Cameroon: Raiders of the Found Bounty

Louis Egbe Mbua

Confusion is reigning as to whether the Cameroon Minister of Communications, Jean-Pierre Biyiti bi Essam, actually carried huge bags of money on his back and on foot; to Gabon for the financial purpose of renting four giant televisions to the tune of at least £70,000 as reports have it: and that four burly men delivered those bags of money from the Cameroon treasury onto his residence; for the Pope's visit. Whatever the truth behind such hilarious financial transactions on a national level of a country, this particular incident appears to have fully exposed the country as being run and controlled by a purely incompetent bunch of maladroit au pouvoir de La Republique. When, recently, a month or two ago, the Head of the Catholic Church landed in Nsimalen Airport in Yaounde, Cameroon, the entire world was held spell-bound by the antics and fashion display of Madame Chantal Biya, La Premiere Grande Dame de La Republique. The entire international press were hypnotised by her sense of style and the reverence she held for the Pontiff. Much more recently, she exacted the same spell to the entire world on her visit to Los Angeles: cavorting with and upstaging famous for being famous heiress of the Hilton empire, the very Paris Hilton herself. It is not clear why the two society women took to each other but it seems that Hilton's Paris appellation may have caught the attention of La Grande Dame. On the other hand, it would be inappropriate to downplay Mrs. Biya's powerful persona, social talent, style and charisma. Well, that is all about it now.

The point to be made here does not dwell on fashion and style; but that it is apparent that a financial racket exists in Cameroon: perpetrated, pepetuated and promoted by a group of hard-core right-wing politicians at the apex of power in that nation. There are reports that people of power in Cameroon carry suit cases, evelopes or sacks of hard currency in cash when visiting foreign countries or when doing government business in the country. For a country with a GDP of about £20 billion, one of the largest in Africa, and with an outstanding portfolio of resources -- including the recently discovered huge diamond reserves -- this is an extremely disturbing finding. A tentative suggestion for such cavalier treatment of the peoples' finances can only be embedded in the miasma of endemic corruption; for this kind of operation to prevail.

Modern governments deal in bonds and cheques and not in cash in envelopes or bags. Moreover, there are self-confessed reports of government officials employing their personal bank accounts to handle these sacks of money in complete violation of business and public ehtics and regulations. It is common knowledge that those who are not wont to resist embezzlement would be in pole positions, in this instance, to forfeit, for themselves, these funds for their personal use or to further propagate absolute corruption of power in Cameroon or abroad. If Mr. Biyiti engaged in such shabby financial deals, no matter, his good intentions as his recent interview appears to portray, then he is not qualified to hold such a position of trust. Furthermore, it is alleged that Monsieur Paul Biya, Le President de La Republique, ordered that Mr. Biyiti should act in this direction. A Minister of Communications is not the Chief Secretary to the treasury. As a consequence, it was inappropriate for Le Chef de L'Etat de La Republique to assign him the task of procuring television screens without the consent of the Minister of Finance.

This brings us, therefore, to the question as to whether Cameroon's Minister of Finance was aware of this gross mismanagement of public funds or that he was by passed for reasons yet to be discovered. Again, if he agreed, wilfully or unwittingly, to such a tattered and ineffective financial operation, then we must assume that he is too incompetent, unknowlegeable, or that he knows about deals of cash carrying in huge sacks delivered by huge burly men, who would obviously have a chance of helping themselves with a sack of two. It is not clear what the Pontiff will make of these dealings after his well-publicised visit to Cameroon. However, all the indications are that, he must be aware that there are those who continue to raid -- by chance, default or pure greed -- Africa's patrimony for their own benefit while the poor and destitute continue to eke a marginal existence from a bountiful nation. This calls for the application of conscience: for a man of God, while ministering to all men, must not suppress his venerable opinion so as to placate political bucaneers so that he may obtain material profit. Biblical evidence is clear on this occasion: spiritual and moral strength can never be bought with money. Such wanton raid of the peoples' wealth is evil and one expects a man of God to speak out against this act of financial and national vandalism.

