Living Lights

The Gliding Bird

2011-12-16T21:02:00.000-08:00

Louis Mbua Egbe

Men and women a brilliant idea they thought

That in nuclear power they may imitate

As the kind of process in the stars sought

To produce a power so as to proliferate

The earth with her people spoiling for a fight:

Two wars the earth was itself fully eclipsed

One with horses, a million men with might

Two with aircrafts, with new weapons strapped

Like a spear on ostrich egg not given of flight

With a key and lock visible, to be released:

Packed onto Enola Gay the locust’s secret

But a weapon so deadly to humans exposed

To its nuclear fission and white superheat

That burns through all skin and flesh destroyed!

And then arose the played generation new

In the art of enlightenment that ushers

On earth mobile to all gifted who knew

Thus the danger the nuclear tech usurper

Hawks encourage powers standing on pews,

High Priests of heartless schemes and pushers

Of war in the universe for humans slew

But next an event so strange; a brigadier

Of people young and dynamic: anti-nucleus

Artifice, anti-one stand up protester

Against receding powers -that-be who flew

New locust falling from the skies not manner

But the new world knows not still the object flows,

Only a peaceful bird the gliding flyer!

Pause for Thought on the Mentality of the Slave Driver -- and Their Agents.

2011-05-01T01:42:00.000-07:00

Louis Egbe Mbua

A people are hardly enslaved without the support of the same people who are in bondage. A man who enters into another man’s house will never know where all the keys are concealed unless he has been tipped by the house owner; and the unsuspecting or unwitting brother may not be friends to the thief and slave-master unless he is also part of the conspiracy to subjugate -- and subterfuge. Thus, if the slave master decides to come and buy more slaves, he can only do so if those vested with power in the slave region will carry his message to the people – the message disguised and sweetened by cheap bribes.

The poverty-stricken population, already in bondage, will have little alternative but to support the actions of the slave agent. Now, since the slave agent is a kinsman, his people will more likely believe him; and the vicious cycle is complete. This has been the case for slave traders since time immemorial – sell your brother, reap meagre profits, buy some luxury from the slave master, come back home to share it with the hapless citizens and brother who will be too happy to have bread and butter and the cycle continues. And unless a revolutionary stance is taken, throw out the slave agents and establish firm laws that completely wipe out this practice, it may continue for centuries.

Solutions to difficult problems, the writer has observed, cannot be solved by those who created the problem in the first place or by those who are benefiting from the inhuman acts: even by having a single dinner with the criminal makes one liable for almost certainly unforgiving judgement by the people; and that nobody would want to be in a position as to be accused as a traitor. Therefore, the easiest and best solutions espoused by such men of conceit are:

1. Pretend that the slave practise does not exist – which they are doing

2. Enter into a delusion that the problem will just go away by some kind of magic wand

3. Begin a propaganda of spreading falsehood believing that the traitor will be saved

4. Condescend to the perpetrator with the hope that the perpetrator will feel sorry for them. A Lion does not feel sorry for eating a well-served meal.

5. Hope, falsely, that the problem will be solved one day in the distant future by “somebody”

6. Believe that the perpetrator will change his ways if he continues for life

7. Create a dynasty where their siblings and offspring will take over and preserve their status quo and ill-gotten wealth

8. Pretend to be an intellectual teaching in a University while publishing dishonest material to support the evil system

9. Pretend that Cameroon is not constituted of two states because Cameroon is

“Indivisible”.

10. Join the army so that they may have an excuse that they are merely following orders

11. Join the slave master to continue the madness; and justifying their abominable actions by using the tired cliché – if you can’t beat them, join them!

It has been proven time and again that those who harbour such views are setting themselves up for destruction. The day the avalanche will start rolling, it would have been better that such men had never existed. Not only will they lose all, but their names will be erased from history as was done in ancient Africa. Consequently, it is better to change one’s direction when the tide is very high to save oneself than to wait when the sea’s rage has abated only to be swallowed up suddenly by an unsuspecting Tsunami; it is better to run for one’s dear life when the lion is miles away than to attempt to run when the lion has entered your enclosed space.

Devastation in Japan 2: A Futuristic Natural and Nuclear Apocalypse

2011-04-04T22:45:00.000-07:00

Source: http://www.iaea.org/

Louis Egbe Mbua

As Japan and the nuclear world battle to contain the stricken Fukushima nuclear power plants from the feared nuclear radioactive leaks, it is but reasonable to delve into the origins of nuclear technology and its possible effects: in the eventuality of a potentially massive nuclear melt-down -- due to natural or man made disasters-- with a far greater power and force of devastation sometime in the future, somewhere on planet.

Nuclear power is not an overtly new technology. Ironically, the first breakthrough on the practicalities of this enticingly exotic technology was attained in Nazi Germany in 1938: capitalising on earlier findings on the atom and matter by Rutherford while experimenting at Cambridge, England UK and Albert Einstein, ironically, also a German Jew!

It is unclear how the megalomaniac Hitler would have behaved or reacted with the development of such a powerfully destructive discovery if he could see into the future and opted not to persecute the Jews in Germany. But fate waits for no one; and that what one may plan with intentions of annihilating innocent civilians on grounds of their race may turn out to be their own nemesis. Consequently, when Hitler drove out the Jews, the most talented of them all, in terms of this discovery and scientific inventions found themselves in the United States of America where they applied this technology to build the first nuclear bomb in 1942.

However, the first ever commercial nuclear power station for the harnessing of this technology for the good of human kind, generating electricity and connected to electrical grid, was built in Sellafield, UK in 1956. Before then, electricity was generated by the utilisation of fossil fuels – coal, gas and petroleum.

Although the dangers of radioactive wastes and their chain reactions and by-products that follow nuclear electricity production were anticipated, the scales of danger were not immediately as clear as the case of the test explosion of a nuclear bomb. It was perceived that nuclear fission reaction in a nuclear reactor designed for electricity generation could be effectively controlled; and that international and national laws and regulations set in place were of sufficient cover as to stem any nuclear accident. But were Earthquakes, volcanoes, sabotage and terrorist attacks envisaged in the design of these colossal power factories?

The dramatic Fukushima nuclear plants accidents are a point of focus: to enquire as to whether it is wise and prudent to build nuclear plants in well-known seismic earthquake; and whether nuclear power – good or bad – contributes to human development or a catalyst of the long-predicted prospect of human apocalypse before locusts arrive.

A futuristic view of the nuclear world means that humans challenge conventional wisdom: that the “developed” Western world may be so technologically advanced as to control any kind of nuclear accident. The consequences for this over-presumptuous assumption can be a catastrophe for the world. It is known that nuclear proliferation is not only confined to positive use of this power. Deadly nuclear weapons are in the hands of both the developed and the developing nations. While it may be true – to a limited extent – that the industrial West has more capabilities to deal with a nuclear accident, it still carries a frightening risk if sudden and unexpected explosion do occur.

Nuclear stockpiles have to be stored in line with international laws that regulate the method of this storage. Now, let’s suppose that there is a fire – by arson, sabotage or accident – that begins in one of this depot. The consequences are that these weapons will explode with the high possibility of the nuclear chain reaction continuing for months, if not years. The constant expectations are that the atmosphere will be overwhelmed by radiation with the result that acid rain will decimate human kind for years if not centuries.

In the case of the Fukushima nuclear accident, the heroic stance by “suicide” workers notwithstanding, the question arises as to the usage of sea water to cool the melting and damaged and melting plutonium fuel rods. It is likely that this sea water has to be re-circulated into the natural water cycle because there appears to be no known method of radioactive water treatment before disposing it into the ecosystem of nature. The results will be that this radioactive water will be absorbed by plants which will in turn find its way to the animal food chain and eventually consumed by man.

Although it is assumed or reported that the amount of radioactive iodine that seeped into the water system is “negligible”, it cannot be said that this “small” radioactive iodine is similar to natural background radiation of the universe. What is created on earth by man cannot be favourably compared to that which occurs naturally – and which has been proved to be harmless. As a consequence, the effects to human, animal and plant life cannot be predicted for certain with radioactive materials within their living tissues.

While these possible inconclusive detrimental conjectures may be slower in penetrating the ecosystem as compared to deliberate nuclear attacks, there are examples on the effects of nuclear radioactivity on human race – and animals and plants. Radioactivity has the power to mutational human genes alteration -- unpredictably. This has been seen in the area of Chernobyl after the 1986 nuclear explosion and the after effects of the Hiroshima and Nagasaki nuclear explosion in 1945. Thus, if radioactivity slowly enters the food chain, we may have to contend with “Frankenstein” humans for centuries to come.

The multiplier results for future generations are not known but the effects may actually and totally alter human beings – their physical and social nature to the most unrecognisable features and behaviour. Will these humans be weaker in constitution – mentally and physically? If this happens to be the effects, then this may point to a slow and eminent extinction of the human race. Other thinkers may point to the theories of evolution, the survival of the “best” genes, and the survival of the strongest. On the other hand, the strongest of the future nuclear altered humans may not be as robust as the generation before; and who were never subjected to nuclear devastation as to have their genes altered. Consequently, the likelihood of survival of the human race in this respect may grow slimmer with time.

Again, suppose the opposite effects are true—that the altered genes may mean that humans turn out to be stronger in physical constitution but mentally deranged: for it is unclear how radioactivity will affect the human brain. If it alters the genes that are responsible for the building blocks of the human brain, there are three possibilities: the human becomes far more intelligent; they become far less intelligent; or they become deranged to the point of megalomania. If we take the first scenario – physically stronger and super intelligent – then the case may be that they will move on to discover many more nuclear secrets, advances in science and technology: threatening the earth further.

We may agree that humans are rational but that is only limited as to what we can predict for certain or what we may perceive as morally right. However, one person’s morality may not be the same as the next human. It follows that there are always possibilities of moral inconsistencies and unpredictability. Now, if we assume that the second scenario exists such that the future generation becomes deranged from nuclear fall outs, it becomes abundantly clear that the world will be destined for destruction as the combination of being physically strong and unhinged is lethal. The results can be extremely scary as this will breed millions of dictators who will ensure the destruction of the earth – and human life -- further.

The Fukushima incident must have delivered a devastating psychological blow to the nuclear industry. Nevertheless, human civilisation continues to be hungry for more power to quench their insatiable appetite for luxury goods and the augmentation of their now advanced livelihood. But what if the incident in Japan becomes uncontrollable or that another nuclear accident occurs with dreadful effects on the ecosystem? In this scenario, there is only one solution – abandon the site, evacuate the entire population. But to where?

There is a case for social conflict here. A nation of say 200 million inhabitants may be evacuated but it is unclear as to where they will be moved. Political and social problems abound. Are we going to carve out a complete new state in the middle of the forest to accommodate the affected individuals? And which nation will concede land for this massive and unprecedented location? Surely the affected people cannot be left to their own devices in the nuclear stricken and contaminated land. Or is it?

If left, then there would be a terrible refugee problem that may only be resolved by the international community or a world body such as the United Nations. Again, this may prove a hard politically-charged social and logistic solution although this may be possible. At the same time, the world has to contend that such a nightmare scenario may come to pass. But the most effective solution to this possible scenario should be preventative.

The IAEA, and agency of the United Nations, would have to draft new legislation on nuclear safety to ensure that a nuclear accident of such proportions are grossly minimised. Such legislation should include the clause that no nuclear plant must be cited near a seismically unstable region anywhere on earth. This should include earthquake zones and regions in the vicinity of volcanic mountains –whether active or extinct; and that no nuclear power station should be built in the vicinity of rivers, freshwater lakes and seas as well as known or suspected typhoon, tornado and hurricane susceptible zones. Again, these solutions will create yet another problem since nuclear power requires water to cool nuclear fuels; and to generate electricity. Air-cooled or molten salt cooled plants are viably reliable solutions.

A typical solution, therefore, would be to locate nuclear power stations in regions with heavy rainfall where large encampments to hold excess water may act as sources of water; and that these nuclear stations may only be operational – in the rainy season -- as an auxiliary to other sources of power. In the same vein, nations that agree with these regulations may sign up to a new nuclear treaty. They may be provided with inducements in energy supplement; being provided with incentives to develop alternative power sources in the renewable sector – solar, wind, geothermal and hydro electricity. Deserts in the world may act as solar and wind farms for electrical power generation.

A Bamenda Date with Destiny (Part 2): Calleth the Scared Lion Man, Cometh the Jilted Yes! Men

2011-03-28T11:00:00.000-07:00

Louis Egbe Mbua

When a man begins to have illusions as being constituted of a lion incarnate, there are great chances that his animal instincts and spirit may begin to transform from that of humanity into that of a deluded and encapsulated lion skin. That man or woman -- whoever he is and wherever they abode -- starts having bouts of behavioural traits profoundly similar to a man living in the wild untamed savannah of Africa where animals consume other animals for food in the wildest anticipation and the most ferocious hunts.

The trouble with man is that he consumes similar animals; and goes further to consume his own type with unpredictably disastrous consequences. The reason for this strange phenomenon in human beings may be attributed to intuitive survival on the one hand, and corruption of the mind in the immediate instance. In a system where this philosophy of animalism is entrenched – and practised without Ndolo l’Amour, people begin to copy the original lion, joining him to the feast; on the exultingly flowery pretext of dancing for survival in the ballet of greed. But in the real sense, it is a matter of the corruption of the flesh: for only through the flesh can a man be destroyed.

The oppressor having sensed victory, avoids the main complaint -- out of fear -- co-opts another perceived strong man who will do his bidding; and the cycle of oppression continues unabated for yet a very long time until a bold David arrives to attack the bullying and deluded lion as to snatch the sheep from the jaws of the cunning and ruthless beast. This and only this alone, will end the feast of “The slaughter of the lamb” and "The Silence of the Lamb" terrifying movie show.

Since President Paul Biya of the Republic of Cameroon took over from Ahdijo, the Bamenda region of Cameroon, and in fact a vast majority of Anglophone Cameroon has been deliberately underdeveloped despite its huge natural and human resource potential that may benefit the entire country. Roads in Bamenda and other parts of the territory have been neglected to rut. Promises, since 1984/1985 (25 years ago) of roads that would link the entire region have evaporated into thin air. The much heralded Bamenda airport has been converted into a military base. Paul Biya’s recently completed military visit has now fully confirmed the diabolical objectives of the Republic of Cameroon – namely to occupy Southern Cameroons by force – an illegal act with far reaching consequences in case the citizens decide to rise up to challenge this military jackboots who appear now to be in some kind of freebie to terrorise, brutalise and obstruct the peace of the region. It is now clear what the objectives of Paul Biya is: to cut off this region from its coastal counterpart by usurpation and deceit with some kind of economic bribe, and as such weaken the Anglophone ability to challenge his 30 year failed policy of misrule, mismanagement and gargantuan folly.

Paul Biya may believe that he will quell descent by terror, bribe and force. But he may be only sowing the seeds of instability, physical confrontation and his own downfall; for the place of nemesis is usually hidden; where one may believe there is a threat may not turn out to be the case. There are reports that there was a facelift undertaken in Bamenda to prepare for his visit; and that this counts as development in some quarters. This is extremely foolish. Bamenda is just one out of dozens of heavily populated cities and towns in the region: there is Wum, Nyos (remember the forgetten 2000), Nso, Nkambe, Jakiri and other towns and villages who have not been touched by the least development for almost thirty years. More poignantly, thousands of indigenous natives and Cameroonian activists – and innocent people -- have been shot and killed in various parts of this region by the Republic of Cameroon forces. Others have died in prison and other terrible circumstances due to inhuman treatment and poor prison conditions – denied health care, food and exposed to brutal treatments such as beatings. To be shedding crocodile tears by the Biya men is not only dishonest but a complete waste of life-giving water. In this light, Paul Biya’s visit had been a poignant reminder of the terrible sufferings of the people rather than a triumphant entry into Jerusalem as some quarters have misguidedly portrayed. Has the blood of all those killed been sacrificed for cheap promises? Blood is unforgiving to those who betray the cause for power and bribes; for it is blood that gives life. Thus, a betrayed soul is tantamount to selling a people to a slave trader.

The Southern Cameroons (Anglophone) Elite Hypocrisy

The Southern Cameroons decolonisation case is unique. It is one of those rare cases where elites who mattered at the time of independence actually aided the capture of their own territory and subject their own people to servitude. This writer does not want to belabour the reader with historical material that substantiates this bold statement; for that is effectively confined to the past. However, to visualise the future and to prevent such wanton waste of a peoples’ future, this writer will revisit this argument of immense importance. While the visit of a de facto President is not a bad idea, it is madness to aid a President in his pretentious visit aimed at cementing the dismal future of an already subjugated people. While it may be right for a politician to support their party Chairman, in this case, Paul Biya of the Cameroon People’s Democratic Movement (CPDM), it becomes a sham if the elite of that party offers to contribute funds, and appear to deceive the common man to part with his meagre income to support the illegal visit of a frightened President who lacked the legitimacy to rule in that particular territory.

The elite of this region of Cameroon continue to trumpet their support for such a visit and as a result abet the colonisation of their own people. The reasons for their actions are clear – to be seen as “patriotic Cameroonians”. In this conjecture, there is a problem because it is not possible to be patriotic when one is first not accountable to his people; and that decades of neglect have left the people desolate, desperate and desponding. The supposed opposition party, the Social Democratic Front (SDF), with its political base in Bamenda, could not garner enough muscle to point to the problematic scores of the visit – that the President of The Republic of Cameroon – has the obligation to first sort out the Southern Cameroons vs La Republique du Cameroun problem as recommended by the international community.

The SDF Chairman of the Northwest Region, Mr Henri Kum, captured the myopia succinctly as reported by the Post newspaper before the doomed visit:

"Funeral celebrations have been cancelled, meetings postponed, weddings postponed, the population harassed and even all other traditional and cultural calendars severely altered. We think that the North westerners need an apology and reasons for the postponement of this visit." He said Cameroon being a country of law, it is but normal for the citizens to know what the managers of the nation are doing.”

"This quite arrogance on the part of the powers that be is not manifest only in this failed visit, but also on the issues concerning elections.”

Good observation. While the visit took place with much pomp and circumstance; and hailed as a “resounding success”, Mr. Henri Kum’s statement above captures how Cameroon is run; a system where leaders retrench into policies and decisions on the hoof; and with enormous cost to the unsuspecting population.

Meanwhile Chris Mbunwe of the Post Newspaper, Friday, December 03, 2010, wrote:

“The SDF party has said the people of the Northwest who have not relented an inch, making frantic efforts and enormous sacrifices to receive President Paul Biya in Bamenda deserve an apology from him for the failed visit that was initially announced by the Minister of to take place from November 29-30."

Well, Paul Biya never apologised; and will not apologise again if he fails to meet any future promises he ushered in Bamenda because nobody has actually questioned him to give an account of any of his obdurate failures. Nobody apologises to those who easily forget the wrongs they have been subjected to; and nobody takes seriously those who are easily swayed by sweet talk and artificial honey. Only natural honey tastes sweet to the tongue. What usher long life is natural; but that which comes in superficiality only hastens death. Like a bee that carries an invisible sting, so too is the man who promises honey but brings in weapons of destruction in the darker recesses of the night. He who does not see the ruse is already dead.

Again, what made him [Mr. Henry Kum] believed that he is respected; and does he actually believe that Paul Biya’s coming there was proper and legal with the present system of things in Cameroon? And why did he not understand the problems associated with such a military visit? From the pronouncement above, he appeared to have been lost as to why Paul Biya wanted to visit Bamenda and the North-West Region. If leaders do not have a vision and foresight, are not far-sighted, is it a surprise that the people have been led from one dungeon to yet another worse one? Does or did he wish for a military occupation of Bamenda? Mr. Kum and his SDF opposition should look far into the future before committing the people to terror, servitude and poverty by men who have little interests in the development of their territory but the usurpation of ancient powers and institutions.

As usual with the Anglophone elite, they at first maintained a strange silence. And then they went into a kind of mild attack as regards the lack of electoral commission in the so-called forth coming elections. That is not the point. While it is reasonable to challenge an incumbent, they got lost on the significance of the visit. As the Anglophone elite are more pre-occupied with their position in the now discredited Union of the two states, they prefer to fight for sour left-overs than to fight for their own self-determination. The results are that Anglophone politicians struggling to maintain a discredited the status quo prefers to please the majority Francophone elite than their own constituencies, to ignore the pleas of their long-suffering masses and join the gravy train to loot and terrorise.

This has been the lot of the Southern Cameroons masses since 1961. Those who were put in position to represent the interests of their people turn around and fight against the interests of their own electoral college in favour of The Republic of Cameroon. Those who call for Life Presidency of a President who has largely ignored their concerns, spat at their faces time and time again, underdeveloped their territory for 30 – 50 years are mostly Anglophone elite in cahoots with the oppressor. They waver from one ridiculous political position to the other; they adamantly refuse to discuss the very serious Southern Cameroons problem but offer superficial solutions that have nothing to do with the original solutions by the UN in 1961 and which have been abused for almost fifty years – The Federation of two independent states. The psyche of Anglophone elite hypocrisy cannot be easily wished away or dismissed as that of a bunch of selfish individuals. This writer believes there are multi-faceted reasons for this alien and unreasonable approach to their own problems – cowardice and folly.

Devastation in Japan 1: Earthquakes, Tsunamis and Nuclear Explosions

2011-03-16T00:33:00.000-07:00

Nuclear Explosion in Japan After the Earthquake and Tsunami: From mirror.co.uk

Louis Egbe Mbua*

In the realm of the functioning of the universe, man has no direct control. On natural disasters, when the universe choose to renew itself we have actually no say at all. On the other hand, man has the ability to create what is good for him – and what can actually destroy him. No scenario exposes the vulnerability and the sheer helplessness of man as to when the natural and the artificial embrace in a deadly love-hate match made from the depths of the earth. The earth is a mysterious planet. From above its firmament come light and energy – all of its light and energy from the sun. Again, there is no guarantee that this energy and light would always be beneficial. It can -- dependent upon other circumstances that one may not be able to fully explain and the sparsely known cosmological cycles -- turn against the earth and its components in inexplicably savage rage.

Solar flares can burn up and blanket- strip huge areas of and through the stratospheres to alter the earth’s magnetic field at the poles and disable the electrical systems of an entire nation that may have the misfortune to be on its flaring line of action. From the depths of the earth comes benevolence – food, vegetation and everything green, precious metals, heat, solid, liquid and gaseous fuels that power our civilisation, catapulting the entire humankind into untold wonders: including breaking through the space barrier and challenging the natural speed of sound and light with our technological explorations and aircraft escapades.

Strange! The same earth, at its inner core, is also a deadly enemy to human and its own existence. Seismic and geological shifts in its strata, pressurised magma at its core and violently active volcanic mountainous giants that dwell in the depths of the Oceans can blow their capped tops without warning. When nature decides to strike back, we start philosophising as to the exact reason for human life, why we live on earth and who is actually in control – man, nature or supernatural forces. In an attempt to harness and make sense of man’s elusively explained habitation on the planet, we have applied our creativity to construct, design and build what we have come to mimic the sun, the giver of life and energy.

Which brings us to the question: If the awesome power of the natural sun cannot be tamed by man, can man control a nuclear catastrophe that was brought into being by an earthquake that, in turn, triggered a Tsunami; that overwhelmed an Island and damaged the man made “sun”? Who is stronger – nature or man? And can man accelerate his own self-destruction -- foolishly? Can the earth destroy itself on all three counts of uncontrollable natural disasters in Earthquakes, Tsunamis and Nuclear explosions? Are we doomed since the days of Einstein and his General and Special Theory of Relativity? Or are we doomed by just nature itself?

Friday March 11 was a memorably apocalyptic and very sad day for the land of the Rising Sun! Poetic indeed! and the people of the Earth. About a month earlier, an Earthquake had struck in Christchurch, New Zealand, which lies in the “line of fire” – the earth quake zone in the Pacific realm – and which includes Japan. Although there were casualties and deaths, it was not very clear as to whether this natural disaster would spread to other areas perched perilously in the Pacific. The earthquake, one of the most powerful in Japan’s history, struck causing a ripple of water that waved to the height of a 4 story building, flattening whole towns that disappeared in an instant. Watching the shocking nightmare scenario may not show the exact reflection of the force involved until we understand the power carried by the sea wave that invaded North Eastern Japan with untold devastating effects with human suffering in tow. To get a closer picture of this epic deluge, the force required to exact the earthquake is equal to the force of water transferred to the sea by the earthquake and which subsequently was dissipated as it ploughs through the land consummating all on its deadly path.

Ancient Wisdom

The ancients were more versed with the raging oceans. When humans began building large cities, with hundreds of thousands of inhabitants, their acute wisdom and intuition directed them into the hinterland. From Thebes (Luxor) in ancient Egypt to Timbuktu in present day Mali, they established their cities and administrative capitals in the middle of their respective nations. Even Rome and Paris were and are not coastline cities. Although ancient Carthage was founded in the coastal regions of northern Africa, this could be attributed but to the barrier of the unforgiving and inhospitable Sahara desert.

When Alexander the Great from Macedonia founded Alexandra at about 300 BC in Egypt, he possibly never thought of earthquakes. However, recent anthropological research has revealed that the famous Lighthouse of Alexandra built by Cleopatra, one of the ancient wonders of the world was destroyed by an earthquake. Deep sea divers are today unearthing ancient monuments that were destroyed by this earthquake. While times have changed, and modern methods of building take into consideration the earthquake factor, it is only reasonable to believe that a coastal city is more prone to annihilation when the thunder of an earthquake is registered within destructive distances within the sea bed from populated coastal settlements and civilisation. Thus, ancient monuments and hence civilisation are more likely to survive and preserved, albeit possibly damaged in cases of natural disasters, when they are located miles from the coastline than within the confines of the sea boundaries.

This week’s devastating earthquake that almost brought down high-tech superpower Japan should now be brought into the debate. Japan, an Island, is more vulnerable to destruction by earthquake and a possible resultant Tsunami. The explosions at the Fukushima nuclear facility due to the earthquake and Tsunami could therefore not be prevented. Designs that include safety factors with an earthquake-proof concept in mind are ingenious but whether it is wise to locate a nuclear plant on the coast of an earthquake zone is another matter. However, an industrial nation needs power; and as Japan grew mightily in this respect, it logically follows that they will import nuclear technology.

Japan has an enviable record of technology transfer from already developed civilisations. Prior to World War 1, Japan sent out its students to Europe to learn, study meticulously, and import western technology to power her industrial and imperial ambitions. When the Chinese opposed Europe in their objective to colonise China in the nineteenth century, the Europeans, particularly the UK, devastated and bombarded China, seizing Hong Kong. This drama did not escape the keen eye of the Japanese. So, when the West arrived to Japan, the Japanese merely pretended to be in tandem with them. The unsuspecting Americans and Europeans were fooled! Thus they taught the Japanese the art of technology – building planes, ships, machine guns etc. Trade between the two counterparts boomed. It can, therefore, be inferred that Japan is no stranger to sophisticated technology; open to new and helpful ideas; and are not afraid to risk trying their able hands on new ones. This may provide a background as to why Japan became both an industrial superpower and a nuclear one to boot! 55 nuclear power stations all on its earthquake zone’s coast. To blame Japan for this location is to misunderstand how nuclear power technology works.

Technological Realities of a Nuclear Power Facility

Nuclear facilities are normally built near the coast or in riverine regions; reason being the availability of cooling water. There are possibilities of gas-cooled stations but this can be prohibitively expensive and technologically complicated. Abundant and accessible sea water is a more technologically and economically feasible natural facility. A nuclear reactor in action means that neutrons are used to bombard unstable radioactive elements such as uranium and plutonium pellets that take the form of fuel rods. This process results in the splitting of the atoms of these elements since they are unstable. Spitting requires that energy is released in the form of heat. At the same time, the striking of this atoms releases more neutrons which again strikes other atoms of the radioactive element to form a chain reaction and yet more heat and radiation. The temperature of the fuel rods can reach 1500 degree Celsius. Water contained in the nuclear reactor becomes superheated and turned into steam at very high pressure. The steam then powers a turbine that generates electricity. The water therefore is used to:

1 provide the power to make electricity

2. Cool down the fuel rods that carries the radioactive plutonium.

The second point on cooling is the most crucial. If the cooling system fails, as it did in the Japan case, then we may have what is called a nuclear melt-down. The fuel rods become overheated with the radioactive plutonium or uranium melting at the nuclear core through the protective re-enforced steel and concrete pressure vessel casing, thereby releasing dangerous radioactive material into the atmosphere that can kill or injure persons and animals instantaneously. Secondly, the pressure in the reactor becomes so large that the protective concrete wall gives way resulting into an explosion. Again, it is possible to release steam to reduce this enormous pressure. However, if the released steam has pressures that are greater than the safety limit on which the pressure vessel casings were designed, this, obviously, will also result to an explosion: again releasing radioactive material into the environment.

That has been the case with the Fukushima nuclear facility where three explosions have left the fuel rods exposed while the nuclear chain reaction might have continued with the possibility of a nuclear meltdown. Although there is shut down mechanism of the power plant to prevent nuclear reaction,, this cannot be guaranteed when the fuel rods are exposed and are not efficiently cooled with desalinated water. Moreover, the enormous temperatures may cause the water to disintegrate into its elements – Hydrogen and Oxygen making a fire more likely after the explosion or creating more pressures to trigger an explosion and fire. The danger is that the Pacific Ocean might have been contaminated by this unfortunate accident caused by the Earthquake and the Tsunami and the subsequent nuclear accident. The problem is that rivers obtain their water from rain fall which in turn is obtained from the evaporation of the oceans. Is there the possibility of a nuclear rain after these nuclear explosions and possible melt-down in a nightmare scenario? That is the question for the next series.

*This writer extends his sympathy to the people of Japan; and that the entire world should take steps to bring this unfortunate and devastating incident under effective control by contributing resources in man, material and moral support.

PRESS RELEASE CAMEROON: THE BAKWERI LANDS AND THE ABUSE OF A PEOPLE

2011-01-30T19:36:00.000-08:00

Louis Egbe Mbua, Ph.D.

The BLCC (Bakweri Land Claims Committee) Easter Resolutions : passed by the BLCC (The Bakweri Land Claims Committee) Council in Victoria, (Limbe) Friday, 17th April 2009, following an Extraordinary Conference attended by all shades of the the Bakweri People in Cameroon and the Diaspora; meeting held at the BLCC Head quarters, Buea, Cameroon, Tuesday, 14th April 2009: Mola Njoh Litumbe, Secretary General of the BLCC presiding; resolutions adopted in Victoria (Limbe), Cameroon at the Palace of HRM Chief Epupa Ekum of Dikolo, and revised in London, 30 January 2011.

The BLCC (The Bakweri Land Claims Committee) intends to bring a land expropriation dating back more than a century to an abrupt end. This conflict has its origins in 1891 when German imperialists attempted to seize native Bakweri lands. They were routed in a war by the Bakweri army in the same year. The contemporary Cameroon Government, based in Yaoundé, has been attempting the same shameful and underhand colonial tactics to appropriate Bakweri lands as the Germans -- as the French did after them – despite the entire of Cameroon being under a League of Nations Mandate and eventually under United Nations Trusteeship -- through oppression, intimidation, bribery, corruption and fraud. Nonetheless, the BLCC is determined to thwart protagonists of these oppressive legacies with the least possible delay -- this objective must be realised.

It is a basic wisdom; to allow people to decide what they wish to do with their property. However, if a man comes from a far away land, with no apparent notion of the rule of law; or the value of property especially its function in the perpetuation of posterity; and if that man persists in wilful marauding and rampage, greed, and thoughtlessness and arrogance despite having been instructed on the benefits of fair play in this regard, then the BLCC believes that he must be taught how to follow universal and civilised rules of engagement. If this man continues with crude approaches in this very important matter, there is little reason to entertain his folly rather than to teach him a lesson on the vicissitudes of confrontational conflict which he may be unable or unwilling to understand at this point in time. Equally, the BLCC bears no responsibility whatsoever for this ineptitude. Each party must face up to its own responsibilities without the interference of the other in this protracted conflict, until an amicable settlement is reached between the two parties. In this case, therefore, the BLCC believes in the dictum: “each man for himself” as regards the two opposing parties – the BLCC and the Republic of Cameroon.

Accordingly, the BLCC, with an exclusive global mandate to secure Bakweri lands; and in respect of the reclamation of Bakweri private native lands occupied by the CDC (Cameroon Development Corporation) have resolved as follows:

1. No plot, constituting native Bakweri lands, should be put up for sale or transferred without establishment of a legal document for land lease. A uniform template for this legal document will be drawn up. Any non-native who wishes to purchase or receive such land in Fako can apply for such a lease. Acceptance will be subject to intense scrutiny by the BLCC.

