Reviewed by Dibussi Tande
Churchill Ewumbue-Monono. Youth and Nation-Building in Cameroon: A Study of National Youth Day Messages and Leadership Discourse (1949-2009). Bamenda: Langaa, 2009. 188 pages.
At first glance, Churchill Ewumbue-Monono's Youth and Nation-Building in Cameroon, which is primarily a collection of Youth Day speeches going back to the colonial era, seems deceptively unexciting. However, a closer reading of the book shows that the author has compiled a valuable document which is more than just a walk down memory lane for history buffs. It is a compelling insight into how various colonial and post colonial governments in Southern Cameroons/West Cameroon and then bilingual Cameroon Republic attempted to use the Youth Day as a tool for political advocacy and youth mobilization around key political and ideological goals; adherence to the ideal of the British commonwealth, unification of British and French Cameroons, creation of the single-party state, the dissolution of the federation, etc. In fact, the book is a history of post-independent Cameroon, albeit from the perspective of the political class.
As the author points out in the opening pages of the book,
The development and dynamics of the policy and institutional environment for the management of youth affairs have closely followed the various stages of the country’s political history: the colonial period (1949-1960), the Cameroon federation period (1961-1972), the Ahidjo Unitary State period (1972-1982), the One-Party Democracy New Deal period (1982-1992), and the period of the New Democratic Order (1992-2009). (p. 7)
Divided into three main parts, the book begins with the author explaining how Youth Day celebrations tie in with on-going discussions at international and continental level about the role of youths as agents of development (Part I: The International and National Policy Framework for Youth Governance).
Part I also delves into the origins of the Youth Day in Cameroon. This is a particularly interesting section because it addresses a common claim made in certain Anglophone/Southern Cameroons circles (e.g., a recurrent theme of the Cameroon Anglophone Movement in the 1990s) that the historically significant “Plebiscite Day”, commemorating the Southern Cameroonian vote to join French Cameroun in 1961, was later transformed into a meaningless “Youth Day” by the Ahidjo regime in an attempt to obscure the origins of the bilingual Cameroon republic and reinforce the marginalization of Anglophone Cameroonians within the union.
However, Ewumbue-Monono’s research backed by archival documents and the declarations of West Cameroon politicians shows that the Youth Day was a creation of the government of West Cameroon which decided in 1964 that the Youth Day would henceforth be celebrated on February 11. It was only in 1966 that Ahidjo decreed that the Youth Day would become a national holiday. This was after a positive report by a delegation from the Commissionership for Youth and Popular Education in Yaoundé which had been specifically dispatched to witness the 1965 Youth Day celebrations in Buea and assess the day’s potential as a tool for youth mobilization and the promotion of leadership ideology.
Part II, which constitutes the bulk of the book, consists of Youth Day speeches beginning with the British Commissioner’s address to the youths of Southern Cameroons on Empire Day, 1949, to President Biya's 2009 Youth Day Speech.
Part III, the Epilogue, contains a reflection titled "The Youth and African Renaissance: New Challenges for a Changing Continent" where the author reviews existing international instruments for promoting youth governance, and argues that "In spite of their active participation in the early liberation struggle, youth governance in Africa has been slow largely because of the absence of an aggregated continental framework policy".
An Insight into Prevailing Political Views
It is no secret that Cameroonian history is generally not well-documented. In fact, it is a history that has been the victim of excessive revisionism – official and unofficial – primarily because of the general absence of primary archival material. From this perspective, Ewumbue-Monono has made a significant contribution to Cameroonian history by compiling these speeches which allow us to view that history through the timeless and incontrovertible words of the country’s colonial and post-colonial leadership... No revisionism is possible here, although the context of these speeches cannot be ignored. It is particularly interesting to see how Prime Ministers John Foncha and Ngom Jua, along with Presidents Ahmadou Ahidjo and Paul Biya, articulated and explained away the key issues, challenges of their times. Here are a few examples.
Example 1: Foncha selling the idea of the single party in 1964:
We do not believe in the multiplicity of political parties within one country. We believe in a set up of one-party system in which freedom of speech can be practiced without fear of victimization. We believe in criticizing and correction from within.
