know why PaanLuel chose to say “and/or Cameroon”. But this much I know: if my kid brother is so disgusted with Cameroon that he is prepared to give up his appetite for beer in exchange for permanent residency in a Muslim country, it shall surely not be long before Jasmine rides triumphantly into Cameroon’s cities. 

For this to happen however, one condition needs to be met:  the revolutionary movement must necessarily be apolitical and homegrown. 

While I applaud Ms. Kah Walla’s courage in offering herself to the police to be battered, the fact that she is a self-declared candidate for the presidency somewhat vitiates and de-legitimizes whatever leadership role she is trying to play. Cameroonians have over years developed an intestinal and visceral aversion of politicians, especially presidential hopefuls. Ms Walla’s actions can thus be construed by the populace as a ploy to score cheap political points and draw some form of public sympathy to her political aspirations. 

Of late there has been an intense web-based campaign calling on Cameroonians to follow the example of their counterparts in Egypt, Tunisia and Libya and rise up against the regime.  So far the bulk of the web-based campaign has been led by the Cameroonian Diaspora. Today we know for a fact that the Egyptian Revolution was led by a group of apolitical, courageous internet-savvy Egyptian youths, operating not from abroad, but from their parent’s living rooms right there in Cairo and Alexandria. They were not just contended with sending out mass emails. They went down to Tahrir Square, pitched up their tents and led demonstrations against the regime for three weeks nonstop. This is what made the difference. 

Some have been quick to dismiss Cameroonians as a bunch of cowardly drunkards incapable of standing up for what is right. Nothing can be far from the truth. The fact of the matter is Cameroonians just don’t like to be dictated to by a bunch of “bushfallers” and other unscrupulous politicians. Too often, we castigate ordinary Cameroonians for being cowards, yet forgetting that it was the ultimate expression of people power that brought back multiparty democracy to Cameroon in 1990; it was people power that saved the GCE as we know it today and led to the creation of the GCE Board; it was student activism in the 1990s through the ‘parlement” movement that led to so-called University reforms and the creation of more state universities;  and when in 2008 Cameroonians took to the streets in rage to express their discontent with the regime, they didn’t need a someone from the US or from Europe sending them emails with instructions of what to do. 

Cameroonians may be slow to react to injustice but when their righteous anger rises, no army and no police force in the world can stop them. Revolution is not forced or coerced. For Cameroonians the Jasmine Revolution will come when it will come. And they shall fight the good fight on their own terms and according to their own agenda. They sure won’t need someone sending them instructions by email from their cozy hideouts in the US or Europe. 

So to my Cameroonian Web-based Revolutionaries in the Diaspora, If you are really serious about starting a revolution back home, common sense demands that you abandon the relative comfort and safety of your home in the US or Europe and catch a plane home. And when you get home pitch your tent at the May 20 Avenue; or at Rond Point Deido; or at Liberty Square. Only then will Cameroonians see and understand the genuineness of your intentions, and maybe choose to join in. Anything short of that is hogwash. 

 

Comments

[Nsom Joseph]

Chia's report has given a somehow objective view on how a Jasmine Revolution could come about in Cameroon. But it should be noted that the present CPDM regime, very concious of her failures and inability to take Cameroon to where is should be is permanently defensive, with the divide and rule option which most of the time tend to be very successful in Cameroon.

[Bob Bristol]

Hey Julius, we all share the blame for inciting revolution back at home while hiding in our "cozy hidouts" as you put it. I have always tried to picture a Cameroonian Jasmine, who can set himself/herself ablaze to instigate a popular uprising. That person will not be me or you who has been fortunate to escape the boarders of that prison call a country. It will not be those Cameroonians roaming around in the name of being jobless.

The Cameroonian Jasmine will be that person who has been able to evoke sympathy from those around him by his daily struggles, by his loving nature, by his selfless sacrifies, by his well-known apolitical stance, by his uncontaminated moral repute etc. That person must have tried his hands at so many things, from those warranted by his credentials to the unexpected and even demeaning.
It is obvious the "bushfallers" do not fall into this Category. We have a role to support period.

[J. Dinga]

We all love Cameroon but are powerless to do a thing about it. There might have been unity in the 80s and 90s but do we still have unity? Yes people sacrificed for the GCE Board, for multiparty politics and many more, but what happened to the fruit of those struggles? The demonstrations of 2008 shook the nation but what good did they bring other than the ruined buildings and infrastructure? Is Cameroon redeemable at all?

