Solution to Anglophone Crisis:

Biya Should Come & Talk With Us Here

By Boris Esono in Buea

Members of Musonge Commission listening to South Westerners

The population of the South West Region has bitterly decried the neglect of some vital services in the region. They also called on the NCPBM to ask the head of state to visit the Anglophone regions if he wants to end the ongoing crisis rocking the two Anglophone regions.

            The requests were made last Wednesday April 25 at the start of a 3-day meet-the-people visit to the SW by the members of the National Commission for the Promotion of Bilingualism and Multiculturalism.

            Taking the rostrum at a ceremony to launch the communion between the members of the Musonge Commission and the SW public, various speakers lamented the escalation of violence and government’s rather clumsy response to the crisis.

            Dr. Hannah Etonde nee Ngoto Mbua for example, noted that because of the ghost towns and the escalation of violence the economy of the entire SW region has been crippled and is now almost grinding to a halt.

            “I think that the head of state should come down and see things for himself. The head of state should not only stay in Yaounde and make an appraisal of the situation; he should pay a visit to the region like he did in Douala in the early 1990s of the ghost towns,” suggested Hannah Etonde, who doubles as President of WCPDM Fako III section and Principal of BGHS Molyko, Buea.

            Attempting explanations for the frustrations of Anglophones in general and South Westerners in particular, Mrs Etonde Mbua lamented over the Limbe total and wantion neglect of the once vibrant Deep Sea ports in Limbe and Tiko; the abandonment to ruins of the Tiko International Airport and the neglect of several giant projects that were the pride of the former Southern Cameroons..

            “We used to have a factory in Moliwe, Limbe that produced rubber shoes, plastic materials and umbrellas, while in Tiko we had an international airport. Where have all these gone to?“

            “We need total decentralization with autonomous regions so that we can have a say in what should be done in our region. It is sad that our children leave school but cannot have jobs, while those on the other side of the Mungo occupy all the important government positions in our region,” Hannah Etonde complained vehemently.

            To Prof. Fritz Ndiva Mbua, the issue of decentralization or federation should imply that the ten regions are autonomous; and it should not be cosmetic autonomy.

            “We want autonomy where the people govern the affairs of their region, where the educational system in the country is revised and the English sub-system tied with the culture of the people….. Our culture should be respected and maintained instead of talking of harmonization. The two sub-systems should function separately,” Ndiva Mbua noted, adding that over centralization is disadvantageous to some parts of the country.

            He noted that weapons of development that used to exist in the former British Cameroon such as the Produce Marketing Board, Cameroon Bank, Powercam, Public Works Department, Tiko and Limbe Warfs etc have all disappeared, while promises of the creation of a cement factory, bitumen factory, Limbe Deep Sea Port have remained vain.

            “They keep telling us that feasibility studies for these projects are being done but no results of these studies are ever reported, yet development projects are carried elsewhere in the country year in year out,” Ndiva Mbua observed.

            Speaking to the press at the close of the event, the Chairman of the NCPBM, Peter Mafany Musonge said members of the commission listened keenly and have noted the worries expressed by the speakers. He said the worries and requests will be channeled to the head of state.

            Musonge said some of the information gathered would help the commission to draw a strategic plan on the implementation of bilingualism, multiculturalism and living together in Cameroon.

            “Bilingualism and Multiculturalism are the ingredients that hold us together as one nation. They are essential for our peace, unity and living together. We must take them very seriously,” noted the former PM and Senator, adding that

            “Peace is absolutely necessary for the development of our country. There is nothing we can do without peace. Even the dialogue that is wildly called for cannot take place in an atmosphere of violence. Reason why we must ensure that peace reigns in the SW and in Cameroon”.

            The ceremony was attended by the SW Governor Bernard Okalia Bilai, Mayor of Buea, Ekema Patrick Esunge, administrative and political authorities, representatives of taxi drivers and bike riders’ syndicates amongst others.