By Dibussi Tande
Cultural heritage is important to the identity of a society. In times of need, songs, texts and works of art can be a beacon of hope and comfort. Cultural heritage reinforces the cultural and historical self awareness. Power of Culture
In a recent posting on his blog, Cameroonian political analyst George Ngwane analyzes what he perceives as the exclusively political mindset of activists of the former British Southern Cameroons who are seeking to reassert the region’s identity and “political statehood”. According to Ngwane,
“The Anglophone struggle in Cameroon has, in the main, been a political manifesto aimed at reasserting the statehood of Southern Cameroon, West Cameroon or Anglophone Cameroon, appellations that depend on the generational shift or liberation mind-set of the advocates.”
He goes on to lament that the cultural dimension has been completely absent in the struggle even though culture is a vital and indispensable weapon in the search for a new political dispensation in the former United Nations Trust Territory. As he puts it, “
“for if the constitutional rape of the geo-political territory has had both political and economic toll, part of its redemption can be situated within the building block of a dynamic and potent creative industry within that same geo-political territory.
“That geo-political territory has lost the Tiko, Besongabang, Bali and Weh airports but so is it losing a vibrant media landscape. It has lost its road infrastructure but so is it losing its Art and Culture industry...Today’s national political rainbow threatens by omission or commission to eclipse the distinct Anglophone cultural colours needed to radiate the geo-political territory.”
Ngwane therefore concludes that “cultural entrepreneurship” is the missing piece in the political search for constitutional redress because “every cultural tonic carries along a Mao Tse-Tungian revolution and a Meiji restoration needed for the renaissance of any Kwame Nkrumahian political kingdom”.
Ngwane’s analysis is a very relevant and timely one which begs the question whether a nation can be established on and through politics alone. In this posting, I will take Ngwane’s analysis a step further by asking whether (1) groups fighting for political statehood can be successful if they ignore the socio-cultural angle of their fight, and (2) whether nationalist movements can be truly relevant to the key segments of their target communities if they define and articulate their nationalist struggles only in purely political terms.
Referring specifically to the case of nationalist movements in Southern Cameroon, can they effectively mobilize their geographical and political base without a clear strategy for reaching out to those Southern Cameroonians who are not politically-inclined and who are most likely to be mobilized through social causes and civil society organizations?
To better understand the context of Ngwane’s analysis and my follow-up questions, it is necessary to briefly compare the “Anglophone struggle” of the 1990s and the “Southern Cameroons Campaign” of the 21st millennium.
The Context
The Rainbow Coalition of the 1990s
When the “Anglophone renaissance” began with the wave of political liberalism that swept through Cameroon the 1990s, it was a broad-based movement that went way beyond the mere articulation of political demands or the proposal of constitutional redress to the Anglophone problem. It also included a vibrant cultural component that promoted artistic and literary works (paintings, poetry, theater, fiction, song, etc) highlighting the plight of Anglophone Cameroonians – many of which were publicly patronized, if not subsidized by the leadership in the budding Anglophone movement. In fact these cultural activities were considered an integral part of the renaissance.
Another prominent aspect of the renaissance was the establishment of vibrant Anglophone civil society organizations and pressure groups with issue-specific goals that were not necessarily political -- or at least overtly so. This was the case, for example, of the Teachers Association of Cameroon (TAC) and Confederation of Anglophone Parents-Teachers Associations of Cameroon (CAPTAC) which mobilized a large segment of the Anglophone community around issues of equitable access to quality education, and the protection of the Anglophone educational system. It is thanks to these issue-oriented groups that many individuals who would not have otherwise been involved in “Anglophone Activism” became torch bearers of the movement - Not every Anglophone activist was a member of the Cameroon Anglophone Movement (CAM) or necessarily shared CAM’s federalist political vision for the bilingual Cameroon Republic…
What resulted was mass mobilization across the board which united the Anglophone community around broad issues of constitutional redress, political equality, access to quality “Anglo-Saxon” education, and a shared socio-cultural and political heritage. This rainbow coalition created “a thousand points of pressure” on the system.