I am reminded of some wise sayings that help to impede our progress and I want to share some of them here. You can take the villager out of the village but you cannot take the village out of him. If people leave hamlet and village but fail to leave behind the corresponding mentality, can that lead to anywhere even in far-away Qatar, UK, US? I wonder.
The other saying is that in our Cameroon, it is not what you know but who you know that matters. This is the crux of the matter. If people are given employment, responsibilities and so on based not on what they know, but whom they know, it is clear that we shall continue to have golden rings on pigs' noses. What can one expect of someone given responsibility for handling a national "treasure" when such person has not proved able to handle personal "treasure"? And there are lots and lots of national treasure in the wrong hands - vehicles, trains, departments, schools airlines and more.Our airlines has travelled all thirty-nine steps from glory to nadir and back, yet all we offer for solution is change of name. Is that all there is to survive in this market place where others are fighting to gain a large part of the clientele? I have a suggestion for the next name in the series, since this is our forte - the next time Cameroon Airlines needs a new name, let the authorities try "Air Peut-etre" in this way shooting two birds with one stone. We are supposed to be bilingual; why saddle our airline with English names when it functions all in the French language?

Am I lying? Why fight and get these things only to let them be handled by persons withour the requisite know-how? Until we can find an answer to this paradox, no amount of Jasmine revolutions will improve our plight. I wish I were wrong. And please it is a waste of energy to blame all our ills on the in the diaspora. They too are seeking the answers to our ever challenging debacle. Let us not foget that before coming to the diaspora, they were part of the golden triangle

[jings]

where are you Julius? Haiti. You worked for th a Biya regime when iy suited your bottomline. Today, you have the galls to abuse those leaving abroad. If we all stayed in Cameroon, you would not have been DO. It is troubling that, the system you criticize today, is the same system you enjoyed when it was necessary. Bangwa people are really terrible. I do not think, you bring any credibility to the political discuss in Cameroon. You reserve the right to write, speak your mind, but i do not think, you deserve to be heard by us, plain clothes Cameroonians who have been against this order of things for 20+ years. Some of us refused to work for Biya, and his cohorts because we understood the game he was playing. You reasoned otherwise, and today from your fief in Haiti on relief assignments you call Cameroonians names.

[MOHAMED ABASS]

The truth of the matter, is very simply, Cameroonians since 1961 has been constantly brianwashed to be believed that, cameroon is the black paradise, they are thought to be believe that, Douala is like Newyork, Yaounde liKe Paris, and CRTV lIKE CNN, even the so called guys in diaspora are nto exempted from this disease. l remembered l attended a WHO donor conference, of which the Official who represented Cameroon, in his intervention, posited that, cameroon has 10 teaching Hospitals, and every division is endowed with a specialist hospital with the state of the arts facility.That is an official lie , but when l confronted the guy, he said my brother, telling the truth in an international fora will send me to jail. it means telling the world that, Biya is not competent or not doing anything.
secondly, most cameroonians fell being patriotic is telling lies about the country, for instance, even in the diaspora, when you remind our friends that, we dont have roads, we are the least the developed and we need assistance, so we need to tell the world our story. It becomes very difficult because the same people have told south african, that the doula airport is even bigger and better than OLIVER TAMBO AIRPORT, the AA Staduim is even bigger and better than the Abuja National stadium, the university of Buea is even more endowned that, the University of Ibadan or Great Ife, The kumba- tiko raod is just as same if not better than, the Lagos-Ibandan expressway...
the revolution will not come of those in the diapora will not change their attitude, by start telling the truth and showing the roads, our hospitals on prints. etc... how mnay stories come out from cameroon ? so we need to sensitise our people...they should be schooled to know what freedom means. we should stop chastising ourselves, we are what we are, and you can only build a house based on the materials you have... so we need to fortify that material and make them to understand that, change is in their hands.

[MOHAMED ABASS]