Example 2: Augustine Ngom Jua defending the creation of the single party in 1966:
This consciousness, which formed the very basis of our reunification six years ago, materialized last year with the formation the national party – the Cameroon National Union – the foundation of which was laid the leaders of all political parties without coercion. The advantages of national unity are numerous and are already showing themselves to the population in many ways. The organization of the new party may be slow, but we are sure that the right material is being used to provide it with a concrete foundation. Anything worth doing is worth doing well.
Example 3: Ngom Jua trying to alleviate growing concerns about the unification experiment in 1966:
February 11 1961 brought into being a new Republic, a Federal idea, indeed new dimensions of freedom. This day, February 11th 1961 or Plebiscite Day was the day we realized our conscience for the State in its deepest conception. This implies a full realization of the people’s ideas. We did not vote for re-unification out of fear; we had a free choice and the choice we made was what our consciences felt right.
Example 4: Ahidjo justifying the creation of the unitary system in 1973:
The promises of the United Republic of Cameroon… could be summarized in a few words: a national unity definitively sealed and a greater efficiency in the action for development.
Example 5: President Biya explaining his New Deal policy in 1984:
"New Deal, the ambition of which is to make Cameroon an integrated society, founded on the unity of ideas, the quest for efficiency and sound values – a society which fosters the full development of the Cameroonian and which is the centre of cultural advancement in Africa"
Example 6: President Biya trying to keep the youths off the streets in 1991:
You are lucky to be living in a free country; do not jeopardize your luck by following tantalizing mirages.
Make good use of this freedom. People can fully express themselves without taking to the street, without causing destruction and without looting. Expression through acts of vandalism, illegal demonstrations, excessive demands, rowdiness and disorder is not worthy of responsible youth. Say no to confrontation. Accept nothing else but dialogue and frankness. I exhort you to be vigilant in the face of manoeuvres aimed at exploiting you for unavowed ends, which place your future and life in jeopardy.
Schools, and the University in particular, should not be diverted from their fundamental goals. The school should remain a place where people are prepared for individual collective, social and national responsibilities. No one should use the school for goals than those of instruction, education and training. Think of you future, of yourself ad also of those who will come after you. Like you, they will need structures and facilities for their education and training.
Broken Promises
A detailed analysis of these Youth Day speeches reveals a litany of broken dreams and promises from Cameroon's leadership in the last half a century; from Jua’s promise in 1967 that construction work on the Kumba-Mamfe-Bamenda road would “begin soon”, to the unfulfilled promise of Ahidjo’s Parti Unique and the Unité nationale ideology, and the dashed dreams of Paul Biya’s New Deal policy and its promise to instill “Rigor and Moralization” in the Cameroonian political system.
End Note
Churchill Ewumbue-Monono’s book is definitely a goldmine not just for researchers and historians, but also for the general reader interested in the origins and evolution of the Youth Day in Cameroon and how it ties in to the political evolution of Cameroon. Hopefully, it will serve as a springboard for more in-depth research on the changing nature of the Youth Day since its inception and its appropriation by the political class to promote its political ideology.
to a foreigner PAUL BIYA IS PRESIDENT
OF BRITISH SOUTHERN CAMEROONIANS TOO,
BUT THIS PEOPLE NEVER VOTED FOR HIM, HAVE NOTHING IN COMMON WITH HIM
THE PRESIDENT DOESNT EVEN SPEAKS NOR WRITE ENGLISH, SOO WHY WOULD HIS DECRESS AND RULLING BE TAKEN SERIOUSLY BY ANY SOUTHERN CAMEROONIANS WHO
ARE ILLEGALLY , OCCUPIED BY HIS CAMEROUN MILITARY,?
Posted by: DANGO TUMMA | October 19, 2009 at 08:12 PM
Agnes Taile
Acceptance Speech
International Women’s Media Foundation
2009 Courage in Journalism Award
It will soon be November 6, and once again I will remember those painful events when my work brought me closer to death than ever before. But today is a great day for women of Cameroon and I am deeply honored to represent them here by accepting this award in the name of their suffering, their frustrations and their despair.