2. The Cameroon Development Corporation’s (CDC) lease for Native Bakweri lands has expired, and is therefore no longer valid because the sixty-year period stipulated by the original legal mandate (1st January 1947 – 31st December 2007) has run its full course. The Lease requires that Bakweri natives now take over the Company for the benefit of the indigenes. Any intervening purported extension of the aforementioned Lease on these lands without the knowledge and consent of the natives is, as a result, NULL and VOID in entirety: as, by extension, any prolongation of the said 60-year lease without the consent of the BLCC . As a direct consequence, any transfer of land to any third party as of this date is NULL and VOID; and the CDC (Cameroon Development Corporation) should desist from entering into any land transaction with any other party. Any breach of this legal restraint will be considered a hostile act against the Bakweris and the people of Cameroon; and the BLCC reserves the right to counter such purely naked disregard of native human rights, legal mandate and law with equal contempt. All non-natives who are purported to have bought lands during the original legal mandate of the CDC lease and after 31st December 2007 when the CDC legal mandate expired in these spheres of native influence have done so illegally; and all such transactions are thus rendered NULL and VOID.

3. Those who are currently occupying Bakweri native lands must start paying their rents or risk having their properties seized without warning because their occupation is tantamount to the surrendering of indigenous patrimony. This includes the CDC, The Cameroon Tea Estates at Tole, Del Monte Corporation at Tiko, The Cameroon Armed Forces who forcefully expropriated lands from Bakweri natives at Limbola , Victoria, to build their military barracks so that they may further oppress the natives and extend their land theft, and those who have bought the said native lands from traditional chiefs in Fako or from any other persons. The CDC Lands are private Bakweri property according to the Cameroon land ordinance law which came into force in 1974 in line with legal enactments during the UN Trusteeship of Southern Cameroons that declared the CDC lands to be NATIVE LANDS. These ordinances do not include any provision for sale or transfer of lands to non-natives. Thus, the recent peremptory surrender of CDC occupied lands is in total violation of the said laws; as well as being wholly inconsistent with the Banjul Judgement recommending arbitration.

4. The Ministerial order, Arrete 0000797/2.5/MINUHD200, 03 March 2003, by the then or now Cameroon Minister of Territorial Administration and Decentralisation, ADJI Abdoulaye Haman providing for non-natives, including the Anglican and Catholic Churches and foreign governments, to acquire free holds of native lands in Fako is Illegal and a monumental fraud because it contravenes the 1974 land ordinances. The BLCC, therefore, considers this a distraction and a non-issue to our main objectives of securing the Bakweri lands. The BLCC therefore, utterly REJECTS this order. The BLCC are under no obligation whatsoever to comply with fraudulent laws designed to alienate the indigenes from their own land. Consequently, the BLCC has the right to occupy any lands, without due warning, that were acquired under this illegal, undemocratic, authoritarian, fraudulent and expansionist order from misguided and malicious sources.

5. The African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights (ACHPR), sitting in Niamey, Niger, in 2003, passed a Resolution imposing an injunction on the President of the Republic of Cameroon, Mr. Paul Biya, restraining his powers to further alienate the Bakweri natives from their own land. In pursuance of this restraining order, the same ACHPR, with the endorsement of the African Heads of States sitting in Banjul in 2004, ruled that the entire Bakweri Land should be under international sanction and auspices until a settlement is amicably reached between the Cameroon government and the BLCC under the auspices of the African Union Rapporteur. As a result, any land deals entered into by the Cameroon government and any third party after these periods (2003/2004) violate these injunctions and sanction. It follows that any individual who breaks -- knowingly --these rulings may be classified as an international CRIMINAL. The BLCC have the exclusive legal mandate to begin international criminal proceedings against these authorities.

6. The BLCC is fully aware and informed of the massive and blatant land racket that has been established by the Biya regime; and perpetrated and enforced by enemies of the Bakweri and the Cameroon people in a pre-meditated and malicious scheme calculated to dispossess the natives of their own territorial heritage so as to be replace them with non-indigenes from far away ethnic groups. This, too, the BLCC considers as being CRIMINAL in that it represents a gross contravention of international human rights as stipulated by the United Nations Charter on Human Rights.

7. The BLCC reserves the right to institute CRIMINAL proceedings against agents of land fraud and human oppression in this context. The BLCC is also aware of the unbridled and seemingly unrepentant corruption of government officials who have been drawn, willingly, into the dragnet of land crimes; abusing the power vested on them by the Cameroon people, so as to expropriate lands from the oppressed natives in clear violation of the aforementioned injunctions and sanctions.

8. The BLCC is in the process of seeking legal proceedings to halt the wanton, CRIMINAL and illegal distribution of lands by the Cameroon government and its ceding of lands to Bakweri Traditional Chiefs without due consultation with the natives (BLCC). The BLCC will be seeking financial damages and back rents owed to the natives by the Cameroon Development Corporation from 1st January 1947 to date, 31 January 2011; and for the shameful land theft by the Cameroon government which has a notorious record of grotesque fraud, incompetence and unbridled bribery; and which shamelessly advances blatant lies to the international community in connection to the Bakweri lands. The BLCC is shocked to note that Mbonge, in the Meme division; and Tombel in the Kupe-Mwanenguba division, both in Cameroon, which are entirely hemmed by plantations -- cultivated by the Cameroon Development Corporation and the Pamol Corporation – despite having the same Lease as the Bakweri lands have been left intact while the Cameroon government has been distributing native Bakweri lands. Having considered this matter carefully, the BLCC has arrived at the definitive conclusion that this represents a concerted conspiracy and crime solely designed to drive the indigenous Bakweri from their own home so that people of alien origin will possess the land.

9. The BLCC is conscious of the fundamental natural law: that man is made from the earth as decreed by God in Heaven, Creator of all things on earth and in Heaven; and that we eat, live, are born and die on earth; and that the BLCC commits all its work to God, The God of Justice, Companionship, Compassion, and Peace and the Giver of land and life. This Land was given to the Bakweri people by God; and not by the Cameroon Government or by any other agency -- human, celestial or spiritual. The BLCC is, therefore, committed to pray to God and fast so that the BLCC organisation should not be infiltrated by corrupt humans and celestial spirits bent on destroying the good work of God and the BLCC. While we may be a minority ethnic group in Cameroon, Africa and the World but we have the Lord before us to fight against agents of destruction, injustice and oppression.

10. The BLCC is, therefore, serving a WARNING to the Biya regime:

(i) To abide to the CDC Land Lease, the UN Trusteeship agreement, the League of Nations Mandate of the British Cameroons under United Kingdom Administration on native land laws as applied to the CDC Lands, The United Republic of Cameroon ordinance law of 1974, the Niamey injunction 2003, and the 2004 Banjul ruling on sanctions on Bakweri land; and

(ii) To engage in an amicable arbitration of the Bakweri land dispute in the presence of the AU Special Rapporter with the BLCC as ruled by the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights;

OR

(iii) Face an international opprobrium as a pariah state and other criminal charges.

(iv) THE CAMEROON GOVERNMENT HAS BEEN WARNED.

Louis Egbe Mbua, Ph.D., President BLCC Europe.

CC: The Chairman of the African Union

The President of the United States of America, Barack Obama

The President of the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights

The United Nations Organisation Secretary General

The President of the Republic of Cameroon

Dr. Vincent Cable, MP for Twickenham, Greater London, England, UK

The President of the Fako Chiefs Conference

Fako Traditional Chiefs

Amnesty International

President of Fako UK

President of Fako America

The Chairman of the Cameroon Development Corporation (CDC), Bota, Victoria (Limbe), Cameroon

The General Manager, Cameroon Development Corporation (CDC), Bota, Victoria (Limbe), Cameroon

Living in the 21st Century (12): El Paradiso

2011-01-19T21:33:00.000-08:00

Louis Egbe Mbua

Fir trees from the water sprayed ground grow

To unimagined heights their kept tops float

Above the earth onto the shimmering skies

For before then no clouds an eye had seen.

Life-giving fruits from the fertile ground sprung;

Delightful and pleasing to human buds

And painting the earth like coloured sprays

That no human ever could ever have foreseen.

This was but the one part existing,

The other side of the new garden was

Not in the Eden East but hidden west

And on the shimmering West River side.

An afterthought so conceived like teens

That the East Garden in the cosmos it hangs

Strapped onto the unknown with a chasm

So far as no man a remote stretch attempts.

But insists with little foresight the other one;

Conjuring illusions from sources unknown

That the Hanging Gardens were paradise

To be kept, pruned and worked on site.

Hours passed, toil and sweat they exude,

Floods of tears were the fruitless outcome

Cries and groans were heard across the north:

“Where is the fruit, where are the flowers?”

They heard a chorus from the proverbial pruned

Garden trees, voices well watered and trimmed:

“We are in the real celestial El Paradiso !“

“But you are in the Fool’s Paradise!”

A Bamenda Date with Destiny (Part1): The Day Cometh, The Man Runneth

2010-12-04T01:31:00.000-08:00

Bamenda, Cameroon

Louis Egbe Mbua

Not since the spectacular no-show of one of my friend’s first date with a London sophisticate has one witnessed another incident of such magnanimous ignominy. The much-hyped visit to Bamenda by President Paul Biya of The Republic of Cameroon was turned into the main event of the year, transformed into a speculative event of the month and finally to a spectacular non-event of the day. That it has descended into a colourless fiasco is an understatement. The unexpected confusion began when the government of Cameroon decided to celebrate the 50^th anniversary of Cameroon’s independence this year, 2010. While there is nothing wrong in celebrating the year of a nations’ independence, it becomes a conundrum that needs to be addressed with tact and wisdom if that particular nation is comprised of two independent nation states complete with two different independence dates. Let the reader understand: for contemporary Cameroon is an amalgamation of two UN Trust Territories – The French Cameroun, now called the Republic of Cameroon; and which was under French Trusteeship and the Southern Cameroons under the UK Trusteeship, now under colonisation by The Republic of Cameroon. The latter attained an UN-sponsored independence on 1 October 1961 while the former – The Republic of Cameroon -- attained her independence under the same UN body on 1 January 1960. The two states merged to form The Federal Republic of Cameroon on 1 October 1961 with separate governments and internationally recognised boundaries.

So, when officials of The Republic of Cameroon with Capital in Yaoundé, made a unilateral decision to celebrate the 50^th anniversary of the entire Cameroon this year, and without consultations with Southern Cameroons officials based in Buea, Bamenda and in the Diaspora, the stage was set for the unfolding political drama that has culminated into a dragging official disaster. To citizens of The Republic of Cameroon, there is nothing wrong with this disreputable arrangement, while Southern Cameroons citizens considered such a decision not only arrogant and historically dishonest, but a profound case of provocation; and an attempt by The Republic of Cameroon to cement her annexation ruse of their territory in violation of both national and international laws of states. Southern Cameroonian Nationalists and other concerned citizens of that state rejected outright, such a ubiquitous move, and what they believe to be that of a desperate Cameroon trying to hang on to illegality with their finger tips.

The Southern Cameroons National Council (SCNC), the liberation movement seeking to restore the independence of Southern Cameroons from the “vice-grip” of The Republic of Cameroons annexation, and The Southern Cameroons People’s Organisation (SCAPO) who has vowed to drive out La Repubique du Cameroun from the Southern Cameroons soil immediately reported the matter to the international community and the United Nations. As a result, President Paul Biya became extremely frightened of the implications and the consequences that may follow the prestige of Cameroon in relation to the international community. In a last gasp for political breath, Paul Biya then modified the “50^th anniversary of Cameroon’s Independence” to include another “50^th independence anniversary in 2011” to accommodate Southern Cameroons own independence date. While this may appear as an astute compromise to wiggle away from accusations of annexation, it appears this only helped in throwing a large dose of petrol or gas into an already explosive political conflagration since this only buttressed the legal arguments of the Southern Cameroonians as regards their stolen independence.

The United Nations on their part have maintained a diplomatic silence on this confused state of affairs. However, reliable reports state that the United Nations representative was invited to Yaoundé. His gift to the President of The Republic of Cameroon, it is alleged, was two flags – one for the Republic of Cameroon and the other for the Trust Territory of Southern Cameroons. If these allegations are true, it would mean that Paul Biya has no legal mandate to rule the Southern Cameroons, and that the Southern Cameroons nationalists have been symbolically vindicated in all intents and purposes in totality. Consequently, Paul Biya’s projected visit to Bamenda is a non-event since he will be visiting but a foreign state, meaning he must obtain a visa from the UN and Southern Cameroons. If he violates this rule, any Southern Cameroonian in Bamenda has the right to make a citizen’s arrest of Paul Biya for trespassing a foreign soil without due permission. Now, theoretically, this is the case but whether this is enforceable is another matter altogether. However, whatever light we look at the grim political confusion, this omen is bad for this visit. This may possibly explain why the man runs away from his own created troubles.

It is interesting to note here that the aim of the visit, in real sense, is not to celebrate the 50^th anniversary of Cameroon’s independence. Paul Biya went further by stating clearly that his visit to Bamenda was to celebrate the 50^th anniversary of the Cameroon army. In any political and military adventurism, there exist great risks – to the civilian population and the army itself. The mere mention of the military; and that they are to parade within the confines of a disputed territory is tantamount to performing military games in that territory and consequently evokes war or intent to occupation. This is because there is no evidence to show that those deployed military men will leave the territory after the “celebrations”. The world cannot be fooled in this instance because recent events on the planet bear witness to disguised military manoeuvres, regime change and other pretexts to celebrations or good “wars” have resulted to occupation of a weakened and desperate people by foreign powers that have a sinister and wholly disreputable agenda to loot by terror, barbarism and mediaeval subjugation.

When the United States went to Iraq, the excuse was to dislodge Sadam Hussein who purportedly harboured Weapons of Mass Destruction – a shameless lie. Now, whether Sadam was an evil tyrant or not is not the point in this expose, but that his overthrow did not lead to an immediate evacuation of the US military but that they stayed over to occupy Iraq with disastrous consequences for America, the civilian population in Iraq and the world. If we apply a similar scenario to the envisaged occupation of Bamenda, it is of little telling what the results and outcome will look like. In addition, the Southern Cameroons is not yet 50 years old nor have they ever had an army. The logical conclusion is that Paul Biya, in his attempt at subjugation, has inadvertently shot himself with his own gun.

To add to Paul Biya’s visible frights, is the spectre of The Africa Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights (ACHPR) ruling and recommendations (Communication 266/2003) on The Republic of Cameroon Vs the People of Southern Cameroons in July 2009. According to these recommendations which are freely available on the African Commission’s website, the two parties would, by this time of last year, have engaged in constitutive talks to resolve the constitutional matters in relation to the projected Cameroon that came into existence in 1961. While the Southern Cameroons side have clearly, and officially, indicated their willingness to be part of these talks and fruitful dialogue under the auspices of the African Commission, and hopefully, the United Kingdom, and the United Nations, the government of the Republic of Cameroon appears to have asked for more time to prepare for the talks. But as to the time of this writing this essay, it is unclear as to their commitment to the resolution of the crisis. The Cameroon Communication Chief, Tchiroma Bakary, has gone to the media proclaiming, arrogantly and intransigently, that The Republic of Cameroon will not dialogue with Southern Cameroonians because “they want to divide Cameroon”. Whether Mr. Bakary is serious in his pronouncements and exhortations or not is unclear. Yet, his bellicose utterances only go a long stretch to cast doubts on the sincerity and integrity of the Biya regime, and as a consequence throw a large dose of mistrust between the two parties.

The Southern Cameroons issue is not whether people wish to live separately or in a Union: because the two states were originally separate; and that The Republic of Cameroon has been found wanting by violating the common norms of the envisaged Union; and using subterfuge and brute force, political fiat and blatant discrimination to stampede on the rights of the people of Southern Cameroons. It is, by nature, normal for those whose rights have been violated and their territory colonised to stand up to say No! To be surprised by such actions is itself surprising because the inalienable rights of man can never change. The following is that unless the Republic of Cameroon engages in sincere dialogue with Southern Cameroons, President Paul Biya’s visit to Bamenda would and should be considered an act of aggression; and that Paul Biya and the Cameroon army would be fully responsible for any opprobrium that may emerge if he defies the international community and Southern Cameroons people to visit Bamenda without consent as prescribed by international law. The right thing to have done or to do by any reasonable and wise leader would have been to announce before the entire Cameroon people, his intentions to abide by international laws, notably the Banjul verdict of the ACHPR, and the United Nations plebiscite arrangement in 1961 that brought forth contemporary Cameroon. Save this, his military visit to Bamenda is doomed to confusion – whether it happens now or later.

Living in the 21st Century (11): Valley High

2010-11-18T18:58:00.000-08:00

Louis Egbe Mbua

As many a man climbs to the mountain top,

But few with grit and whit unabashed;

To some but destiny a stranglehold is placed

On them, locked and tightened non-stop:

All plausible options are only whole despair:

On to the seas do they wallow down,

To be swallowed up by the leviathans pretend;

Drowned by tears of sorrow, a thought

To climb onto the peak of the mountain top!

The path and ways to the precipice Mountain High

Are tortuous, rugged, stones, time-bitten.

By the hands of the age, life’s fountain

In deep springs from the mountain slope arising;

That waters the same life-giving plants:

Animal attractions in the new forest waltz gate,

Put on splash for creation’s view exquisite

Show for all creatures as the cycle around flies

With supplies forever last in Mountain High.

Awake! On the premier crow in Valley Low

From a sound of the first cock blasting

Through the chilling foggy air wispy blowing

Past the gentle swaying velvet leaves

As the man in swag and the chime in starts:

Briskly through the narrow rocky path

Winding, a twist, to veer, ploughing to transform

Grassy plains savannah and forest lush

To barren rocks, feeding gulls of Valley Low!

Ladies were out on this male Odyssey’s End!

Trudging in a crowd of the siblings’ Beaux

Climbing, scaling in flavour’s respite bloom

In numbers, counting only in twin,

In pairs they join, moving in their chosen roils.

Snacks they would receive at high vaults

Hanging in the sky roofed with clouds reeling,

Waiting for those with means to spend,

On to the mountain top to meet Odyssey’s End.

The Raging GCE Exam Debate (Part3): Denouement and Practicalities of the System

2010-10-22T17:23:00.000-07:00

Cameroon Finance Minister, Essimi-Menye:boasted oil producing Ndian division of Cameroon does not need roads. Bad roads have affected educational performance, totally impoverished Ndian and almost irreversibly set back other social advancement in the oil and fish-rich division.

Louis Egbe Mbua

The recent outstanding performance of students in the Cameroon GCE as analysed in the Fako UK website is commendable. Standards have definitely improved. However, the writer firmly believes, amongst other factors, that one of the important aspects of education is that a student receives the qualification; and that the total number who pass should be reasonably large, thus reflecting the total population of a particular region where those institutions are located. On this line of thought therefore, one is surprised to note that the Manyu division of Cameroon, and one of the regions that is famed for producing some of the brightest minds in that country could only present 703 students to sit the A Levels in 2010 of which only 486 of them passed as portrayed in Table 4 in Fako UK News Centre . From population estimates of the NW and SW Regions of Cameroon (Southern Cameroons) obtained from Scribbles From the Den, one had the impression – possibly a disputable assumption -- that the Manyu division may be one of the most populated in the Anglophone region of Cameroon and so rendering the small number of A Level entry very disturbing. One is of the opinion that this social retrogression—if one were to consider the academic and personal achievement records of indigenes of this area --has a strong correlation with the area’s 50 year neglect by the present Cameroon government and the system of things.

A Potential New Bakassi Crisis – Deja Vue

The region is totally cut off from Cameroon since there are no communicable roads to the division for the almost 50 years of independence; and that the lone airstrip that used to be the main civilian hub into the enclave has been converted into an army base for oppressive political reasons. Hon Ayah Abine, an MP from Manyu in the Akwaya sub-division, an area that directly shares Cameroon’s western borders with Nigeria, recently sent an open letter to the present Prime Minister of The Republic of Cameroon, bitterly complaining about blatant discrimination and the starving of well deserved funds to improve schools and roads in his constituency. This is a criminal act by the government of The Republic of Cameroon. The people of the Akwaya region should challenge this shameless tyranny by questioning the continued paying of their taxes to Yaoundé; and to resist the rapacious instincts of a colonising huntress and her scrambling agents.

It is now common knowledge that the contemporary Cameroon government neglect schools in this area. Pupils attend schools without any discernible infrastructure in place; with the regime believing, misguidedly, that this responsibility would be shouldered by the indigenes themselves. Teachers shun the area due to its inaccessibility -- non-existent roads and poor working conditions; and that to reach Akwaya, one must first go through Nigeria, make an incomprehensibly circuitous U-Turn through thick, dark and dangerous equatorial forest through Nigeria and then into Cameroon. This is extremely disgraceful. Most poignant is that the elite of the Manyu division are busy fighting for positions in the present regime in Yaoundé while neglecting their own people. Those who are high up in the system continue to deceive the people while the decay takes hold. One would not be surprised, therefore, that a vast majority of children in the Akwaya region attend schools but in Nigeria. This may partially explain the small number of entrants in the GCE Exams in the Manyu division of Cameroon. And unless concrete steps are taken to revitalise these roads, we may face another Bakassi-styled problem in that part of Cameroon.

The Ndian Social Predicament and Exclusion

A detailed observation of the results also brought the regions of Ndian and the Kupe-Muanenguba – where only 177 and 423 students respectively sat the A Levels -- into close examination. Again, a similar social and infrastructural problem exists in these areas. Ndian division is where the disputed Bakassi is located, and where a majority of petroleum is extracted by the Cameroon government. Yet no decent roads exist in this region. A recent nakedly insulting, inflammatory and provocative proclamation -- an open secret opinion of the regime—was uttered by design or gaffe by the Cameroon Minister of Finance, Mr Essimi-Menye, boasting on Cameroon National Television that Ndian division of Cameroon does not deserve roads, and that whether it is oil producing or not is a matter of profound irrelevance in this case. Discrimination and folly by the present system in Cameroon have deprived and continues to deprive young people from fulfilling their full potential. Professional teachers shun these areas since amenities for education and other facilities for general entertainment are virtually non-existent. Health care is almost certainly zero. Children suffer from diseases such as blindness and other infant ailments that had been eradicated in the last century in other parts of the world – majority of countries no longer suffer child blindness. Unsurprisingly, the elite of these regions are busy with empty individual political pursuits, boot-licking their political masters in Yaoundé so that they may fight over sour crumbs that fall from the table of greed-- refusing to stand up for their people; and to empower the children of the next generation with decent education. It is an anomaly to note that a region with so much to offer a nation would be going cap in hand to the world to appeal for charity so as to obviate an evidently precipitous and calamitous decline of their people. For it is not possible to attain a good education without proper roads, health care, teachers and social amenities as these drawbacks kill intellectual incentive and the motivation to move forward and reach higher heights as one may won; with a potentially lethal psychological defeatism creeping in when they compare their dire circumstances and unbearable conditions with their counterparts in other parts of the country with far less economic leverage.

The Educational Winners Against all Odds

The Bui, Ngoketunjia, and Boyo Division of the North West Region, and Lebialem of South West Region of English-Speaking Cameroon should be highly commended. Their excellent performance is a clear indicator that depravation alone cannot stop humans from striving to higher stations; and stay there and that one must wrestle with problem and achieve even in a state of institutionalised Apartheid and exclusion by a system so designed. Since the Southern Cameroons independence, on 1st October 1961 and the forming of the now destroyed Federation with the Republic of Cameroon, these regions have almost been cut off from Cameroon complete with impassable roads and other social exclusion – No manufacturing industry exists in the North West region of Cameroon despite its huge human and natural resources potential. However, it would seem that the presence of strong catholic missionary activities in health and education has more than offset the debilitating assault by the Yaoundé regime to starve them of developmental funds; a typical case being the Lake Nyos Disaster Aid fund that allegedly melted into thin air without the slightest trace. In addition, parents in these regions who are mostly small-holder farmers, invest heavily on their children’s education as a priority. Their kinsmen in the Diaspora, have been displaying, flexing considerable charitable, financial and material muscle to stem the and plug the holes in neglect of educational and health resources and facilities by the government. Congratulations, also, to Mezam of the NW region for putting up such a stunning performance.

An Eldorado in Stagnation and at Risk of Steep Decline with Mixed Results

The writer now makes a call on the GCE results of the Fako division of Anglophone Cameroon; and one of the most strategic hot points of Cameroon, abundant natural and human resources and where the Chariot of the Gods marry the Atlantic Ocean; and the seat of at least two Anglophone Universities. Although the performance at the A Levels is respectable, it does not reflect the social and infrastructural resources– even if minimal -- put at their disposal. Consequently, one can only attribute this below the par performance to poverty of the native population in particular and the entire inhabitants in general. While other areas of this discussion have their ancestral land to till and obtain income, vast tracts of the most fertile parts of this region are occupied by the Cameroon Development Corporation (CDC), a key company in Cameroon. Thus, the native population, who are traditional farmers from the beginning, have no viable places to till the soil as they have been pushed to the edges of these plantations and the slopes of the rocky mountain – a difficult area to farm with its stony soil and mountain farms. The government again does similar games playing: building schools without full infrastructure; and depending on the elite to do the rest. Well, this does not always work out if the population is impoverished due to occupation of their land. It is now left to those in the Diaspora to step up their humanitarian contribution so as to obviate this potential downward slide or intellectual stagflation. On the other hand, the elite in the Diaspora should take up the responsibility, and start real hard and serious charitable contribution to this area – organising more worthy material and financial packages to, at least hold back the academic decline.

The Cameroon Development Corporation( CDC) controlled by the Cameroon government has refused to pay land rents or any form of royalties to the indigenes while instigating a corrupt scheme to distribute land to be bought by government officials in a bare-faced violation of all known traditional, national and international laws; thus compounding the poverty in the area further. If the Cameroon Development Corporation (CDC) were subsidising local schools and population – providing scholarships to the deprived and underprivileged children with talent, this would be a positive point. But all they do is exploitation of the land without putting anything back to benefit the actual owners of the land -- the natives -- and resident inhabitants. In the days gone by, the 1960s, this corporation used to run schools, provide free medical care and other social facilities to the general public. This has all but disappeared .Consequently, one expects an examination performance that falls short of the full potential of the region; and unless these ills are addressed we will continue to see a fall in educational success rates in this region of Cameroon.

The Return and Successes of Francophone Cameroon

It is interesting to note that French-speaking Cameroonians are now sitting the Cameroon GCE Exams and performing excellently. Although one does not have actual figures to fully substantiate this assertion, it is true to note that the situation was not exactly the same twenty years ago. This should be commended; and was the original plan of the Cameroon Union. It is unfortunate that short-sighted French-speaking politicians attempted to destroy this qualification and thereby potentially depriving the future generation of young people to benefit from a decent education. If any politician attempts to destroy the GCE, I believe young people and their parents should resist them. Rather, they should lobby for government subsidies to schools that perform well on these qualifications and other internationally accepted certificates. They should also argue for more English-speaking schools and Universities to be established if this is what a sizeable portion of the population of the nation clamour for. This action, if put in place would deflate the pressure on scarce places in these institutions – mostly located in Southern Cameroons. In terms of education, it is only a blind nation that begins to inject poisonous politics into the system with the pretext of improving and empowering his people. The more choices young people –and even adults – have at their disposal, the more chances for self-improvement and hence advancement of that nation. Conversely, an inward-looking nation where people believe in prejudices and discriminatory policies in terms of learning only concretises the foundation for poverty and social retrogression in both the near and farthest futures. It is no use training top level lawyers, doctors, priests, engineers while there are no elite technicians, fashion designers, social workers, musicians and nurses; and that those who fall by the way side are left there for eternity. There has to be a mechanism within the system that lifts them up from the unproductive abyss to national pride and contribution as the reverse psychological effect is to spur their determination to succeed, to marshal their pride to participation in social, political and economic development.

To conclude, it is important to differentiate between Examination led success and an all-round educational triumph. The latter attainment manifests and is reflected in real life and after the process – a constant – while the former is observed and confined to a small location at the same time it occurs – an instance. While the stars of the GCE should be congratulated, it should be noted and we have to be reminded here that Exam results do not fully reflect educational attainment. Whether one is able to maintain that level after school is the true test of a sound education. Overall, this writer believes that there have been reasonable strides in the advancement of education in Cameroon and the UK. There is considerable room for advanced research in this area of education in Cameroon if we challenge the problem in an open debate and take resulting solutions on board.

Congratulations to parents, staff, students, administrators and leaders of the education sector in Cameroon and the UK; as well as all who have encouraged and inspired the writing of this three-part article.

Thanks to FECA-UK for allowing me access the Cameroon GCE data and statistics of June 2008-2010; and theirown monumental and pioneering work on this important subject

Living in the 21st Century (10): Amidst The Fiery Mist

2010-10-20T22:42:00.000-07:00

Louis Egbe Mbua

The day fell on September’s rains mild,

With the college open to those fresh students new

To mists of rare understanding and the array

Of wisdom brought from lofty heights,

Elders enlightened to instruct

Impacting and displaying firm discipline

So bitter like herbs to a child’s innocence

But a cure for ignorance of minds

Innocently whitened like a clear papyrus

The ancient scroll wrested from the Sea of Reeds

Harvested for knowledge, healing and baptism

With the Pillar of Fire! Brightens

The melancholic, frightful and darkened night

A scene not seen before where burns not the fire

But shows the way to the fearless,

And the children of courage who know the truth;

No guilt but thus tested, heated and moulded:

So malleably fine as to come

Out unscathed through the raging fire

September crawled into October and the rains

Ceased, so inviting the clear blue sky that curled

Around the backdrop of the sloping mountain,

The huge stone monument that as a shield acts

Against the mindless invaders persistent

In their marauding intent on destruction:

Unseen army on both sides of the tall wall

Flaming swords in hand, swords hewed from the raging

Mountain that spits out fires of wisdom that glows

Above to the heavens for the new recruits,

To see, to admire, wonder and understand

That power of light that from the top emanates.

Living in the 21st Century (9): Fashion Model

2010-09-26T08:52:00.000-07:00

Louis Egbe Mbua

She is the one with the smooth hair silky

So created as to flow down as smoothly

As coated feathers of the plumed doe-eyed;

Black and sparkling as though in painted flocks

By the ambidextrous hand of the art skilled

In placed talents on the Sistine ceiling

Chapel of angels and heaven it shows.

Her temple is a pure workman’s sleight hand,

The colour of the face of pure worked bronze;

Her eyes the colour of the hair the same,

Round, perfect clear charms like a disc fitted

Into an Egyptian painting plastered

On the walls of the palace of Pharaoh,

Her nose like the sculptured end to follow

Pointing down as opposite to the end

Of the Empire State buildings glory blazed,

Her lips dripping with full nurtured honey;

And voices from the lips like an angel

Descending from heaven’s gift to all men,

The height of proportion has she in blend,

And the mystery of beauty of ratio emphasised

From head to toe, her beauty surpasses

All women on earth, in fashion famous

Waist as slim and bosom in magnitude

As though carved off the moulded human clay,

All as pleasing as was Rachel of old,

In form and manners nature exquisite

For beautiful women always return.

The Raging GCE Exam Debate (Part 2): Conscientious Intellect and UnConscious Elitism

2010-09-22T23:47:00.000-07:00

Sasse College Students

From L'Effort Camerounais

Louis Egbe Mbua

Most established educational institutions in Cameroon may not accept a child who may not be able to read and answer questions on very difficult literature; not having financially viable guardians and parents; and have no profound grounding in mathematical principles. Added to that, the child must be able to write comprehensively at a very high level. The writer understands that all institutions have the right to set their entry requirements, rules and regulations. However, if the main criteria for selection are limited to a small group of individuals who are sure to pass examinations at the high end, then it is obvious that the purported normal distribution and spread would not hold.

While the outstanding performance of teachers and administrators as well as the conscientious attributes of the students may be commendable, all outstanding results are to be expected. However, as discussed in Part one of this series, this provides a false picture of that particular society because there are those who may be as intelligent but may have conditions of learning difficulties or are not financially sound in their respective backgrounds; and that those admitted already possess social and financial advantages over the entire age range in that society. This enhances the latter's resilience and unshakeable collective confidence and purpose; and that the added perceived independence of means and thought is followed by this collective purpose which will boost their academic performance far surpassing the normal level; and levels that do not conform to the much argued Bell Curve indications. Consequently, almost all students who may sit the GCE Exams will not fall within the range of highest three percent of normal distribution spread but may reflect a different phenomenon completely outside these predictions. Therefor, the real test of a high achieving environment is when all children from all backgrounds- wealthy or poor -- are brought together, given the same opportunity complete with first class educational facilities in that institution or society.

