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Showing posts with the label Freedom

Pandemonium of Petit Nègres

That our countries fare so badly since independence is not worse!  Worse is this dangerous path down which we so gleefully tread  By a pandemonium of petit nègres, emboldened by massive neutrality, lead  Since the 90s, the desert preachers decry,  Yet the pogrom of Yaounde just increase their appetite  With each raise in the preacher's voice, Whilst the lotus eaters look on, or eat the lotuses of choral music and feigned miracles, Or the lotuses of immoral lyrics and bacchus's nectar, Or bury their head in the sand and look on, Or sit on the fence of academia and look on. But nurses and doctors save lives, Teachers, preachers and lawyers save souls, All hail to these unsong heroes. And shame to the fence-sitters,  And those who wear a mask to criticise, Accomplices cannot tell the wrongdoer their wrong to his face, If you cannot risk your sinecure and vested interests to better the lot of all Then be ready to partake in your master's fall. And courage t...

"Je suis le Cameroun", or a reaction to a reaction to "Je suis Charlie"

Are you one of those inspired to shout "Je suis le Cameroon" out of anger at the big deal made by the international media in response to the Charlie Hebdo killings by radical jihadhists? Many wonder why the Charlie Hebdo killings are such a big deal since Boko Haram has been killing Nigerians and some Cameroonians for no better reason than extremism, and some of these people have created their own alternatives of the "Je suis Charlie" tag. Some talk of "I am Nigeria" and I dare say you too, if you are from Cameroon, might want to think, "I am Cameroon" or "Je suis le Cameroun" depending on your side of the Mungo. I agree with you but only condemn Boko Haram because of indiscriminate killing which is never any solution to a problem. In fact, I cannot add my voice to those who want to use it as an excuse to sweep Cameroon's problems under the carpet. We still have problems, Boko Haram or not, it is even a minor issue that is bein...

Anglophone Lessons from Ferguson or Anglophones, seen from Yaounde.

The goings on in Ferguson where the wanton murder by a White policeman of an unarmed Black youth and the establishment’s refusal to indict the White policeman sparked riots in the USA (coupled with the feeling of wonder expressed by the White community there) had me drawing parallels with Cameroon and the cold shoulder our Francophone partners turn to us when massive arbitrary arrests, event disruptions, murders and other human rights abuses go on in Cameroon against “SCNC militants” and we expect them to take up our defence against an oppressive regime. In Ferguson for example, we see some Whites supporting the cause of the Blacks, helping to remind authorities that Black lives matter too, perhaps out of intellectual honesty. But when Anglophones receive such shabby treatment, can we expect any liberty loving Francophone voices to take up their defence? Never, if what we have seen so far is to be depended on. Francophone intellectuals are simply ignorant (by ignorant I mean “to ig...