Dibussi Tande: Scribbles from the Den

"East of Bakassi" - A Special Issue of Palapala Magazine on Cameroonian Literature in English

In its second issue, Palapala magazine, the newly created Pan-African e-journal of culture, strikes gold with a special on Cameroonian literature in English.

This rich and diverse issue includes a toast to the late poet/playwright Bate Besong by Africa's leading poet, Niyi Osundare; Chinua Achebe's appeal to Anglophone Cameroon writers to find - and tell - the story of their marginal and marginalized condition; playwright Bole Butake's dilemma of either dealing with the hardships Cameroon or going into exile;

Cameroon: At What Age?

At what age ...are school-children employed, married and taken to court?

School-leaving age 
As far as schools are concerned, the provisions of the Constitution and of article 9 of Act No. 98/004 of 14 April 1999 on education guidelines in Cameroon provide that primary education is compulsory, but do not refer to any age limit for school attendance.

Minimum age of employment 
In social matters, according to article 1 of Order No. 17 of 27 May 1969 on child labour, "Any person of either sex, whether a wage earner or an apprentice, who is below the age of 18 years shall be regarded as a minor." However, the annex to Order No. 16 of 27 May 1969 contains a list of work prohibited to minors.

New Book Coming Out Soon - Imperialistic Politics in Cameroon by Carlson Anyangwe

Carlson Anyangwe. Imperialistic Politics in Cameroon: Resistance & the Inception of the Restoration of the Statehood of Southern Cameroons. Langaa publishers, 2008. Available soon on amazon.com and other online booksellers.

Book blurb

It always comes as a surprise to many that the British-administered UN Trust Territory of the Southern Cameroons was not granted independence like other colonial territories but was allowed to fall prey to the territorial expansionism of the contiguous state of Cameroun Republic, a former French-administered UN Trust Territory granted independence on 1 January 1960. Th is book focuses on the unresolved Southern Cameroons colonial predicament, giving insightful accounts of how Cameroun Republic hijacked the Southern Cameroons and is holding its citizens under colonial bondage.

Francoise Mbango – The Ultimate Revenge of Cameroon’s “Capricious” and “Unpatriotic” Star Athlete

By Dibussi Tande

“Francoise Mbango does not respect Cameroon. She has dragged Cameroon through the mud on numerous occasions” Ange Sama, President of the Cameroon Athletic Federation (2005)

“I don't know if I had to obtain the permission of the athletics federation or that of Ange Sama before having a baby... This is insulting!” F. Mbango (2008)

Yesterday, Cameroonian triple jump champion, Francoise Mbango Etone, won the Olympic gold medal in her discipline with the second-longest jump in history – 15.39 meters – just 11 centimeters off the world record. This was Mbango’s second consecutive Olympic gold medal.
 

Four years ago in Athens, she produced one of the finest championship series in history, recording five jumps over 15 meters, twice hitting the winning distance of 15.30 to reclaim her African triple jump record along with the gold.

Goodbye Bakassi / Welcome Bakassi

Conflicting emotions as Nigeria cedes Bakassi to Cameroon.

The final transfer of the disputed Bakassi Peninsula from Nigeria to Cameroon took place today, in accordance with the 2002 ruling of the International Court of Justice and the 2006 Greentree Agreement.

Although Cameroon now exercises full control over Bakassi, the Greentree agreement establishes a five-year transitional period (non-renwable). During this period, Nigerian authorities will still have some level of access to the territory, while inhabitants will be exempted from a number customs and immigration requirements.

Under the terms of the agreement, the predominantly Nigerian inhabitant could either keep their Nigerian nationality and remain as foreign residents in Bakassi, take Cameroonian nationality, or resettle elsewhere in Nigeria.

Life in Douala, One of the World's Most Expensive Cities

UN Integrated Regional Information Networks

When she lost her mother and daughter three years ago, 50-year-old Kanmegne Marie Odile moved to Douala, Cameroon's business hub, leaving behind her home village, Kekem, in east Cameroon.

By selling herbs used to treat medical illnesses, she makes about US$1 per day. She and her five children spend everything she earns.

Increasingly, she finds it hard to even make that much. "Competition is fierce and customers scarce," Kanmegne told IRIN. In the small market near her home in Bepanda, a crowded high-traffic area of Doula, she says there are always at least five women selling what she does, aloe vera plants.

Reversing the Brain Drain – The Example from Nigeria

By Nick Tattersall (Originally published in The Washington Post)

LAGOS (Reuters) - From cocktails with hip-hop stars to sushi with smooth-suited bankers, it's no wonder Nigerians moving back after decades in New York or London feel right at home among the high-rolling elite of Lagos.

This urban sprawl of 14 million people, the chaotic hub of Africa's most populous nation, may epitomize what many foreigners fear most about megacities in the developing world: violent crime, corrupt police and crumbling infrastructure.

Summit Magazine - A Conversation with Chinua Achebe

For its fifth issue, Summit Magazine joins the worldwide celebration of the 50th anniversary of Things Fall Apart with an interview with novelist Chinua Achebe.
 

In the interview, Chinua Achebe talks, among other things, about his writing, the accident which left him paralyzed, the state of Nigeria today emerging Nigerian writers, the way out for Cameroon literature in English hemmed in by the more vibrant literatures of Francophone Cameroun to the East and Nigeria to the West, etc.