Checks and Balances

The reasons advanced so far in explaining success and failure in the Anglo-Saxon system has been based entirely on conjecture. This debate has raged and continues to rage in England and other countries of similar educational standards. Here in the UK, letters are written in the National Press and strong opinions advanced in connection to this controversy by concerned citizens. In one of those letters, a 1960s GCE candidate posted questions on Mathematics and clasics of his time; lining them side by side with contemporary questions of similar A Level Exams of today. According to the concerned citizen, the A Level has now been “dumbed” down since the questions that were asked the young people of today were far "easier", in depth and intellectual challenge, than those his own time. While one was almost ceratinly bound to agree with him, going by the questions, it would seem that children appear to attend school earlier in this day and age than was the case in the past. Thus, it may be not be valid to compare the intellectual maturity of 20 year olds as compared to a 16 year old child sitting the same Exams; and that knowledge has advanced since the 1960s so much so that the present students are bound to have much more breadth – debatable in relation to depth -- than was previously carried by the GCE old school.

A similar comparison could be established in Cameroon. It seems that students attend school younger in the present generation; and that there is official evidence that the academic duration has been slashed from seven to six years at the primary school level; and consequently rendering those sitting the GCE younger. The problem now is whether the GCE has the same strength in depth and intellectual challenge as was expected of students 20 years ago. This is a matter of concern as students attain very high grades than is expected. Again, in England this matter has been circumvented, if not obviated, by the introduction of a super A* Grade in their corresponding GCSE, an equivalence of Cameroon O Levels; and the GCE A Level , the same counterpart qualifications in Cameroon. Others have gone further and introduced the International Baccalaureate, as well as what is called the IGSCE, a qualification of what experts consider as of equivalent intellectual strength as the old London GCE O Level; and which is supposedly being sat in Cameroon. It is not clear how quality control is being implemented in Cameroon. So, it is hard to reach a conclusion as to whether the Cameroon GCE has become easier than in the past two decades.

A genuine method of checking and validating the intellectual balance of the A Levels is to follow the progress of former candidates. In some schools in England, they track the performance of their students after their A Levels: which universities they went to; where they obtained work; and how they progressed 5-10 years after their A Levels. While academic qualifications are not the only factor that determines success in life, it is a strong indicator on the other hand, and arguably the most reliable pointer to their institutions’ success; and their method of teaching. There is one thing passing with very high grades based on Exams and another matter altogether if the same students were provided with an all-round intellectual armament to cope with the trials in the real world. The writer is not fully conversant with the methods used in Cameroon in terms of checks and balances at present; but my Old school in Sasse track their students after leaving the College and make adjustments in their teaching methods as appropriate to ensure that the qualifications as well as the all-round education they receive are authentic. Again, it is unclear whether the Cameroon authorities as a whole follow the students’ progress after leaving school so as to find out if the qualifications so bestowed meet the requirements they were intended to. The writer’s casual observation is that the Cameroon A Level is respected here in the UK; and that students who arrived the UK with their A Levels were capable, and able to compete internationally in British Universities. But that was two decades ago. How they fair now is a recipe for research. How they perform in Cameroon Universities is also open to scrutiny in today’s world.

It is now an open secret that major universities in the UK have been complaining about fallen the standards in relation to the students that are enrolled into their venerable institutions. Employers are in the same mould asking questions as to the quality of graduates. Who is responsible for this alleged fall of standards cannot be easily discerned. Some universities are now instituting compulsory Examinations for certain “hard” courses such as Medicine, Law, Engineering and Classics. In special cases, students with top level grades are denied – controversially -- entry into top universities on account of their “failure” to meet requirements in designed interviews and university entrance Exams. A significant number of these “unqualified” students decamp to top universities in the United States, China and Hong Kong where they excel in the disciplines they were denied places in the UK.

In Cameroon, there is the tradition of sitting entrance Exams into schools of the profession especially in Administration, Engineering and Medicine – what is usually referred to as Les Grandes Ecoles inthe French system. While this may be a fair way of selection, it is also prone to bribery and corruption. Citizens in Cameroon, especially from the English-Speaking region (Southern Cameroons), have been complaining of incompetence, corruption and other professional misconduct especially from graduates from Ecole Normale d’Administration et Magistrature (ENAM), the Higher Education institution for administration. As a result, it is difficult to assess as to whether this lapse in professional and academic standards is related to poor educational entry in A Level qualifications; or that the institution itself does not measure up to opprobrious international standards. Additionally, the significant majority of the graduates of this institution do not venture abroad but try their hands in ready-made government jobs spoiled with facilities provided by the ordinary Cameroon tax payer. This is not to discount other very able Graduates who have gone on to prove their worth into the world.

Political Qualifications

In 1983, the Cameroon government attempted to alter the character of the GCE qualification at both the O and A Levels. The executive text to be implemented was designed to destroy these qualifications so that the minority English-Speaking Cameroon would be dependent t on their Francophone counterparts for education as is all other aspects in daily life as in Cameroon today. It is still one of the most shameful periods in Cameroon history; that a group of people would want to jeopardise the future educational well-being of children for purely insidious political reasons. This, gladly, did not work due to stiff resistance from Anglophone students at Yaoundé, the lone University at the time, and parents of the English-speaking region. However, the clueless government was determined to get his way in other areas in this sphere. So, they attacked the Vocational qualifications of the English-Speaking region (Southern Cameroons), destroying the curriculum that was based on City & Guilds Examinations in London; began teaching in French and replaced these well-tested and authenticated qualifications with questionable French-styled qualifications that have no international standing or merit. The result has been an educational disaster on a grandiose scale. Student failure rates skyrocketed to the edges of the curvature and thousands of lives destroyed with the elite Francophone having a totally misguided of notion of “Anglophones are not as intelligent as Francophones”. This kind of warped thinking and implementation of an educational system renders any kind of analysis on the performance of students during and after their education totally without meaning; and that failure or success rates in Exams are not solely dependent on intelligence but on other disgraceful man-made rules bent on discrimination, mind control and clear machinations.

The Raging GCE Exam Debate (Part 1): An Anomalous Controversy

2010-09-15T23:05:00.000-07:00

Louis Egbe Mbua

I heard the piercing sound penetrate the room, picked up the receiver and answered. It was my friend and classmate who resides in Saudi; questioning the authenticity and validity of what he termed “totally unrealistic GCE results in Cameroon” that defied well-known natural laws; and a complete violation of the much celebrated or berated; and hotly disputed Bell-Curve invention in inexplicability. In certain quarters, the Bell-Curve is considered the Holy Grail of statistical analysis while other radical thinkers have dismissed it as a great intellectual fraud. It is unclear as to who is right or wrong here. On the other hand, the incessant complaints by the older generation of GCE "Grade Inflation"; and the increasing percentage pass rate in the Anglo-Saxon educational world appears to create an atmosphere of suspicion as to the authenticity of this well-tested qualification – what the British call the “Gold Standard” of qualifications. Some posit that GCE has become easier while others explain that younger people have more learning facilities than the previous generation. Again, who is right or who is wrong is highly debatable and has been the source of vexed acrimony here in England and Cameroon.

In the days gone by in my native Cameroon, the GCE Examination was held in a much more sanctimonious reverence. People will point out to a child saying in awe: “look, that one obtained 9 subjects at the O’ Level Exams, he is going to CCAST, Bambili”; and “there is the other one, look, she's obtained 5 subjects at A Levels; she is going to University in England”. In those days, only the tinniest of minority of the total in the entire Anglo-Saxon World would approach such heights at the age of 16 and 18 for the O and A Levels respectively. In today’s digital world or post-traditionalism, a significant number and percentage of students -- that grossly violates the norm of Bell and his protagonists – far exceed excellence at a clearly younger age, especially in my native Cameroon and England. It is impossible, therefore, to ignore trends that bare close similarities in two nations 7000 miles apart, and located in two different continents; with completely different climates, wealth, and mode of living.

I was in a well-deserved holiday in the Midlands, England, in July when I got news that my nephew had passed his A Levels complete with a stunning A Grade in Further Mathematics, one of the most difficult subjects at that qualification. He is only 16! Needless, to recount that the writer sat and passed my O Levels at 16; and almost certainly indicating -- or apparent -- that I was two years behind the present generation in intellect. I made a decision to inquire as to whether he actually obtained that subject at that grade; and how many he actually obtained; and whether it was true. The telephone discussions went after this manner:

“I heard you passed your A Levels. Is this true?”

“Well, yes”, he replied.

“Well done and congratulations!” I exclaimed over the phone; and trying to hide my astonishment mixed with great pride.

“Thank you”, was his quiet response.

“How many subjects did you sit; and how many of them did you pass?” I asked

“Well, all five subjects. I obtained an A Grade in Further Mathematics,” he said in a detached manner as though nothing had happened; and to add to my frozen bewilderment.

I asked no further questions. I also found out about my cousin in SBC, Victoria. “Oh, she obtained four A Level subjects in the Sciences”, they said. Well! That's it! I said to myself. This is Grade Inflation, I thought. Or is it?

While the intellectual world is busy explaining away – using conventional and sometimes outdated and questionable theoretical models -- the sudden increases in pass rates of young people in these examinations, there are crucial questions to answer in relation to this emerging trend. It is true that there is a natural tendency for aspects to fall within the 95-99 percent confidence limit in the Bell Curve, about 3 percent of those involved in this case would be at the top of the academic order while another 3 percent will languish at the bottom heap; scrapping the bottom of the barrel of academic attainment; the majority fitting within the bounds of normalcy in spatial distribution. However, this scenario is only possible if we assume that all situations must fit within these pre-meditated theoretical prejudices; and that all phenomena are exactly the same. Yet, if we examine the matter with the trained experienced eye of the world, we may have to agree that this is not always the case. There is no one fit all theory that may be used to explain all occurrences; as items and articles vary. That plants and artificial creations may follow established human laws does not mean that all human aspects must follow.

Firstly, humans have the advantage of motivation and self-improvement. Although these have limits, it is true that nobody actually knows this limitation. It follows that there are always the possibilities of circumstances that break through the agreed norms of theoretical predictions; and which would demand further studies to usher fresh explanations on overachievement by a vast majority at a particular time and specific place.

In my generation, the amount of learning resources were few and scarce. Although there were books, the lack of a variety of authors and material in particularly hard subjects were a handicap to learning. Established authors were few; and that if one could not actually understand the language and style of those authors, it became an uphill battle to perform to one’s highest academic potentials since there was nowhere else to turn. Furthermore, human resource in relation to traditional subjects such as Physics and English Literature was not as prevalent as this day and age. Few went to University to study these subjects. As a result, most lecturers in these disciplines were not graduates as opposed to this era. In the UK, there has been a Higher Education explosion in the last two decades tapping in on talents who have returned to the class room to boost examination results with their skills and training. In addition, this is augmented by the coming of the digital and multimedia age of computers, internet and other electronic gadgets that speed up learning. Students may take a complete course in programming and computer hardware straight from YouTube. This was totally impossible or unimaginable even as early as a decade ago when to attain these skills required that you attend lecture in a conventional classrooms in well-defined timescales with the financial implications that might ensue.

In my native Cameroon in particular, and Africa in general, there has been a paradigm shift in population distribution to the Diaspora. Many Cameroonians who studied out of the country act as inspiration; and mentors to the younger generation, providing an extra motivational boost to their already found confidence being advantaged financially and socially. It should be remembered that a low social esteem and lack of access to finance may put young and talented people at a disadvantage. Thus, elimination of these negative factors provides a comfortable environment for learning. In this case, therefore, the Bell-Curve phenomenon may not hold firmly; because one needs but the least of talent to attain full potential. Full potential is not the exclusive preserve of only the most talented and intelligent young people. Although the writer will admit that intelligence is random and spontaneous; and that it is totally independent of social birth, it should be stated that achievement heights are directly related to financial and social status in as much as intelligence. The higher the financial status a child may find themselves; and the better the social standing of their parents or relatives, the more chances they may full-fill their full potential.

Contrary to certain misguided theories, a child’s intelligence has no relation to the social standing or financial muscle of their parentage. However, their chances of debunking the Bell-Curve theoretical assumptions increases; and that they are likely to perform outside these predictions. The following is that the wealthier the society the more likely that the future generation will be overachievers whether they are highly intelligent or not. Mean time, more intelligent children who find themselves in a socially and financially disadvantaged position have already been defeated psychologically; and must work extra hard or must receive some kind of aid to attain their full potential in life and competitive examinations. There was this case I know in Tiko, Cameroon. This primary school girl from Duala was the most intelligent girl in the entire school; but I was surprised she could not go to secondary school due to lack of finances. I do not know how she ended up but by the time I was sitting my A Levels, she was still at home with little to do. A casual observer, not knowing her potential, will obviously believe she is not intelligent; a totally false and inaccurate assessment. Exceptional cases exist where these postulates may not hold but these are only in the fringes in this case.

There is the intriguing tendency, today, to chart the Darwinian path to archive results; and to offer reasons to explain complex phenomenon. The survival of the fittest that used to belong in the jungle is now an accepted resident in the major cities of the world. In the City of London and in Wall Street of New York financial Empires, the new self-appointed titles or self-proclaimed pomposity is that of “Master of the Universe”. How humans became Lords of the Universe without having created anything within or without their own habitat here on earth is indeed disturbing. In the world where people are made to believe that they are capable of achieving everything by dint of their background and “talent” is a new trend that deserves the keenest of scrutiny. Now, we have to believe that there are people of exceptional abilities in all spheres of our existence. However, if this criteria forms the main bedrock by which we select individuals into institutions of learning and the profession, then that particular institution will obviously excel since this will create a condition of a self-full-filling prophesy; and as a result will obviously burst through accepted conventions; and further break natural laws. In most established institutions in Cameroon and to a certain extent, the UK, this is the case.

Living in the 21st Century (8): Fooled By The Lion's Gold

2010-09-02T13:56:00.000-07:00

Louis Egbe Mbua

And then the fool found rare gold

In his house it was not found

Because understands him not

The concept of morality;

Mutual consent he knows not

Since he knows but force savage

In execution;

Like an untamed beast living

Wild in the grassy plains, Africa’s

Gaming life athletics thrive.

Lions with arrayed leisured lives

Ordered in stepped hierarchy,

Organised for the survival

Of curious cubs;

Lioness the colour of pride,

A resemblance of real gold,

The fearless lioness as wise,

No fool but to feed her cubs,

And at rare times the young cubs,

The pride kills in ignorance but

So so ndolo*;

Do the young ones experience?

And rejection they know not.

Like pure gem do they prosper?

Alert! In their boundaries;

They defend with untamed pride

The last inch of ground they do

In savage style;

Attacks on their sworn enemies,

Ferocious in their gapped dens,

Playful are the agile cubs,

Catwalk the preying practice;

Grooming and silent bonding

His created nature, the lion

Is not a fool!

*Always love

Mola Njoh Litumbe in VOA on Southern Cameroons Independence

2010-08-31T23:01:00.000-07:00

Cameroonian Statesman Mola Njoh Litumbe

Mola Njoh Litumbe in Voice of America (VOA); classic interview on Southern Cameroons Independence:

http://www.voanews.com/MediaAssets2/english/2010_08/butty-cameroon-southern-independence-litumbe-31august10.mp3

Ghana is The New Brazil

2010-07-05T02:10:00.000-07:00

Louis Egbe Mbua

Not since we all watched the classic Cameroon-England quarter finals confrontation in Italia’90, has a match stirred so much passion, fascination and controversy as that between Ghana and Uruguay last Friday, 2 July 2010 in Johannesburg. Ghana has a pedigree in football that many fail or refuse to realise or recognise. In the days of the invincible Goal Keeper Mensah of Ghana to the of legend of Asante Kotoko FC and Hearts of Oak FC, Ghana has always had football talents in graceful abundance. The supremely talented Karim Abdul Razak, Samuel Opoku Nti and Abedi Pele are names that have instilled tremendous panic and fright in opposing teams in Africa and international world football. Incidentally, Abedi’s son, the immensely talented Ayew, was innocently yellow-carded by an incompetent referee in Ghana’s 8th final encounter with the United States of America. A keen football observer will note Ghana’s supreme skills in ball control, deft ball touches, accurate passes and undisputed style. All Ghana has to achieve now is to hone their striking skills in scoring technical goals as it appears they seem to fail to convert clear chances into goals in front of the goal post. Having said so, Ghana is a pleasure to watch. Brazil or any other team doesn’t come close in this tournament.

So, when Luis Suarez‘s deliberate handball on the goal line defied all laws of ethics in sports and profession, it was not only sad but extremely shameful. What Suarez did was a blatant and deliberate act of cheating unbecoming of a professional on the world stage, a monumental disgrace to football and a bad day for sports. It was made worse when Suarez was caught on Camera ecstatically celebrating the Gyan penalty miss. It appears there is a propensity to cheat in crucial matches in this World Cup which, so far, has been wonderfully hosted by South Africa. This writer is not sure how football is played in South America, whether cheating is glossed over in very important matches. However, in this world Cup, a Brazilian clearly controlled the ball with his hands twice and scored; the referee saw the dreadful unfair advantage but mysteriously allowed the goal to stand. Argentina scored a clearly off side goal last week; and Maradona cheated England in 1986 World Cup in Mexico when he shamelessly punched the ball passed a protesting Peter Shilton to score a handball. Furthermore, a Uruguay referee disallowed a clear England goal against Germany.

It should be made clear that such tenuous matches can be changed by one crucial mistake by a referee. The English players have had a mauling in the press in London since their unceremonious ejection from this World Cup. However, it has to be said that had that disallowed goal stood, one is sure that it would have regenerated England’s confidence, changed their tactical approach to the match, altered their psychological well being for the better in that instance; and that one is not in the slightest doubt that we could have witnessed a completely different match altogether in the second half. This same or a similar psychological syndrome must have affected the Black Stars of Ghana. Gyan’s missed the penalty seemed to have provided a psychologically crippling blow to the team thus causing two more players to miss their penalty kicks in the penalty shoot out that unfairly resulted after extra time in the thrilling encounter.

One is of the opinion that If cheating is the method invented so as to achieve greatness in football or other aspects of social, economic and technological development, then one would prefer Africans to remain "under-achievers" in these areas rather than to engage in a perfidious outrage; and questionable moral fortitude. The deliberate act of Suarez can be likened to a banker knowingly stealing money from his own bank when times are hard, and then given the chance to refund the money when he is fine.

To me, Ghana won the match squarely; and as a consequence, an automatic semi-finalist in this World Cup adventure. Whether Gyan lost the penalty or not is a matter of profound irrelevance because there should never have been a penalty in the first place. This was, clearly, daylight football robbery in every sense of the word, on the part of Suarez, a thorough indignity, a crime to football and a downgrading of himself as a respected footballer. It should be drawn to the reader’s attention that Henri has never got over his hand ball against Northern Ireland in the France-Ireland qualifier that effectively knocked out Northern Ireland from SA WC. FIFA’ failure to punish this ill-conceived act meant that players believed they can get away with using their hands when they see fit against all the rules of decency. Why can't we just name the sport hand-football? If all players were allowed to stop all goals within their reach with their hands, what will happen? Sending them off culprits every 10 minutes and then take a penalties? In this kind of blatant hand madness, as in the crucially nail-biting quarter-final Ghana-Uruguay clash, the goal should be awarded rather than waste time on a penalty which can go either ways -- miss or win.

Thanks Ghana (And South Africa as well as all other nations in the world cup) for your heroic efforts; and not reacting in a Machiavellian manner in this debacle; and to represent Africa with style and humility, keeping your dignity and talent. Tomorrow is another day. In today’s world of over-rated, overpaid and over here arrogant and petulant professional footballers, one is pleased that a quiet and striving nation continues to maintain the beautiful game. With more courage, support and encouragement, this writer believes Ghana will go on to win the World Cup at one point in the nearest future. Ghana began the match to independence of Africa. It seems the spirit of high achievement has not been destroyed. Other African countries should follow this example, doing what is right to their people and their various nations; giving to the world what is good, pleasant and just.

As for Cameroon, I have absolutely nothing to say in this instance since there is no word that has been invented to paint what one has come to consider as a display of the horrifyingly abysmal --not attaining a single point nor win or draw a single match! While it is difficult to rise in global and international prominence in any aspect, it takes only one to three hours to fall to the ground. The risks here are that falling may be perpetual; and that that one falls does not necessitate that one must automatically rise from their fall. Some fall and rise again while others fall and never rise again. While some fall by accident, others are the architect of their own downfall. In the former scenario, the victim has a higher chance of rising again since they fell unknowingly, while in the latter case, chances of their re-emergence is pitifully slim as a result of deceiving themselves into falling. However, we should give Cameroon credit for playing a clean and fair game without attempting to engage in an outrageously platitudinous hand-football or other forms of indecency of the game. That is sportsmanship.

Gulf Oil Spill: The Genesis of BP’s Special Relationship and Complacency (Part 2)

2010-06-23T21:25:00.000-07:00

Louis Egbe Mbua

BP, being one of the largest companies in the world, looked invincible. In her Britannic House head Office in St James’ London, it is not quite clear what is their exact position on the momentous Gulf gush disaster, as BP is run in a typically bureaucratic style: like a government department. BP paid £6 billion of corporate tax last financial year to the UK Treasury; meaning a turnover of at least £50 billion. This, alone, counts for at least twice the Cameroon government GDP. Furthermore, £1 in every seven dividend paid in the UK is given out by BP. To further emphasize her influence on British daily life, most of the biggest pension funds in the UK are tied to BP. It is also a fact that the company is about 40 percent owned by American shareholders.

So whatever side we look at the effects of this oil disaster, the possible fall or breaking up of the oil giant is bound to create financial chaos. In this background, why then is President Obama taking a hard-line stance on the company? Obama has stressed several times over that he was going to hold BP accountable; and that they “must” pay huge compensations of up to £20 billion for the cleanup and lost businesses and lives on the gulf coasts; most fishing businesses, hotels, holiday resorts and tourist attraction; entertainment, shipping, state and local conservation organisations as well as other industries and manufacturing businesses that are affected. More importantly, the 11 people who perished during the explosion have to be compensated.

While we have to agree that accidents do happen, it would seem that giant oil companies appear to put profit before people, environment and have completely lost focus on the inherent risks involved in deep sea oil drilling. It is rumoured that BP reaps a mind-blowing £61 million profit per day. Consequently, it is almost certainly unforgivable for BP not to put enough safety in place to prevent such a simple capping of a blowout which would have been automatic in case of an explosion of an upper rig. Furthermore, it is again unacceptable that such a company with enormous resources in man power, cutting-edge technology and access to finance could not have been an industry leader in the manufacture of oil rig platforms. And why did they hire the vessel from Transocean if they could actually buy it straight up from Hyundai? A hired vehicle means that BP was trying to by-pass technical and safety responsibilities in case of a liability. This, clearly, was to save money for yet more profit. Now, if BP had owned the rig, it is clear that they would have attempted to apply the highest standards of health and safety in line with the American Petroleum Institute (API) and the International Standardization Organization (ISO) -- inspecting the rig and the well head themselves rather than depend on the second or third party company Transocean.

It can also be said that what happened in the Gulf of Mexico in the Deep Horizon disaster is what has been happening in less influential countries. Last year, 2009, Royal Dutch Shell paid a paltry £10 million compensation to the 500,000 strong Ogoni family ethnic group in the Rivers State of Nigeria. They never offered an apology to the oil-politics and environmental destruction of the people concerned as BP has done to the Ameicans. This meagre sum is but a speck in the oil giants’ finances. For years, oil companies of the African Gulf of Guinea have devastated local farmlands, polluted rivers in Nigeria with the complicity of irresponsible African governments who work with multinational oil companies to ruthlessly exploit the land with criminal neglect of the indigenes whose ancient livelihoods, habitats and environment have been totally devastated. While oil companies grow richer and fatter, the indigenes grow poorer and thinner following the destruction of biodiversity that may provide for their diet.

So far, these oil and mining companies have paid little or nothing to the African governments’ treasury or its long suffering inhabitants who have paid dearly for this mass and relentlessly exploitation and environmental damage. But there is overwhelming evidence that multi-nationals have incessantly and shamelessly provided kickbacks and bribes to deceitful and monstrous African officials and Presidents. A typical example of this kind of buccaneer attitude has been the treatment of the Bakassi indigenes in the disputed peninsular in the Cameroon coast. The West including Britain, France, Germany, USA complete with two not so prominent African leaders of Cameroon and Nigeria, with Kofi Anan, another African, conspired in a scandalous and fraudulent agreement in GreenTree, New York, America, to deport the indigenes from their ancestral land of Bakassi to Calabar, Nigeria so that these companies may collect huge deposits of oil from the shores of the Bakassi Peninsular.

If in a hypothetical situation, there were an oil spill of the Gulf of Mexico magnitude in this peninsular, all one would expect is a clearly deafening silence – judging from past incidents in Africa. The entire peninsular and her rich fish stock would be destroyed with devastating consequences for the local population but with rich pickings for the oil companies. This is a recipe for future conflicts. Unfortunately for BP, this Gulf Oil Spill happened in the backyard of a superpower; so they have no alternative but to pay up front this time round. They might have escaped financial ruin as Shell has been doing for decades in Africa if this occurred in Timbuktu and not in Florida and Louisiana – with oil spill threatening to arrive at New York’s Manhattan.
It is unclear where Obama’s policy on environmental damage as regards the developing world stands. However, his tough and uncompromising stance against the now uncapped Gulf of Mexico oil spill appears to replicate his campaign message in advancing a new Green energy economy in the United States. However, the politics of oil is not new as it began right from the beginning of the creation of BP.

The British Petroleum (now rebranded Beyond Petroleum) had its origin, ironically, in Iran and evolved into the Anglo-Iranian Oil Company (AIOC) with sole rights to explore and drill in the oil rich country. A nationalist government led by the democratically elected Iranian Prime Minister Dr. Mohammad Mossadeq, seemed to have nationalised the company so that his country could convincingly benefit from this newly found resource of black gold. However, the company, with the help of the CIA masterminded a coup d’état that overthrew Mossadeq in 1952-1953 to install the Shah of Iran. The Shah, as compensation, restored AIOC as the predominant oil company of that country until the Shah was overthrown by the theocratic revolution of Ayatollah Khomeini who during the Ian-Iraq war renegotiated favourable terms with the now renamed AIOC (BP).

Thus, BP’s complacency in terms of safety in the United States must reflect this political background and evolution of the company. America aided, supported and profited from BPs Oil Coup in Iran in the 1950s. As a result, Americans, today, were offered 40 percent of the shares in the now oil giant. All these years, BP has had a roller coaster ride in the world oil stage possibly believing that they would always have the support of America, the superpower special friend. Well, until the complacency began affecting the United States herself. Firstly, there was the explosion at a BP-owned US oil refinery with the loss of American lives. And then now the explosion and dreadful oil leak in the Gulf. Is this the end of the Oil giant? This may be premature.

The company had seen off other crisis. In 1979, BP was kicked out of Nigeria by the then military regime of General Obasanjo -- who ironically signed the treacherous Greentree agreement in 2008 as the second time civilian President of Nigeria --for allegedly diverting Nigerian oil to the then overwhelmingly hated Apartheid South Africa. Nigerian Oil exports to the then racist regime had been banned by the Nigerian Military Junta. It seems BP have never had a foothold in Nigeria since then but they have gone from strength to strength; discovering more fields in other countries and remote areas although they were outmanoeuvred by the Russian government of Putin in a questionable deal with Russian oil companies.

Their place, in Nigeria, after the 1979 unceremonious discharge, was taken over by Royal Dutch shell that is also in trouble with rebels protesting their years of environmental damage and exploitation of the indigenes in the River state. It remains to be seen whether the new President of Nigeria, Jonathan Goodluck, who himself is an indigene of the Delta, would put the company under pressure to pay up in cleaning the damaged environment and compensate local businesses and fishermen or allow them to do as they please as has been the case for decades.

The last few weeks have seen the BP’s share value fall by almost 50 percent and voices in the UK predicted the end of the giant while others accuse PM David Cameron of not standing up enough against the Obama White House “anti-British” rhetoric. While the political argument rages, it was interesting to read through on the biography of Tony Hayward, the BP Chief Executive, who is now being hounded by the American public for his technical mishaps and utterances. Interestingly, Hayward is a doctorate in geology; and it seems the British and American media cannot differentiate between a geologist and a marine or hydraulic engineer. They seem to believe that Hayward is the right man for the job. This is misplaced thinking. While Hayward might have been instrumental in the expansion of BP by spearheading the corporation’s successful exploration, this crisis can only be handled by a professionally trained engineer in the person of the Technical Director. So, although the buck stops at Hayward, the Technical Director has much more questions to answer.

Living in the 21st Century (6): Man and His Sun

2010-06-23T10:47:00.000-07:00

Louis Egbe Mbua

A nuclear factory the Devine Hand flung
Into space the yellow disc afloat stays
In suspense, a mystery to man clung
In search of answers the straight rays
Bring onto earth: ninety three million
Miles adding in eight seconds a blaze,
Half the earth a shine to be gone
The light to the other side the earth rotates
In slight tilts, the slight wobble known
But no man a spinning feeling to gaze.
Round and around the earth spins
On its own axis forms nights and days;
Morning comes and evening returns
As the yellow giant around it spins in space.

In the middle of its core 15 million superhot;
Of two gases one from the other derived
From floating primeval hydrogen super gas
Under pressure another element created;
And the thermo-nucleus a dense fiery core
That explodes so all stars are renewed
With energy as light and heat radiates
Through the cosmos giving matter and life
On earth maintaining energy balances
So, man to see a reason to work and live.
All is in full harmony, are heavenly bodies
Created from dust of stars in the Universe
And from Devine dust the man emerges.
In the Universe the man forever will dwell
Until dust will all stars and man return?

Gulf Oil Spill: Crippled Giant Limping Beyond Petroleum (Part 1)

2010-06-17T09:42:00.000-07:00

The BP Oil Spill well head in the Gulf of Mexico

Louis Egbe Mbua

Human nature appears to be changing. It is unclear as to who is right in this day and age of utopian dreamland called earth and her solar system. At one point we were told that a major nuclear accident was totally impossible until the 1986 Chernobyl nuclear explosion that almost caused a nuclear melt down. For reasons nobody can quite explain, the nuclear core stopped melting through the earth’s crust. Luck or warning? This is hard to tell but one can adjudge that the world was lucky that this disaster never reached the melt-down stage. A warning was clear on the other hand – that there is a possibility of a live nuclear destruction one day; perhaps a nuclear winter after a man made disaster like a nuclear strike from say North Korea or a superpower stand off that escalates into a nuclear war. And what about the super nuclear experiment in the European station in Switzerland? Can there be an accident? Possible or possibly not. We will see. Now, not to go too far, we were taught as school children that people were given money or draw money from the bank. Now, it appears the opposite is true. We, the people, lent banks huge amounts of money so that they may not go bankrupt! What is this?

Today we are told one thing, tomorrow we are told something completely opposite. Primo they said capitalism has triumphed; now it seems Karl Marx was right in stating clearly that capitalism will fail. One minute the world economy was swashed with large sums of money, they told us. The next moment the entire world is broke, well, apart from China. But what would China buy from those who are broke? That is for another day. Human arrogance is now reaching unacceptable levels. Writers such as the Darwinians and other evolutionists' intellectual mirage appear to be deluding us all. We now believe man has no limits in abilities. We can live on the moon, mine gold in Mars, exploit minerals and water in Jupiter’s moons. But is this true? To this one can only quote the preacher: vanity upon vanity. Upon vanity man places his hopes, turns his mind to vanity, applies the same vanity and then ends up in absolute vanity. All is vanity as the wise man said. Now, if we question ourselves as to what exactly we look for in the universe, we may come up with very brilliant answers, and justifiably so. Do we need energy to live? Correct. Light to see and breathe? Needed? Agreed.

Now let’s ask the question in a different manner. Does one have to travel to the sun to obtain enough light and energy to live? No. What about digging up locked energy from the sun buried in the earth’s crust? Yes we can. Where are we to dig? On the surface of the earth or on the ocean floor? Well, on earth, of course, not in the seas. But what if there is an acute supply shortage? Are we to explore the ocean for energy? That can be done just off the shore: at about 20 miles into the seas. This is because the farther one goes into the sea the deeper it gets and the more dangerous it is to dig. Why is that? Well, the head water pressure alone makes it hydraulically risky to attempt drilling for oil 1500 m or 1.5 Km depth in the oceans. This means that by the time you strike oil, you are already at least 4 miles from the earth’s surface. Given Tsunamis, earthquakes, and active volcanoes within the sea itself, we may never know what may happen. This is the limit of man because man can never be everywhere at the same time. So, was BP right to drill this far into the sea and deep onto the sea bed? Yes and No. Yes, because they are an oil company. No because they said they are now Beyond Petroleum; and that drilling these vast distances for oil is not only technologically challenging but unpredictable and extremely dangerous.