On The Origins of Creation and The Bantus: Part 1

Louis Egbe Mbua

A debate by Cameroonians in camnetwork, a popular Cameroonian discussion group, as to the origin of the Bantus was a heated and enlightened one with many open and inquisitive minds to the fore. Below is typical of that debate. The final part of this debate will dwell on the Origins of man and the Universe. Areas of the publications have been edited for ease of read; but the context have not been changed. Other participants were also involved but the quotations below captured the direction of the main argument.

The Bantu Migration patterns from:

http://encarta.msn.com/

The first to throw a fiery salvo was Kenneth Fru Ndeh also known as Pa Fru. He was relentless in his stance when he wrote:

I am not one who would point to official Cameroon Government sources as an accurate source of the POST-colonial history of Cameroon: Not at all. However, this narrative from the OFFICIAL website of the Prime Minister of Cameroon accurately describes the history of the peoples of Cameroon. It corroborates several other sources that I have been reading; and sources I have spoken to who know about the Equateur-Zaire connection. See what it says below about the Dualas.

http://www.spm.gov.cm/showdoc.php?rubr=6000&srubr=6104&lang=en&tpl=2


Meanwhile Dr. SAF challenged the contents of this citation saying:

There were no human beings during the prehistoric times. The PM's website is no source for academic reference. Just see the gaffe they have made.


Dr. Rexon Nting was also sceptical retorting stiffly that:

I think those sort of narratives endorsed by an untrustworthy regime cannot be relied upon.

Meanwhile Professor James Ashu, responding to Dr. SAF and Living Lights, thought otherwise by resorting to the origins of words; and writing:

Look at the definition of prehistory per Wikipedia. It is a term used to describe the period before people started to write history. You agree with Dr. Egbe Mbua that humans did not exist during that period. You still stand by it. Let me now ask you a question: Following that definition, do you mean that when history was not written, there were no humans? I do not know much about other groups of people; but I know a lot about Bayangi people. They started writing history only a few years ago. Does it mean the Bayangis started existing just a few years ago? May be less than 50 years ago? Please, look again at the definition below. You may disagree with that definition and provide yours. No problem.


Prehistory (Latin, præ = before Greek, ιστορία = history) is a term often used to describe the period before written history

The Living Lights questioned this idea stating that:

The "pre-historic times" did not exist. That is based on Darwinian assumption that man began from animals which has been proven to be a fraud. So, who recorded the "pre-history" ? Man or beast? How can one talk of pre-history when they were not there?

Dr. SAF did not fully agree as well and challenged this definition with an extract:

"For example, in Egypt it is generally accepted that prehistory ended around 3200 BC, whereas in New Guinea the end of the prehistoric era is set much more recently, at around 1900 AD."

The statement above indicates that the term "prehistory" is culture bound. That is why I said the term is vague. Besides there have been no archaeological or anthropological studies done in the Central South Province of Cameroun to determine that the pygmies were the indigenous inhabitants of that part of Cameroun. Regardless of whether they were the first or not, they are Bantus. Bantu migration to the South and East from West Africa dates back to about 3000 BC. If Pygmies are Bantus, and we know they are because of the language they speak, then there were no people in the Central South of Cameroun before 3000 BC.

And then added with gusto:

After reading Mbua's statement, I must admit to you that I misread it. My earlier posting indicated that the term prehistoric is vague. For Egyptians, Prehistoric means 3,200 B.C. For your people in Manyu, prehistoric means something in the 20th century. That is why I said the term was not apt in the PM's website. Not only was it not apt, it is misleading.

You know the Homo sapiens (modern man, that is) were born around 190,000 years ago in East Africa. The pygmies are descendants of the modern humans. How could they have been living in South Central Province of Cameroon in Prehistoric times when we know they are Bantus? We know the Bantus were located in West Africa at about 3000 B.C. Some of the Homo Sapiens from E. Africa migrated north to Asia and Europe and the rest migrated to West Africa where they lived for a very long time. The Congo Bantus constitute one of several waves of the homo sapiens who left East Africa about 70,000 y. a. Recent studies have shown that they (Congolese Bantus) were in West Africa at about 3000 B.C.

