Situation in N.O and S.O: Avoiding Diversion

The issues being posed by English-speaking lawyers and especially teachers directly or indirectly concern all Cameroonians.

No matter our professions, it could be either as a parent, grandparent, and uncle or otherwise people have found themselves pushed into the issues. Consequently, it has been easy to find people who argue bitterly against the Anglophone problem without the least clue of what the real issues are.   

Understandable therefore, even those from the North West and South West Regions with the most militant positions on the struggle because they think they have the legitimacy in terms of how they feel affected are hardly certain about how best to solve the Anglophone problem. Thus, it is common to hear those talking about Federalism of two States, 10 States Federalism, secession, and so on as if all the terminologies have the same political implications or definitions.

Worse still, there are those who think it is backyard picnic to put to question the organisation of the State of Cameroon 55 years after reunification. Historians and political analysts may have their appraisals about the facts, but the difficulty remains whether all those clamouring for this or that form of government always have what it takes or know how best to achieve their goals. The posture adopted by government so far speaks of the willingness not only to listen, but equally to offer appropriate solutions to the worries.

The eight-point agreement made public after the meeting of 25-26 November in Bamenda between the Prime Minister, Head of Government and the various teachers’ unions from secondary schools and the Universities of Buea and Bamenda and the 11-point list of complaints raised by the teachers’ trade unions on 6 November 2016 all touched on well-grounded professional concerns that every right thinking Cameroonian would accept. That government went ahead to grant more than one of them keeps any goodwill Cameroonians in the right frame of mind to look at each other straight in the face and articulate their fears and aspirations within the context of a people who share a common destiny.

The composition on 13 December 2016 of the Inter-ministerial Ad hoc Committee to review and propose solutions to the concerns raised by Cameroon Anglophone Teachers Trade Unions as well as the Technical Secretariat of the Inter-ministerial Ad hoc Committee further paves the way for any meaningful dialogue requested by the teachers’ syndicates. In addi...