So, what exactly happened? It would seem that there is a serious problem of technical standardisation in the oil industry. It appears the owner of the mobile oil rig that exploded and killed 11 workers is owned by a company called Transocean. BP, it seems borrowed the rig, brought in their own workers to operate it within BP’s oil licence area in the Gulf of Mexico. More surprising is the fact that the exploded rig was manufactured by Halliburton oil. On and on goes the complication. Now, BP blames Transocean who owns the rig. Transocean then turns around and blames BP and Halliburton.

What surprises one is that nobody seems to want to take the responsibility. However, what is important now is to stop the leak since leaking 100,000 barrels of oil per day onto the ocean since April 20 2010 is not only a step to environmental meltdown in the gulf but a frightening thought as nobody is quite sure as to the total amount of reserves contained in the oil bowl on the earth and consequently how long the “blowout” will last. If it lasts another 2 months, we may begin to see oil spills in the West British Coast adjacent to the Atlantic. Another year of oil spill will render the seas uninhabitable to marine and plant life – a breakdown of marine ecosystem. The damage to the earth and quality of life in this terrifying scenario would be incalculable.

But how is this leak to be stopped? As explained earlier, this is going to be an extremely difficult task because of the tremendous problem of trying to balance the down ward hydrostatic pressure from the ocean against the hydraulic pressure from the oil well that gushes off the oil. The ocean pressures are unpredictable as there are volcanic mountains and tides 1500 m below the sea surface. One solution therefore is to allow the entire oil to gush out and then burnt up as soon as it reaches the surface. The problem with this method is that oil can only be burnt up at the surface of the sea. Consequently those that escape before they reach the top of the sea would drift and float hundreds of miles later making the solution but a partial one. There is a kind of consolation here because oil is less dense than water so it always floats.

An Alternative solution to burn up the gushing oil on the sea bed itself as it flows out will almost certainly be futile as fire can hardly burn under the ocean. However, there is evidence that volcanoes do exist at the bottom of the sea. Whether an artificial fire may be created to mimic a burning volcano that would burn up the oil is another matter altogether. Besides how many coastal miles are we to burn before we destroy the entire biodiversity? Worse is the pollution and the increased CO2/CO that will obviously result. CO is poisonous to humans and other animal life. So a mass burning of oil may be viewed as environmentally damaging. Too much CO2 also increases Green house effect and hence creating the more perfect atmosphere of earth’s overheating or “global warming”.

A simpler but efficient method to stop the leak may be to block the hole in the sea bed. But this is proving very tricky due to the distances and the varying oil and water pressures. So, an easier method is to clip a flexible pipe on the well head and then transport the licking oil into the mainland to be stored in tanks. However, this can never be an emergency solution as it will take at least 6 months to plan and execute this technique. Worse case scenario in the entire disaster may be created if there is serious structural damage in the well head so much so that it is irreparably damaged; and that cracks are generated through out the world pipelines 2 miles below sea bed. This would be the ultimate horror since the only way this could be stopped would be to blow up the entire well. But what happens after that? Nobody can quite tell for sure.

Over and Over

2010-06-15T10:04:00.000-07:00

Louis Egbe Mbua

If man was created
To work and keep
Earth’s abundance
Then this task has
To be done well
Over and over!

Repetitive work is good
If it is directed
Towards the greater good
Of man, woman, child
Affecting the entire
World in abundance

Again, a task done
Over and over again
Becomes part of nature
Because man is glued
To the earth to be
Duly recycled.

A catch does exist
In this strange cycle:
Recycling good things
Is of beneficence
But to repeat folly
Is to multiply trouble

Something is grave
In this world of ours:
One man knowing evil
But jumps into the same.
Any reason why a man
Throws away his lamp?

That question, I can’t answer
For there is no answer
But that a mistake can
Only manifest in darkness.
Thus in pure darkness,
Man learns not!

While in the dark
He pursues his wants
But a want in the dark
Can never be for all,
Since the vast majority
Of man is not blind.

Thus a man in isolation
May become blind while
a man of the people can
Never be blind:
Even if he sees not,
He will be led to light.

The fact of the
Matter is that
Though we may see
We become blind alone,
So we make same errors
Over and over!

Blood Diamonds: A Rendition of an Apocalypse*

2010-05-21T02:04:00.000-07:00

Louis Egbe Mbua

For wrongs and trespasses committed
Against the Most Holy One enthroned
Above seated on high, lapis and carried
By Seraphim worshipped and praised;
By creatures so celestially crowned,
Created with fire; with movements
At speeds of lightning deportment;
Pray the Holy One does redeem
The people, gems, champions of esteem,
Making atonements to rejuvenate
On what once was lost but now found;
For no man does self-elevate
To self-made a sovereign as to pound
His mortal chest-beating in defiance
Of the Only One on Most High watching;
His creation; a melting disappearance
Of Beauty; malfeasance despoiled
By him who by fallen pride recoiled
Not from casting lustful eyes awide
As to spread fear, lies on either side
Of the Chasm: Heaven and earth
Where dwells all creatures; living
By the power of Spirit that cleaneth
All creation, all creatures; enlightening
To know the wicked enemy roaming
And see the adversary deceiving;
Coverting and stealing; eyeing
The kingdom; Him not duly given
To the whole truth but Air Prince stolen
Title; forever not given or sustained
Since in fraud this title contained;
In a hollow darkened plan prepared
In empty pride; no love conceived
By his hapless troopers so out fought
In their futile battle unappeased
By their diabolic aims so sought.

War for Diamonds – Blood Diamonds

Thus the great hand battle emerged
To dislodge the Great Ogre lodged
On the neck of Diamonds squeezed.
As the huge Red Dragon tightened
The enormous grip on free red blood!
He sucks:apocalyptic blood flood!
And then Diamonds came off stumps;
Her hardness greater than ord’ rock
Found in all earth and the heavens
To stand up as one; weakened in stills
The broken parts no longer holds
As the Great Ogre with an iron frock
And a clay foot had Diamonds picked
Up from aground to be swung around
Like a swirling boiling sea raged
By a fierce wind: hurricane laced
With torrents; and raindrops flicked
Around Diamonds with savage drones
As in the sounds of a great myriad
Of chariots: a furious army of dunces.

The Terrifying Scene

Appeared a terrifying scene so dreadful
That never before earth has been seen
On earth since Diamonds turned bountiful
To the resting princes resting between
The freezing west and the burning east.
The Great ogre his left foot planted east
And a monstrous kick with right foot west
But with a great rush of wind did he miss
His intentions to destroy the serpent lest
The Red Dragon gathers his stars thrown
On Diamonds humble dwelling down
The devastated planet; man’s sure curse
Fooled by Dragon; ruler with no course
And with no known truth and torch light
But love of darkness: propensity to blight.

The Red Dragon; an advantage gave
Not least chance for Ogre who craved
For assistance from his fall brought
About by miscalculations untaught
By ages of co-habitation disallowed
From above ‘cause celestially created
Must he keep his realm: not alloyed
With Diamonds from dustly earth created.
Yet Ogre, same wicked spirit enchanted
As in Dragon the celestial demoted
From above to cause chaos; drawn
To earth by vain power: greed blown
By covetousness, murder committed
Against man, woman above commanded.
Thus, Great Ogre and Dragon friends; swore
To destroy Diamonds break her with sworn
Grave vengeance; to have her people wiped
Out of the face of the marked land swept
With a single mighty blow delivered
With precise wickedness obtained
From the deep; authority denounced
By the High Principalities; announced
By Holy Providence; residing
In the Highest alters; arising
With great power and compassion
Grant Dragon and Ogre permission
To rule and consume part Diamonds
But time is truth; as sweet as almonds.

The Apocalyptic Struggle

So began the terrible struggle in earnest
To dislodge Ogre and Dragon in tempest
Being that Diamonds were to be recovered
Put again together as was Diamonds favoured
By natives and heirs of gold Diamonds given
To them by heavenly fortune-named proven
By Providence's advance; so man is not pained
By his lightning fall from blinding beauty gained
From glorious Providence's prodigious creation;
And lost with pure watered paradise in unison.
So united poor indigenes; so noble they were,
Began a challenge for Diamonds’ recovery
With a new song called out: Come! Come! Rally!
For the new gainful struggle in savoire-faire:

The delivery of Diamonds defined
The day of rescue reckoned
The moment of history ushered
To scoop repositories plundered

We agree that all are whole
Were born the same way
And are free to away do
With Dragon and Ogre’s hold

The elasticity of mercy strained
Of compassion restrained
By the cruel over-burden
Of man by beasts in the open

We must fly like a falcon
Into albatross must we turn?
Above mountains on high erupting
To initiate the earth shaking

All trees shaking in tremor
Like a man caught in cold tenor
Of bitter mountain breeze
At good times no freeze

Brothers and sisters of call
Join hands as one: the fall
Of evil; plot the end of lust
Dragon and Ogre’s end a must.

And then gathered all natives versed
With the fine-tuned stanza: composed
To reflect the peoples’ deep thoughts,
To affect the natives; swinging modes
Of thoughts reversible but distorted
By Ogre and Dragon so heartless
As to spread falsehood to harness
And harass Diamonds: not for sale
Meme pour la utilite nationale,
For oppressed natives unconcerned
With greed, organised lies pertained.
Their heritage enmeshed in couture
That lasts Cinquant Mille au futur
In the reign of the trusted leader.

An Unexpected Victory

Victory won and Diamonds regained
And handed to natives for safe keeps,
So men have Diamonds justly retained
In precinct state; to not due sleep
One moment standards maintained
At a novel level; not a daring slip
Into a lethargy so attained
By the elected ones on the ship
To drive them; in benefits accrued
Shared in most solemnest equity
So all can share in Diamonds mined
From times and times in antiquity
When Diamonds and Gold were valued
In all estranged lands in entirety
And respect always expected

From natives in posterity.

Thus began the Odyssey fudged
By natives in broad Diamonds land
With new leaders: now they found
Of no great wisdom, talent and plan
To usher a new era that is meshed
In peace, prosperity;equality,
Endless opportunities buried
In the bosom of law: severity
Of judgement crimes committed
By any native: in citizenry
Against Diamonds, now shinning
With lightning brilliance; stainless
By natives with best minds hoping
That Diamonds transform: priceless
Into topaz, onyx, titanium adding
To the riches; Diamonds twinkling.

The Transmigration of RajaKaiser

And the unending rumours like wild fire
Spread as come the voice down the wire:
That Kaiser no more a single breathe
On his lungs deflatedly sagged breadth
Unimagined before the man departed
To Eu-Amerique seeking aid; panting
With large pieces of Diamonds looted
In an hexagonal cut, prized booked
By the Prince in Amerique engrossed
By the power allotted him, enthralled
To high heavens by the sudden wealth
Bestowed on him by night in stealth
While Kaiser laid horribly seared
By the burning fire on which he swore.
There, confusion and delusion reigned
In the entire Diamonds land frightened
But filled with no small enchantment
And anxiety of coy containment
As questions upon questions asked
Of Diamonds on this news of Raja:
Was it truth or falsity at hand?
Those indigenes wondered, bemused
By all the news and all no news!
And reports; genuinely true or false
They could tell not from all media:
The internet, radio, multimedia
'Could not be so precisely inferred

To ills befell Kaiser thus interred
Within the stalked halls of rumoured
Demise, Diamonds in hand, chain on foot
Caught half-way two wise and the fool
And no description fit for purpose
In this design of grand larceny
And stupendous deception to boot!
That one is enslaved indefinitely
And Raja Kaiser chained slyly.

Fifty days gone, the bright new dawn
All indigenes heard, that Raja is gone
Taken away into gloom to no more live
On earth not to sift Diamonds gratuit:
On no account to check validity
And no judge with gruesome impunity
With a Senate promptly docile
On the orders they heartily receive
From rejected Brutus the traitor
Bent on slaying le spectateur
In the shameless utterance;
And pretentious magnificence:
“Mr Sanopona is a bad man”,
In a bid to illicit favour gain
And to get a defective pram
To be cushioned as a new born
RajaKaiser; a tragic twist
Of asperity and unquenched thirst!
Of usurpation savage abandon
In part Diamonds, partly Dragon
That'd be laid in fiery waste
By greed, breeding unwanted hate
To the entire Diamonds in a haste
To free herself from mocked Kaiser.

The Return of the RajaKaiser

Rumours and news dematerialised
While bird Albatross materialised
In the ramshackle Diamonds’ fields,
Flowing with indigenes at hand for fills
For crumbs of fallen bread they beg
As fallen dew down, worshipping
Transmigrated RajaKaiser, an egg
To be rehashed, back-patted ruling
Les citoyens in all but by proxy
Being inadvertently deluded
To judge not Kaiser in posterity

RajaKaiser lives a god excluded,
So they inexorably exclaimed:

Long live Rajakaiser!
Long live the saviour!
RajaKaiser lives forever
The saviour dies never
Dimabola loba
Masoma na linga

And RajaKaiser 's teeth beamed
A huge plastic grin that showered
His time-ravaged face bleached
With stolen blood Diamonds brace
And done with imaginative brio;
Face glowing in the sun bright
Red, crimson, an artistic sleight
On nature that free gift endows;
Present in good and evil beings
That nature adorns as law allows;
Each one a reason to rejoice.
Les citoyens a novel view held,
To argue on the land despoiled
By three-score years of disgrace;
Joining in the enigmatic chorus:

Jimbi Kumbi!
E’Njuma emuka
A Sango Loba
O Gwindea
Osi Nanga!

RajaKaiser's heart burning with rage
Since he fondly cherished this not;
So sent him violent men of pure nut,
Men with no clean souls but shadows
From the depth of the fearful void
Like a tuned reportage from Hades:

Guns and Roses!
They proclaimed in prose
Guns to pounce!
They shouted in poem
Roses a ruse!

*To be continued in print......

Citizens, Constitutions, Institutions and Systems Part 3

2010-02-11T23:11:00.000-08:00

Louis Egbe Mbua

The idea that Europeans created the present African chieftaincy to propagate or advance their interests is totally without foundation. While, they may have manipulated African chiefs to suit their interests or agenda on slavery and colonialism, it is clear from reliable accounts that African Kingdoms were always there before the arrival of Europeans. So, if we turn our attention to the African method of traditional governance we may be able to understand how such societies were able to be kept politically stable for thousands of years before the arrival of European culture. While it is true that there were inter-tribal wars – there were also inter-nation wars in Europe -- it seems the present historical accounts of early Europeans are skewed – giving the impression that no system of government was present in Africa. This is evidenced in this statement by Lord Lugard, the British Colonial Commander in East and West Africa in the colonial era. In The Rise and Fall of the British Empire, Lawrence James wrote:

He [Lugard] wanted government along the lines that had evolved in India in which the administration would be impartial, firm and respect local institutions and conventions. He had in mind the Indian practice of indirect rule by which British had adopted and sometimes adjusted existing political structures and co-operated with established rulers. It was an attractive alternative to the infinitely expensive and wearisome process of creating and entirely new system of government, which was bound to provoke upheavals and resentment.

Thus, there always had been established institutions, laws and systems in Africa. If we take a closer look at the present African Kingdoms, it bears a striking semblance to those of both Egyptian and ancient African Kingdoms like those of the Songhai and the Sudan: there is the Monarchy, a Council of Elders and the Chief adviser ruling in tandem; all mutually interdependent; exhibiting the separation of powers. So, what went wrong with the present African political system?

As mentioned earlier, a society can only advance if they maintain their systems, constitutions, and institutions in line with their cultural roots. They may then have the opportunity to adjust them to suit the times and circumstances. It is a matter of irrelevance how long this process towards the match to advancement takes. The ancient Egyptians, following a similar method of governance, took at least 1000 years from an unknown system to the Old Kingdom; 1000 years to the Middle Kingdom; another millennium from the Middle Kingdom to the New Kingdom; and then another 1000 years for the Egyptian civilisation to reach her heights and then fall. The interesting part here is that ancient Egyptians, at first united their land; and then defended their land from invaders. This could only be done because they followed their laws and system as closely as they could. Once they could not maintain or lost focus of their cultural system and laws, they were conquered and as a result their destiny was altered. Since the new system was in complete contrast to their conservative system that served them so well for millennia, they had to capitulate as they had to completely learn a foreign system.

To master this foreign system will no doubt last a millennium, at least. Similarly, the arrival of the Europeans with their own system destabilised Africa since their system and their laws were thrown out for them to relearn an alien system. The point here is not whether the new system was good or bad for humanity; but that their path to development as suits their political, economic and social alignment had been disturbed. How Africans would have developed without western interference is open to question. The simple fact is that human beings in a particular environment do not remain stagnant in developmental terms forever. A typical example is China. They have resisted all outside interference to alter their method of governance for millennia – from Japan to the West.

For millennia, the Chinese stayed true to their cultural system. Although it is secretive in its outlook, it would seem that they continue to apply the rules of separation of powers. As long as they maintain the system which they follow, it is clear that they will come to master their own system, harness it to attain a critical mass to move forward. Once this system has been mastered, development can come at an astronomical speed as we see today in China. Had China succumbed to Western methods of governance, it is unlikely that they would today be a superpower. Similarly, had Africans been left to their own devices, complete with their own system and institutions and laws, they would have come to master this system and once mastered, development would have been rapid as applied to all peoples.

Thus, interference of foreign powers; and imposition of alien systems for their own interest seems the main problem that stifle social, economic and political development in a conservative or liberal society. In so doing, they may have to search for the gullible and unwise to execute their agenda of mass exploitation and devastation. The problem is dire because it becomes a system of recycled beggary. As the foreign powers exploit the people, they become poorer and weaker while the interfering power becomes stronger and richer. The resources they loot are used to further develop their own system, economically, politically, and socially. Additionally, they use the excess resources to develop their education, arts, technology and weapons to intimidate the exploited nation. This has been the case for millennia: it was applied by the ancient Egyptians, the Romans and now the Western nations and China continue this grand larceny of reducing the African and other unfortunate people of the world to nations of beggars.

It has to be understood that all humans are similar in their greed and quest for power. This power is that power to dominate other peoples as to prove or demonstrate a kind of delusional superiority that does not exist in human beings. On top of this food chain are not only the foreign powers; but includes collaborators with the same stagnated and illusory mindset that may be likened to a man who is drunk; and is misled to believe that the power of the foreign is automatically transferred to them from Washington, Paris, Beijing or London. In the ensuing confusion of mind, he transforms himself – in another spectacularly grand delusion- into a French or Chinese person; in which case, he believes he is superior to his own countrymen. In this pathetic case of affairs, he throws reason to the wind, abandons his cultural system and enters into a state of trans-in-tyranny: imposing his debauched will on his own people; destroying their institutions, constitution and the system his forefathers left behind. This, reader, is the cause of backwardness in most societies.

With the breakdown of a system, the interferring foreign powers become alarmed because this would mean their interests are threatened since there is every risk of a revolution to sweep away the corrupted tyranny that they created. In this dangerous situation, they attempt a futile balancing act: attempting to pretend to sympathise with the people while at the same time maintaining a cunning plan to maintain the same tyrannical system that has served them so well and which is still serving them. When the centre no longer holds, they concoct another “change of system” by bringing in another gullible and unwise ruler whose name is cowardice to repeat the same process by deceiving the hapless citizens that a revolution has occurred to save them; when there has been actually a non-event but the status quo remains to serve the foreign powers rather than the citizens.

What the citizens may not discern is that it is the same corrupt system designed to enrich the new masters and their foreign sponsors that is in place. What these rulers, on the other hand, fail to grasp is that those who bestow power on another are the powers behind the throne. The following is that all important decisions conceived, and to be executed by the imposed ruler must be cleared with the powers abroad so that their geo-political and economic interests are protected and maintained at the tremendous cost to citizens of that nation state. Most of such rulers have a firm belief that they may be able to balance the interest of their nation state against those of their masters abroad. However, this is a mistaken view because running a nation state itself is a noble task. To add on the awareness that one is also answerable to interests of an outside party with a totally different agenda; and which the ruler may not be fully aware or have full knowledge, is a much more difficult job.

A foreign power may have a long term plan to colonise the country but will disguise these objectives in sugar-coating economic concessions and “bilateral corporation” without revealing their true aims. Consequently, citizens of the now unwittingly subjugated state would now have two jobs to do so as to meet both their fundamental subsistence needs as well as maintain the luxury life style and objectives of the foreign power. Since there is limited capacity which humans can perform work, it is clear that they won’t be able to increase their hours of work past a maximum effort.

Even if we assume that citizens of that nation state have enough working energy to attain these double tasks, this will prove unsustainable in the long term. The results are that they will return to their normal human state of work with the consequences that the quality of their output may either fall or attain stagnation. In this scenario, therefore, the nation would settle for the basic in human wants; and if the trend continues, then stagnation will follow. With time, social, economic and political stagnation will ensue. Quality and quantity of output will fall giving rise to instability. The power-hungry rulers would be left with no alternative then but to go cap in hand to their foreign masters to come to their “rescue”. The foreign power will be only too glad to return and “help” the citizens out of their misery.

In comes the World Bank, The Paris club, The International Monetary Fund and the G. 8 or “G20” and other “Developed” nations who would then provide funds on strict conditions: to “privatise” the entire doomed nation state on the pretext of capitalism. The problem here is that such privatisations are normally done corruptly because those who would buy up the country are the richest men and institutions. And where are these organisations based; and where do they pay their corporate taxes? Well, in the land of the same foreign powerful masters. So, while citizens of the doomed nation state may be deceived into believing that they are being rescued, they are actually being duped into selling up their patrimony. Once these foreign institutions are well entrenched in the country, they again begin dictating the social, political and economic trend – the rich get richer, the poor get poorer. And the cycle continues.

How and when should this cycle be broken so that the citizens would realise the full benefits of their hard-earned human and capital investment? That is the question? And what happens if the new ruler decides to defy the foreign powers who installed them? Another question altogether. Worse still, what are the consequences to the nation state if citizens decide to challenge both installed rulers and their foreign masters? A much more tricky and difficult question because:

1. They would be fighting a battle on two fronts
2. Their energy is now marginal after decades or centuries of dissipation and exploitation
3. Their resources have been depleted
4. These foreign powers will arm their puppets
5. These foreign powers will support the junta in words and resources.
6. These foreign powers control international organisations to suit their interests
7. The valliant efforts by citizens to throw out these corrupt rulers will be blocked at the UN.

So, what exactly is the way forward in this sombre scenario? A new kind of international-cum-national democratic ideal to be invented? Revolution? Resigning to fate in the status quo?

Citizens, Constitutions, Institutions and Systems Part 2*

2010-02-10T00:05:00.000-08:00

Louis Egbe Mbua

When the situation in a society has reached a state whereby a respected man of God begins to question his own conscience, then what use are institutions or laws to help a long suffering people. Citizens are the law because citizens create and run institutions and the system. So, when Christian Cardinal Tumi once wrote in the early 2000s that: "Les problemes economiques du pays sont "aggraves par la malhonnetete de certains governants corropus qui, de conveneance avec des interets prives locaux ou etrangers, detournent les resources nationales a leur profit, transferant des deniers publics dans des comptes prives, dans des banques etrangeres,"" [ The economic problems of the country are aggravated by certain dishonest and corrupt leaders who, to satisfy their local or foreign self- interests loot the national resources for their own profit, transferring public funds to their private bank accounts and then into foreign bank accounts], are we to say that there were no laws against blatant theft of the Cameroon's resources by selfish people? Else, why was this not prevalent in the UN Trusteeship era; and the era of the Federation when the constitution was reasonably respected; especially in the Federated State of West Cameroon?

The conclusion of this particular saga is that once morality breaks down in a country, especially if instigated from the top, nobody bothers to follow the laws of the land – constitutions are violated and laws are ignored by the same people who are supposed to be custodians of that same law – and so the vicious cycle continues. Since no country is capable of establishing perfect laws, the social and political order that are prevalent at the time takes over. That was why Cardinal Tumi mused, "Et l'argent du petrole? Un Secret d'Etat! Et L'Etat c'est qui?" [And the oil money? A State Secret! And who is the State?].

Citizens make up the state and the system. Since the system is corrupt, the institutions would not function irrespective of how good they are. If not rectified, the decline will continue unabated in other spheres and the eventual corrosion of all good institutions. Cameroon’s moral fabric is worn out, in which case the country is actually heading for a decline into obscurity and possible disintegration: and not glory. The dismal showing of the Cameroon National Team in this year’s recent Cup of Nations is one pointer. The dangerous Southern Cameroons question is another one. Thus far, we can argue that the presence of an all-encompassing and elegant constitution that normally precedes the creation of institutions and the subsequent development of a system is not necessarily a guarantor of prosperous nation states. To uphold a well-endowed system requires that those who are vested with power, as overseers of that created system, must not only have impeccable moral track records but that they must be subjected to rigorous checks and balances by the people who are stake holders of that nation state. There are several reasons that guide this principle:

1. Since no human is perfect; and that human nature has this inherent urge to abuse power, the possibilities of a decline is always present if not checked

2. Systems involve an input of effort by humans; this effort then is processed by humans to warrant the eventual outcome. Thus, the outcome of the system is vastly dependent on the quality of effort by all involved. If the quality of effort is degenerate, the logical conclusion is that the outcome would deliver a thoroughly corrupt and inefficient system

3. Moral compass alone is not enough to produce a workable and efficient system; but that a meritocratic culture – whereby only those who are supremely capable in their particular field and talent would be apportioned what they so do deserve within the system. Therefore, both a moral yardstick and a supremely appropriate talent may determine if a system may succeed or fail. Both characteristics are interdependent. One cannot work independent of the other.

If we agree on the above points, then we may now see that a system that is monolithic in nature always results in a totalitarian state. Although certain totalitarian states have shown a semblance of success in economic benefits, it cannot be adduced that the same totalitarian system would produce an enviably prosperous nation in terms of social and political advancement. A state, as we may infer, is not constituted of economic or financial development alone.

Again, development is a combined notion of the three cardinal points: social, economic and political paradigms. So, while a totalitarian state may have a successful outcome, the entire mass of the people, who make up the system, are deprived of social and political development because they have been excluded from participatory power and sharing in the process of governance of their own state. Consequently, the system evolves into a government of the people by the few. In this case, therefore, only the few who monopolise power are educated politically as to exercise these powers; and to socialise amongst themselves while the vast mass of the population are left “happy” with economic prosperity.

As one cannot guarantee the ability and moral imperatives of the few, there is almost certainly the risk of installing a tyrant who is educated in the realms of exercising power; and having the right social connection to perpetuate power together with his few friends. Since the entire population of this kind of system are left out, they become ignorant over time. The consequences are that, they may forget about their human rights, the natural law of self-preservation and self-defence; and their right to know what exactly the tyranny does with their invested human and material capital. With the passage of time, the system becomes irrevocably corrupt because their financial investment which they have been brought to believe in will evaporate: squandered by the dictatorship in their lavish social life styles. Since economic resources are limited, it is only a matter of time before the entire system collapses because the society was already socially and politically bankrupt. When this happens, we enter into the territory of a time-warped vicious cycle. As the masses are politically and socially deprived, it would require a time span almost equivalent to the reign of totalitarianism to recover from the psychological traumas. Worse is that, the next leader may also be politically ungrounded or might have been groomed by the previous system. In this case, he may continue from where the last tyrant ended his reign; and then perpetuate another years of terror. That has been the state with post-independence African governments.

The way forward for such a dire politico-economic quagmire may be attained if we draw examples from the ancients who appear to have been wiser, in some respects, than the present generation of Africans. It appears the most successful systems work in a golden triangle of constitution working in singularity. If we recall that ancient Egypt had three arms of power sharing, then we may begin to see why several successful systems have adopted the separation or diversification of power. The diversification of power, even in modern times, does not mean that there would be no head of government or system.

The ancient Egyptians had three powers viz: The Monarch, the Priesthood and the Vizier. The Monarch was responsible for the executing projects and ensuring the well being and defence of the state; and to create institutions to realise these objectives. The Priesthood was responsible for the spiritual and moral uprightness of both the society and the Monarch. The Vizier was the legal arm of the state: ensuring that all laws of the land were perfectly maintained. While the executive monarch had ultimate powers and was treated as a divine, this “divinity” was derived from the powerful priests who could destabilise the monarchy if the monarch acted contrary to the moral and spiritual standards of the day. Meanwhile the Vizier was overseen by the Monarch but had little alternative but to take advice as regards to the law from the Vizier as such.

The three institutions acted so as to create a balance of power and therefore obviated abuse of power and truning the King into an absolute Monarch. It has be recalled that when the Egyptian Pharaoh Akhenaten made a radical turn and contradicted the Priests to transfer his capital from Waset [Greek: Thebes (Present day Arab: Luxor) ] to Amarna and attempted to defy the priests, his downfall and that of his dynasty was assured – his name was erased from Egyptian history until it was only rediscovered in modern times. Whether the Priests or the Monarch were right in their polytheist religious dogma is not the question. The point here is that the Monarch acted unilaterally and in a totalitarian manner in contravention to the accepted law and traditions of Egypt; and that he defied one of the powers, the Priesthood. What would have happened if he took counsel from the Priests before beginning a new religion is an academic and moving the capital away from them is another matter altogether; and a question that can only fit into the diktat of wild speculation. The point is that he never did what was right; and as a result, he broke the law. In so doing, he disturbed the stability of the state and the system with unprecedented consequences for Egypt.

* Part of this work first appeared in the Cameroon discussion group: camnetwork.

CITIZENS, CONSTITUTIONS, INSTITUTIONS AND SYSTEMS -- PART 1

2010-02-08T10:47:00.000-08:00

Mentuhotep II: First King of Middle Kingdom ancient Egypt; The Egyptians created the first institution of government; the idea of citizens, laws and systems which lasted at least 3000 years. Winkipedia

Louis Egbe Mbua

When the moral fabric of a society cracks up; and the crack spreads rapidly from the top of the establishment to ordinary citizens in an uncontrollable manner, then the system has failed perpetually; and must be changed so that it could be replaced by the most benevolent system. Historical facts point to the ruins of ancient civilisation which had reached their zenith but ultimately failed. It can be safely said that failure starts with the people who control the levers of power --the establishment -- who run the variously created institutions; write up the constitutions and make the system work in a civilised environment.

The main cause of such a decline is normally linked to a decline in moral standards in every sense of the word by a majority of its citizens. During the Bill Clinton Presidency, in the entire 1990s, it can be inferred that the former America President presided over one of the longest, most enduring, robust and “feel good” economic boom America saw last century. It has now been shown to be a temporal hitch as the credit crunch and economic collapse returned with a vengeance almost 20 years later, in 2007/2008.

What Bill Clinton showed was that it is possible to engage in some kind of immorality with a 25 year old Monica Lewinsky (That Woman), albeit in a small way, and at the same time stay as president with good economic and political credentials. Good and fine. But the consequences are that the next president may find nothing wrong with engaging in a small or big malfeasance as we are witnessing in this US election drama where George Bush won in 2000. In 2003, he went on to fulfil this prophesy – executing futile and senseless war in Iraq on the foundation of a very big lie about Iraq possessing chemical weapons or weapons of mass destruction (WMD). The consequences have been disastrous economically, morally and politically with catastrophic human and material costs. Is this, therefore, beginning of the decline and fall of the USA? That is an academic question.

This, one dares to believe, is how nations start to decline and with it the institutions, law and order and the overthrow of its constitutions; and the eventual collapse of the system with the subsequent suffering of its citizens. The Roman Empire was one of the greatest and long-lasting empires that the world has ever known. Edward Gibbons in his "Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire" wrote, "The gentle but powerful influence of laws and manners had gradually cemented the union of provinces. Their peaceful inhabitants enjoyed and abused the advantages of wealth and luxury." It lasted almost 2000 years. At its peak, it controlled almost the entire known world from Great Britain to Egypt in Africa to Persia in Asia. With good and upright leaders albeit dictators-for-life such as Julius Caesar, they practised a form of constitutional democracy in their Senate. They built institutions and almost perfected the system with its citizens living in enormous luxury.

Then came final the blow. Its leaders became corrupt, engaging in all kinds of violence, debauchery, tyrannical acts, incest and pornography, paganism, theft and laziness and ridiculous pleasure and orgy.In one narrative, the Historian William Kinglaman wrote that: "On the banks of the Tiber, the older members of the Roman Aristocracy vied, not entirely willingly, to see who could spend the most money on the luxury goods that were offered for sale in booths, while their sons and daughters competed in obscene dramatic productions and athletics contests." These were games designed by Emperor Nero in conjunction with the establishment that eventually led to breakdown of the system; and the consequent down fall of the Roman Empire. In fact, Caligula, the Roman emperor, blew the entire Roman treasury within a year after Tiberius. So, who is to blame here? Corrupt leadership or bad institutions? Is there any pointer as to what good institutions are? Which comes first in priority? Human leadership or institutions?