This pressure was manifested in landmark events such as the memorable workshops on Anglophone literature which resulted in the first major work on that often ignored literature in decades; an endless series of book launching ceremonies organized across the length and breadth of the territory, which served as platforms for political activism and for the promotion of works of art that told the Anglophone story in all its complexity; the Post Night organized by Cameroon Post publications, which rewarded the best political, literary and cultural icons in the Anglophone community, thus reinforcing the notion of a uniquely "Anglophone way of life" in Cameroon; the All Anglophone Conference in Buea, the largest and most diverse political gathering of Anglophone Cameroonians since reunification to discuss their status within the bilingual republic; the creation of the GCE Board after a fierce and unrelenting campaign spearheaded by CAPTAC and TAC., etc.
Radicalization and politicization
Today the socio-political landscape in Southern Cameroons is totally different as a result of a series of events that began in the mid nineties and continued until the end of that decade. The rainbow coalition of the 1990s has faded into the oblivion, and replaced by a more radical and largely monolithic front defined in purely political terms with the sole focus of establishing an independent Southern Cameroons state.
Protest literature still occasionally pops up in bookstores in Buea or Bamenda. And, occasionally it is possible to stumble across a work of art narrating the journey of Southern Cameroonians in the union. However, unlike in the 1990s, these are largely, if not exclusively, solitary efforts with little or no institutional or nationalist backing. Cultural and social issues seem have become a burden rather than assets, and the much-touted “Southern Cameroons Heritage” is defined only in political terms.
The “struggle” is now a purely political campaign meant primarily, if not exclusively, for the lion-hearted political activists at home and abroad. The “million man army” of the 1990s made up of farmers, civil servants, teachers, illiterate rural dwellers, etc., has been demobilized. The rainbow coalition which actively contributed in placing the Anglophone problem on the national and international map is dismantled.
Some might argue that this is exactly where the struggle should be today and they probably have a point. But one can’t help but wonder whether a revolution can truly remain relevant to its base and eventually succeed in its mission by being totally political… From another perspective, could Anti-Apartheid movement in South Africa have kept the flame of resistance burning for decades (with the oppressed masses constantly being roused out of apathy and complacency) without a deliberate policy by the movement to promote a protest culture (through song, photography, painting, fiction, theater, etc.) that resonated not only among the intelligentsia, but also among the masses in the Shanty towns and rural areas? The answer is an emphatic No.
Hence, in order for the Southern Cameroons revolution (however it is defined) to fully fire up the imagination of Southern Cameroonians and recreate the formidable rainbow coalition of the 1990s, it must imperatively seek to mobilize its base not just around tales of unimplemented United Nations Resolutions, of legal and political victories in Abuja, Banjul and the Hague, etc, but also around those real and imagined cultural and social values that supposedly make the people of the region unique.
For the movement to truly come of age, it must be able to make a clear distinction between (1) the political struggle carried out be a highly focused "lean and mean" ideological machinery with a precise goal and (2) the broader struggle for socio-cultural independence which supports any endeavor (be it from a federalist, provincialist, etc.) that shines the light on the plight of Southern Cameroonians, serves as a tool for mobilization, or increases the relevance of the movement to the daily lives of the people of Southern Cameroons.
Post Script
I just finished writing this piece when I saw a press release from the Southern Cameroons Youth League (SCYL) announcing the creation of a SCYL Golden Award for Education which is to serve as a platform for promoting the study and understanding of Southern Cameroons History. Laureates shall receive a three-year free tuition package at the University of Buea. While the political motive behind the award is easy to discern, it is its social component which will most likely resonate in the region, i.e., easing the financial burden of parents who have to struggle to give their children a decent university education.
At least one SC group seems to have understood that the political path alone may not be the answer, and that the ability to address the immediate, every day non-political needs of the people might hold the key to the mobilization dilemma – Something which Southern African Liberation Movements understood so well ages ago.
Regarding cultural alienation, a recent article on the Southern Cameroons forum about the degradation of the Buea archives should be a cause for concern for all Southern Cameroonians, particularly the Restoration government. I believe those are the types of issues that refer to the cultural alienation being discussed here, or what it means to take the fight for liberation beyond the obvious political struggle.
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Posted by: patrick timoh | August 11, 2010 at 06:19 PM