There is this natural saying that, man and animals will emigrate from a less favourable to a more favourable environment so as to survive. Those is diaspora are no living in any comfort as most people claim.They might be be able to have a job and take care of some bills at home but, remember that, they are like beast of a no nation. they live and work in aplace where they have no rights to vote or to be voted for. it is a fundamental humna right, and where they could exprees these rights is onlt in cameroon, except for those who enjoy dual citizenship or have naturalised.
the jasmine revolution will be slow to come in cameroon for two obvious reasons;
1.Majority of those who are active, educated and the intelligensia are out of the country. This could typified by the vast majority of those who contest local elections in Cameroon. in some divisions like Ndian, local governance are even in the hands of have never been to a secondary school, yet the first secondary school was established in 1975.
secondly, the media in cameroon is not innovative.The online newspapers are riddled with stale news and hardly updated.Please propaganda and enlightenment are crucial. we know we shall overcome but we need to stategise more and keep the Govt on his toes. l sincerely believe, if the pictires of some of the roads and conditions of schools and hospitals are put on the net, and splashed all ove rthe world, it will elicit comments and reactions.
the houses and accounts of tBiya`s looting brigade should be published daily.all the obnoxiuos killings and tocture of innocent citizens should be published daily.it is only when the world is saturated with such stories that, there will be reactions.As for now, our people are weak, hungry and they are desirous of change, buy who will bear the cat?

[Atangana Angwafor Amadou]

Some years after the author of this article graduated from Cameroon's National School of Administration and Magistracy, he was appointed by President Biya to head Oku Sub-Division. I come from Oku and lived there while he was DO. On a serious note, he was the worst administrator any people could ever be punished with. I need not list his failings. He failed to the point where Biya who had confided in him had to "sack" him. Today, after fleeing from a country he, his colleagues and seniors have destroyed, he spends time framing words against Cameroon and its government. Please Julius, you do not only constitute part of Cameroons problems, you make a mockery of yourself when you think you can divorce yourself from the causes of the plight of our people.

[limbekid]

Fondong,

I always appreciate the balance in your articles. There is indictment for everyone and I think that truely reflects the Cameroonian situation. However, I get a bit weary of these close-ended articles. So we`ve diagnosed that Cameroon is backward and its citizens are not hungry enough for revolution; what are the (practicably applicable) suggestions to relieve us of this quagmire? The reasons for our underdevelopment are complex and cannot be limited to a change of leadership. I think it would be more worthwhile to start examining our situation at grassroots level: poor nutrition, parental (in)discipline; illogical belief in salvation from religion and other occult forces; educational curriculum not tailored to suit developmental goals; masses distracted by frivolities; prioritisation of human interest issues (eto`o, homosexuals...) over issues of strategic importance; productivity of intellectuals limited to the classroom; isolation from knowledge on globalisation; poor urbanisation; lack of information on disease prevention...and so on and so forth.

[Bello]

The author has come to his senses after detaching himself from the regime

[Gen]

If I may ask, What makes Professor Agbortabi think he cannot be president of Cameroon. If he thinks he cannot be president, why not let other Cameroonians who love Cameroon become president. What makes Inoni Ephraim think he cannot be president of Cameroon? What makes any other Cameroonian other than Biya think they cannot be President? No wonder, Mr. Biya will one day call all of us, Cameroonians lizards as Gadhafi called his fellow Libyans. Of course, if a Professor like Agbortabi thinks he is not qualified to be President, then we are truly lizards! In the Ahidjo years, people like Agbortabi said if Ahidjo leaves Cameroon will vanish. Almost thirty years after Cameroon is still existing. Solomon Yang can be President. Musonge can be President. In fact, any Cameroonian can be president and none can do worse than Mr Biya has done. I do not see how anyone can do worse than Mr. Biya. Those are my thoughts.

[flop]

oooooouhhhhhh, the same bad system that gave life to u, brought you up harnessed u and made u what u re today.
I think you should start by repudiating your pass and present links ( present bc ur dad is still a top gun in the rotten systme) before you say anysuch thing.

[The Southwesterner]

U hit that nail harder. ooooouch

[ABDEL-AZIZ]

I feel so bad and broken inside just due to the fact that my elder btothers that i think all of you can be are quarelling among yourselves like little children while there is no more time for that.I think whatever anyone of you did in the past,we are all writing down our minds on this site because we are no more askink ourselves any questions but each and everyone of us is lookink for an attempted solution.The camerounian youths have been waiting for help from the diaspora BUT I,think you all will just bring dis-harmony into this movement since you send to yourselves hurting truths an silly sarcasms instead of standing as a bundle.My intentions while comming to this site were to learn more from here an try to have examples,contacts,etc. But truely speaking right now i feel as to fall down on my knees and cry because i know that if you there don't unite,you won't be abble to get that far into your so called objectives.I may be as they say YOUNG AND CRAZY but i know HUNDREDS of youths just like me who are ready for a new start and i know THEY contrarily to YOU will make it because THIS IS OUR COUNTRY;i hope it is still yours too

[Valentine Ngetiko Chi]

A great and informative post worth printing. Cheers and courage brother!