Some time around 3000 B.C., there was a population explosion in West African, resulting in Bantu Migrations to the South and East of Africa. These migrations were not linear. Some bands of migrants made several U-turns back to their home of origin. That may explain why the Doualas who are a Bantu people think they came from the south. These are returnees. As I indicated earlier, not all Bantus migrated. Some stayed. Do you think all the Doualas left their home in the Congo? I am more than certain that some stayed behind. Those returnees came back to meet their cousins. Finally, no one knows for sure when the Bantu Pygmies left West Africa for the Congolese Forest and the South Central Province of Cameroun. It will be presumptuous of any one to think they were the first migrants because no studies have shown that they were the first bands of Bantus to leave West Africa for the Congolese forest.

Professor James Ashu asked two crucial questions:

Let me now ask two questions to tickle our minds:
(1) Was Bantu migration unidirectional?
(2) In the case of the Bakweries, Orokos, and Bakongo (Congolese), is it not possible that after 3000 BC, the Bakweris and Orokos migrated back from the Congo? (Around 450 BC)?

And again Dr. SAF answered:

Please keep in mind that during migrations, not every one from the same ethnic group migrates. Some stayed behind. It is also true that some of the migrants, in this case the Bantu speaking people in the Congo, after spending some time in the south migrated back north. The basic premise of the discussion here is that Bantu Migrations were from the North to the south. My people for example came from the north of Cameroon. If you listen to our oral history it will give you the impression that we came from the south. True, but that was a U-turn from the overarching migratory path we took from the north.

But according to Mola Richard Moki Monono:

The Coastal Bantus of the Cameroon as Dr Ardener stated constitute the northern most community of Bantus in Africa, the bulk of the Bantus are actually in Central, East and of course Southern Africa. I don't know if the Coastal Bantus migrated from Congo . However, we Bakwerians or Doulas do not find anything shameful about being related to Congolese. Any Bakweri migration which existed must have occurred several centuries ago. I must point out that the migrations of the Chambas, the Nsos and the Bamouns from Nigeria are very recent. Even the Fulbes of North Cameroon migrated from Nigeria and established thier mastery over the indigenous Kirdis only a short time before french colonialism became entrenched, once more by using horses. These groups of Northern Nigerian origin were able to establish their hegemony over the area as a result of their mastery of cavalry raids and the use of horses. Pa Fru Ndeh, if we are congolese you are also Northern Nigerians. Pa Fru Ndeh and friends: do a bit of research even if you are not historians; and be more scholarly.

The Gulf of Guinea: A Bantu Origin Viewed from the Top

Louis Egbe Mbua

A recent debate in http://groups.yahoo.com/group/camnetwork/, has given room for thought as to the origins of the Bantus in Africa and, subsequently, the origins of man. The first part of this argument will dwell on the genesis of the debate; while the second part will dwell on the origins of the Bantus and life as opined by the diverse and able participants.

It all began with the author suggesting that there is no smoke without fire; and therefore the Chariot of the Gods may indeed be eponymous; and that the natives themselves believe that there are gods living on the volcanic massive. While the native Bakweris may not have complete evidence of this supernatural belief, there are indications that the mountain erupts to announce an important event or to foretell a possible arrival or departure of non-natives for good or bad.

In 1909, the German Kamerun was in its full colonial gear, conquering and subjugating from the Chariot's of the Gods to Garoua and Lake Chad, the most Northern point of Cameroon. Having subjugated the native Bakweris, they made a point by establishing their capital in Buea. Living in a vantage mountainous point, they sure dreamt of the new Roman empire until 1908 when the Mountain erupted, spewing lava through Buea and on to the coastal City of Victoria, where they originally began their colonial pursuit.

The incident so unnerved the new masters that they had to hurriedly transfer their Capital to Douala, present day economic hub of West Africa and economic power house of Cameroon; and renaming the city Kamerunstat -- they possibly thought this will either appease the gods or most probably escape further punishment. This turned out to be a misplaced move. They never returned to Buea because eight years later, in 1916, they were driven out of the territory.

1922 was the period of reconciliation between the World Powers after the Treaty of Versailles in 1919. The former German Kamerun has now been partitioned and mandated to the League of Nations: the West was mandated to the United Kingdom while the East was a French mandate. While the French amalgamated their former colonies into the French Equatorial Africa, the British were busy dividing their own share of the British Cameroons into: the Southern Cameroons and the Northern Cameroons. The Chariot of the Gods again reminded them of her power. Before this decision was executed, the volcanic giant erupted again in 1922 pouring lava into the sea at the west coast of Cameroon as Hanno had described 2500 earlier.

