" Both Separatists & Yaounde Regime are Reaping Economic Gains from Crisis”
- Bah
Akwen Nadien National President UPC Youth Wing
Bah
Akwen Nadien is the National President of the Youth wing of the UPC Party in
Cameroon, notably known in French as Jeunesse Démocratique du Cameroun literally
translated in English as “Cameroon’s Democratic Youth.” She is equally a
Humanitarian Aid Personnel, a Human Rights Activist and an Advocate for change
in Cameroon. In this interview she declares that the Anglophone Crisis has
deliberately been ignored by both sides because of the financial gains both
sides are reaping from it. There is a tendency on both sides to nurture the
crisis and make it last longer with an aim of feeding fat from it. Diaspora
Leaders she says have refused to look for a middle ground and have adamantly been uncompromising and
driven by personal ambitions. They by refusing to present a common front have
prolonged the war not disturbed by the alarming degree of bloodshed that keeps
increasing daily.
The
Yaounde Regime on the other hand has branded the crisis as a Socio-political
crisis and is prescribing Social Solutions to a problem that is political and
needing political solutions. On both sides of the coin, delaying tactics are
being used while humans are slaughtered.
She was interviewed By Francis Ekongang Nzante.
..........
The
Anglophone Crises remains a thorny issue. It is getting bloodier with each
passing day. If you were to blame the Separatist Leaders in the Diaspora what
would that blame be?
.................
The
Anglophone problem is both Historical and Political. It needs to be tackled
politically. A lot of people have given the problem an inadequate name. Some
have tagged it a Socio-political problem. Social is related to living together,
merging or mingling together. Cameroonians do not have a problem of living
together. English Speaking Cameroonians are scattered in the ten regions of the
country. When you give an inadequate
name to a problem then inadequate solutions will be prescribed to the problem. That
is why the problem has persisted for so many years. Once an adequate name is
given to a problem, an appropriate solution will be gotten for that problem. We
have seen a lot of Social Solutions being brought into the table. This has not
solved the problem because it is not a Social Problem. It is high time we
handle the Anglophone Crisis politically. It is a historical problem. It is a
long term problem that has lasted for so many years. Many people think the
Anglophone Crisis started in 2016. No! The Anglophone Problem started in 1972
when the Federal Constitution was sabotaged! It’s the Marriage Certificate that
bonded us together with French Speaking Cameroonians. The Anglophone Crisis is
a result of the accumulated grievances since 1972. This problem has degenerated
into a situation of Economic gains. Lots of people are making economic gains
from the crisis at the detriment of the suffering masses. It is a political
problem but rather than apply a political solution, politicians are busily
pursing their personal ambitions. They as such have given the problem another
name so that they will maintain the problem for as long as possible so as to
continue feeding fat from it. They have as such created DDR Centers, the Peter
Mafani Musonge's Bilingualism Committee. We don’t need all these because our
problem is not a Social Problem. We don’t have a problem of living together. The
Yaounde Regime knows this problem very well and knows the correct political
solutions to use but is not doing anything about it. They have deliberately
prescribed social solutions to a problem that is purely political so as to feed
fat from the crisis.
..................
What
is your take on the way the Diaspora has been handling the problem?
............
The
Diaspora has constituted a major problem in the crisis. Most of the Commanders
of the Separatist Fighters are in the Diaspora. I blame them because of their
inability to come together and look for a common ground. To have mercy on the
innocent people who are dying on Ground Zero. If they had done this, the regime
in place will not keep on coming up with questions like who am I going to
talk to? Who are we going to dialogue with? Who are we going to meet? The division among Separatists Leaders in the
Diaspora. The Egoistic Diaspora. The Self Centred Commanders constitutes one of
the problems that is hindering the bringing to an of the raging crisis. They
are so divided and personal driven and egoistic. They have killed that human
feeling in them because when they see the way people are dying it doesn’t seem
to touch them. Kids, mothers and young men are continuously dying but they
don’t care for if they did then they wouldn’t have maintained their firm
positions. They don’t want to compromise and look for a common ground. When
something is being done for the common good then there are some compromises
that must be made so that peace and normalcy returns. It is true that there’s a
saying which states that change cannot come without the spilling of blood but
the blood that has been spilled this time around is too much. If you go back to
statistics, over 40000 people have been killed. This excludes cases like the
unconfirmed ones, the kidnappings, the displaced amongst others. It is very
pathetic that we have a Diaspora that refuses to feel the pain that people are
going through back home. You can’t kill the same people you claim to be
fighting for. You can’t fight for people and at the same time prevent children
from going to school. Education is the only thing that parents can give their
children. At the same time you see these same Diaspora Leaders living a well
planned life abroad with their children going to very good schools. They live
their comfortable lives abroad while they leave suffering Cameroonians back
home to fight their battles for them. They keep nurturing this war because it
has become a war of economic gains for both parties. Both Separatists and
Yaounde Regime are reaping Economic gains from the crisis.
.....................
What
about the Anglophone Elites back home?
....................
They’ve
been so disgraceful. Look at the Members of Parliament. We call them MPs
because they are supposed to represent the people and speak on their behalf.
They are supposed to table the plights of the poor and vulnerable. They escaped
from the problem. Our institutions have failed. The Cameroon Government is the
height of disgrace. They cause a problem, nurtured the problem and then gave it
a wrong name. They then proceeded to prescribe wrong solutions and make the
problem to last for as long as possible to permit them fill their pockets. They
don’t care. They don’t want to compromise. They are playing their cards very
well. But they forget that nothing on earth lasts for ever. While people are
suffering in the South West and North West Regions, the elites are living a
flamboyant life in Yaounde globe trotting. They have sacrificed humanity for
money, for fame, for power and they think they are the sole guarantors of life.
.........................
You
are the National President of the Youth Wing of the UPC. How can the decisions
that you take influence the stance of the UPC on burning National Issues?
.................
The
Youth Wing of the UPC is embodied in a body called Cameroon Democratic Youth
and this body has a reasonable degree of autonomy. This means that we are free
to take decisions and stands. We do not depend on the mother party. We have the
sole responsibility to state our plight the way we feel and the way we deem it
necessary for the good of all Cameroonians. Cameroons population is dominated
by the Youths. More than 70% of Cameroon's population is made up of Youths so
we've got weight. We are talking about the power of the masses. That’s what’s
important in Politics. I as the President of the most populated entity in
Cameroon certainly has that influence. When I take a stand, the mother party
will certainly not remain indifferent to the stand that I take.
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