Cameroon "Afrique en miniature"

In Africa, Cameroon stands out for a number of unique reasons; it is described as one of the most stable democracies in the region. For more than 30 years Paul Biya has ruled the Rebulique of Cameroon, a complex nation with numerous ethnic groups. The geography of the country itself is a marvel, occupying an area of close to half a million square meters ranging from rainforests in the north savanna in the south as well as five distinct climatic zones! This for me is such a wonder! Can’t even fathom how such a country exists. Hence I interviewed a colleague of mine who comes from this “marvel”. His name is Mouhamadou Awal Balarabe and he’s an award winning journalist working with the Deutsche welle in Bonn. My first question was how does the country manage to have this reputation of stability which happens to be a rarity in the region given the present circumstances?

En Afrique, le Cameroun se distingue par un certain nombre de particularités. Il est décrit comme l'une des démocratie les plus stables de la région d'Afrique centrale. Depuis plus de 30 ans, Paul Biya préside au destiné du Cameroun, un pays complexe de part ses nombreux groupes ethniques et sa géographie qui est une merveille: Outre sa superficie de près d'un demi-million de mètres carrés, le cameroun regorge des forêts tropicales au Sud, la savane au Nord ainsi que quatre zones climatiques distinctes. Tellement imaginable que je considere comme une telle merveille! . C'est pourquoi j'ai interviewé un de mes collègues qui vient de cette "Afrique en miniature". Son nom est Mouhamadou Awal Balarabe, qui a remporté un prix de journalisme de lÙE, est aussi redacteur a la Deutsche Welle. Ma première question était de savoir comment le Cameroun a pu se batir une réputation de stabilité dans une zone Afrique centrale qui est réputé assez instable?


President Paul Biya. Photo source: The Richest



There is an informal power sharing system among the different regions of the country that exists in Cameroon. The country has different ethnic groups that communicate. There is an old system that has been in use since independence, which requires that when the president is chosen from the French speaking side of the country, the prime minister must come from the English speaking side. If the president comes from the south, like it is at the moment, and the prime Minister comes from the north west region, then the speaker of the lower house of Parliament for example will have to come from the northern region of the country while the Senate leader comes from the west, as it is also at present. At present the judge of the Supreme Court comes from the coastal region that is in the middle of Cameroon. This helps a lot in stabilizing issues in the country, in a manner that reduces dissatisfaction and complaints, because all regions are carried along no matter who the president is. As such nobody focuses on who the president is, rather more emphasis is placed on the state policy concerning the protection of the rights of individuals irrespective of gender and ethnicity so that success is achieved



Il ya un système de partage du pouvoir informel entre les différentes régions du pays qui existe au Cameroun. Certes il y a un axe délimité entre la Nord et le Sud pour ce qui est de la présidence de la République. Mais le pouvoir est un veritable gateau national qui se partage entre les quatre parties du pays. ca veut dire que lorsque le président est francophone, le premier ministre viendra du côté anglophone du pays. Actuellement le président vient du sud , alors que le premier ministre vient de la région Nord-Ouest, tandis que le président de l'Assemblee Nationale vient de l'Extreme Nord du pays, et celui du Sénat vient de l'ouest. Par contre le président de la Cour suprême vient de la région littorale qui se trouve au milieu du Cameroun. Ce partage aide beaucoup à la stabilisation de problèmes dans le pays, car aucun groupe ethnique n'est véritablement lésé. Personne ne se soucie de qui est le pr´sedent de la République. Mais l'accent est plutôt mis sur comment les interets de chaque partie du cameroun est preservé. C est ca la clé de la stabilité relative du Cameroun.



Photo Source: Africa News


Cameroon has an interesting combination of environmental and mineral resources, for people in neighboring countries or even those from outside the region, how would you describe these to them in a way that they can both identify with as well as get attracted enough to visit?
Le Cameroun a une combinaison intéressante des ressources environnementales , minérales et meme touristiques. comment décririez-vous la particularité du Cameroun a ceux qui voudraient le visiter?

 
Cameroon has a God given gift, which is why for us as citizens; we have a slogan that describes it as “a blend of the African Continent” because every kind of attraction that you can find anywhere on the African continent, exists in Cameroon. If you take the deserts for example that spans the length of the Saharan region, most of the Arab countries as well as Mali and Niger, you can find it in Cameroon. The region that shares a border with Chad for instance is one of such examples. In the month of August during the rainy season, Doula which is the business hub of the country is almost like Lagos in Nigeria and then for the temperate whether, not too cold not too hot, you can find that in Yaoundé the capital city. As such whether it is weather, lifestyle, mineral resources, forest reserve, game reserve or any other thing that relates to tourism Cameroon is the place to find it!

Le Cameroun est un pays beni de Dieu, car il regorge de toutes les autres ressources dont disposent les autres pays du continent africain. C est pourquoi il est considéré comme une 2Afrique en miniature." Toutes les attractions touristques du continent s'y trouvent. Ce désert qui s'étend dans la région sahélienne se trouve dans la partie Nord du Cameroun, qui partage une frontière avec le Tchad. Douala qui est le centre des affaires du pays partage le climat tempéré de Lagos qui est la capitale économique du Nigeria. Par contre le climat équatoriale de la ville de Yaoundé la capitale est commun au pays de la zone Afrique centrale et meme de certains pays du Sud du cintinent. En plus la Cameroun regorge de réserve forestière, de parcs animaliers ainsi que d'autres aspects du tourisme.



