I have been discussing the topic :
50 ANS D'INDEPENDANCE EN 2010 : QU'EN SAVONS NOUS ?
on UN AUTRE CAMEROUN EN 2011
The past is prologue my friends!
It is really satisfying to read all your questions regarding what we all know as Cameroon today; because that’s how we will be able find a way forward.
I might have said it before in one the many topics we have been discussing in this forum: our country lacks direction! We, as people are looking for a vision because we are looking for something concrete to aim at. In a period like this, when a nation feels weaken and lost; it helps to have a history you can relate to, a history you can be proud of, a past you could learn and gain strength from.
50 years later, what do we know about the independence of our country?
We know that the fight goes on! As many of you illustrated above, our country is not in complete control of its destiny yet. Despite the fact that, we are really disappointed with the 27 years of Paul Biya’s leadership (more than half of the 50 years) and I will get back to that (again), we all know that many of the most important decisions are not taken at Etoudi. Our massive debt keeps us enslaved by the IMF and the World Bank (they both institutions are under the control of the U.S and his allies mainly the UK, Germany and France). They dictate to us how to run our economy, and stop us from subsidizing our agriculture at our will (yet America and France especially give outrageous amount of money to their farmers.).
They keep on pushing for the free market capitalism, based on privatization, spending cutback, deregulation, labour flexibility and so on. They irony is that the western’s life is lived on deficit; and at the same time they are more than happy to hold our governments to the throat while they are printing and borrowing trillions of dollars to keep on living a life that they cannot afford.
Now, that doesn’t excuse the tragedy that represents the lack of leadership shown by our leaders. I recall having read some books about the struggle for independence that, the main word at the time for all the people around the world (those who were treated as second class citizen) was: Emancipation!
My friends, we cannot be totally free from a controlling influence if our minds are not emancipated. The foreign tyrant was replaced by a dictator who is one of our own.
Our leaders have been independents for 50 years, but not emancipated! That’s why they stick to the power; that’s why they are selfish and afraid.
We the people should carry on the struggle to emancipate our nation; and we should be prepared to engage the countries around us where the struggle for freedom and happiness remains.
We are living in a world of globalization, where problems are global and the search for solutions as well.
Thinking of our independence, we need to remember the courage of those patriotic Cameroonians who gave everything for the dream of a country where their children (that we all represent) could be living free to pursuit their happiness.
We should also rediscover the sense of idealism that drove them to fight for our freedom. Those young men and women kept on going because of their desire to refuse to accept the world as it was. They wanted to change the world and to make it a better place. They left families and love behind to follow a dream that was bigger than them. Today the dream lives on and their legacy is in search of a new generation ready to carry the torch to spread the light in the darkness and the mess that our country has become.
My question to all of you is simple: Do you really want to change the world?
If you don’t find this question stupid or simplistic, take a deep breath and remember these words of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.: “If you can't fly, run. If you can't run, walk. If you can't walk, crawl, but by all means keep moving.” And believe me, as he also put it: “We shall overcome!”
Luien Dissake
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