In the Cameroonian and African context, what we saw in the last three decades was the decline and fall of middle-income countries from glory to ignominy where the entire Africa, Cameroon in particular, became poor indebted countries overnight.. Are we to say that Cameroon did not have institutions and many good laws before the present regime came to power? Did the Cameroon citizens not create state- run institutions such as the PMO, POWECAM, functioning airports and seaports, a state Airline? Or are we to say that these were not institutions built by citizens? While one has to credit the Ahidjo regime with reasonable economic achievements, I believe the present government must be held fully responsible for the moral decadence that is today in the Cameroonian social, political and economic life.

Once corruption has set in, most of the time introduced by morally bankrupt leaders, it permeates the society and affects all citizens whether there are good laws and a constitution or not. If the judiciary, some high-ranking government officials; the legislative arm and the police are corrupt institutions -- who citizens emulate -- then what use is the law, institutions and constitution? What becomes of the citizens in such a system?

PRESS RELEASE: Southern Cameroons Communiqué on Communication 266/2003

2010-02-05T09:16:00.000-08:00

PRESS RELEASE: London, 05 February 2010: Southern Cameroons Communiqué on Communication 266/2003

A high-powered meeting took place in the city of London, England, on 30/31 January 2010, attended by representatives of all shades of the people of Southern Cameroons. The purpose of the meeting was to examine the way forward following the Recommendations of the African Commission on Human & Peoples' Rights (the Commission) in the Complaint (Communication 266/2003) filed by the People of Southern Cameroons Complainants) against La Republique du Cameroun (the State party), alleging violations by the State party of protected human rights of Complainants.

Among the several findings and recommendations of the Commission, the meeting took particular note of the Commission's Recommendation that the contending parties engage in Constructive Dialogue, under the auspices of the Commission, to resolve constitutional and other grievances of Complainants. The meeting noted with satisfaction that Complainants have already indicated their acceptance to participate in such dialogue, and invite the State party to do likewise, so that the contentious issues could be resolved peacefully.

The meeting also agreed on a strategy to raise funds to finance the struggle for the unquestionable and inalienable right to self-determination by the People of Southern Cameroons. Details of the strategy, depository, and management of such funds will shortly be disclosed to all Southern Cameroonians concerned.

Done in London; England, this 31st day of January 2010.

Signed:

For: SCAPO (1) Dr Kevin Ngwang Gumne, SCAPO Chairman
(2) Dr Louis Mbua, SCAPO UK Delegate

For: SCNC (1) Dr Rexon Nting, Chairman SCNC UK
(2) Asonganyi Walter, SCNC Executive UK

For: The SC Civil Society (1) Mola Njoh Litumbe, Chairman Liberal Democratic Alliance (LDA), Cameroon

Cc:

Cameroon’s High Commissioner to the UK, London

President of La Republique du Cameroun, Yaoundé, Cameroon

Federal Republic of Nigeria High Commissioner to the UK, London

Chairman, The African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights

President, The African Union

President, The European Union

The United States of America Ambassador to the UK, London
The UN Secretary General

The Foreign Secretary of the UK, London

The Secretary General, The Commonwealth, London

The Prime Minister of the UK, Hon. Gordon Brown MP, London

France Ambassador to the UK, London
Amnesty International, London

Living in the 21st Century (5): Civility and Polity

2010-01-19T23:30:00.000-08:00

Louis Egbe Mbua

Better a disposition polite
Than an exposition rude
‘Cause to be rude
Is to be crude
But to be polite
Is to please

Better a low voice spoken
Than a high note shouted
At the top of your voice
‘Cause to shout is to be crude
While to whisper
Is to please

It’s better to laugh
Than to cry
Because laughter
Pleases the heart
While sorrow
Depresses the soul

It is better to be quiet
Than to be loud
Because Silence
Inspires thought
While loudness is
A useless battle fought

It is better to eat
Your lunch slowly
Than to eat too fast
Because eating fast
May reveal you had
No Breakfast!

Better to take
In food small by
Small at a time
Than to take
A double gulp
In one fell swoop

Because every
Small at a time
Improves health
But a double gulp
May endanger
Your health

Now, better be calm
And calculating
In the face of
Aggression
Than to rush
In revenge

Because an
Aggressor is always
In a rush and
Can be coaxed
Into deep holes
Without aggression

Better a maker
Of Peace
Than a monger
Of war
‘Cause a maker of peace
Is admired by all

It’s better to
Advance justice
Than to
Enhance Injustice
Since the Unjust
Will be weighed in the balances

And will be
Found wanting
On account
Of their own
Injustices
And Folly

The just
Is Loved by
Many;
And peace cometh,
But the Unjust
Has hate installed.

Thus, it is better
To return Love
With Love
Than to receive
Love
And return hate

Because love
And hate is
Complete
Opposite
As to create
A collision

Still, it’s best
To return hate
With love
To obviate the
Clash but do
Not be a fool!

Victoria, Buea, Tiko: The 2009 Trilogy of Diaries Part 3

2010-01-13T09:06:00.000-08:00

Victoria Down Beach Today (Wikipedia)

Victoria in about 1918

Louis Egbe Mbua

The shocking experience at Tiko had dampened my elastic hopes I had nurtured from the Buea positive experience. This, in some ways, triggered some discouragement and disillusionment for the next stage of the odyssey. However, I was determined to go to Victoria, where I was born, to see for myself what changes and transformations had occurred in both social and infrastructural development.

On this occasion, I didn’t go directly to Victoria. I stopped at Mutengene to visit a classmate of mine, whom I hadn't seen since High School days. As we waited at the drinking spot just off the junction that separates Tiko, Victoria and Buea, I could notice the rolling hills and forests to the West towards Victoria. The yellow sun was straight up in the sky casting pure light through the green leaves of the forest and then reflecting right down to the coasts of Cameroon. As the position was just up the hill north to Buea, I could see the creeks of Tiko and ships or tankers making their way to Douala – by-passing the now derelict Tiko port. As I watched, I noticed tankers upon tankers of vehicles, loaded with refined petroleum passing through the junction towards Tiko – most probably going to Douala in Francophone Cameroon. Surely, this is refined petroleum from the Cameroon National Refinery based in Victoria, I thought. After seeing my friend and other relatives, we got into the car and turned west towards Victoria.

The car sped, passing through the rolling hills. The roads were extremely well maintained. As we cut through the CDC plantations of oil palm grooves and trees, I could notice that they had hardly changed in nature apart from the fact that it appears that some of the oil palms trees have reached their full life span. Whether they will be replaced or not is unclear. However, it should be noted that the CDC, in conjunction with the regime in Yaoundé, have a tradition of carving out these native lands and selling them up corruptly with the the pretext that they are handing the lands to the native indigenes. There are reliable reports that corrupt Administrators from of Cameroon are now the biggest land owners in Victoria due to this land racket. As we were about to reach Mile 4 Bonadikombo, I could see the banner “Welcome to Limbe”. It has to be recalled here that the name of this City was arbitrarily changed from Victoria to Limbe without due consultation. It seems the Francophone regime in Yaoundé wanted to erase the identity of this historic city and replace the culture with ill-conceived French-speaking cultures which the inhabitants detested.

As we entered the City into Half Mile, I noticed the house that I was born at the left bank of the road, up the hill. It is still there. Furthermore, I realised this is one of the cleanest Cities I can judge as of today; and which I can discern. No speck of waste paper nor even dust could be noticed. As we entered the City, we passed through New Town, and drove to the Botanical gardens. It is interesting how this Green Park had been maintained over the years. It was so beautiful that one would not know the difference between this garden and possibly Kew Gardens in London. The only difference is that it is just off the Atlantic Ocean -- which may be viewed directly from any vantage point of the Garden. The shrubs, plants and trees were well pruned; and there were seats that one could take a rest after touring the Gardens. The natural aromatic smell of green vegetation was heavy in the air like a naturally manufactured perfume.

After this experience, we went on to visit the Saker Baptist College. Interestingly, the coconut trees and serenity of the place has been kept as they were; and as was known – a bit of a shame about the road leading to the College. This is surprising knowing that the Cameroon elite have their offspring and siblings educated in the institution. Overall, the atmosphere appeared conducive to good learning and social development for girls.

Having, made the flying tour, passing through the banking districts in Down Beach, I went to Down Beach proper for a cooling down period; and from where the Atlantic Ocean stretched from the shores of Victoria to the endless horizon; and from where one could easily turn around and have the stunning views of the surrounding mountains and hills that form part of the Chariot of the Gods. The view is further modified by the more than a century old German classical colonial buildings.

Ordered roasted fish fresh from the Atlantic complete with a bottle of Cameroon beer; and quickly quenched my appetite and thirst. It had been a very long time since one had been treated with “green fish” fresh from the ocean of one’s own land.

The seaside restaurant was extremely clean; the people welcoming and the waiters of exceptional standards. In my view, there was something missing: a landscape very familiar to me; and which used to stand about 200 metres into the sea. In its place was what looked like two to three desolate strips of land but with the lush green forests gone. It would seem to me that this was the result of global warming and hence climate change that is affecting sea levels causing it to rise. On the other hand, I thought, why is that Down Beach itself has not been flooded by the rising sea? After everything, the entire Victoria City itself is just a few metres above sea level on its beaches. I therefore ascribed another reason for the disappearance of the Island. This may be due to the constant eruption of Mount Cameroon and the tremors that accompanies these geological events –1982, 1999, 2000. Thus, it appears, there are multiple or a combination of reasons to explain this strange phenomenon. This intrigued my mind so I asked a man sitting next to my own table:

“Where is Bota Island that used to be seen from here?”

“It has disappeared into the sea”, he replied with a knack of confidence.

So what happened to the indigenes who used to live on the Island; and who came to the mainland by canoes? I requested to know.

When the sea covered the Island, the indigenes were evacuated to the mainland by the government was his answer. So, where they provided with accommodation and some kind of compensation to start a new life in the mainland? The man explained that all he knew was that they were evacuated from the Island and resettled on the mainland – Bota Land. Nevertheless, I could see a number of settlements just off the shore on the other side of down beach – houses that seemed to have been built recently; and which looked like those put up by the indigenes. Although the topography where these buildings stood was more elevated, they appeared to be dangerously close to the sea. Pointing to the direction of the settlement, I inquired:

“Who are those living in those houses on the hills just off the sea?”

They are the indigenes said my new acquaintance. Are they not conscious of the rising sea levels, I asked? He appeared to be surprised by my question. He took a sip of his beer, a bite of roasted fish and answered: The indigenes are mysterious in this respect. They have the power to control the sea and the wind. More importantly, they have the capabilities of bringing in the sea and the waves to attack their enemies. For example, they can call up the wind and destroy the property of those who steal their land and are unjust to them. In this process they will not be affected. How is that? Well, I cannot explain, he said. But we have known it to happen and it will happen again if they are cheated as is the case now – if it continues.

Now, tell me, I composed, I understand there was a raid in Down Beach; that Commandos arrived from the sea with speed boats, took over the banks here in Down Beach and then varnished into the Atlantic with a huge sum of money. Are you aware of that particularly audacious incident? My acquaintance seemed shaken. Nevertheless, he gathered himself and began to narrate what I came to consider as an outstandingly delivered oratory:

The Commandos arrived at Victoria a day before in Pajeros. They toured the City, looked around and visited all parts from Mile 4 to New Town. They appeared to have visited Down Beach as well were they had something to eat. Then we looked around but they had all but vanished. We just thought they were tourists who came to visit us. As many different people arrive at Victoria every year and century, we took no discernible notice. The next day, in the early hours of dawn we heard heavy Gun fire such as has never been heard in this city before. It appears those guns do not exist in Cameroon. They fired in the air for at least 2 hours. The entire Victoria was frightened. There were some citizens who had been out enjoying themselves that night and were caught up in the fire. The fire then intensified and we thought a huge war has arrived Victoria. By the turn of the day the entire Victoria was as quiet as a grave yard. Not a soul was seen. The Commandos then went inside the City and cut off Down Beach by blocking the entire Sappa at gun point while others advanced into down beach. I can’t actually say what happened next because every person was afraid and nobody came out.

Good, I said. But what did the Police and army do to stem or contain the Commandos? I asked.
He laughed, took one more sizeable sip of beer, put down his glass in a gentle bang. Again took a bite of his roasted fish, sighed and then answered with laughter:

The Police and the army put down their guns and ran.

You mean that the Police fled? I seek clarification.

Yes, they put down their weapons and away they ran.

So, it was everyman for himself then? I added rhetorically.

Everyman for himself, he exclaimed? Well, if you say so. All I know is that the army and police ran away for their dear lives.

Why was that? I questioned. My acquaintance was startled but gave this reply:

If you heard the sound of gun fire, you would not ask that question. Such a gun fire has never been heard in Cameroon. When they went to Down Beach to attack the banks, the security guards also ran away and vanished. So, it was not actually everyman for himself but no man for himself since the entire city was deafeningly silent and defenceless. In short, the Commandos could do what they liked. When they had finished their bank operation, they again fired into the air for another one hour spreading more terror with the deafeningly resounding sound. The sound could be heard as far as Tiko and the surrounding regions. They then jumped into their speed boats and disappeared into the Atlantic. After they had gun, the army made a futile attempt to pursue them but their endeavours came to nought: it was like chasing a darting shadow.

How many of them were involved in the operation? I investigated.

We can’t say for sure but reports say they were about thirty of them. Furthermore we saw what looked like fifteen to twenty strangers the day before when they “visited”.

I see. Thirty people taking over a city of about 100,000 people and nobody to defend. What about the Gendarmes in SONARA? They didn’t do anything? I pressed on with my questions.
He looked at me scornfully and said: I went there some time ago to seek employment but was greeted with scorn and arrogance by the guards at the gate. One of them demanded in French:

"Que-ce que vous voulez ici? "

“I am looking for a job here in SONARA,” he answered back

“Est-ce qu’il y ait quelqu’un ici, une connaissance alors?”

Before he could reply, the guard slammed the gates in his face, he narrated with the dejection of finality. This has been the case for the past thirty years, he complained bitterly. Anglophones have been discriminated from this state company for 30 years. As recently as about a few months back, they employed more that 20 people and never bothered to take in any inhabitant of the South West Region. Even inhabitants of Victoria were never considered; not even the indigenes of Victoria. Furthermore, there was a time when the company went to Francophone Cameroon and brought in Bassa indigenes from Edea and the surrounding areas of Douala to do the manual jobs here despite the fact that there is local labour here in Victoria. We understand that tribalism is the norm of the place.

We also understand that the Company pays its local taxes to Douala in the Francophone region rather than here in Victoria. We are really suffering Apartheid discrimination in this country just because we are Anglophones. The entire Victoria now is becoming a Francophone City. We are now strangers in our own land.

Now, do you have any qualifications that warrant you to work in SONARA, the refinery? I asked the acquaintance.

Yes, I did welding in OIC in Buea, he replied with pride. I have my certificate with me.

This is a snap shot of the sinisterly concocted discrimination that is being replicated in the entire Southern Cameroons by the installed junta in Yaoundé. Discrimination o f the Anglophones all over Cameroon and in walks of life is a policy that has been instituted since the plebiscite in 1961 when Southern Cameroonians freely voted to form a federation with French Cameroun. The entire international civil community must not allow the regime in Yaoundé to get away with these crimes against humanity. Only when this discrimination ends will Cameroon become the paradise it is supposed to be. At the moment, the human and natural resources, their energy, is being sapped, to fight against this ideological darkness.

Victoria, Buea, Tiko: The 2009 Trilogy of Diaries Part 2

2009-12-15T20:05:00.000-08:00

Tiko Wharf in 1930: All Infrastructure has now been destroyed. (Wikipedia Common)

Louis Egbe Mbua

All the stories of football triumph and development in Tiko had been made known to all interested parties through the various media, especially the internet. Last Season’s outstanding achievement of that City’s exploits to top the Cameroon football Premier League Championship was an indication of the potential of that determined City. Although such an achievement came as a surprise to others, those who grew up in that coastal city were not the least surprised.

Football is only next to academics and religion in that city given that it is all played and nurtured at the primary school level at least when I was a boy; and that the first primary schools in Tiko were established by missionaries – Basel Mission School, now known as Presbyterian School Tiko Town; Roman Catholic Mission Boys School, now co-educational; Baptist School Tiko Town; and Our Lady’s Girls School Tiko Town, also now co-educational. The Cameroon Development Corporation also established a School in the Upper Costains CDC Quarters , North of the City: today called Government School Upper Costains; and then there was the Council School Motombolombo, Tiko Town, again now known as Government School Tiko Town. These schools were fierce and highly competitive contestants in both football and academics – football matches between these schools of adolescents were like war – Teachers fell out with themselves, pupils friends became enemies, parents refused to talk to each other; and friends became enemies for a short while as emotions went through the roof. It was clear that at least five students would emerge from these institutions to enter Sasse College each year—a no mean achievement given that that College was and still is the premier institution in Cameroon.

In the 1960s and 1970s, there were no secondary schools in Tiko to supplement the football skills of the youngsters or to absorb the fledgling academic talent of the new hopefuls; thus almost all the home grown players who were recruited from these primary schools at the time: Agbor Hans was only in Class seven and about 13 years of age when he played for CDC Football Club, Tiko against Cameroon National greats, Manga Oungene and Captain Mve. Others that may be named include Emaran and his brother, Mayama. This tradition, I assume continues. So, when I decided to visit Tiko this year, the place I grew up, one was expecting wonders in both social and infrastructural development.

As usual, I stopped at the Likomba Roundabout to socialise as it appears, from my observation, the entire Tiko business community has shifted their locations northwards from the sea coast. I was wondering why such a drastic move was of necessity. At any rate, I had some child hood friends who were passing by and immediately recognised me having a drink – Thank God, I have hardly changed all these years of absence – and came over for a good bonhomie of times past. After the mandatory niceties I began my incisive enquiries as to their well being and the progress of the City as well as the citizens.

“Now, where do you work?” I demanded of one of my childhood friends. He looked at me with bemusement; and replied apparently embarrassed: “I am not in employment”. This was a surprising answer as I am aware that this friend received a good and sound vocational education from the local leading Technical College at Ombe, Tiko; and that his father used to be in senior management with the Cameroon Development Corporation (CDC), mostly based in Tiko and Victoria.

Have you applied for work with the CDC? I continued. Well, yes, was his answer. I have applied, went for interviews with the company but never received a reply. So, did you find out what the results were? Did you go to the Head Office at Bota in person? I insistently inquired. He narrated that he had done so; and that he was promised, by the Bota men, a job with one of the factories but again they never came back to him. This is not right; I went on, as you are a Tiko citizen, born here. You have the priority: with your vocational education on your belt. How things have changed, I exclaimed. His face turned downcast, and immediately understood the problem; and so asked no further question on this matter r elating to him. However, I was concerned with one of our senior friends – a showman and professional welder educated at Ombe Technical College and who worked with the CDC in Tiko when I was just turning a teenager -- I had not seen him since arriving Cameroon. So the investigations went in this manner:

“Is Juvet still living in Tiko?” No, he no longer lives here.
It appears he is somewhere in Meanja, near Kumba, they said. Why? There was a serious crisis, they answered. Juvet worked hard and became a senior manager at the Tole Tea Estate and factory just off Buea. Nevertheless, when the CDC who owned Tole Tea Estate, sold the company fraudulently and corruptly, to Mr. Danupolo, he summarily dismissed Juvet without explanation and with no compensation and then replaced him by incompetent people from Douala and other areas of French East Cameroon. Juvet lost his job, his housing benefits and he became extremely desperate. We are not sure right now what he does for a living; or how he maintains his family. He is not the only one who suffered this cruelty. There are so many of them who went to work in Tole, from Tiko, and who are now out of work and desperate because of the corrupt situation of the circumstances.

A few moments later, my attention was drawn to a vehicle entering into the junction of an extremely tattered and overgrown, of what I considered a, path; not because the car was spectacularly attractive but that this was the oldest functioning vehicle I have ever seen in my entire life on this planet. The vehicle appeared to have been cut into two -- in the middle; and then rejoined by welding so that the entire vehicle looked like a sagging beam. Worse still, there was a driver in it! The driver waved to greet us; and we also waved back as is the Tiko tradition of geniality. After he had disappeared into the unkempt path, I decided to find out what this strange incident was all about.

Who is that man? I asked. Oh, he is one of us was the reply. Where is he heading to with that vehicle? Well, he appears to be heading towards the Tiko Airport they answered. I knew that the Tiko Airport was just behind us but not in my wildest dream would have expected myself not to have recognised that particular road leading to the airport -- now a tattered path; and why would such a vehicle be heading to the Tiko Airport in the first place. He is a contractor, they said. What kind of contract does he have with the Airport authorities? He may be supplying chemicals or transporting bananas, they added. I still couldn’t understand the logic. So I went further:

Do people sell bananas and chemicals at the Tiko Airport? My audience looked at me with extreme surprise. As I was about to pose the next question, the roaring sound of a plane was heard – surely a plane was taking off. Within seconds, a bright yellow aircraft was buzzing over our heads. Is that a commercial or a private aircraft, I questioned? No it isn’t; the aircraft is owned by Del Monte Corporation. They use it to spray bananas with insecticide chemicals and other Agricultural aspects. Now I see.

The Airport now is used by multinationals to obtain their profits while the inhabitants are jobless roaming about the streets with no money in their pockets; the evil that men do. As long as they obtain their profits, they could take off and land with their planes, but they have no interest in developing the infrastructure for the people. One now sees why President Chavez of Venezuela is so much against these kinds of exploitative multi-nationals. And furthermore, their actions are an environmental hazard. To be spraying chemicals in a densely populated City is not only unethical but may affect the health of the population. Of recent, a British Company was asked by the courts to pay compensation to victims in Ivory Coast, West Africa, after dumping dangerous chemicals in certain parts of that West African nation causing serious health problems to citizens. Del Monte works hand in gloves with the Cameroon Development Corporation, a company that was created by the British for the social development of the people of Southern Cameroons, while Southern Cameroons was a UN Trust Territory; but this peoples’ company is now working with the Cameroon regime to exploit the land which is legally owned by the indigenes -- the Bakweris. Despite the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights injunctions, they continue to work with the Biya Regime to redistribute lands illegally to administrative frauds; and refusing to pay rents for the exploited lands to the indigenes as prescribed by national and international law. Despite several appeals, they continue to violate the human rights of the natives who are the actual owners of the land. That is the lot of the inhabitants of Tiko and the native Bakweris. This is all happening in the eyes of certain sections of the international community ; and certain Cameroonians from the international community and the regime in Yaoundé; so turn a blind eye as they also may be profiting from this oppressive and corrupt system.

Having seen the deprivation with my own eyes, I never bothered to visit this airport as I had known it when I was a boy; and that it was of international standards, a busy and beautiful Airport that has been neglected to rot while the people wallow in abject poverty. I made a decision instead to visit the old Tiko Town. As we drove through the Long Street, I could noticed few changes as I fully recognised the land mark buildings – Airport Hotel, once the pride of the City—now a shadow of itself, no doubt due, partially, to the destruction of the Airport from whence the Hotel obtained its name, and most of its revenues in long gone golden years. The Junior Service CDC Club is still there, so as the Holforth Stadium where legendary Premiership and other epic football matches used to occur – also a neglected and sorry site. Went passed the CDC Camps, still there.
The Long Street Road to the Town is well tarred and maintained. Reached the Post Office and the Presbyterian Church – where a huge development appears to be in the making; and then met with a shock – the town is so deteriorated that I was lost for words. The roads in the town and the streets have so degenerated that a prose would not do to describe them. The Tiko Market, which used to be one of the renowned business exchange places in West Africa, is now but what one could see as a series of huts with little or no economic activity. As I sat down in front of the old Motor Park and saw the citizens and taxis dodging the accumulated rain water in the deep pot holes that pass for streets, I began to believe that there has been a premeditated plan by the regime in Yaoundé to run down this once thriving city.

"What about the Tiko Wharf?" Well, it no longer functions, I was informed tacitly.
Who exactly is the Mayor of this city? I demanded to know. The Mayor came from America. He brought money and promised to repair this city but so far he has done nothing:

I Devastation

A city was once the envy
Of all the working gentry
Is now like a zombie zone
Of mere man, rock, mud and stone
A depiction of a quiet war:
An impression of true woe
As the impostor the foe
Tries to a spirit destroy
The citizens now a toy
Of all that are a mindful dread:
The roads now a mud to tread
By a people despondent:
Holes the road once resplendent
With life, entrepreneurship,
And industry brought by ships
From all the distant, fine lands
Filled with exotic goods, bands
Of fiery sailors swoop the wharf;
Signs of joy as gentle waves warp
The ship with the gentle breeze
Caressing the quay, a kind of frieze
Of shores that twist to Atlantic
And enter the main Vic’ classic.

The City has gone eerie,
And no signs of the very
Narrow gauge of railways
That had citizens in convoys
Of four to five to and fro
The port to bureaus Afro’
Of now a lost hinterland
Where hovering choppers did land
And the planes droned in turns
In queues to land in turns;
To touch down the hard tarmac
At the Airport’s wonder track.
The track a land of flat runway,
Hardly the end was seen a way
For many a plane overtaken
With now a track so sunken:
The neglect now so all dark
And the Airport now so dank
Arraigned by a single yell’ craft
That Del Monte the company sprout
Use as a means to have a spray
Of a people’s fruits now astray,
And in the hands of outside firms
Who came from different farms?
But now claim the family silver
That took a time to deliver;
And another half a struggle
To get rid of them the tussle.

II Oppression

All they want now is pure love
As were times gone by to solve
The hideous problem a duty
All citizens in empathy,
But now reduced to mere rags
Of poverty, want of beggars;
The bounty of goods to sell
Is but a shadow of a spell
That befits the poltergeist ghost:
Not the kind and happy host.

And a man came from the East;
An idea did him pose a test:
“Here we are as close brothers
And we no longer have bothers
As long as we are free of borders
And a nation united in boulders.”
So the host not a slim ghost
Of now; the proposal in post
That was read in so good a faith
Like the son of the patriarch, Seth:
“Do I have trouble with you?
You are my brother of yore,
But we must renew, each year;
Our faith in the idea of yours”

III Bad Faith and Betrayal

The faith to be was of nought,
The boulders bulldozed the plot
From bad faith and to openly cheat
The denizens from their found treat,
And mortality was the city stalked
As activities les affaires stalled
By the Airport an end closure:
The boulder no shame in feature
But the tax collects the bully
And to hands join in grand folly
Of traitors, agents of oppression
All times a pretence of expression
But behind they do betray
For crumbs no one wants on tray
But a throw they wish of the grapes
That traitors use to spit on graves.

IV Hope

But in this theme is hidden hope
‘Cause people: not in slippery slope
Since they do work in prescience
So win a sort of resilience
That was found in last Apartheid;
Like the one which once existed
Before it was so badly crushed
By the Mighty Boulder plunged
Into the Ocean of Pacific
With the sound so specific
As was heard in fairly far India
Like a Tsunami from Ndian,
In Cameroon’s coast now in chains
By a cheating crowd with no brains.

Victoria, Buea, Tiko: The 2009 Trilogy of Diaries

2009-12-09T00:20:00.000-08:00

Buea, Cameroon

Louis Egbe Mbua

Nothing prepared my mind for what stood before me. As the car approached the hill towards Mutengene, my memories went into a vivid reverse: The hills, streams, valleys and lush forests appeared with immediacy but this time a reality seen. We had just left Likomba which I had known to be quiet; with broad roads and housing the Tiko Airport. As there was little time to check on these classics, I adjudged that it would be reasonable to return again at a later date. Although, the same old houses decorated the road side, one could see that the entire town was clean and neat; and that the inhabitants were of polite disposition.

The adage that there are a few good men on earth is true in this instance. There was dreadful news of the deplorable state of this road leading to Buea. However, it seemed all nightmarish dreams conjured up vanished before my eyes. The road was so designed that, a drainage system was included from Likomba on towards. As the car sped onto its destination, I posed a question:

“When was this road built?”

“Of recent, about four Months ago,” was the astonishing reply.

As we climbed the hill to Mutengene, I noticed the buildings that were there: the same but well kept. How this deprived people managed to maintain these high standards of maintenance is not easily explained; but one is drawn to an article I read in the London Sunday Times Magazine, 30 August 2009; written by Deidre Fernand, of title a curiosity provoke: From Purdah to Power. Fernand drew a vivid comparison of the indigenous women in power in colonial India. He wrote:

“The British needed Indian royalty to appear as rich and potent rulers of their own peoples, despite the fact that they wielded little power. They ensured that Indian majesties conformed to a cultural stereotype, displaying all the trappings of kingship with none of its reality.”

He went further stating thus:

“British rule in India, established after the rebellion of 1857, ensured that its princes were all style and no substance. For all their lofty titles, maharajas (the word means great king) and nawabs (rulers of Muslim peoples) were little more than actors in an exotic extravaganza, puppets in a peep show. When Lord Curzon, viceroy of India from 1898 to 1905 described them as “a set of unruly and ignorant and rather undisciplined school boys”, he was echoing the prevailing view that they were spoilt brats.”

I would not agree here with Lord Curzon as it seems his was that of colonial stereotype. On the other hand, Fernand’s objectives were to debunk this same prejudice; giving another side of the story. He countered this biased assertion by employing new research from the British Library:

“The story is one of subversion, risk and counter-revolution – the dwell in the crown. Its prince lings devoured books on philosophy, town planning, architecture and engineering and wrote treatises on democracy and women’s suffrage. While paying lip service to its British masters, many of the country’s most important dynasties were active in the nationalist movement. Some of those swearing allegiance to George V in the last great durbar, or regal regime, of 1911 were at the same time fighting for a free India – an objective not achieved until 1947”.

Quoting Deepika Ahlawat in the same article Fernand wrote:

“They had to keep their British masters happy while working towards their own political ends. They needed a dual identity and to be sophisticated diplomats.”

Arriving Buea made me understand what a few good men and women are capable of accomplishing in adversity and oppression. When I left Cameroon, the Mile 17 Junction was back water, covered with thick luxuriant Africa Forests; and in my wildest dreams never thought it could be transformed into a mini-Switzerland. It was such an engrossing sight and for a moment after reaching Buea, agreed in my mind that I find no difference between Buea and the suburb of Twickenham, London. I peered through the drainage system and it was all clean; jumped into a taxi and I was greeted with “Good Morning”. Is this Cameroon I have been hearing from afar? I wondered.

The next day I went to Buea Town to see what has happened there over the years. Again, I was brought to believe that it is possible to achieve in adversity. The roads leading to Buea Town is a double lane, clean and well-maintained. I decided to visit the neighbouring villages of Wondongo, Wonyalyonga and Wokwango, no speck of dust was in sight. I went past the Nigerian Consulate building and other old government and German buildings – spotless.

I decided to visit the Bokwango village located behind the Government Residential Area (GRA) itself. I was immediately introduced into the scene by what looked like a fashion parade; young women and men dressed to the nines. Who are these people, I asked. My friend was surprised at this question and replied with a rhetorical question: What do you mean by “who are these people?” They are citizens of the village he said, disappointed by my rather naive disposition. So, is there a fashion show in the village then? Quite the opposite, we do not do fashion shows here. These people are the villagers living here; that is their way. You people arriving from Europe appear to believe that we are totally ignorant of the entire world and that is not the case! He retorted half-angry and half-surprised at my questions.

Who did these things? I asked the indigenes and inhabitants. Some said it was the work of Mr. Mbella Moki, the seating Mayor of Buea. Others opined that, it was Mr. Peter Musonge, L’Ancien Premier Ministre de La Republique. Did Monsieur Paul Biya come here of recent? They said: ”No”. Who provided the money for this advanced development? Well, it was already in the Cameroon plans years ago. How is that? I inquired. Well, it appears there are always five years development plans in the old days. The government allocates funds to develop the country in these schemes. However, the big people misuse or embezzle these monies. When Musonge came, he instituted stringencies in these projects and made sure these plans were executed in all the provincial capitals was the prevailing opinions.

So, Bamenda, Bertoua, Garoua, Ebolowa have benefited, of recent, as Buea? My inquisitive mind strayed. Not quite, they said. Have you visited these places? Not all of them, a conscientious citizen answered. However, Bamenda is very developed, he continued. Indigenes abroad have stepped in; building beautiful houses and starting businesses. The problem we have here is water and electricity because they are all rationed.