Lake Oku! Photo Source: Google


So as a Cameroonian, what are you most proud of about your country?

Donc, en tant que Camerounais, pouvez vous me dire ce qui fait la fierte de votre pays?


What I boast about is the peaceful coexistence we enjoy, because you will find that it is a country that has 256 ethnic groups and it has two main distinct regions known as the “Anglophone” and “Francophone” who have different faiths, apart from Islam, there is Christianity, Traditional Religion as well as atheism and all these do not generate any cause for misunderstanding or violence among citizens in the country and wherever you meet them, even if it is back home, you will think they come from the same family irrespective of their differences. I am really proud of this because it is not so in other countries in Africa where something very little will trigger a very huge problem that will take a long time before it is solved.

Ce que je vente le plus c'est la paix permanente qui y existe au Cameroun malgré sa multitude d'ethnies. Nous jouisson d'une coexistence pacifique entre les 256 groupes ethniques et aussi entre les «anglophones» et «francophones»: Aussi il y a une comprehension mutuelle entre la adaptes de différentes religions, c est a dire l'Islam , le christianisme, et meme les religions traditionnelles ainsi que les athés. l'alchimie savament dosé au cours des générations a généré uin havre de paix. Je suis vraiment fier de cela parce que ce n'est pas le cas dans les autres pays d'Afrique où quelque chose de très peu déclenchera un très grand problème qui va prendre un certain temps avant qu'il soit résolu.

I Second Local Government Autonomy in Naija............... Period!

My very first attempt at driving a four wheel gave me a memory I can never erase. It was during one of the holidays from secondary school, a friend of mine came with a car and we decided to take it for a “spin”. What was supposed to be a fun outing turned out to be the most rigorous exercise I have ever been through. I started the car enthusiastically and put the hand break down, I was then told to step on the clutch and shift the gear to level  one, then let  it go slowly while I pedal on the gas to put “her” on the road where she belongs.

First of all, these motions felt like there were a thousand of them that I just couldn’t follow, and somehow the clutch and gas pedal synchronization felt almost humanly impossible.

After what felt like an eternity of several failed attempts that almost killed the battery I took off!!! But shortly afterwards, the engine started revving harder and I was told to shift gears, then make sure I peak at the rear view mirror and side mirrors as often as I can just in case there are other vehicles that I should be aware of, as well as concentrate on keeping the steering straight so I don’t go off the road, - which I was already doing of course – exasperatedly I thought “how can one concentrate on all these motions and still drive?”, because I panicked I became totally confused and at my wits end, I felt like everything had to happen so quickly and at the same time, it wasn’t a funny feeling at all as I still recall, and I was so upset that I couldn’t get it right.

I stopped the car before I could shift to the third gear and concluded that my friend wasn’t a good teacher after all, besides, when did she even learn that she wants to teach me?

It was this same feeling of bewilderment that resonated with me when I tried to comprehend the ongoing attempts to review the Nigerian constitution; it feels like that first synchronization of the gas pedal and the clutch to get a car to move forward, even after “over 10 years of democracy”. 

A lot has been said about what to adjust and what not to, but the overarching goal is to ensure that it provides the required order in the state. In as much as there are a lot of things that are worthy of mention, for me only two things take center stage, there is an agitation for creation of more states and another for the autonomy of Local Governments. In reality I think proponents of both are hoping for similar solutions but they are looking at the issues based on their different social biases.

A brief look at the history of the most recently created states and a comparison as to whether the achievements recorded there are commensurate with the level of development that should have been is often depressing, usually the state capital has this long tarred road in the middle of the city with a major round about sometimes, then some new generation banks are often littered by the road side, a few government offices, internet cafes, restaurants and new building apartments usually to attract Bank workers as well as Aid workers and other NGOs. Datzall!

Nonetheless, believe it or not, these few buildings bring a lot of people out of the rural areas hoping to benefit from the new land of “opportunity” but unfortunately the majority withers, and what is tougher to understand is that they still hang on, holding onto the thought that tomorrow will be better. Meanwhile on the other hand, it has polarized other groups of people, especially in multi ethnic environments, where suddenly it isn’t about development but politics and  the politics is now focused on which ethnic group is the most dominant and where should power seat? At the expense of a steady implosion of maternal health, infant/child health, as well as the main stay of every human society, food and agriculture.

Hence, I suggest that rather than the creation of states that we have already tried and seen the consequence it is worthwhile to consider how much damage we think giving the Local Governments their autonomy and achieving the true Federalism we proclaim can cause.

Let’s take a moment and rid ourselves of all those horrifying thoughts of how allocations are brought to the council and shared with impunity among “stakeholders” or sometimes even stuck in the state government to offset some dues, as well as the  more horrifying thought of what these local authorities will do if they have the legitimate license to plunder into these resources, and imagine a world where as a result of the autonomy, monies are allocated to long term projects that are crucial to well-being, a world where Local Government is made confident of its status at the grassroots, where it is proud to nurture and watch it’s younger generation grow and thrive in the contemporary traditions of the small communities that make up the council, where teachers and all other skilled man power will be proud to stay home and contribute to the “match forward”.

The bulk of the problems faced today emanate from the grassroots, I may be naïve but I think giving autonomy to the Local Governments is like giving the grassroots a chance to flourish. For a bounteous harvest, a farmer knows that all seeds must germinate from the root upwards but the farmer must be willing to till and stick to the rules of farming to the letter. I think at our age the constant cries of “lack of this”, “corruption this” “religion this” is getting ridiculous!