As I stand before you, I think that one of them is going through intense pain in one corner of this country so dear to me: Cameroon. And I could not fail to mention here the courage and the determination of these women who deserve our respect and our support.
I think of all those young girls forced to give up their quest for knowledge to suffer discrimination, prostitution and early and forced marriages.
I think of those who still feel the sharp blade of the cutter's knife, leaving behind physical and psychological trauma and, even worse, the risk of HIV/AIDS.
I think of all those women who will never see their children again, them having fallen victim to hostage takers who cut their throats or burnt them alive for an unpaid ransom. I will never forget the tears of these helpless mothers whose innocent sons fell under the bullets of the fighting in Chad or in the hunger riots of February 2008 in Cameroon.
I cannot forget all these women, the children, the adults and the elderly who live below the poverty line and suffer unfairly under the ever-present corruption deeply rooted in the justice system, the police, the healthcare system and the entire Cameroonian civil service. And how can we forget the embezzlement of public funds despite the arrest of the alleged plunderers of the State’s resources.
I could not list here all the injustices I have personally experienced since I was born, which have compelled my decision to become society’s watchdog.
I know that no true journalist can remain silent in the face of these injustices, despite intimidation or gagging of the press, whether by arrests, false imprisonment and hasty trials or physical and psychological assault. I have experienced all these and my presence here today is proof of it.
This is why now, for almost 8 years, I have chosen the most beautiful job in the world: I am a journalist. Such work provides the feeling of having done something positive for humanity, affording a smile and a voice to the oppressed by carrying on the relentless pursuit of truth and an end to inequality.
I am not ready to forget the innumerable miles I have walked in my quest for information, those nights and days of hunger, working for no pay, with the constant threat of unemployment (which today for me is a reality) in the name of the freedom of expression I never cease to demand within the media.
I am not ready to let corruption win in my difficult fight against the government’s failures, our employers’ weaknesses and my family who still struggles to understand my choice.
I may have lost my job, but my conviction is stronger today than ever before. And this honor you have bestowed upon me will only harden my resolve.
I dedicate this IWMF award to all the women of Cameroon, and in particular to women journalists, journalist unions and organizations supporting our efforts.
My heartfelt thanks go out to you for this award you have granted me. And in closing, I will share with you an old saying: that which does not kill you will only make you stronger.
Thank you.
Journalist Agnes Taile Speaks Out as a Voice for Cameroon
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By Lindsey Wray
‘Shhh. Be quiet so we can listen.’
This is what Agnes Taile remembers hearing each afternoon as a little girl in Cameroon when her father’s favorite radio program came on the air. As she listened intently to the news program, Taile recalls thinking what a beautiful voice the announcer had.
She, too, wanted to have a voice.
“I was drawn to the microphone,” she said. “I was interested in everything that brought me close to the microphone.”
Like the radio announcer, Taile, now 29, became a journalist. She is the recipient of a 2009 Courage in Journalism Award from the International Women’s Media Foundation.
Eager to use her voice, Taile, who spent much of her childhood in Garoua in northern Cameroon, jumped at the opportunity to join her school’s journalism club. Then, at age 14, she was offered a position hosting the poetry portion of a local radio broadcast. She was ecstatic.
Delighted though she was at the prospect of hearing her voice on the air, Taile was unsure of what the profession entailed.
“I didn’t really know what it meant to be a journalist,” she said. “It was only when I got my first job at a radio station that I discovered the world of information.”
That first job in journalism was at Tom Broadcasting Corporation (TBC) in Yaounde. Taile had moved there to live with an uncle, and the TBC signal was so strong at his house that it was the only station she could hear. Her interest piqued, Taile went to meet with the station’s director, who tested her ability by having her read at a microphone. The following day, she was back as an employee. Within a week, Taile was reading news briefs on air, and in a couple months, she was doing the morning show. She was 22.
