Living in the 21st Century (13): The Gliding Bird

 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.

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

                                                      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.

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

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

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

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

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!”