I went, with friends and relatives, to a wine bar in Buea Town: just opposite the old Motor Park. Sat down, ordered a few drinks. Again, I was astounded by the good service and politeness of the people. Raised my eyes and saw what I could envisage as a crowd of people arguing with about five uniformed officers – at least one of them with a gun. What is the argument about? I asked. Well, the Police wish to arrest a man for a series of misdemeanours over a long period of time. They have tried several times over to put him behind bars; but with little success.” He is a Buea boy: born and bred”, they said with a mixture of pride and apprehension.

What is his name? He is Godlove, they said. At that very moment “Godlove” slipped from the arms of the Policemen and varnished without the slightest trace. Nobody could quite tell how he did it.

I would advise the reader to feel free and visit Buea, Cameroon, over this Christmas season if they so do wish.

The Fire Hydrant

2009-12-08T04:59:00.000-08:00

Louis Egbe Mbua

The furious rage
Exploded into a full
Blown passionate clash:
In the very hours of dawn
In Malibu’s calm beaches
With the one accused
Of fiery passionate
Forbidden lust
Avec Les Belles.

The other fuming
With fiery rage
Chasing the accused
Like a tempted Tigress
Burning with anger,
Consumed with human jealousy
To exact a perfect feline revenge
Only for her raging fire to be quenched
By the intervention of a fire hydrant;
And the uncontrollable lust of the chastised Tiger
Extinguished by a fire hydrant,
With the furious chase ending
At the tree next to the fire hydrant,
The fiery passion ended
A fire hydrant a hit;
And the heat of passion
A fire hydrant cooled
Like an antidote to lust
From a long love lost,
Gone cold,
As heat turns to cold
And events in time
A fire hydrant frozen

Living in the 21st Century (4): Wisdom Vs Intelligence

2009-12-01T22:06:00.000-08:00

Louis Egbe Mbua

From experience, there is a vast gulf

That separates wisdom from pure

Intelligence: the ability to grasp ideas people propose;

But not necessarily having the ability to yourself propose.

All men are intelligent but wisdom is light.

Do all men see the light?

Not all ideas are sound; and these are normally proposed

By the unwise and mistaken: who may or may not be intelligent.

Wisdom, on the other hand, is the ability to understand

All things at once by the person: applied for the benefit of all men

And for the greater good of the wise and unwise: the same.

It is possible to be intelligent but unwise: the reverse is hardly true.

Wisdom is applied for the entire good;

But intelligence is normally applied for self-propagation & survival.

So, a society that dwells on intelligence alone will fail,

But that which applies wisdom will thrive and win.

A man who believes in hurting unarmed protesters or the reverse

For pretentious peaceful settlement is completely unwise.

An unwise man may misuse his intelligence to perpetrate this act

To maintain: the power of oppression over his own people.

Others may not seek power but a self-worshiping nature,

And hatred of others may corrupt their intelligence into this act.

So, studying and obtaining qualifications is fine,

But not the same as knowing and applying all things

By intuition for the benefit of man: which is, in effect, wisdom.

The society that wins is that which can identify the wise

And separate them from the unwisely intelligent

Since the intelligent also have a positive role in society.

A developed society must identify these roles and put structures

In place: to implement policies that keep them in check.

This is the meaning of accountability in advanced societies

Where everybody is accountable for their actions and sayings

So the wise may be separated from fools irrespective of intelligence.

As a result, the society progresses morally and socially:

Otherwise, is that society not doomed?

A Diplomatic Incident: The Ambassadorgate Affair

2009-11-25T18:02:00.000-08:00

Louis Egbe Mbua

A diplomatic incident in Washington DC has taken an unexpectedly dramatic turn. Civil war erupted in the CPDM Party civil community in America as the Ambassadorgate affair degenerated into a political fist fight. There have been claims and counter claims, claims and reclaims, denunciations and counter denunciations, renouncement and counter-renouncement; proclamations and counter-proclamations, incantations and counter-incantations; coups and counter-coups, thunder and lightning that concluded with an alleged live punch and counter punch. It has all the trappings of a classic Hollywood movie drama cast complete with characters in a tragic-comedy of Shakespearean proportions.

As each opposing camp after another attempts, albeit pitifully, to extricate themselves from the unexpected and sudden quagmire, Cameroonians and indeed the entire civil community, the world over, watch the unfolding spectacle from the sidelines with undisguised glee and amusement as the antics of what looks like comedians-turned-politicians or the converse are fed to the public needle-drip by needle- drip; and drop after drop.

The entire Junta, in Cameroon, and its dependencies in the Diaspora have been thrown into complete disarray equal to an irreversible political melt-down.

It is unclear how it all began but it seems there are reliable reports, by from the local news agency NBCWashington.com, of a fracas that seemingly came to blows between the Cameroon ambassador in Washington and a group of demonstrators allegedly protesting against embezzlement within or for their payments by the Cameroon Embassy in Washington.
In the ensuing confusion, others within the Cameroon community in America allege that the leader of the protest, Mr. Mpeck, received a powerfully blinding punch from the ambassador while an innocent female on-looker, not involved in the troubles, was allegedly pushed and then rugby-tackled onto the ground by the ambassador or his minders as the story goes: depending on who you believe. To add more confusion to the story, a Cameroonian living in America claimed in the Cameroonian discussion e-group, camnetwork, that he booked an appointment with the Ambassador so as to get a gist of his own side of the story. Accordingly, the source claimed, the Ambassador claimed that he was not involved in a fight; and that he was attacked by the protesters as he left his car to enter the Cameroon Embassy grounds.

Another source claims that the Ambassador left his office to discuss with the protesters as to assuage their grievances but was greeted immediately with a barrage of well aimed stunning blows. Whoever is right or wrong in this instance is beyond one’s contemplation but the whole incident looks like a diplomatic upper-cut against the Cameroon regime and the CPDM party in the USA. How a high-ranking diplomat could have allowed himself to be dragged into a petty street fight is beyond comprehension.

Others proclaim that the Cameroon Ambassador, H.E. Foe Atangana, is a good man with impeccable diplomatic credentials and track record. They cited the Bakassi crisis saying that he was instrumental in this “success”; but then added with a bitter touch of irony and fierce humour that perhaps he honed his “fighting” skills while negotiating the “peaceful” settlement of the Bakassi confrontation between Nigeria and the Republic of Cameroon.

Whatever view is true or false in this unfortunate incident, the fact of the matter is that the Cameroon Consulates the world over have been hijacked by the ruling CPDM party who appear to believe in a strange kind of out-dated philosophy rather reminiscent of the old totalitarian Soviet Communist’s dictatorship of the proletariat: that the CPDM party is supreme, and that the Cameroon nation is second -- a normal diplomatic procedure according to this questionable ideology. The Cameroonian people, on the other hand, see it differently: that the embassy is to serve, with equity and fairness, all Cameroonians including those with dual nationality; and that the Foreign Service should not be politicised – a right judgment. So, when the ensuing imbroglio took a scandalous turn, it rapidly transformed into an acrimoniously reverting partisan quarrel; and later, a means by which the purported CPDM leaders could defend the Ambassador or the “fatherland” from this imminent disgrace from “outsiders”; as well as to save their own skin from the wrath of the concerned and angry Cameroon people.

First, there was Mrs Patience Tamfu, President of the women’s wing of the ruling CPDM ruling party in the USA, who threw the first political punch in a series of classic tactical political blunders. She came out fighting; claiming that the CPDM party is “behind” the Ambassador; thus, reinforcing the long held belief that the embassy is an appendage of the ruling CPDM junta in Cameroon; and as though to say that if a person is a member of the CPDM, he or she has the right to engage in a boxing match in the streets – a flawed mentality. To make matters worse, she went on air and evolved a faceless video with a blushingly ungrammatically ineloquent semi-marathon rant, the incantation of which could easily be identified as that of an all assuming old-guard soviet party apparatchik; and then displaying the kind of tyranny that exists in Cameroon: “warning” her imagined “liar, traitor, thief” not to be “messing around with the wrong person”; and that she is not into the “foolish nonsense”.

Then, enters Lady Kate Atabong Njeuma, also a “Big Hitter” of the CPDM-USA, who gave a rather eloquent and well-crafted “political” statement in camnetwork insinuating that the Ambassador has put in place a “strong team of lawyers”, almost certainly referring to the fighting incident. Again, her conclusions are that the Ambassador must be defended since he is of the CPDM party. In doing so, she unwittingly admits that the Ambassador was involved in the alleged altercation as reported by the local news agency NBCWashington.com. While the writer believes this to be a wise move, it again enters the mind that; had the Ambassador been an independent Cameroonian or an opposition member or a SCNC-SCAPO activist, he would have been left to hang out to dry as the CPDM has been doing to the Cameroon people for almost three decades.

And there is Dr. Emmanuel Konde, a CPDM “strategist”, who appears to be confused and almost certainly overtaken by the events, and who went on air in camnetwork blaming Cameroonians of the North West region, denouncing them as “unpatriotic” to the “fatherland”. Nobody quite understands why he did this; as no one could find a relation between the people of this part of Cameroon and the fighting incident. How he reached this unenviable misguided conclusion is any one’s guess but he appeared to claim to be a “social philosopher” in which case he had “seen” (probably by some kind of magical incantation which we do not understand) that the North west region people want to “dominate” Cameroon, and that this, clearly, is the reason they are blaming the Ambassador for involving himself in the daylight unranked boxing match in the open. Seeing that the tide is turning against the party, he quickly had the good sense to back-track, contradicted or disowned or renounced his former stance, repositioned himself, and then gave another oration blaming the CPDM party for the imbroglio. Meanwhile, he never mentioned the Ambassadorial boxing-cum-wrestling match as though he knows not why he writes.

Enter Mr. Jackson Nanje, The Publicity and Education Secretary of the CPDM USA. Interestingly, at first glance, he denounced all who condemned the incident with all kinds of words; apparently, denying that nothing happened at the Cameroon Embassy grounds in Washington, and asking readers, with unbridled confidence that: “Where you there?” When he later got the itch that he was fighting a losing uphill battle, he also went the same way as his partisan colleagues. He back-pedalled, contradicted his former pronouncements, apparently renounced his former position, and then made a dramatic U-turn to score a spectacular own-goal: penning a long-winding irrelevant and unsubstantiated expose about corruption in the CPDM , and blaming the Chairman of CPDM USA, Mr. Joe Mbu, for this confusion and corruption; and that there is tribalism within the leaders of the CPDM. Which brings us to the ultimate question: Did Mr. Joe Mbu ask the Ambassador or the protesters to exchange blows? Reading from the unfolding drama, the answer is a resounding No:

Round and around,
The doubters deep
Into the round
And swirling pond

So, let justice takes its natural course in this unfortunate and shameful affair because it is unfair to judge a man without due process.

It should be recalled that, over the years, the two gentlemen mentioned [Dr. Konde Emmanuel and Mr. Jackson Nanje] have been the chief protagonists of the oppressive regime in Cameroon; a junta that has tormented and tortured Cameroonians in this day and age. In their sayings, they have always defended the atrocities of the regime against Cameroonians – more specifically the killings of young people in the country during the February 2008 general strike; and the extra-judicial shootings of unarmed students at the Buea University demonstrations in 2005 and 2006.

More importantly, they have always called for the elimination of the SCNC, SCAPO and others who oppose the subjugation of Southern Cameroonians and the open discrimination; human rights violation and theft of their lands and resources by the Republic of Cameroon. One is pleased that they have at least acknowledged the deficiencies of the present system of government in Cameroon; and that they should join hands in making a success of the forth coming negotiations between the Republic of Cameroon and the Southern Cameroons for constitutional changes and freedom in Cameroon; and the freedom of Southern Cameroonians from the vice-grip of corrupt leadership and tyranny. Progress can only be attained when those in the dark begin to see the light at the end of the bottomless dungeon. Within light we are all free; and in darkness we are all lost.

The Biblical Floods and Modern Thoughts (2)

2009-11-23T11:15:00.000-08:00

The Rainbow (Wikipedia)

Louis Egbe Mbua

The writer believes every person is free to choose what they believe; and that the curious human mind must not be stopped from asking difficult questions. That is man’s nature.

In this second article, the writer wishes to make a tentative argument -- to assuage the concerns of a few people who dispute and dismiss this event as an untruth -- as concerns the Biblical floods: whether one can actually explain some of the biblical narratives in light of present day thinking and knowledge. This writer is again of the opinion that every occurrence has a logical explanation on earth and the universe. On the other hand, one has a duty to admit their limitations: in that not all things can be explained by man; and that the argument that if man may not have answers to certain phenomena automatically disqualifies that occurrence as non-existent. For instance, we can explain why the sky is blue but can we actually explain why it was not red or green in the first place?

On this note one is inclined to ask the question:

Is there any scientific explanation to substantiate where the flood water went and how?

According to Genesis 7:8: “And the waters prevailed upon the earth a hundred and fifty days”; and furthermore, Genesis 8: 1-3 states: “And God remembered Noah, and every living thing, and all the cattle that were with him in the ark: and God made a wind to pass over the earth, and the water assuaged. The Fountains of the deep and the windows of heaven were stopped, and the rain from heaven was restrained. And the waters returned from the earth continually: and after the end of 150 days the waters were abated”.

If we apply the theories of thermodynamics and heat transfer by evaporation in multi-fluid flow of air and water assuming that sunlight appeared at one point after the flood and rains, one may understand that a strong air current is the main agent of evaporation of fluids on this occasion. Furthermore, evaporation is time dependent in relation to the speed of air that passes over a large body of water; and the volume of air in relation to the volume of water. Given the enormously large volume of water involved in the flood, as aforementioned, the volume and speed of the wind must have been cataclysmic: no different from a Tsunami. The wind, therefore, could have had the double effect of evaporating agent; and an agent of force to drive the waters to a fixed position where the evaporation will continue but the flood will end. Now, the time constraint for this act to be completed has not been calculated. However, it appears 150 days is a reasonable -- as stated in the Bible -- time span to dissipate these waters from the earth if a Tsunami can be imagined. It should be remembered that not all the water was evaporated on to the air; and that some of it remained on earth as Seas and Rivers.

What about sea monsters such as the whale and other fishes? Did Noah take them into the ark by twos in sevens?

This is a difficult one as there is no evidence in the Bible that indicates that there was water in the Ark; and that the Bible is silent on marine creatures on this occasion. On the contrary, the ark was designed specifically to be water tight. However, water tight was meant to prevent them but from the outside flood; and not that they should perish of thirst. Consequently, it might as well be possible that Noah had an aquarium within the ark to preserve marine life as well as having drinking water. Given that the ark was approximately 160m long, 27 m wide and 17 m high, which quite neatly fits to today’s description of a container ship or tanker capable of holding at least 600 standard containers, this is quite possible. But can a Whale fit into a container aquarium? A baby killer Whale is 10 feet( about 3 metres) long when it is born. If we agree on this, then given the dimensions of the ark, there is a possibility that whales and other marine creatures could have been in an aquarium in the Ark.

Another possible theory may lie in the fact that there was no need to bring in marine life into the ark as the devastation involved but water. The problem with this theory is that, it is clearly stated in the bible that every living thing died in the flood apart from those in the ark.

What about the salinity of the Seas? Did the flood dilute the seas; and therefore rendered future marine life impossible?

There is no evidence in bible that the original sea was a salty environment? Genesis states that in the beginning of creation, there was just water which was separated from the land. However, during the flood and given its huge scale, it is possible that the salts of the earth were dissolved in the waters. Now, after the evaporation by the wind, large amounts of water evaporated while the salt remains. The more water that were removed, the more concentrated with salts the water that was left became. Thus, the sea is but this concentrated water. What we have as fresh water is either from springs or from rain which again released the evaporated water with no salt thus began the water cycle. As to adaptation, all animals and humans that stayed alive after the flood had to adapt to the new extreme conditions of climate change that followed the deluge. So too are the marine creatures to marine life.

What about the Rainbow? Can it be explained scientifically in relation to the flood?

Genesis 9: 12-14 states: “And God said, “This is the token of the covenant which I make between me and you, for perpetual generations. I do set my bow in the cloud, and it shall be for token of a covenant between me and the earth. And it shall come to pass, when I bring a cloud over the earth, that the bow shall be seen in the cloud”.”It is possible that after the flood and the intense evaporation, the sky was overcast with the clouds some of them condensing. Furthermore, the air must have been heavy with moisture and water droplets due to the rain. Scientifically, a rainbow is seen when sunlight refracts through raindrops followed by a reflection as it emerges from the raindrop. Thus, what is seen is that light after this process: seven colours of light. This is the process Isaac Newton performed when he refracted light through a prism to reveal the seven visible colours of light. Is there anything new? So, we can say for certain that the rainbow that was seen by Noah actually occurred after the flood; and by implication the flood actually occurred.

Fast forward Revelation 4: 2 -3: “And immediately I was in the spirit: and behold, a throne was set in heaven, and one sat on the throne. And he that sat was to look upon like jasper and a sardine stone: and there was a rainbow round about the throne, in sight like unto an emerald.”

We know that there is Light in Heaven because we have been told so in the bible. But is there water as well? The writer cannot answer this question as he has never been to the spiritual Heaven. All we know is that we can explain the formation of the rainbow on earth. It would be futile to attempt explaining the phenomenon in Heaven where one has never been using the same knowledge on earth. On the other hand, that one cannot explain it does not render the book of Revelation irrelevant. Every occurrence and observation has a logical explanation at the proper dimension of space and time; or their appropriate .level ot existence -- spiritual or material.

Now, is there water in the visible heavens that hold the stars and heavenly bodies? It appears this is the case as recent discoveries are proving. Which brings us to the question: was the heavens in the beginning of creation meant to refer to both unseen spiritual heaven and the heavenly bodies?

This article is based on narratives in Genesis Chapter 6 – 9 and Revelations 4: 2 – 3 of the Bible and scientific knowledge in the modern world.

Living in the 21st Century (3) :The Gentleman at The King’s Road, London

2009-11-21T07:56:00.000-08:00

Louis Egbe Mbua

The boutique he entered in drama and majesty,

In good mirth greeted the lady with courtesy.

Medium in height did he stand with chest so broad

And a pair of eyes did he have; dazzling in light.

His pupils appeared round as the sun in full flight

When down to the horizon of the sea afloat.

His teeth so white as to even blind the lady

Who with awe on him looked she as though a baby!

In Royal style did he wear his hat in light blue?

True as was given him by his uncle with the clue

To train him on the importance of tenderness;

And who taught his nephew to be a sure witness

About his marvellous inheritance in the family,

And keep the word and continue the party.

Wore him a pressed blue shirt with white stripes

That was tailored for him by his mother spritely,

To render her honest heart proud and jolly

In all the multiplicity of colour style & types

Of courture she had woven for the gentleman,

So fit in London society as the ladies’ marksman.

The blue pair of trousers did he buy in a chic shop

Because had he taken solace in a bus stop

To have a respite from a day’s work at Oxford,

As his varsity training had he got from Bedford.

A black pair of shoes he cited to match his blue socks,

And the heels were not high so as steadied his soles.

So gentle and elegant were his steps, so stable,

Like majestic Black Beauty striding in his stable!

The Biblical Floods and Modern Thoughts (1)

2009-11-18T23:06:00.000-08:00

The rugged Mount Everest

Louis Egbe Mbua

Quite recently, there have been claims and counterclaims as to whether the flood occurred or not; at what time frame this event happened in relation to the age of the earth; archaeological evidence relating to the flood; and doubts as to why God would decide to destroy his own creation if he is Good. There have been reports that the Ark of Noah has been found in the Mt. Ararat area by means of satellite technology and sheer brute application of old fashioned archeological excavation; and that the dimensions of this discovery in artefacts match the very descriptions reported in biblical accounts. Others have theorised that there is evidence that a large flood occurred on earth at one point in its existence; but that this deluge never engulfed the entire earth as spoken in the Bible; and that this must have been localised in the Mediterranean sea that burst into the Black sea after the Ice age when the entire ice melted and flooded the region. This article will not dwell on these issues but will examine the flood in light of scientific theories; and to limited geological and geographical approximations. At this stage we can only start by examining the Bible and then scrutinising the evidence with the scientific knowledge at hand.

Accordingly, God gave a clear reason why he brought the flood:

“And God saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. And it repented the Lord that he had made man on earth: and it grieved him at his heart.” Genesis 6: 5-6.

So, the precedence for self-destruction has been set, not by God, but by man. While people question the severity of this action, it is of import that we recognise the power of choice. While man has the choice to go about his business, God, also, has the choice to act as to counter or enhance these various choices in line with the kind of choices made. Since, according to God’s own words, man was created in his own image, it follows that the latter statement holds; and that if wickedness was so great that all man could think of was to self-destruct as a matter of choice, then there was no reason for him to continue in his doomed existence. On the other hand, there was a way to self perpetuate in order that God does not destroy the work of his own hands forever as stated in the Bible:

“Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord” Genesis 6:8.

Accordingly, Noah and his family were saved from the flood that was to come by building the ark as prescribed by God. He got into the ark before the rains and the flood came. Now, is there any evidence in the present earth to substantiate the flood? According to Genesis the rain fell for 40 days and forty nights. The flood covered the entire world including the Highest Mountains. Now, Mount Everest is about 9000 m high. The diameter of the earth is about 12,000 km.

Mathematical calculations, assuming the water and the earth formed a liquid-solid concentric circle of different densities, will reveal that the volume of water released was 3.6 trillion trillion cubic metres. In addition, the total volume of water on earth and known man is about 1.26 trillion trillion cubic metres. Whether this includes water stored in plants and the ice in Antarctica is unclear. Furthermore, we we must caution that the heights of mountains have changed over the millennia; and consequently our calculations only indicate the present geological features of the earth. Consequently, the writer does not expect the figures to be exact. However, one may see that the amount of water of the said flood compares reasonably well with what is known to be the total amount of water existing on earth today. The Bible went further to state that all the water didn't come from the earth; some came from Heaven but this is dependent upon what one may reasonably agree as to what constitutes heaven.

Did the water come from the spiritual Heaven or from the Heavens in space that constitutes the stars and other heavenly bodies? On the other hand, if we assume that the water came from Space, then the biblical account is vindicated today because Scientists are now finding water in space and the moon etc. Others posit that asteroids brought water to earth at one point. How plausible this theory stands is open to question. The whole point is that the Bible indicated that the water came from below the earth and from Heaven; and that the total amount of water on earth today tallies with the entire water in the flood. Yet again, mountains like Mount Cameroon and the Everest are heavily contoured and rugged. Rugged contours on landscapes are due to either inundation by a flood of a cataclysmic magnitude or due to a strong wind likened to a hurricane over a short period.

How come the Poles – North and South- are ice-bound? Alaska, for instance, is a very cold area? That ice exists there shows that there was a vast amount of water that froze after the event due to the cold nature of these areas which are below freezing temperatures at most times of the year. Did this event with such large amounts of water cause climate change? Possible or possibly not, as this is difficult to know.

Is there any scientific evidence to substantiate where the flood water went and how?

Living in the 21st Century (2): The Writer's Soliloquy

2009-11-09T15:40:00.000-08:00

Louis Egbe Mbua

Any person has the right to pick up his pen to write,

But a fool writes without knowing why he writes;

And the skilled tells the audience why he writes.

A wise writer selects his words carefully;

But a fool is bombastic, loud and vulgar.

A fool always writes for himself;

But the wise writes for the audience.

While a fool thumps his chest as he writes;

A talented one masks his skills;

While pretending he knows not what he does.

A fool claims to know when he actually knows not;

But the wise actually knows but pretends to know not.

A fool does not detach himself from his writing;

But the wise writes with no attachment to his writing.

A wise man respects his audience;

But the unabashed fool insults his audience.

Good ideas are borne from the heart;

Not from the head! Do not write from your head!

Write from the heart;

‘Cause resides there the Soul.

Falsehood corrupts the heart;

But truth cleanses the Soul.

It is important that a man broadens his mind;

In order that he is not misled by the unidirectional blind;

Into a bottomless pit: of insouciance and pestilence.

Eritrea, Somalia, Cameroon, the UK are all about human beings;

So to believe that their actions and impacts do not influence;

The world is like saying that there can be people without women.

A man must understand the fundamental behaviour of humans

In the entire universe: to discuss issues pertaining to humans

In his own geographical confinement;

Failing this is chasing after the wind.

A Journey to Yaounde (2): A Tour of the City

2009-11-04T05:34:00.000-08:00

Yaounde, Cameroon (from flickr)

Louis Egbe Mbua

The problem was to navigate through the windingly dangerous Douala-Yaoundé Highway as was observed by the manoeuvres of the driver. We arrived at Edea at about an hour’s time after leaving the Douala—and thank goodness without any incident. The African forest stood majestically in our view even just after Douala City was left behind. The share greenery that contoured the equatorial scenery was breath taking: hardwoods, shrubs and possibly other important medicinal plants could all be seen and observed as we turned and swerved.

What struck me most was the narrowness of the road. Why is this road so narrow? I tasked my conscience. At least the roads through Likomba are like Boulevards: broad to the equivalent of three cars. Is the present road up to international standards then? When we arrived at Edea, the driver stopped the vehicle for refreshments. As soon as the bus driver gently applied the brake, a great number of Cameroonians jumped into the bus. What are they looking for? I thought. It was only minutes before I realised their seeming predicament.

There were young people from the aged between 7 and 55 bringing all kinds of foods into the bus: Matumba! Matumba! They shouted. This was extremely surprising as we had just passed the Aluminium smelting plant, Allucam, located at Edea; and where enormous hydroelectric power is harnessed from the mighty Sanaga River. Why then is it that these inhabitants have no jobs, apparently, but sell food stuff along the roads. Are these profitable businesses as to provide a man with a decent living or do they subsidise this occupation with other professional undertakings? I continued to wonder along the journey.

This company, Allucam and the hydroelectric Dam, have been operational in Cameroon for as long as one could remember. What then are the knock on effects of the local population and the infrastructure in the enduring years? As far as I could see on the peripheries of the main road, there were no visible sign of infrastructure. The most significant sign of discernible land mark was the classical German Bridge that spanned the River Sanaga. On its side, appears to be another Bridge of little aesthetic merit --- probably built after independence of the Republic of Cameroon in 1960. Thus is this lack of human advancement and infrastructural presence may be due to lack of investment in genuine job-creation and by extension, in people. What was done about 30 years ago has never been altered. In any case the driver continued in his winding journey through the thick equatorial forests of Cameroon. Having fallen asleep I was awakened by another stop in Bimnyobel, an hour’s drive from Yaoundé with the same routine of food selling.

Arriving safely in Yaoundé was such a relief. The characteristic red earth was visible everywhere. But what struck me was that Yaoundé had hardly changed in three decades. One could recognise all the old buildings on the road side. We navigated until we reached the Park in heartland Yaoundé. Having taken a rest, I decided to take a tour round the City. Where is Score, Le Supermarche? I asked the taxi driver. Oh! It is no longer situated in its position. You can see that it has been replaced by a casino. We drove passed Intelcam, the Cameroon’s equivalence of British Telecommunication. The same building stood there; the only improvement was that a 7-8 storey building had been erected behind the old 4-5 storey building. Not much change then? I said. The taxi driver laughed; and said No. I asked no further questions. On the other hand, I observed the City was cleaner and much more organised than hitherto.

We went passed through Cite Verte, a modern estate of block of flats built by the Cameroon government about 35 years ago to house the population of Yaoundé at subsidised rents. This was a shocker as the very modern and well kept flats have deteriorated so much so that it was difficult to recognise these buildings. Who are these people staying here? Well, it appears most people living here are Nordiste, was the taxi man’s unflinching response. Why is that? Well, the government has a policy of some kind of ownership of the occupant having stayed in any of the flats for a certain amount of years, was the answer. Most that were offered the flats were from North Cameroon since it was means tested; and they qualified, he continued. That is a reasonable policy but I have a problem, I said. The people may own the flat but it is the government’s responsibility to maintain the entire estate block by block as the must still holds the ground leasehold as landlords. The taxi man merely shrugged.

It was time for lunch after the extensive tour. Where can one buy lunch here? There is a place near Ngoa-Kelle; near Carrefour Emia, I was informed. Good, I thought. This will provide me with an opportunity of seeing my old hide outs near the University of Yaoundé. We took another taxi and arrived at our destination after passing by Pharmacie de Carrefour still located in the same spot. What, exactly, is the name of this place, I demanded of my niece. It is called Weya: it is owned by an Anglophone from Bamenda. All civil servants in the Ministries come here to eat their lunch. It is very popular; and the food is very good, she replied. I acquiesced at this acute assessment of a connoisseur and fashionista graduate de La Universite de Yaoundé.

On entering the main path to the restaurant we met two immaculately dressed (Cameroonians like nice clothes; and uniforms) who were almost certainly student officers – who politely extended their Bonjours, and which we returned with genuine polity. When we got into the eatery, it was about 2.00 pm; and the entire joint was jam-packed with suited men and dressed women having their exquisite dishes of their choice. A waiter ushered us onto a convenient seat. Now: the moment of truth.

Having settled down in the well organised and neat seat layout, I asked the lone waitress: “Can we have the menu, please?” The waitress looked astonished. Her face changed from delightful to what may be described as scornful. I wondered whether I had breached a basic etiquette. As I was about to repeat myself, my niece whispered, “There are no menus here, for this is not London; just announce your choice of food and it will be delivered to you in precinct platter.” I really was not convinced by this proposed arrangement but I remembered that I was in Africa, so I changed my question: “What exactly do you have then”, I demanded the waitress. She never bothered to respond.

As one was famished, I looked around to observe what the taste of the diners where. My niece ordered her own lunch. I now realise that if I do not act swiftly, I will not have any food. So, having made a mental note on this epicurean experiment I decided to try again – but this time from the waiter: “Can I have eru?” Well, there is none left, was his reply. Fine: please, give me equacoco bible. The diners next to me all turned and looked at me with amusing amazement possibly feeling that I must have arrived but that same day -- they were right . My niece, not knowing what to make of this decided to intervene to help me out me with a verbal menu: Achu, rice and stew, kati kati, ripe plantain and roast fish, fried chicken. I ordered Achu and Chicken. Before long, we were politely joined by two other Cameroonians – one Francophone and an Anglophone. Having had a good conversation about life in Cameroon, shared a few bottles of Cameroon beer and excellent African lunch, we returned to our various sojourns where I contemplated my perilously frightening return journey through the Yaoundé-Douala Highway. Will I arrive intact? I murmured to myself.

A Journey To Yaounde(1): Cameroon O' Bosso Na Mbussa:

2009-10-25T16:19:00.000-07:00

Louis Egbe Mbua

On a second visit to Cameroon this year, it won’t have been appropriate, I thought, to leave without making a sortie to Yaoundé, the Capital City of Cameroon. One had read; and heard of the accident-prone highway that links Douala, the commercial hub in the Gulf of Guinea, to the city embedded in the middle of Cameroon. Where does one board a coach to Yaoundé, I inquired. In Akwa, I was informed by old hands of the Douala gentry. There is a company located in Akwa; it is very efficient and provides express service; but you have to arrive early to catch the express service, they opined. What is the name of the Company? Guarantee was the name. How apt: I will be guaranteed a good and safe journey, I said to myself. So, early on the 25th of July 2009, I dressed up after the London business suit fashion, and found myself in the coach station in Akwa.

A nearby kiosk was playing a Cameroonian number in this manner: Pompez, les pompiers; la maison c’est brule . Who wrote and played this song? I asked the man next to me in the seat at the hall way in the station. Hugo Nyame: C’est Padonne Madame, he replied in a knowing and sure disposition. My niece had arrived earlier, arranged for the tickets, secured the seats; and then we sat down in the station to wait for the bus to begin this strange journey. The driver of the Coach signalled that he has to leave in time; at 8:30 am. We climbed into the high-staged design coach; and took our seats. The man who sat next to me asked: Tu es Anglophone?
Oui, je suis Anglophone, I replied. I didn’t have to respond with a similar investigation since only a Francophone Cameroonian would pose such a question in French. Mais, est-que tu viens de Buea ou bien de Bamenda? J' habite ici a Douala, was the answer coming from me.

Non, Tu ne me responds bien. C’est bien que nous sommes tous a Douala. Mais ca ne signifie que nous sommes de Douala. Moi-meme j’habite a Douala mais je ne viens de Littoral. Que j’habite a Douala ne signifie pas que mon village c’est ici a Douala. Mon village, s’Il vous plait, c'est situe a Bandjoun.

This was not the kind of discussion one wished in the beginning of a long journey. However, I decided to answer his philosophical point as he seemed an insightful man; and a man of intelligence. If that is what you mean, then I am travelling from Buea, I responded. Oh! You are an Anglophone Whiteman then, the man exclaimed. Well, you can see that I am not a White person, I said. The man looked bemused on this reply.