The Southern Cameroons and the Northern Cameroons were to part for ever. After a doomed administrative co-habitation with Nigeria, it was time for the Southern Cameroons to become autonomous. After this was achieved in 1953, a government was set up in Buea with Dr. Endeley, a native Bakweri, as Premier in 1954 when the Fako Mountain again erupted.

In 1959, elections were held to choose a new Prime Minister. The Chariot of the Gods again roared, erupting. The most intriguing aspect was that Dr. Endeley, and indigenous to Buea was defeated in a democratic election by Dr. John Ngu Foncha: a victory many today have come to consider as heralding the suffering of the people of this region of Cameroon; both the natives and the entire English speaking Cameroonians.

In 1982, there was an earth tremor and a mild eruption at the Chariot of the Gods which was followed by the sudden resignation of Cameroon's first President, Ahmadou Ahidjo; and the death of the Chief of Buea thus paving the way for the present President of La Republique du Cameroun, Mr. Paul Biya, to begin his long and questionable rule in Cameroon.

In 1999 the Cameroon government attempted to privatise and sell the Cameroon Development Corporation complete with the disputed Bakweri land which caused a war with the Germans in 1891. After international pressure and the rallying of the Bakweris the world over: opposing such blatant land theft, the Fako Mountain again erupted in 1999 -2000. Fearing reprisals, the Biya government experimented on co-opting the Fako elite into high positions in government to obviate militant actions that might follow. He reneged on this shameful policy of land theft but began a systematic abuse of the land by stripping it piece by piece, with the Cameroon Development Corporation as partners in crime, and selling the partitions to non-indigenous people especially people from the French Cameroun. The received wisdom is that this is a pre-meditated action founded on greed, evil and the insanity of unaccountable and absolute corrupt power: designed to drive the natives out of the land to be replaced by non-indigenes from his own part of the country.

The conclusion of the matter is that the Chariot of the Gods appears to have proved itself as a harbinger for the arrival of significant events to come and persons-- good or bad-- arriving or leaving its venerable vicinities; and that when it begins to smoke with fire, it is time for malevolent intruders with evil intent to leave the people alone; treat them with respect; sue for peace and integrity or return to where they came from so that peace might reign since the gods may be preparing their chariots for their appointed task as guardians of the Gulf of Guinea.

In addition, the mystery of the Chariot of the Gods is that it is further linked to the birth place of the Bantu tribe of Africa; and the beginning of their relentless and unstoppable match and subsequent settlements from the deepest point in the Gulf of Guinea to Cape Town in South Africa: spreading their language and culture throughout East, Central and Southern Africa. This will be the subject of subsequent exploration in the Living Lights.

Chariot of the Gods and The Den of Thieves

Louis Egbe Mbua

When the Carthaginian -- from Carthage (Tunis) with exactly the same geographical longitude as Theon Okhema, Mount Fako -- explorer, Hanno, arrived the Gulf of Guinea in 600 BC, he recorded a frightfully amazing scene while he was at sea. There have been disputes as to exactly where he actually stood to witness the present day Mount Fako, Cameroon, erupting, pouring lava into the sea. It was surely not in Buea or even Victoria, Cameroon, as the peak of this volcanic giant cannot be seen from these locations since they are part of the Mountain. As Equatorial Guinea could be seen at any vantage point from these cities and coastal areas in Cameroon, one must assume that a view from Malabo, Equatorial Guinea, would reveal the power of this Mountain; and that the most likely location of Hanno's observation of lava pouring into the Atlantic ocean was just off Malabo's waters.

The awesome power of Mount Fako, Chariot of The Gods, Theon Okhema, Cameroon, as viewed by Hanno, the Carthaginian (Tunisian), from Malabo.

Hanno, watching red hot Lava pouring onto the Atlantic ocean while the peak was exploding with fire; and feeling the unsustainable heat, was so frightened that he ran away believing that the gods (It is still the belief of the Bakweri natives of Fako to this day) were living on the summit of this Mountain: he was aware that it was the Chariot of the Gods and immediately left without looking back.