Taile said her older brother later told her that her chosen career is “a love story between her and the microphone.” Journalism seemed the perfect fit for her. Her mother, however, thought she might be taking too many risks, and her father warned her to be careful. Taile brushed them off.
“I am a lover of freedom,” she said.
But Taile’s freedom and her newfound voice were about to be challenged.
She started in May 2005 as a reporter at Sweet FM in Douala, where she hosted a talk show that was broadcast at a peak time. Called A vous la parole (Over to You), the show covered political, social, and economic issues. Taile reported on sensitive subjects, such as an operation to track members of the government who had embezzled funds. She reported on social inequality and homosexuality, and she was often critical of the government, particularly President Paul Biya.
In the fall of 2006, Taile began to receive threatening phone calls demanding that she stop her “pursuit.” She ignored the threats, proclaiming on air that she refused to alter her reporting.
Then, on November 6, 2006, the threats became reality. In the middle of the night, three men abducted Taile from her home. Heads covered in balaclavas and wearing all black, the men must be burglars, Taile thought. She saw their knives and felt her terror rise. It was around 2 a.m.
“My first reaction was a reaction of fear – not for myself, but for my son,” she said.
But then, she heard the men leave her son’s room and come toward her. They asked her to follow them, saying, “You better keep your mouth shut.” Taile had no time to think.
“I had no choice,” she said.
Grabbing Taile by her elbows and her hair, two of the men dragged her in silence to a ravine around 300 meters away. The third man stayed in her home.
“We’ve told you to shut up,” she recalls them saying to her. “You wanted to play tough, so this is what you get.”
When Taile inquired as to the identity of the men, one of them seized her neck and began strangling her. They proceeded to beat her on the ribs and arms for 20 minutes and then cut her hands and wrists.
“At that moment I thought things were over for me,” Taile said.
But because they heard a noise on a nearby road, the men ran away suddenly, sparing Taile’s life but leaving her for dead in the ravine.
“The pain was excruciating,” Taile recalled. “It took a lot of effort to get me out of the ditch.”
Taile isn’t sure how long she lay there. She couldn’t cry out because her neck and throat were hurt so badly. She remembers wondering if she was dead or alive. Eventually, she decided that if she could still feel pain, she must be alive, and she must make an effort to get out.
Maneuvering with her elbows, Taile crawled out of the ravine, stopping every few minutes to regain her strength. She paused at a neighbor’s house to try to get someone’s attention but was unable to wake anyone since she couldn’t speak.
Finally, she made it home, and, finding no sign of the third man, tried to wake her son. She worried that he, too, was hurt. But later that morning, after she had presumably passed out, a family member came to take her to a clinic; her son was unharmed. The attackers were never found.
The trauma of that night was so intense that Taile was disabled for three months. She did physical therapy – “I had to re-learn to do everything with my hands,” she said.
And, as her vocal chords healed, she gradually regained the ability to speak.
But upon returning to work at Sweet FM, she learned that her show had been cancelled.
“I could no longer express myself in the same way,” she said.
Undeterred, Taile found a reporting job with Canal 2 International in Yaounde. There, she covered three Northern provinces of Cameroon, an area disadvantaged by a hostile climate, poverty, lack of potable water and hunger.
In February 2008, Taile covered riots in Chad, where she was one of few reporters to venture there for coverage. Conditions were difficult, and there was a heavy military presence of government loyalists and rebels.
“I felt useless to stay behind,” she said. “You have to see it for yourself…I will not stay behind the barrier.”
Taile isn’t sure whether she considers herself to be a courageous journalist, but after the 2006 attack, she is more aware than ever of the risks she was taking and how her job was endangering her own life and the lives of those close to her.
“I go beyond the obstacles and limits some journalists set for themselves,” she said.
Her friends tell Taile that she is taking too many risks, but she is sure of her voice.
“My answer is always the same,” she said, “nothing ventured, nothing gained.”
Lindsey Wray is the IWMF’s communications coordinator
source: http://iwmf.org/article.aspx?id=1066&c=carticles
Posted by: mbale | October 23, 2009 at 08:52 AM