I agree with you that your village is within Bandjoun, but this is the 21st century, I continued. It is important that you identify yourself with where you grew up; and where you earn your living as well as your village of origin in Cameroon. The point here is that you have settled in Douala where, you are supposedly, are earning a nice living; well, judging from your wonderful pair of shoes and clothes. The point is not whether I am an Anglophone or you a Francophone but that we are of the same country; and that we all should enjoy the benefits of this land. Consequently, it is of utmost importance that you consider your village as well as where you are presently residing in Cameroon. This is because you have the advantage of a two-pronged opportunity which may make you rich; and as a consequence, the entire Cameroon.

What do you mean by “a two-pronged opportunity”? The man asked. Well, you have the opportunity of having to live in two lands. There is the idea of The Two Lands since ancient times.

How? Asked Le Camerounais. In ancient Africa, I replied, there was a King called Menes, the ruler of Egypt about 4500 years ago, who brought about this idea of unity into the world. We do not know how he came about this idea. However, we know for certain that he united the two lands of Egypt: Upper Egypt and Lower Egypt. These lands were of completely different geography, ethnic and possibly linguistic make up. After this act of genius, people from both parts of the united lands had a two-pronged opportunity since they could carve a career in any of the two regions; at the same time could return to their area of origin where they could again advance themselves because they were known there. Due to the uniting of the two lands, the Egyptians were able to harness their people into a critical mass of talent. The result is still there, in the two lands, for the entire world to see today. Remember that connections are as important as an institution. It seems the early Cameroon leaders had this idea or might have read of them from ancient books or might have some kind of links with ancient Egypt – it is Africa after all. The important point is that, I continued, the Egyptian priests and rulers were wiser than us.

Now, my brother, you are trying to compare 2500 BC to the 21st century, he composed. Your comparison does not add up; and invalid. The Egyptians lived in their time. We are living in the 21st century where there are computers and Aeroplanes. So, this ancient “two-pronged” approach can neither fit in this era nor is it feasible. Besides, why do you believe (if we may consider your opinion a belief in the first place) the Egyptians wiser than us? Surely, they never created the computer nor did they go to space, did they? What you are saying is illogical unless you provide a further explanation to buttress your reasoning. As far as I can see you will have great difficulties in crafting an acceptably justified defence in this instance. The Cameroon situation is different because we are one and indivisible from the beginning. As a result, the unification that happened in 1961 cannot be likened to that of the ancient Egyptians despite their considerable success in art, technology, agriculture, architecture, religion and culture. If we examine the matter very closely, we may realise that we might have achieved a similar feat in Cameroon. The Edea Dam, SONARA in Limbe [Victoria]; Douala City and where we are going; Yaoundé. The point of the matter is that we do what we can at this time; and then leave the rest to the future generation. It is true that unity is good but we may not be able to achieve everything dans cinquante ans de L’independance. Cela c’est impossible! Cameroun O’ Bosso*!

You have spoken well mon frère, I emphasised. It is true that Cameroon, and in fact Africa, has made considerable stride in civilisation. However, I won’t agree with you that the stated advancement is of the same stature of achievement as the ancient United Lands of the North and South. The Egyptians appeared to be more enlightened than we are in the 21st century. I agree that they never invented any computers or went into space but they seemed to have understood the psychology of man. I say this because they, apparently, were fair and just to the very best of their abilities in antiquity. For, instance, they knew about women’s rights and the rights of the minority in their Kingdom. The same cannot be given to the present Cameroon. In the present climate, it seems those who purport to be leaders lack this fundamental understanding. For instance, it is not important for you to judge me as an Anglophone or for me to judge you as a Francophone, but that you are a human being who can think and act in a positive way; to affect all Cameroonians and indeed the world. Now, if we have rulers who believe that they must first satisfy their villages before they think of the entire Cameroon and the world, then we cannot actually meet up with Egyptian standards. The Egyptians never did such a thing. While I will not venture to vociferate that the Egyptians were perfect, one is hard pressed to find a leader, in Cameroon, who is wise as was as Hephaestus, the Egyptian queen who built the classic temple at Thebes. Our leaders have failed to emulate these great leaders: they have been involved in discrimination and grandiloquence. Even if the Re-unification was a good idea, they failed to institute social justice in the entire territory as the Egyptians did. As a result, we have a breakdown of morality; and the marginalisation of Anglophones, who form part of the two lands, in a clearly illegal act which must be redressed before we may compare and contrast with the ancients. What we have, therefore, is Cameroon O’ Bosso na Mbussa*; and not actually Cameroun O’Bosso!

The man was shocked at this reply. A woman at his side – presumably his wife – seemed to crave attention; and the discussion was further interrupted when the bus began to move on. Noticing this state of fluxing affairs, I thought it wise not to usher any further commentaries on this matter. I had borrowed a book from my uncle. I opened the page where I had ended my musing of Mbella Sonne Dipoko’s Because of Women and began to read: Ngosso had paddled his canoe......or something of that sort.

*O' Bosso: Getting ahead

* O' Mbussa: Getting behind

Living In the 21st Century (1): A Fashion Statement

2009-10-21T13:17:00.000-07:00

Fashion and Style at their Heights

By Louis Egbe Mbua

Since the arrival of the new millennium; there appears to be a psychological shift in every aspect of life that renders men and women to co-exist on the planet. From science to religion, there have been dramatic change of paradigm. In peace and in war, we now live and think differently thannever before. Online education is now a normal occurrence rather than a strange method of pedagogy. Only in the 21st Century and this new millennium can we actually hold up hardened terrorists like Osama Bin Laden, with his urbane looking beard, as a fashion icon. But is he? This article examines the folly and wisdom that go with fashion and style in the first decade of the 21st century and the third millennium:

It is better to be stylish than to be fashionable
Because fashion fades but style stays forever:
A dress worn for show is worse than worn to fit
‘Cause better to fit than to show unstuck and unfit.

A man must not wear a shirt of four colours;
For multiple colours are suited but of women:
The woman with a colourful dress will win
But she who wears white informally has failed.

Black is the new white but brown is for soldiers
And a man looks good in brown but a woman who
Wears combats as a fashion statement is not stylish;
And a man who wears white trousers has no style.

A man of no great height must stay clear of heels
Because it shows fashion insecurity with his looks,
But a woman may wear high heels as long as she is
Not six foot five since she will never find a man in them.

There is no such thing as a small woman since all
Have the same hypnotic powers in similar measure.
Her hand bag must match her dress and hair style
For it is faux pas to have a mismatch in this instance.

No man must nurture long hair unless he is a priest
Or he is into a religious order and in show business
Since men may mistake him for a woman and
Women may classify him as effeminate and weak.

Women & men with long hair should visit the Salon
Each week lest: it looses its natural brilliance.
Short hair style is stylish to both men & women
But it’s unstylish for a woman to be skinned head.

Size zero people must not touch tight trousers
Since this displays angled structures of bones
Rather than curved structures defined by nature
The same applies to size 30s with excess curves.

A good dancer is a delight and a bonus to him:
But better that a bad dancer should not dance at all:
Since this may spoil a social occasion entirely.
Thus if a socialite, you must learn how to dance.

In plastic surgery, only engage to correct a fault
But he who does it for beautification is a fool
‘Cause what you have, was written before time
And plastic surgery can never overcome time.

Beauty is not exuded by the external alone
But what you think inside combines with
The external to make the beauty complete:
Plastic surgery can spoil the whole beauty.

There is a way to walk and move in line
With what you wear as to what you desire.
In fashion dressing, walk with the style of a cat
And the galloping confidence of a horse

The one is meant to compliment the other;
Thus only a fool will try a cat walk at home
Or in the office, for this will be out of place
Since you will not be marked for promotion

A vain woman who strips naked for pictures
Is unwise because she must explain this vanity
To her parents, grandchildren and husband
On why such an extravagant display of vanity

A vain man who strips naked for photographs
Is yet a bigger fool since a man is not exactly
A work of art as compared to the fairer one,
And that fashion without clothes doesn’t exist.

While riches can buy one fashion the same can’t
Be said of style since style exists but in nature.
So while style is real, eternal and supernatural
Fashion is founded on illusion and artificiality.

African Commission Landmark Ruling On Cameroon -- A Road Map To Southern Cameroons Freedom

2009-10-06T00:19:00.000-07:00

Louis Egbe Mbua

As day follows night , so too does humility follows arrogance in reversibilty. For years, the Southern Cameroons people have invited the Republic of Cameroon for amicable talks as concerns the violation of thier rights. However, this has been followed by denials and other provocative insults such as: "if you do not like to be in Cameroon, go somewhere else". There is an adage that one should be careful as to what one asks; for it might happen in reality. Referring to an innocent man as: "an enemy of the house" is not only disingenous; but that the aggrieved man may decide to leave that house and create his own home.

There are those who always believe, erroneously, that the oppressed will remain in their abject condition for ever. However, justice is always on the corner, tailing the oppressor who violates the rights of humans. This has been the case between the Southern Cameroons peoples, also known as Anglophones, and the Republic of Cameroun people, otherwise known as Francophones in Cameroon since 1961. Many a Cameroonian have always believed that the Southern Cameroons independence is an impossible dream; and that it will remain a dream forever. This is a dreadful mistake; for poetic justice usually comes most unexpectedly and very quickly. The writer is of the opinion that the ACHPR ruling in the case between the Southern Cameroons and The Republic of Cameroon has delivered the killer hammer Blow to the Cameroon Union and set Southern Cameroons firmly onto the path of independence. When a man keeps crying for justice and insisting on fairness, they are usually rewarded. Again, it is better to engage your brother and reach an agreement on an injustice than for him to take you to court where you cannot escape retributive justice and punishment for your wrong doings. This writing will attempt to interprete the Commission's ruling in light of Southern Cameroons independence and freedom.

Following the African Commission on Human and Peoples' Rights ruling being made public by that organisation; as well as the government of The Republic of Cameroon in a Communique dated 1st October 2009, it is clear that the Republic of Cameroon has violated the Human Rights of Southern Cameroonians on 10 counts: in relation to the African Charter; and that the Republic of Cameroon, also known as La Republique du Cameroun, is guilty of violating international Law. When the UN sponsored plebiscite of February 1961 was initiated in Southern Cameroons, there were no provisions for such gross and grosteque violations of human rights in the enactment of the creation of the Cameroon Federation between the two former UN Trust Territories. As a consequence, these violations justify that the United Nations steps in and conduct a second plebiscite in that territory for the Southern Cameroons people to decide as to whether they wish to continue in the UN-created Union with La Republique as a Federated State or whether they desire outright independence as a separate country.

Similarly, this is the moment for Southern Cameroons to seize to free their people from 50 years of discrimination and violation of their rights by The Republic of Cameroon. In a bizarrely paradoxical twist, it provides, albeit inadvertently, an opportunity for the citizens of The Republic of Cameroon to throw out 50 years of totalitarian oligarchy, peacefully rewrite the constitution so as to free the people from the seemingly impossible grip of sychophancy, dictatorship, oppression, brutality and corrupt leadership; and set them on a path to progress. We have to now examine, in details, the winning points that will lead to Southern Cameroons freedom and how it can be done; and the freedom of all Cameroonians in due course as a consequence.

So, examining what the Commission found in its ruling in interpretation:

The Commission found that the Republic of Cameroon violated article 1 of the African Charter which enshrines Human rights to all African peoples.

The Commission found that La Republique du Cameroun violated article 2 of the African Charter which stipulated the entitlement to enjoyment of the right of birth; that Cameroon discriminated against Southern Cameroonians contrary to article 20 of the African charter. The Commission drew attention to discrimination of Southern Cameroonian businesses, especially in light of the Treaty for the Harmonisation of Business Law in Africa, OHADA (Organisation pour l’Hamonisation Des Droits d’Affaires en Afrique.) They reached this decision on grounds that Southern Cameroonians businessmen in Cameroon must submit their article of incorporation for their businesses in French; and that failure to do so means that they cannot open a business bank account; and thus cannot obtain loans or are refused access to capital. The writer finds this strange since Cameroon claims to be a bilingual nation. Furthermore, it explains why most thriving and profitable Southern Cameroonian businesses had to be relocated to Francophone Cameroon after 1972; especially to Douala ; went bankrupt; and why business did not thrive in Southern Cameroons.

It would seem that this has been a practice that has been going on since 1972 when the Federation was illegally destroyed; and that this was a long term premeditated plan to annihilate Southern Cameroonians so as to reduce them to abject poverty; and to weaken their fight for freedom. The land mark ruling means that the OHADA ratification is null and void as regards Southern Cameroons territory; and since this violates the 1961 plebiscite, it follows that The Republic of Cameroon has no right of jurisdiction to dictate business law to Southern Cameroonians in their territory; meaning that the Southern Cameroons state and law on businesses still stand to this day.

The Commission also found The Republic of Cameroon in violation of Article 4 of the African Charter which enshrined the right to life and the inviolability of human persons.

Cameroon also violated article 5 of the African Charter because the government subjected Southern Cameroonians to torture, amputations and denial of medical treatment of arrested activists. If this is true, then The Republic of Cameroon also breached the plebiscite conditions and as a result the Union no longer counts. In this case, the United Nations must take up its responsibility to re-examine the 1961 plebiscite.

The Republic of Cameroon further violated article 6 of the African Charter of Human Rights because her forces arrest Southern Cameroonians who are detained for days and months without trial. As usual, La Republique du Cameroun tried to justify this violation by accusing the detainees, falsely, of being terrorists. This was thrown out and the Commission again indicted the government of gross violation of the Rights of Southern Cameroonians.

The Republic of Cameroon was also found guilty of violation of Article 7 (1) (b) (c) and (d) which enshrined the right to fair trial. They reached this decision because Southern Cameroonians were arrested and transferred to Francophone territory (Bafoussam and Yaounde) to be tried by a Military tribunal although those arrested and accused were civilians; and that they were tried in French, a language they do not understand and without interpreters. This is shameful for a purportedly bilingual country and a naked act of Apartheid. It must be stated that this has been going on for more than 40 years. During a confrontation with Cameroon oppresive forces from Francophone Cameroon who were perpetrating naked aggression on civilians, in Bakossiland, in 1966, Southern Cameroons, Southern Cameroonians accused of involvement were transferred to Yaoundé in Francophone territory where they were either executed or incacerated for long periods after a kangaroo trial in Military tribunals. This again violates the 1961 UN-supervised plebiscite, and therefore, Southern Cameroonians must demand a fresh plebiscite from the international community to decide their future. No people must be surrendered to be violated in such a blatant disregard to human life and fairness in the name of a Union. Unions must be just and fair to all citizens; and especially to protect the minority partner.

The Commission also arrived at the decision that the Cameroon government violated article 11 of the African Charter that outlines the right to free assembly in accordance with National laws and security. The Commission found the Cameroon government guilty of forced suppression of demonstrators, and that there is sufficient evidence that Southern Cameroonians have been shot and killed by forces during demonstrations while others arrested died in prison. Is this what Southern Cameroonians voted for in 1961? If this is not what they asked, then the plebiscite is now devoid of its original objectives and must be reviewed by the United Nations.

The findings of the Commission as regards article 19 that centered on the annexation of Southern Cameroons by La Republique du Cameroun in violation of the African charter, is more intriguing; and delivers an unprecedented victory to Southern Cameroons.

The Commission stated, very clearly, that they have no jurisdiction; and therefore incompetent to determine what annexation is in this instance in connection with the UN 1961 plebiscite in the Trust Territory of Southern Cameroons; and what happened in 1961 – 1972 since this predates the entry into force of the charter. This is a land mark ruling because it implies that the United Nations has been dragged into the dispute. If the UN organised a plebiscite in terms of equal status of the two states, how come there is no longer any Southern Cameroons government? Where is the equality here? What were the instruments that the UN, as a supervisor of the British administered territory, put in place to protect the constitutional and human rights of Southern Cameroons? Did the United Nations fail in her responsibility in the Southern Cameroons case? The answer to the latter question is a resounding Yes ; because had this happened, these gross violations could never have occurred in the first place; and that Francophone administrators and soldiers would have respected the jurisdiction of Southern Cameroons as not to enter the territory to maim, kill and oppress the people from September 1961 and onwards to now.

The Commission didn’t end there but went further to announce that if Southern Cameroons can establish that annexation occurred; and that this right was violated before 18 December 1989 and continues thereafter, then the Commission will be competent to examine the annexation issue. This is a blank cheque to Southern Cameroons. There is enough evidence to prove violation:

A. The two governors of the SW and NW regions of what constitutes Southern Cameroons are Francophones.

B. In 2005, soldiers from Francophone Cameroon entered Buea and shot and killed students in a demonstration at University of Buea who were protesting of poor conditions and other matters at the University. They also raped and looted in Buea as well as terrorise the population of Buea. This is forceful annexation as they violated the boundaries of Southern Cameroons which is at River Mungo.

C. A similar incident happened in Buea in 2006.

D. In Bamenda in 2007

E. And the recent Cameroon riots in Febraury 2008.

In another case, Southern Cameroons, now has the right to refer the matter to the Security Council of the UN who is now celarly competent to re-examine the UN 1961 plebiscite and arrange a new one in line with the Commission’s findings.

In a separate development regarding article 19, the Commission found Cameroon in violation of this article in relation to transferring the Port of Victoria (Limbe) to Douala. According to the Commission, this amounts to the case that The Republic of Cameroon has no control of Victoria (Limbe) and therefore in violation of this article.

Article 20 is very interesting. This dwells on secession and the right to self-determination as a people. Firstly, the Commission rejects secession on grounds that the Complaint violates that right of the African Charter. In effect, the Commission cannot violate its own charter – a perfectly valid point. But it appears Southern Cameroons never asked for secession as there is no treaty of Union between the two former territory. On the other hand, it appears the Commission is incompetent to decide on this matter.

Again, however, the Commission hands out Southern Cameroons with a blank cheque. They ruled that Southern Cameroonians are a separate and distinct people; and that collective peoples’ rights are as important as individual rights, and that Southern Cameroonians qualify as a people geographically, culturally and with a common cause. The implications; in terms of Southern Cameroons independence are huge. Southern Cameroons must now report to the UN who began this ordeal in the first place so that the 1961 plebiscite is revisited.

The Commission recommends dialogue between the leaders of the two states, especially the SCNC and SCAPO who brought the Southern Cameroons case against The Cameroon Republic , under the auspices of the African Commission rather than separation. In this case, therefore, Southern Cameroons leaders must insist on a new plebiscite that includes outright independence which was clandestinely left out in the 1961 fiasco; and that the United Nations must be involved in settling this matter once and for all.

Finally, the Commission found the Cameroon government in violation of Article 26 that enshrines the independence of the Judiciary. They ruled that the Cameroon Judiciary is not independent in line with article 26 of the Africa Charter because the President of Cameroon, who is the head of the Executive arm, is also head of the Judiciary. This is against democratic principles that require that the Executive arm must be separated from the Judiciary arm. In that case, therefore, Cameroon Judiciary cannot be fair.

This, also, is a blank cheque to both Southern Cameroons and Cameroon peoples in general. This is the time to act and eliminate once and for all the propensity for unfair trials and selective crimes where by the President cannot be held into account. In addition, Southern Cameroons has the right to take their case to the ICJ since the judiciary in Cameroon is now incompetent to rule on these violations. The UN must be involved in resolving this matter once and for all.

The Commission also ruled on other articles but most of the ruling was based on lack of submission of evidence by Southern Cameroons; and therefore on technicalities rather than evidence put against by The Republic of Cameroon to challenge them.

Details of the Commission’s Ruling on Communication 266/2003 can be found in:

http://www.achpr.org/english/_info/news_en.html

Guns, People, and Nations: The Universal Healthcare

2009-09-25T02:35:00.000-07:00

Louis Egbe Mbua

As to whether a nation may save itself from a catastrophe may depend on the nature of that incident; the scale of the devastation; the tenacity of the people;and the speed of the devastation; and how quickly the leadership reacts to counter the unfortunate event. Above all, the resources available at that time; and at the right place. Nations with enlightened leadership prepare themselves 50 years in advance while those that make darkness their abode, save divine intervention, always find themselves spending as much energy and resources as they were wont in 50 years of fruitless labour. The rational for this two totally different approaches may be closely linked to the judgment of its leadership over a long period; and the consquent resultant thinking that permeates that society.

A society built on compassion and human values; moral obligation and the greater good almost certainly always ends up doing what is right to save the nation. On the other hand, a nation that may begin with the former values as their foundation may decide to deviate along the way on the road to nation building. In this scenario, compassion and human values may take a twisted turn for the worse. That this occurs does not mean that Amargedon has arrived but that the trumpet sound of warning is always heard from East to West; and from North to South. Granted, the recent arguments, especially in Obama's American tenue, as to whether a nation is entitled to free health care or not can only be viewed from the practical successes and failures of the different nations involved; and specific experiences of the different peoples. In that manner, therefore, one may be in pole position to make sound judgments as to the importance of Universal Health Care in a modern nation in the 21st century. A a nation populated by the ill can never prosper.

The year is 2005; and the entire world is transfixed onto their television screen to fully examine the unfortunate cataclysm of Hurricane Katrina that devastated the east Coast of the United States almost four years after the horrific terrorist attack of the United States East Coast of New York killing about 3000 innocent people. In Europe, a significant majority were questioning how a nation, so powerful and rich, were to allow herself to be viewed with such a faded lamp in humanity as regards the Hurricaine Katrina. We all watched as the poor and needy were in such squalor in a land of plenty. More strikingly, it would appear that the long suffering people of Louisiana had not had proper medical care -- judging from their physical appearance. Is it right for the richest nation on earth or even one of the man-made poorest like Cameroon to allow their own citizens to languish in poor health while the privileged moneyed class enjoy stratospheric health care? This writer takes a close examination of the practicalities and consequences of a system that prefers to spend on guns and missiles rather than invest on the health of the same people who should defend the nation with the same guns.

I had just arrived Buea at dusk, the Capital of today South West Region of Cameroon and the former Capital of Southern Cameroons and the colonial German Kamerun. The atmosphere was heavy with fog from Bokoango down to Great Soppo; but the bustling Molyko and Muea dual-town were spared the heavy mist the nexte day. The Chariot of the Gods, Mount Cameroon, stood majestically on the background like a heavy mass of dark blue rock that appears to stretch to the skies from its deep foundations; at the same time extends from East to West like an ancient pyramid.

The following few days were of excellent weather with clear blue sky and beautiful weather; the modifying mountain climate providing a perfect moderating effect on the tropical African heat prevalent in Tiko and Douala. Terrific, I thought. This is like living in Wales, London or Switzerland! I am going to enjoy myself during this period in homeland Africa! I will go out, visit old friends, travel around the villages, and socialise with my relatives. Not until my Grandmother fell ill. We are in Wales, are we not? Surely, there is no problem. There is the NHS, I mused dreamily. And it is free! But this was a short term thinking of a complete stranger in his own land. It was not long before I was reminded of the realities of my own country; and that I may have been thinking of the non-existing utopia of Sangria Land.

Let’s take her to the hospital, I proposed with detached confidence. No, they said, we must take her but to a private clinic. Why? I demanded. Surely, a hospital is much more equipped since there are better facilities and many specialist doctors? No answer. So, I went with the idea of taking her to the clinic. What is the name of this clinic and where exactly is it located, I asked. The medical facility is called Solidarity. Thank Goodness, I exclaimed. If it is named Solidarity then we will be saved! Grand ma will be well and back home immediately; and then the enjoyment will continue until I return to England. Is it a good place with a reputation? Of course, yes was the reply. Where is it? It is just off the University Junction up the road; about ten minutes drive from home after the Mile 17 roundabout. Great! Surely this is a good place; since it is near the University. I was aware that University of Buea had begun a medical school about two years ago amidst raging controversy; arguments between the Anglophones students and the Francophone elite lodged in Yaounde in an alleged fraud as to the admission of students. In the event, students were gunned downby the Cameroon authorities. However, I thought there would be trained doctors who may be working in the clinic in Solidarity with the denizens of Buea. Was my assumption guided by sound judgment or was it convoluted by my earlier delusion of being in Wales? Let’s see.

We made a swift curve north from home, turned into the Mile 17 junction to Molyko, drove passed the University and arrived the University Junction. Turned left, passed a series of landmark two or three storey buildings (most buildings in Buea are not more than three storeys due to the active Volcano, Mount Cameroon, that can roar and erupt without warning causing the entire town to sway from left to right, up and down like a rocking ship caught in a huge tidal wave) and arrived the said clinic. We have arrived, my relative said. Although the building was small, it was well kept and neatly painted with a car park at the front and a gate that secluded the clinic from the local environs. Is this Solidarity? I asked , so as to obtain cast-iron validation and verification. Yes, was the answer. So we went in with my Grandmother. A nurse met us at the entrance or was it the reception? I explained the problem and she were admitted. Now comes the moment of truth as to whether I was still dreaming in Wales or I was living the hard reality of Cameroon.

Can I see the doctor? I inquired of the nurse. Well, he will arrive shortly. I waited and waited but there was no doctor forth-coming. I looked at the nurse and she looked at me. Every person was looking at any other person. What is going on? Anyway I decided to take a short walk within the clinic believing that by the time I returned, treatment should have started. When I returned, I noticed a young man whom I assume was the doctor. I said my Hellos and Good mornings which he returned very politely. Yet nothing was happening; remotely resembling treatment. I looked at them; they also looked at me in a kind of strange silence: again. Is this a new kind of medical consultation or what? Well, I have never been to medical school. Who knows, perhaps there is new kind of telepathic medicine in Cameroon? Or is it some sort of African medicine? Chinese medicine, perhaps? I understand the Chinese have a strong presence in Cameroon; and that they built a modern hospital in genuine Solidarity with the Cameroon people in general and the Buea population in particular. Is Solidarity a Chinese invention-cum-invasion? I looked around but no Chinese person was in sight. I was perplexed by all this. I therefore made a decision, again, to take a walk; but this time in the surrounding locality, hoping that on my re-return , full treatment must have begun, and to fully verify that this was, in actual fact, the famed Solidarity clinic. There we go again.

I went round the corner, crossed a small bridge that spans a small stream and Helas! I was standing in front of a huge – painted yellow, I presume, as one is colour blind -- three storey building that dominated the landscape just off the University Junction. Is this Solidarity? I questioned myself. I decided to investigate. As it appears there were businesses operating on the ground floor of the building, I went to one of the shops, exchanged pleasantries with the supposed owner and began my somewhat inquisition. What is this building for, especially the first and second floors, I enquired. This is a mini-cite (Students’ Hostel). We are merely renting the ground floor for our businesses, was the gentleman’s succinct reply. I see. Who owns this building? The gentleman looked at me with pronounced astonishment; his eyes diving up and down at my demeanour. Are you from Mbengue? The new interrogator asked. Well, yes, I stammered. Where? Europe? America? Europe, I answered. Where, exactly, in Europe, he questioned; and when was the last time you visited Buea – I mean Cameroon? Well, this is my second visit in three months from London. And you do not know who owns this building? No. I replied. This building is owned by Pius. Who is Pius? I interjected. The gentleman didn’t answer. At this juncture, he picked up his glass of what I suppose must have contained Cameroon beer, took a sizeable sip and gulped it down in a go. Put down the glass in satisfaction and then said: “ Ndeifi Pius, the Cameroon football star of the Indomitable Lions.” Picked up his glass again and downed the rest of the three-quarter full glass of beer in one single swoop: with pride. I thanked him; made my polite excuses and left to return to the clinic.

At the entrance, I saw an assignation on a sign board but was not sure as I didn’t bring my glasses. When I arrived at the clinic I met a nurse and the doctor on the hallway. I asked: “What is the name of this clinic again?” So-lid-ar-ity, they answered in resonance and unison: a chorus resembling a choir derived straight out from the local hue. Now, if the name may fit its meaning, would they mind beginning the business of treating my Grandmother? She is ill and requires immediate medical attention. The two looked at me in surprise. What exactly is going on, I reflected. There must be something I appear not to understand here.

So, I went around the hall way and saw another nurse in what looked like a counter. I realised that she was smiling. Why is she smiling? Let me approach her and see. She may have the key to this mystifying medical visit. So, I asked her: “Why is nobody treating my Grandmother; I thought this is a clinic founded on solidarity with the people?” Well, yes but have you got any money with you? You are right; we are Solidarity but to be quite honest, you have to make a down payment before any kind of treatment can be administered onto her. We assure you that the service will be first class, she continued; and that we have first class doctors. How much is the deposit then? CFA 26, 500 frs (£35), she answered quickly. In a second, the Sangrian mystery was decoded, presumably, so I thought. In this case of life, therefore, I took out my wallet, extracted the amount stipulated and handed the cash to the nurse; and waited curiously to see what will happen. She counted the money; gave a nod and proclaimed in a reasonably loud voice: “Treatment”. To my ultimate dismay, the treatment began immediately and in earnest. I will like to state that the clinic has an excellent service and my Grandmother recovered within two days. Is this Solidarity? I questioned inwardly.

In Sangria land, one has to live on his wits’ ends. A system that has no National Health Service in place but relies solely on private health care, where money is the key to good health, is a benighted society doomed to fail. In the yesteryears, this part of contemporary Cameroon had a Department of Social Welfare that played a national role in the health of the West Cameroon people from the young to the old. Today that system has been destroyed with the elderly, the young and the poor subjected to ill-health due to lack of money. When we have a system where an elderly person who has spent all their youthful lives serving the nation are asked to pay up to £35, a sum close to the average monthly wage, to receive medical consultation, then one is inclined to believe that it is better to leave such a place and relocate where leaders are rational and responsible. This amy account for reasons as to why Africans will risk their lives to cross the daunting and unforgiving Sahara Desert; and to travel or swim through the Mediterranean Sea under dreadful conditions at sea to reach Europe where health care is free. Not so in my country where the ruling class themselves also prefer, paradoxically, to fly to Europe by business class for medical treatment on state funds rather than develop and maintain a national health service for the benefit of their own people; and the benevolent result that may ensue in terms of tangible peace and prosperity.

President Obama is right in proposing a Bill to extend healthcare to at least 40 million excluded American people who have been negelected for more than 200 years. His decision to halt the prohibitively expensive Bush-era Star Wars missile adventure in Poland and the former Eastern Block is both wise and pragmatic. It is grand and grotesque folly in a large scale to spend mind-blowing money on weapons that would be manned by the sick; or worse still, no man to use these guns and missiles. A Universal Health Service is a fundamental right for all men; and a pre-requisite to prosperity. African (and other world leaders of the same mould) should emulate President Obama; halt their deadly weapons and gun buying obsession to defend their corrupt and ignorant governments; and instead invest in the health of their people. There lies the secret of progress.

A Visit to Southern Cameroons

2009-09-03T08:12:00.000-07:00

River Mungo: International Boundary between the two Cameroons (http://www.postnewsline.com/)

Louis Egbe Mbua

It is unclear how a people so subjected to the vestiges of totalitarian colonial relics manage to rise up to the challenge so as to compete in a world of discrimination and authoritarian socio-political dogma. The matter is sometimes so worrying that many throw their hats into the fighting ring; throw their hands in the air and surrender. Others so oppressed, make a decision to join the oppressor; not out of malice but out of desperation.

There seems to be a kind of schadenfreude psychological factor to this effect. This, the writer does not believe, is down to the Stockholm syndrome, whereby the captured unwittingly falls in love with the kidnapper. More to it, one believes, is a search for the meaning of all the oppression and why it occurs in the first place; and an identity finder on a second count. Perhaps, one may suppose, that the victims are in want of recognition as an equal to the coloniser; so decide to join the colonist to further oppress their own people in search of equality -- if not superiority in relation to the colonised. In due course, one can infer, the pretender and the oppressor reach an uneasy agreement, fuse their incompatible and dissonant aims, objectives and wants; and then subject the entire population to poverty, want, disease, hunger and destitution to realise these wants.

On the other hand, there are a few good men on both sides of the Treaty of Doom, a pact with the adversary of the people, who have taken upon themselves to do what is right and just so that advancement of all the people is realised. This brings us to the question: can a few good men deliver the people from bondage or does it have to include the entire oppressed to provide the final hammer blow to unbar the wheels of the vehicle to certain oblivion? This is the Cameroon Anglophone story in particular and the Cameroon problem in general from a practical and realistic eye witness account.