Almost 2500 years later, the Germans also arrived the scene, climbed from Victoria and reached Buea so as to take this Mountain for themselves. They failed because the natives put up a fight, routed the German army, and sent them parking. The Germans, having been humiliated mobilised their forces from Germany, and parts of German Africa, rounded up the natives into concentration camps, killed a large number and then seized the lands of these brave natives to create plantations for themselves without any consideration of who actually owned these lands -- The Bakweri natives. The Germans were then sent parking from the land after their defeat of the World War 1 at the hands of the British -- and the French. The British acted sensibly, amalgamated the German owned plantations; and seeking permission from the indigenous Bakweri leaders, who actually regained the land, they formed the Cameroon Development Corporation in 1947. After Independence, a new kind of administration arrived these lands -- They came from French Cameroun. This administration is so cruel and corrupt that they do not even acknowledge the natives as being present in their own land.

The corrupt regime of Mr. Paul Biya and other right wing members of his government, mostly, from French Cameroun natives, East of Mount Fako, Cameroon are in the process of carrying out the worst kind of subjugation, massive theft and the most frightening land grab from the natives since the Germans left. The problem here is that these people are Africans with so much greed that surpasses understanding. The Cameroon government, in tandem with the Cameroon Development Corporation, continue to grab these lands; dividing it amongst themselves and thieving government officials in clear violation of the African Commission on Human and Peoples Rights' ruling that the land belongs to the ancestral Bakweris; and that the Cameroon government must not touch it. The first scenario is that they have expropriated nearly all lands at the coastal regions from Victoria, where Mount Cameroon rises suddenly from the sea; and now they have reached the Mountain itself. All recent indications are that their insidious objectives will not spare even the Mountain with all its awesome power.

Recently, February 2009, the Mount Cameroon Race of Hope was organised in Buea, the City on this Mountain. Reliable reports reaching us state clearly that corrupt officials from Yaounde, French Cameroun, used this race to embezzle funds, ruin the race by massive dishonest officiating; and refused to hand in running materials to genuine registered athletes but gave French Cameroon natives the required materials; and that the person who won the race cannot provide enough evidence of his full ascent to the visible summit of Mount Fako. We must, therefore, conclude that the theft has now reached the peak. When a man is pushed so that his back is on the wall and has nowhere to run, the author believes it the time to strike back on the intruder with enough force as to send him packing without delay. We must recall that it was at this Mountain town of Buea that the native Bakweri began the fight to take back their land from the Germans; and all indications are that this is where the fight will end. Hanno, while watching from the Atlantic coast about 30 miles off Cameroon, wrote :

"Sailing rapidly, we passed by a fiery region filled with vapours, from which great torrents of fire flowed down to the sea. The land could not be approached because of the heat. We sailed away very quickly, being struck with fear."

Hanno came and left hurriedly. He was a very sensible man indeed. Only a complete fool will tempt fate. The corrupt Yaounde regime has tempted fate; and they will receive their comeuppance for poetic justice will prevail at the Den of Thieves.

God, Man and the Universe: The Darwinian Cosmos

Louis Egbe Mbua

While Darwin cannot be credited with the Big Bang Theory or was he aware of such a concept, his "Origin of Species" has had a far reaching influence to human thought in all aspects of human observation and wonders. When I was a boy I used to wonder why the stars twinkled in the skies at night; and why this short popular school poem:

Twinkle twinkle little star,

How I wonder where you are.

It is generally accepted in human nature that curiosity is part of our trait; and then we may ask questions to find solutions to mysteries later. As a result of these mysteries, we have had to contend with fellow humans as to who has the correct answers on the origin of the universe and hence man. In the modern era, scientists and other pseudo-groups arrogating themselves the title of intellectuals, now claim that the Cosmos began by a super explosion of an infinitely dense particle, the size of a pin head; and that this explosion happened about 13.7 billion years ago.

Now, the theory goes, the entire "young" universe was full of disorganised dust and matter including "unseen" or "dark" matter; and that it took an incredibly 13.7 billion years of accidental gravitational evolution for the universe to reach its present arrangements. Meanwhile, the theory confounds critics all the more because it predicts that the earth and the moon are both 4 billion years old. On the other hand, if we examine these figures, we must reach the logical conclusion that it took at least 9 billion years, from the Big Bang Explosion, for the earth to evolve from dust and "dark" matter into its present spherical shape in time and space: meaning that the earth didn't exist for 9 billion years.

