Are Cameroonians ready for Cameroon?
Now, let us face it, let us not fake it. Let us
acknowledge it. Let us look at it with no make-up. Let us use no used disguise
on it. Let us not try to hide it nor run from it. The cradle of our fathers is a fallen colossus. The holy shrine has turned to a jungle where
everything and anything is possible. The land
of promise it seems carries no more promise for its children. The land of glory is far from living its
most glorious days. The nation is a nation in crisis. The country is a country
in crisis. As Cameroonians we are not satisfied with this. As Cameroonians we
are much dissatisfied, actually.
However, a change means that I change too. A change
will change me too. A change will never cross my head over. A change will
involve me in the process. Am I really aware of it? Do I truly agree with it? A
change means a new beginning, a new start; new ways of dealing with each other
and life; new behavior; a different type of mentality. So, am I ready? Am I
willing? Am I able?
Those are questions Cameroonians must ask themselves.
Each Cameroonian must be able to answer whether he or she might be a either a
weight or a lever in the making of a new Cameroon. This issue I think is essential,
for a much degraded Cameroon has shaped among the Cameroonian people a corrupted
mentality and behavior. My conviction goes that the Cameroonian people are
Cameroon’s wealth. Our ancestors, our old, our youth, our men, our women, our
children, you and me; these are Cameroon’s wealth. The people are the ones to
make society. The people are the ones to make the economical life. The people
are the ones to make the social life. The people are the ones to make the
political life. The people: the ancestors, the old, the young, men, women,
children, you and me, any one of us. I believe that the quality, I mean the
nature of a people also makes a great country or not.
It is true that the land – with water as its
miraculous resource – is the first gift we receive for free. Now, the way we
deal with the land; the way we deal with each other in the land; the codes we
make, the laws we create, the rules we invent and follow; if wise enough, will
make our nation one of a wealthy kind. In the abundance of water It is said
that one can still be thirsty. It is courageous and even heroic – and about
time – for us to admit that our own attitudes, our own conduct can create misery
in a land of plenty. Cameroon in many ways is a land of plenty: the plenty of
its human cultures; the plenty of what we can eat that grows on the surface of
its land, and the plenty still of what stays inside its land, concealed in its
depth. There really is no excuse, no alibi for the National Triangle struggling with poverty, misery or a
so-called debt towards foreign nations when those foreign nations are not a
quarter as rich as we are. The situation Cameroon is living is a total anomaly.
This leads me to affirm this: nature alone is never enough. Our land needs rich
minds, you and me, to make it a rich country.
I want you, African man, African woman, African boy,
African girl of Cameroon to keep this in mind. We have a choice to make. I ask
you Cameroonian people to choose Cameroon. I ask you Cameroonian people to make
the choice of Cameroon over any other choices. Cameroonian people, choose the
whole of Cameroon over any single region of Cameroon. Cameroonian people,
choose the entity of Cameroon over any individual personality of Cameroon.
Cameroonians, I ask you to make your peaks grow even higher and your valleys decline
even lower for Cameroon’s sake. I do believe in Africa, I do believe in
Africans, so do I believe in you, Africans of Cameroon. Hardworking people,
talented minded people, peaceful people, creative people, enduring people,
wonderful people; Africa expects much from her children. Africa expects much
from you too.