I had just spent three to four days in Douala, Cameroon’s economic capital. What was observed was not very encouraging although there are huge potential for the City. Now, I have to go to the other side of Cameroon – Anglophone Cameroon or Southern Cameroons the other part of the former UN Trust Territories that constitute contemporary Cameroon. Jumped into the car and off we went. Having traversed the maelstrom of cars, chaotic maze of motorcycles complete with pedestrian traders trying to earn a living: selling everything imaginable, crossed the one mile long Bonaberi bridge that spans the Wouri estuary, we arrived at the road leading to Anglophone Cameroon. This is the only road that leads to the South-West Province in Cameroon, my brother remarked. It is so narrow and in disrepair, he added. Why is that, I asked. Well, it seems it is political, he answered. How is that? I questioned. I never received an answer so I was forced to think on my feet. The most likely reason is, I thought, the Cameroon government, dominated by Francophone elite, do not consider that part of Cameroon as worthy of development as long as they can wrestle resources from the area at the minimum cost. On the other hand, evidence in Douala suggests that they hardly employ these vast resources to develop their own area. So, one must conclude that the country is run by an incompetent junta?

On this small patch of road could be seen huge vehicles travelling from both directions transporting all kinds of goods and commodities from Anglophone Cameroon to Francophone Cameroon and vice versa. There were oil tankers, Lorries transporting agricultural products, machines and passenger vehicles together with private cars. Every single vehicle: competing for space on this narrow and dilapidated stretch of road in Bonaberi. On both sides of the road are dilapidated buildings and depravation of all kinds with poverty steering us in the face. Who are these people living here? Well, most people who live here are Anglophones was the answer. Since this is close to Anglophone Cameroon, they have settled here. Further down, are industries and factories – some, such as Canada Company of Cameroon -- that processes hardwood for foreign export one must suppose -- are foreign-owned. This stretch of road continues until we arrive at the Bekoko junction; where the road splits to Bafoussam in La Republique du Cameroun and to Tiko, the first major town in Anglophone Cameroon. We are now on the Tiko-Douala road and to give credit where it is due, the road is excellently maintained. We now approach the Mungo Bridge, that spans the Mungo River for about 100 m; and which is the internationally recognised boundary between the two Cameroons. Now, this bridge had collapsed about three years ago (some claim it was bombed by an angry Anglophone Cameroonian who detested the vast exploitation and subjugation of Southern Cameroons) thus causing economic chaos in Cameroon. The old bridge was a design and an architectural classic with tall bars on both sides and a network of steel that connected the steel sides forming an architectural roof: symbolising the Cameroon Federation that began in 1961; and which is now illegally dissolved by short-sighted politicians. To show more contempt for the original Federation, the new Bridge that has been put up has no architectural merit. A trainee architect or civil engineer might have come up with a better and much more aesthetic and symbolic design. Again, to place credit in its right doors, the Bridge has been reconstructed.

We crossed the bridge, met a toll gate where a CFA 500 frs levy is charged for all vehicles going to Tiko. What happens to this fund, nobody can tell as even the small office that serves to administer this charge is extremely wretched. Can’t the Tiko Council or whoever is in charge, improve this office to make it more presentable? What about installing a computerised electronic system of ticketing? So, there we go, money paid and nothing done. At least the office is manned and all drivers act as good citizens, paying up their levy. A few miles down the line in Anglophone Cameroon are Police men in patrol, stopping all vehicles. I didn’t see this in the Francophone part of the road before the Mungo Bridge. So why are these Policemen here? To make sure that people do not bring in dangerous goods to Anglophone Cameroon from Douala was the answer. What about people living Anglophone Cameroon to Douala at the other end? Again, no answer was forth coming. Anyway we went through the motion of checking the books. Everybody was asked to produce their National Identity card. I do not have one, I said. I do not live in Cameroon. Where then do you live? The Officier de Police demanded looking at me with obvious suspicion. Well, I live in London. Okay, where is your passport? Again, I put it that, it was in my suitcase at the back of the car while behaving as nothing was happening. Now, said the Police Officer, are you saying you have no document to identify yourself? I have my bank cards, if you would want to take a look. The Policeman was surprised. What are bank cards? We do not use these things here. Please, produce an ID. You must identify yourself, his voice turning into a mild growl. I had my dark glasses (short-sighted) on. So, the Officier watched me carefully and closely with utmost suspicion. Perhaps, he thought I was a terrorist from Bakassi who had arrived to bomb parts of the Cameroon infrastructure – a few months back Commandos had arrived Victoria on flying boats from Nigeria, took over the City and stole half a million dollars in a daring raid and then vanished into the Atlantic.

On the other hand, I came through Douala; and only the most daring terrorist will attempt to enter Southern Cameroons from Francophone Douala. So, to create a bit of confusion, I decided to take off my glasses and demanded the Officier to produce his own ID. Please, produce your own ID. My junior brother who was at the driving seat was shocked. They looked at themselves, and then at looked at me in consternation. I pretended not to notice. Attend, je me reviens, the Officier uttered. Monsieur Le Commissaire lui-meme was brought to the spot. I could see his four gold stars on his epaulet indicating his high rank. Monsieur, Les pieces, s'il vous plait! He said. As I did not desire a scene, I produced my old British driving licence. He took it, inspected it and gave it back to me without uttering a word; and then waved his hand indicating that we may go. I took my old Licence, put it back in my wallet and we resumed our journey to Tiko. The CDC plantations of rubber, bananas and palms are still there in their hectares upon hectares, rows upon rows. Although one could detect a sense of small neglect, the plantations appeared well-kept; and hopefully there would be a trickle-down of benefits to the ordinary man and worker, so I supposed. We drove past a few new houses and I heard a person saying while pointing to an edifice of a building “That is 3813”; and immediately arrived the Likomba round-about where we stopped for some refreshment. At least one was a little bit encouraged that certain aspects of Cameroon were kept in order and maintained. Why this is the case; and why it occurred in the Southern Cameroons will be the subject of the next article on this matter.

Stagnation in Francophone Cameroon

2009-08-24T21:14:00.000-07:00

Louis Egbe Mbua

It is a strange twist of fate: how privilege can turn into disaster; how the privileged elite may be so wrong headedly spoilt -- such a pity. A touch down at the Douala Airport in Cameroon reinforces beliefs that what is served on a platter of gold may turn out to be a bitter pill that may not be swallowed by hard-working citizens. For almost half a century, the elite of this part of Cameroon have held sway in Power. Ahmadou Ahidjo from Garoua came; did his own part of development and left. Monsieur Paul Biya, from Mvomeka, again from French-Speaking Cameroon also arrived, did little or nothing and has never left after 27 years. The English-Speaking Cameroon on the West Bank of the River Mungo has not had a look in. Rather, their human and natural resources have been looted, supposedly going to develop Douala, Edea, Ebolowa, Garoua all in La Republique du Cameroun; so the story goes. Or is it?

Arriving Douala, the economic powerhouse of Cameroon paints a completely different story. One could hardly recognise the once shining and state-of the art international Airport, which was the pride of Cameroon. The deterioration of this once colossal edifice is frightening. Tiles have never been replaced; no electronic notice board to inform passengers on their various destinations and schedule. Is this Africa? Well, yes but Africa in the sub-sahara. A few hours behind, one had arrived Tripoli from Gatwick, London on board The Afriquiyah Airways with their distinctive 9.9.99 logo on the Airbus 320. While one can say that Gatwick was a class ahead, Tripoli was not far behind in their organisation. Nobody asked for a bribe to pass through custom. Although flights are delayed, there was a modern electronic notice board detailing the different flight schedules. Another Africa? No. A Renaissance Africa? Perhaps. Development? Correct. Back to Douala.

The external decorations of the International Airport have remained untouched for at least 30 years. The old paint has worn off; the assignations have never been renovated. Okay, that may be due to the crise economique that has been on-going since 1987 -- 22 years now. At least there must be something good about Douala. We have Swiss Air, Belgian Airlines, Air France, Kenyan Airways and all the popular Air carriers landing at the Douala International Airport. Now, who are these people coming to Cameroon; and why? Firstly, on arrival and checking out, there is a mass of unemployed youths roaming around the airport --looking for the odd job here and there that may be provided by incoming travellers. So, why are they not given jobs in the city? A quick glance at the roads around the Douala Airport provides tentative answers. These roads have not been maintained for at least twenty years. Where have the revenues from all the Airport taxes gone to? I asked one of the youngsters hanging around. Well, you may ask Mr. Paul Biya was his answer, shrugging his shoulders. Now why not renovate the entire Airport, providing these youths with real employment; at the same time generate revenue from taxes?

We are now going into the City. A whiff of unpleasant smell caught my attention; and I was forced to ask more questions. So I asked my brother: What exactly is this smell? Well, there is a stagnant lake just over the other side. Animals come there to drink was his rapid response. I never asked any more questions as to what, exactly, are the kinds of animals. Why would a city have animals apart from domesticated ones? What kinds? We drove passed the palm tree lined roads of the old beautiful Douala. I noticed all the old buildings. The difference is that they have deteriorated; the paint has all worn off. Don't the owners of these buildings do renovations? Well, no, was the answer. Why? I was met with a deafening silence as though I had committed a crime. So, I had to think of an answer. I began by questioning my own mind. Now, I thought, all the money from SONARA (The State owned National Refinery in Victoria) and the Cameroon Development Corporation (Again based in Victoria) ends up in the Douala City Council in one form or the other? Yes, was the response that entered my inquisitive mind. So, what happened to these funds? Then like flash of lightning, I recalled that there is a Prison Centrale in New Bell, Douala. Who are these people in this prison? Well, a number of people who have allegedly embezzled money from the City Council. How much money? I reminded myself of people stealing millions of pounds of state money; and that some of them are locked up in New Bell. Now, I see.Off to the City.

The next day, early in the morning, I was woken up from my fourth floor flat by a thunderous noise of a multitude of machines. I went to the Balcony to investigate. What I saw was frightening. There were at least a hundred cyclists buzzing through the street transporting people -- women, men, children, and goods on their heads -- no protection. At first glance, I thought it was a motorcycle race. So, I asked: who are these people? I was viewed with surprise and half-laughter. These are "bend-skins". Most of them are graduates from University, they said. They had no jobs after completing their various courses. These machines provide them with jobs; and that this has actually cut down crime since they were idle. All good: and fine. But this is too simplistic a solution and a waste of talent, I said. The solution to this transport problem is easy. Why not build flyovers to cut down traffic congestion in Douala? More effectively, why not build an underground train system like in London so these graduates can apply their knowledge of accountancy, law, management and engineering? This will wipe out this maddening traffic in one full swipe. After all there is money. Nobody answered me. It seemed I was having a soliloquy.Now, let me go out to see. Went out, there was enterprising spirit amongst the population -- traders, big business, banking and commerce. I decided to take a closer look at the drainage system. The entire drainage appears to have been blocked with all kinds of residues. Why can't the City Council contract a cleaning firm to clean this City every day? This will provide employment, prevent diseases such as malaria, put money into the nation's tax coffers, reduce crime? What is the point of all these companies doing business in an unclean city?

There are good parts of Douala which I have not mentioned. But the point of contention is that having privileged Francophone elite who hold sway of power does not guarantee development. For 50 years French-speaking Cameroon has been wielding power, taking resources from English-speaking Cameroon. One would have expected them to use it to advance their own part of the country. But they have done the complete opposite -- running down French-speaking Cameroon to the point of disrepair. Douala is a neglected City.

Next: Advancement in Anglophone Cameroon -- a paradox in African development

President Obama's Speech to the Ghanaian Parliament

2009-07-12T23:54:00.000-07:00

President Obama’s Speech to the Ghanaian Parliament originally released by the White House Office of the Press Secretary 11 July 2009.

THE PRESIDENT: (Trumpet plays.) I like this. Thank you. Thank you. I think Congress needs one of those horns. (Laughter.) That sounds pretty good. Sounds like Louis Armstrong back there. (Laughter.)

Good afternoon, everybody. It is a great honor for me to be in Accra and to speak to the representatives of the people of Ghana. (Applause.) I am deeply grateful for the welcome that I've received, as are Michelle and Malia and Sasha Obama. Ghana's history is rich, the ties between our two countries are strong, and I am proud that this is my first visit to sub-Saharan Africa as President of the United States of America. (Applause.)

I want to thank Madam Speaker and all the members of the House of Representatives for hosting us today. I want to thank President Mills for his outstanding leadership. To the former Presidents -- Jerry Rawlings, former President Kufuor -- Vice President, Chief Justice -- thanks to all of you for your extraordinary hospitality and the wonderful institutions that you've built here in Ghana.

I'm speaking to you at the end of a long trip. I began in Russia for a summit between two great powers. I traveled to Italy for a meeting of the world's leading economies. And I've come here to Ghana for a simple reason: The 21st century will be shaped by what happens not just in Rome or Moscow or Washington, but by what happens in Accra, as well. (Applause.)

This is the simple truth of a time when the boundaries between people are overwhelmed by our connections. Your prosperity can expand America's prosperity. Your health and security can contribute to the world's health and security. And the strength of your democracy can help advance human rights for people everywhere.

So I do not see the countries and peoples of Africa as a world apart; I see Africa as a fundamental part of our interconnected world -- (applause) -- as partners with America on behalf of the future we want for all of our children. That partnership must be grounded in mutual responsibility and mutual respect. And that is what I want to speak with you about today.

We must start from the simple premise that Africa's future is up to Africans.

I say this knowing full well the tragic past that has sometimes haunted this part of the world. After all, I have the blood of Africa within me, and my family's -- (applause) -- my family's own story encompasses both the tragedies and triumphs of the larger African story.

Some you know my grandfather was a cook for the British in Kenya, and though he was a respected elder in his village, his employers called him "boy" for much of his life. He was on the periphery of Kenya's liberation struggles, but he was still imprisoned briefly during repressive times. In his life, colonialism wasn't simply the creation of unnatural borders or unfair terms of trade -- it was something experienced personally, day after day, year after year.

My father grew up herding goats in a tiny village, an impossible distance away from the American universities where he would come to get an education. He came of age at a moment of extraordinary promise for Africa. The struggles of his own father's generation were giving birth to new nations, beginning right here in Ghana. (Applause.) Africans were educating and asserting themselves in new ways, and history was on the move.

But despite the progress that has been made -- and there has been considerable progress in many parts of Africa -- we also know that much of that promise has yet to be fulfilled. Countries like Kenya had a per capita economy larger than South Korea's when I was born. They have badly been outpaced. Disease and conflict have ravaged parts of the African continent.

In many places, the hope of my father's generation gave way to cynicism, even despair. Now, it's easy to point fingers and to pin the blame of these problems on others. Yes, a colonial map that made little sense helped to breed conflict. The West has often approached Africa as a patron or a source of resources rather than a partner. But the West is not responsible for the destruction of the Zimbabwean economy over the last decade, or wars in which children are enlisted as combatants. In my father's life, it was partly tribalism and patronage and nepotism in an independent Kenya that for a long stretch derailed his career, and we know that this kind of corruption is still a daily fact of life for far too many.

Now, we know that's also not the whole story. Here in Ghana, you show us a face of Africa that is too often overlooked by a world that sees only tragedy or a need for charity. The people of Ghana have worked hard to put democracy on a firmer footing, with repeated peaceful transfers of power even in the wake of closely contested elections. (Applause.) And by the way, can I say that for that the minority deserves as much credit as the majority. (Applause.) And with improved governance and an emerging civil society, Ghana's economy has shown impressive rates of growth. (Applause.)

This progress may lack the drama of 20th century liberation struggles, but make no mistake: It will ultimately be more significant. For just as it is important to emerge from the control of other nations, it is even more important to build one's own nation.

So I believe that this moment is just as promising for Ghana and for Africa as the moment when my father came of age and new nations were being born. This is a new moment of great promise. Only this time, we've learned that it will not be giants like Nkrumah and Kenyatta who will determine Africa's future. Instead, it will be you -- the men and women in Ghana's parliament -- (applause) -- the people you represent. It will be the young people brimming with talent and energy and hope who can claim the future that so many in previous generations never realized.

Now, to realize that promise, we must first recognize the fundamental truth that you have given life to in Ghana: Development depends on good governance. (Applause.) That is the ingredient which has been missing in far too many places, for far too long. That's the change that can unlock Africa's potential. And that is a responsibility that can only be met by Africans.

As for America and the West, our commitment must be measured by more than just the dollars we spend. I've pledged substantial increases in our foreign assistance, which is in Africa's interests and America's interests. But the true sign of success is not whether we are a source of perpetual aid that helps people scrape by -- it's whether we are partners in building the capacity for transformational change. (Applause.)

This mutual responsibility must be the foundation of our partnership. And today, I'll focus on four areas that are critical to the future of Africa and the entire developing world: democracy, opportunity, health, and the peaceful resolution of conflict.

First, we must support strong and sustainable democratic governments. (Applause.)

As I said in Cairo, each nation gives life to democracy in its own way, and in line with its own traditions. But history offers a clear verdict: Governments that respect the will of their own people that govern by consent and not coercion are more prosperous, they are more stable, and more successful than governments that do not.

This is about more than just holding elections. It's also about what happens between elections. (Applause.) Repression can take many forms, and too many nations, even those that have elections, are plagued by problems that condemn their people to poverty. No country is going to create wealth if its leaders exploit the economy to enrich themselves -- (applause) -- or if police -- if police can be bought off by drug traffickers. (Applause.) No business wants to invest in a place where the government skims 20 percent off the top -- (applause) -- or the head of the Port Authority is corrupt. No person wants to live in a society where the rule of law gives way to the rule of brutality and bribery. (Applause.) That is not democracy, that is tyranny, even if occasionally you sprinkle an election in there. And now is the time for that style of governance to end. (Applause.)

In the 21st century, capable, reliable, and transparent institutions are the key to success -- strong parliaments; honest police forces; independent judges -- (applause); an independent press; a vibrant private sector; a civil society. (Applause.) Those are the things that give life to democracy, because that is what matters in people's everyday lives.

Now, time and again, Ghanaians have chosen constitutional rule over autocracy, and shown a democratic spirit that allows the energy of your people to break through. (Applause.) We see that in leaders who accept defeat graciously -- the fact that President Mills' opponents were standing beside him last night to greet me when I came off the plane spoke volumes about Ghana -- (applause); victors who resist calls to wield power against the opposition in unfair ways. We see that spirit in courageous journalists like Anas Aremeyaw Anas, who risked his life to report the truth. We see it in police like Patience Quaye, who helped prosecute the first human trafficker in Ghana. (Applause.) We see it in the young people who are speaking up against patronage, and participating in the political process.

Across Africa, we've seen countless examples of people taking control of their destiny, and making change from the bottom up. We saw it in Kenya, where civil society and business came together to help stop post-election violence. We saw it in South Africa, where over three-quarters of the country voted in the recent election -- the fourth since the end of Apartheid. We saw it in Zimbabwe, where the Election Support Network braved brutal repression to stand up for the principle that a person's vote is their sacred right.

Now, make no mistake: History is on the side of these brave Africans, not with those who use coups or change constitutions to stay in power. (Applause.) Africa doesn't need strongmen, it needs strong institutions. (Applause.)

Now, America will not seek to impose any system of government on any other nation. The essential truth of democracy is that each nation determines its own destiny. But what America will do is increase assistance for responsible individuals and responsible institutions, with a focus on supporting good governance -- on parliaments, which check abuses of power and ensure that opposition voices are heard -- (applause); on the rule of law, which ensures the equal administration of justice; on civic participation, so that young people get involved; and on concrete solutions to corruption like forensic accounting and automating services -- (applause) -- strengthening hotlines, protecting whistle-blowers to advance transparency and accountability.

And we provide this support. I have directed my administration to give greater attention to corruption in our human rights reports. People everywhere should have the right to start a business or get an education without paying a bribe. (Applause.) We have a responsibility to support those who act responsibly and to isolate those who don't, and that is exactly what America will do.

Now, this leads directly to our second area of partnership: supporting development that provides opportunity for more people.

With better governance, I have no doubt that Africa holds the promise of a broader base of prosperity. Witness the extraordinary success of Africans in my country, America. They're doing very well. So they've got the talent, they've got the entrepreneurial spirit. The question is, how do we make sure that they're succeeding here in their home countries? The continent is rich in natural resources. And from cell phone entrepreneurs to small farmers, Africans have shown the capacity and commitment to create their own opportunities. But old habits must also be broken. Dependence on commodities -- or a single export -- has a tendency to concentrate wealth in the hands of the few, and leaves people too vulnerable to downturns.

So in Ghana, for instance, oil brings great opportunities, and you have been very responsible in preparing for new revenue. But as so many Ghanaians know, oil cannot simply become the new cocoa. From South Korea to Singapore, history shows that countries thrive when they invest in their people and in their infrastructure -- (applause); when they promote multiple export industries, develop a skilled workforce, and create space for small and medium-sized businesses that create jobs.

As Africans reach for this promise, America will be more responsible in extending our hand. By cutting costs that go to Western consultants and administration, we want to put more resources in the hands of those who need it, while training people to do more for themselves. (Applause.) That's why our $3.5 billion food security initiative is focused on new methods and technologies for farmers -- not simply sending American producers or goods to Africa. Aid is not an end in itself. The purpose of foreign assistance must be creating the conditions where it's no longer needed. I want to see Ghanaians not only self-sufficient in food, I want to see you exporting food to other countries and earning money. You can do that. (Applause.)

Now, America can also do more to promote trade and investment. Wealthy nations must open our doors to goods and services from Africa in a meaningful way. That will be a commitment of my administration. And where there is good governance, we can broaden prosperity through public-private partnerships that invest in better roads and electricity; capacity-building that trains people to grow a business; financial services that reach not just the cities but also the poor and rural areas. This is also in our own interests -- for if people are lifted out of poverty and wealth is created in Africa, guess what? New markets will open up for our own goods. So it's good for both.

One area that holds out both undeniable peril and extraordinary promise is energy. Africa gives off less greenhouse gas than any other part of the world, but it is the most threatened by climate change. A warming planet will spread disease, shrink water resources, and deplete crops, creating conditions that produce more famine and more conflict. All of us -- particularly the developed world -- have a responsibility to slow these trends -- through mitigation, and by changing the way that we use energy. But we can also work with Africans to turn this crisis into opportunity.

Together, we can partner on behalf of our planet and prosperity, and help countries increase access to power while skipping -- leapfrogging the dirtier phase of development. Think about it: Across Africa, there is bountiful wind and solar power; geothermal energy and biofuels. From the Rift Valley to the North African deserts; from the Western coasts to South Africa's crops -- Africa's boundless natural gifts can generate its own power, while exporting profitable, clean energy abroad.

These steps are about more than growth numbers on a balance sheet. They're about whether a young person with an education can get a job that supports a family; a farmer can transfer their goods to market; an entrepreneur with a good idea can start a business. It's about the dignity of work; it's about the opportunity that must exist for Africans in the 21st century.

Just as governance is vital to opportunity, it's also critical to the third area I want to talk about: strengthening public health.

In recent years, enormous progress has been made in parts of Africa. Far more people are living productively with HIV/AIDS, and getting the drugs they need. I just saw a wonderful clinic and hospital that is focused particularly on maternal health. But too many still die from diseases that shouldn't kill them. When children are being killed because of a mosquito bite, and mothers are dying in childbirth, then we know that more progress must be made.

Yet because of incentives -- often provided by donor nations -- many African doctors and nurses go overseas, or work for programs that focus on a single disease. And this creates gaps in primary care and basic prevention. Meanwhile, individual Africans also have to make responsible choices that prevent the spread of disease, while promoting public health in their communities and countries.

So across Africa, we see examples of people tackling these problems. In Nigeria, an Interfaith effort of Christians and Muslims has set an example of cooperation to confront malaria. Here in Ghana and across Africa, we see innovative ideas for filling gaps in care -- for instance, through E-Health initiatives that allow doctors in big cities to support those in small towns.

America will support these efforts through a comprehensive, global health strategy, because in the 21st century, we are called to act by our conscience but also by our common interest, because when a child dies of a preventable disease in Accra that diminishes us everywhere. And when disease goes unchecked in any corner of the world, we know that it can spread across oceans and continents.

And that's why my administration has committed $63 billion to meet these challenges -- $63 billion. (Applause.) Building on the strong efforts of President Bush, we will carry forward the fight against HIV/AIDS. We will pursue the goal of ending deaths from malaria and tuberculosis, and we will work to eradicate polio. (Applause.) We will fight -- we will fight neglected tropical disease. And we won't confront illnesses in isolation -- we will invest in public health systems that promote wellness and focus on the health of mothers and children. (Applause.)

Now, as we partner on behalf of a healthier future, we must also stop the destruction that comes not from illness, but from human beings -- and so the final area that I will address is conflict.

Let me be clear: Africa is not the crude caricature of a continent at perpetual war. But if we are honest, for far too many Africans, conflict is a part of life, as constant as the sun. There are wars over land and wars over resources. And it is still far too easy for those without conscience to manipulate whole communities into fighting among faiths and tribes.

These conflicts are a millstone around Africa's neck. Now, we all have many identities -- of tribe and ethnicity; of religion and nationality. But defining oneself in opposition to someone who belongs to a different tribe, or who worships a different prophet, has no place in the 21st century. (Applause.) Africa's diversity should be a source of strength, not a cause for division. We are all God's children. We all share common aspirations -- to live in peace and security; to access education and opportunity; to love our families and our communities and our faith. That is our common humanity.

That is why we must stand up to inhumanity in our midst. It is never justified -- never justifiable to target innocents in the name of ideology. (Applause.) It is the death sentence of a society to force children to kill in wars. It is the ultimate mark of criminality and cowardice to condemn women to relentless and systemic rape. We must bear witness to the value of every child in Darfur and the dignity of every woman in the Congo. No faith or culture should condone the outrages against them. And all of us must strive for the peace and security necessary for progress.

Africans are standing up for this future. Here, too, in Ghana we are seeing you help point the way forward. Ghanaians should take pride in your contributions to peacekeeping from Congo to Liberia to Lebanon -- (applause) -- and your efforts to resist the scourge of the drug trade. (Applause.) We welcome the steps that are being taken by organizations like the African Union and ECOWAS to better resolve conflicts, to keep the peace, and support those in need. And we encourage the vision of a strong, regional security architecture that can bring effective, transnational forces to bear when needed.

America has a responsibility to work with you as a partner to advance this vision, not just with words, but with support that strengthens African capacity. When there's a genocide in Darfur or terrorists in Somalia, these are not simply African problems -- they are global security challenges, and they demand a global response.

And that's why we stand ready to partner through diplomacy and technical assistance and logistical support, and we will stand behind efforts to hold war criminals accountable. And let me be clear: Our Africa Command is focused not on establishing a foothold in the continent, but on confronting these common challenges to advance the security of America, Africa, and the world. (Applause.)

In Moscow, I spoke of the need for an international system where the universal rights of human beings are respected, and violations of those rights are opposed. And that must include a commitment to support those who resolve conflicts peacefully, to sanction and stop those who don't, and to help those who have suffered. But ultimately, it will be vibrant democracies like Botswana and Ghana which roll back the causes of conflict and advance the frontiers of peace and prosperity.

As I said earlier, Africa's future is up to Africans.
The people of Africa are ready to claim that future. And in my country, African Americans -- including so many recent immigrants -- have thrived in every sector of society. We've done so despite a difficult past, and we've drawn strength from our African heritage. With strong institutions and a strong will, I know that Africans can live their dreams in Nairobi and Lagos, Kigali, Kinshasa, Harare, and right here in Accra. (Applause.)

You know, 52 years ago, the eyes of the world were on Ghana. And a young preacher named Martin Luther King traveled here, to Accra, to watch the Union Jack come down and the Ghanaian flag go up. This was before the march on Washington or the success of the civil rights movement in my country. Dr. King was asked how he felt while watching the birth of a nation. And he said: "It renews my conviction in the ultimate triumph of justice."

Now that triumph must be won once more, and it must be won by you. (Applause.) And I am particularly speaking to the young people all across Africa and right here in Ghana. In places like Ghana, young people make up over half of the population.

And here is what you must know: The world will be what you make of it. You have the power to hold your leaders accountable, and to build institutions that serve the people. You can serve in your communities, and harness your energy and education to create new wealth and build new connections to the world. You can conquer disease, and end conflicts, and make change from the bottom up. You can do that. Yes you can -- (applause) -- because in this moment, history is on the move.

But these things can only be done if all of you take responsibility for your future. And it won't be easy. It will take time and effort. There will be suffering and setbacks. But I can promise you this: America will be with you every step of the way -- as a partner, as a friend. (Applause.) Opportunity won't come from any other place, though. It must come from the decisions that all of you make the things that you do, the hope that you hold in your heart.

Ghana, freedom is your inheritance. Now, it is your responsibility to build upon freedom's foundation. And if you do, we will look back years from now to places like Accra and say this was the time when the promise was realized; this was the moment when prosperity was forged, when pain was overcome, and a new era of progress began. This can be the time when we witness the triumph of justice once more. Yes we can. Thank you very much. God bless you. Thank you. (Applause.)

FrancAfrique Dans L'Afrique: The Old Power Generation(1)

2009-06-30T11:37:00.000-07:00

Louis Egbe Mbua

If we put it that a true and responsible government will exit power by the ballot box rather than recycling old hands tainted with their corrupt practices, then the regime of Mr. Paul Biya is a disgrace. For more than twenty seven years he has been peddling with the lives of the Cameroonian people with his useless and foolish tribal politics geared towards pleasing his colonial master, France while maintaining an incompetent regime; a justification which no one can put pen to paper. For several years, he has been deluding himself with one discredited cabinet reshuffle after another with an apparently warped view that the country will change by some enchantment from Le Grand Sorcier; and a magic wand.

In retrospect, his immature dictatorial regime has dragged the country into a league of unimaginable beggary. Since Mr. Biya came to power in 1982, he has been a dependent of the IMF for handouts and cut-throat loans, fraudulent privatisation of the country's patrimony, such as the Tole Tea Estate, with dreadful results; and which, the meagre funds, are again cyclically embezzled by gangs of national thieves over the years.

The problems of that West African country is so vast that it would take at least half a century to wipe out corruption and the wicked social and financial mis-education of the people. The first of this problem is that of peace and stability. In FrancAfrique of the old school, development and the well-being of the people is secondary to their so-called "Peace and Stability". When civilians protest against the myopic economic and social policies of the regimes in question, they are swiftly brought in front of a Kangaroo court, arraigned and jailed. A typical case in point is the jailing of a popular Cameroonian and international music artist, Lapiro de Mbanga. He is languishing in jail for no apparent reason but that he had been writing and singing songs pertaining to the social ills of the present Cameroon regime, infamously one of the most corrupt in the world.

Peace and stability must be earned through accountability of a government; and the incorruptibility of the judiciary. The opposite is true in the world of the present regime. Last week, the Supreme Court of Cameroon upheld the incarceration of Lapiro, claiming he incited the 2008 food riots. One begins to wonder whether Lapiro and other civilians who were killed or are in rat-infested unhealthily diseased dungeons must be at blame for the lack of vision of a 27 year old tyranny and disgraceful mismanagement. With one of the most fertile volcanic soils in the world, Cameroon has the potential to be the food basket for the entire West and Central Africa. Yet, that is not the case.

Apparently, there are no sustainable food policies; and that most imported food stuff are heavily taxed to pay for the good life of the French whose government take their cut in cash or in kind. While the elite have unaccountable and inviolable access to their loot in the treasury --they live in luxury like in France -- the poor are dependent on their various relatives in Europe and the Americas for monetary handouts. There is a problem here: because those living abroad will hardly garner enough financial critical mass to compete with their peers in their host countries. It is no doubt, at this point of overwhelming forbearance, that many well-educated and upright Cameroonians are now turning into financial white collar crimes to augment their incomes abroad while at the same time support the neglected destitute at home.

The counter-part African who stays behind is also in a timeless dragnet of beggary as the regime is firmly intent on "Peace and stability" with no responsibility. In this case, therefore, the people are psychologically demoralised; and since only a genuinely motivated population can muster enough energy to uplift a country from the doldrums of economic and social mutilation, there is very little expectation but stagnation and retrogression into the Dark Age.

It has to be recalled that Western Europe was deep in the Dark Ages for 1000 years. During this period, intellectual dynamism was discouraged by the authority of the day, dissent was brutally put down, diseases; such as the Bubonic plague wiped out a third of the population, food shortages were rampant; and wars were the order of the day; barbarians were on the match while the moral fabric of the society disintegrated. How they managed to reverse the tide of barbarism, greed, oppression, mis-education and disease is unclear. Nevertheless, if one may extrapolate or interpolate from their society today, it seems the only way they pulled it from the fire was to hold their leaders into account. Those who failed to account were unceremoniously thrown out in disgrace or punished as the system saw fit.

This writer believes that the ancient system of accountability is still in place today in Europe; and may account for the continuance to peace and prosperity. Not so, in FrancAfrique where there is "Peace" and no prosperity. This brings us to the question as to whether there can be peace without prosperity. The conjecture is that one cannot live without the other concept. Where there is no prosperity, there is no peace; and where there is no peace prosperity must not follow.