Which brings us to the question: what exactly was in existence during this 9 billion year lapse? More worryingly, it is known that the universe is arranged in Mathematical laws. Mathematics has to be done by a person for results to be manifest: as it is impossible to know the speed of light or the speed of the rotation of the earth on its axis without mathematical calculations based on universal laws. Additionally, we know that man never created Mathematics or any of the laws of nature. So who, exactly, created these physical and mathematical laws? These questions have never been answered by man.

If we examine the same theory propounded on the Sun, the lone star in our solar system, that it first appeared around 9 billion years ago; about 5 billion years after the Big Bang. Now, suppose we agree, as estimated by this theory, that there are at least 100 billion galaxies, each containing at least a 100 billion stars. This would mean that it would take up to 100 billion x 100 billion x 5 billion years for the universe to evolve by means of Darwinian natural selection and mutatative energy pulses from the Big Bang. The only logical explanation for this incredulity, is for us to conclude that all stars were created, approximately, at the same time for the Big bang theory to hold. Since the theory assumes that the universe came to being by accident, and that there is no Creator, then we must dismiss the idea that the Big Bang theory supports the synchronisation of the appearance of the stars and galaxies in the universe appearing at once.

It follows that, the universe is not 13.7 billion years old nor is it 100 billion x 100 billion x 5 billion years old. Consequently, no Big Bang occurred at all as chaos cannot result into order. The most likely and acceptable explanation is that given in the Bible: In the Beginning God created the Heavens and the Earth in six days; using water as an agent. Water is chemically composed of Oxygen, the element of life and breathing; and Hydrogen, the most abundant and fundamental element in the universe. The Energy of the Sun is produced by converting Hydrogen to Helium in a nuclear process at its core. The energy released was the original light used to energise the earth and not a Big Bang super explosion. Furthermore, no scientist or man of this day and age or of ancient of times was present, as an observer as wont of science, at this theoretical Big Bang explosion; and so the superexplosion theory must be rejected as scientifically unsound: and that it can never be proved -- time travel or not.

God, Man and Animals: An Examination of Darwinism

Louis Egbe Mbua

The survival of the fittest ideology or theology or both, invented by Charles Darwin 150 years ago, continues to cause consternation and disbelief within the ranks of commonsensical wisdom lovers. While a vast number of scientific thinkers have drifted into this mode of thought, in this day and age, a new wave of debate is raging: challenging the validity of Darwin's theories. The most contentious issue is that Darwin himself did not actually propound or did not know or both: that an animal cannot transform itself into a human being without the prompting of another living being but that there were natural varieties amongst the same specie. Thus, over the last two centuries, the new faith of evolution appeared to have won the battle against those who believed that man and animal were created by God; and that they were created separately according to their kinds on the same 24-hour day. When Darwin published his highly controversial book " The Origin of Species" in 1859, he was immediately challenged by his tutors at Cambridge and other eminent scientists of the day. His Geology tutor, Adam Segwick, at Cambridge wrote to him:

"I have read your book with more pain than pleasure. Parts of it I admired greatly; parts I laughed at till my sides were almost sore; other parts I read with absolute sorrow; because I think them utterly false & grievously mischievous -- You have deserted -- after a start in that tram road of all solid physical truth -- the true method of induction -- & started up a machinery as wild I think as Bishop Wilkins Locomotive that was to sail with us to the moon. Many of your wide conclusions are based on assumptions which can neither be proved or disproved"

Objectively, it appears that Adam Segwick was overwhelmingly right in his fierce scepticism and outright denunciation of Darwin's unorthodox scientific methods. On closer examination, we realise that Segwick went further to deride Bishop Wilkins "Locomotive to the moon". Since we know that Niel Armstrong has actually sailed to the moon with a rocket in 1969, 110 years after Segwick's fearsome attack, we may argue today that Bishop Wilkins was a visionary; and was correct to suggest such an idea.

