Sunday 4 February 2018

How do you react to the arrest of Sisikou & Co.?

Justice should take its cause
-Sammy-Martin Enoh Besong- Senior Diplomat, Cameroon
The arrest and extradition of Sisikou Ayuk and 46 others opens the way for them to face the law and answer for the crimes they are accused of committing. There are avenues for anyone in Cameroon to sell their ideas, get people to adhere peacefully to what they think. Everybody is free to form a political party and campaign and win elections and come to power and implement their policies. I will not gloat over the arrest of an innocent person. But if it has to do with the arrest of people accused of violence against the state and its institutions, inciting terrorism and slaughtering lives, causing chaos and mayhem, barring innocent children from going to school, frustrating people who need to go about their daily activities in peace, then I will wish that justice should take its cause, and if these persons are found guilty they should be punished accordingly. No one has the mandate to speak for the people except he/she is elected or appointed by an elected official. Arrogating to oneself the right to deputize for the whole populace without receiving their onction is nothing short of dictatorship, authoritarianism, high-handedness, and usurpation. No one takes the laws into their hands and goes free. Disagreeing with the status quo may be right, but using illegitimate and unorthodox means to change it is wrong!   

You can kill the messenger, but not the message
-Ekinneh Agbaw-Ebai, Public Intellectual, Boston, USA
Irrespective of whatever anyone thinks, let it be said again with emphasis, that Ambazonia will never die. Ambazonia is a spirit which animates our yearning for freedom; and even if Biya kills all eight million Anglophones and razes all our villages, our ghosts shall rise from our graves to seek freedom and demand justice. Mandela was called a terrorist and jailed but the ANC continued until Apartheid was defeated. Bin Laden was killed, but that did not stop Al Qaeda; rather ISIS was born. So, you can kill the Messenger, but you can never kill the message. If Biya sincerely believes, as he claims, that a majority of Anglophones want to remain in bondage and servitude in a united Cameroon, let him organize a referendum. And voting should take place only in Anglophone regions under international supervision, as was the case in 1961. That is the only viable option to peacefully resolve the present crisis. Arresting Ambazonia leaders only raises their international profile and gives them more fame, while putting Cameroon on the international spotlight. The world is now watching as the struggle continues.


A wonderful opportunity for peaceful negotiations
- Arrey Joachim, Toronto, Canada

Great people don’t get daunted by a single setback. They usually know how to surmount challenges whenever they present themselves. They know how to transform disappointments into great sources of strength and opportunity. The arrest therefore of the leaders of Ambazonia may not be the end. It could instead be the beginning of a slow but sure walk to the great country you might be longing for. It could be a great opportunity for peaceful negotiations. Mandela was tagged a terrorist but he negotiated for a better South Africa from jail. So there is no point to despair. Be hopeful and trust that Cameroon be better for all. Great nations have always been born out of the ashes of conflict and misunderstanding. All a country needs to reinvent itself is a great leader.

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