However, the difference here is that Segwick was criticising Darwin's method of induction and not the idea of "origin of species" or "sailing to the moon". Furthermore, he was more interested in practical proofs than theory. It follows that the fundamental difference in views, I believe, between Bishop Wilkins and Darwin is that, at least we can actually see the presence of the physical moon; but nobody had or has ever seen an animal evolving into a human. This is because the art of procreation for humans and animals is clear: the mating of male and female; and then the combined fertilisation of the same specie to produce the progeny.

Since this process continues to exist today, we have no alternative but to believe that this is the origin of species; and not a product of accidental evolution. A lion can only find another lion of the opposite sex attractive to procreate. As a result, the entire evolutionary theory of man evolving from animals is fraudulent because this implies that animals and humans have wilfully and naturally mated together at one point in time. This is not happening today; so we must agree that it has never happened in nature. Now, suppose we assume that this most unlikely of events happened. The question is this: why has this act stopped and at what precise time did this most unlikely act stop? As long as these questions cannot be or have not been answered by evolution faithfuls, then the theory appears to fit the egos of the thoroughly irreligious or the religiously misplaced depending on one's philosophical point of argument.

African-Americans: The Power and the Glory (I)

Louis Egbe Mbua

Saying zero to hero: will grossly underestimate, if not demean, the spectacular rise of people of African decent in the United States of America; moreso if we apply that phrase as a qualification for the phenomenon. That there are no appropriate words to phrase these remarkable achievements means that it must be classically -- though not the same -- as biblical as the story of the Israelites.

The election and then inauguration of an African-American complete with his African-American wife as the first family of America is an achievement that compares well with that of Joseph being appointed the Prime Minister of Egypt straight from slavery almost 4000 years ago.

The African-American story is one of the most amazing events to have come to pass since recorded history began. Not only is the rise meteoric but was covered in blood; and then power and glory. Just how they managed to carve such a shinning and promising destiny for themselves remains a mystery which has to be demystified: so that other oppressed peoples of the human race may emulate and master these strategies to benefit and free themselves from the vice-grip of tyranny and terror.

While it is evident in historical records that slavery was officially abolished in America by law in 1865 under the watchful eye of the great Abraham Lincoln Presidency, it can be clearly induced that enslavement of African-Americans; and all its symbols and implications was spiritually and utterly destroyed in all its forms and remnants the world over on the 20 January 2009 when Barak Obama was inaugaurated the 44th President of the United States of America . Today, all Americans are free regardless of race.

It has been a long and extraordinary story that will outlive history: for the story is history on its own. When the first captured Africans arrived Jamestown, Virginia in 1619, never did it occur, by any stretch of their imagination, that it would take 390 years for their time to come in the new world. Nor did the pioneer slaves envisaged the despicable cruelty and the unimaginable suffering they were to endure under their new masters. How they managed to survive physically and spiritually in the face of such unceasing attack on their dignity and physical being is a mystery; and a subject that should be explored.

For a people to effectively determine their destiny, there has to be a powerful leadership in place to meet the challenges of the defining moments. A poor leadership structure at a time of epoch-making events may set back the course of a people several hundred years back. The author believes that after the abolition of slavery, powerful African-American leaders quickly emerged to wrestle with the newly found freedom; and meet the challenges of poverty, psychological trauma and civil rights abuses but with no material resources.

It would seem that one of the first institutions the leaders created and established in rock was the African-American church. As much as a human law can destine a man's rights and being to be three-fifth of a man it is agreed that in a free world, we cannot deny a man the right to worship. Again, a solid Christian base will expose a people to moral values, high expectations on accountability, forgiveness of a fellow man, theology, spiritual strength, knowledge, love and education. Foremost and ingrained within these values in the rise of the African-American is the knowledge of the God of Justice.

The African-American Church base gave them the knowledge of social justice and its anti-thesis: gross social injustice and violations of human and civil rights. Thus, just within 100 years after slavery was abolished in 1865 entered Dr. Martin Luther King, a firey baptist minister of the church, pioneer fighter of modern American Civil Rights and an African-American leader of outstanding leadership qualities. Dr. King won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1964.

African-Americans established a strong leadership structure, found a power base in their churches and delivered themselves from the shackles of oppression when Lyndon Johnson guided the passing of the Civil Rights Bill envisaged by the assassinated American President John F. Kennedy so that all Americans could be free.