This short piece is intended to make two points:
1. Revolution requires a spirituality
2. A revolution does not mean war
I start with the second point first because I have read justifications for this aimless war that claim that we are in a revolutionary moment in Cameroon and a revolutionary moment means war. First, it is not clear that we are in any revolutionary moment because revolution is not so much about war as it is about a change of values. Noted figures who have created revolutionary conditions in the world hardly fought a war - Karl Marx, Jesus Christ, the Buddha, etc. A revolution is not a war even though a war has often been confused for a revolution. A revolution is more about changing people's values and imagination than it is about fighting a war. So we can legitimately ask if any values and imagination are being changed in Cameroon because of the ongoing senseless war in Cameroon. I must confess at this point that if there is any value being transformed in Cameroon it is one of increased suspicion between Anglophones and Francophones. Creating an atmosphere for people to hate each other may be revolutionary but it is hardly the kind of atmosphere we want to encourage.
This brings me to the first point above, which is that a revolution requires a spirituality. By this I do not mean that those who participate in a revolution need to believe in a god, gods, or spirits. Rather, what I mean is that those who participate in a revolution need to have higher values than immediate, material gain. Karl Marx had the value of a classless society, the Buddha sought to free people from the perennial problem of suffering, Jesus aimed at creating a loving and forgiving society. Each of these entail material benefit but these benefits were not the point of the formation around which each of these leaders organized their vision. Visions are often sabotaged because of the quest for immediate, material benefit. This has been the case with the Ambazonia debacle.
Those leading this war are seeking all kinds of immediate benefits than any clear vision for the people they claim to be fighting for. The corruption that now bedevils the whole process stinks to high heaven. And this should be not be surprising. The people leading this fight are people who have all been trained by Paul Biya and all the corrupt practices they imbibed working for Biya have now been transferred into the movement, including the murder not only of people they claim to be their enemies but also of other members of their group. The greed is manifested in the widespread embezzlement of funds. Ambazonia is not even a country yet but those fighting for it have already replicated all what they appear to be fighting against - including covert murders of aides, widespread corruption, etc. The fight for an Ambazonia now may be justly described as a hoax, as Biya's last election. It is only a way for some people to make money, beginning with the companies that sell arms and ending with those who are leading this war. Those hapless young people dying at the front lines and the general populace are just pawns in the process.
That is why we need a new leadership and a new purpose. By new leadership I am thinking of people like Kah Walla, Mancho Bibixy, and Agbor Balla. By new vision I mean the original vision of fighting against the marginalization of Anglophone Cameroonians and not the corrupt quest for a new country that replicates the very problems we are railing against the Biya junta for creating. That is my proposal, as we enter 2019.
1. Revolution requires a spirituality
2. A revolution does not mean war
I start with the second point first because I have read justifications for this aimless war that claim that we are in a revolutionary moment in Cameroon and a revolutionary moment means war. First, it is not clear that we are in any revolutionary moment because revolution is not so much about war as it is about a change of values. Noted figures who have created revolutionary conditions in the world hardly fought a war - Karl Marx, Jesus Christ, the Buddha, etc. A revolution is not a war even though a war has often been confused for a revolution. A revolution is more about changing people's values and imagination than it is about fighting a war. So we can legitimately ask if any values and imagination are being changed in Cameroon because of the ongoing senseless war in Cameroon. I must confess at this point that if there is any value being transformed in Cameroon it is one of increased suspicion between Anglophones and Francophones. Creating an atmosphere for people to hate each other may be revolutionary but it is hardly the kind of atmosphere we want to encourage.
This brings me to the first point above, which is that a revolution requires a spirituality. By this I do not mean that those who participate in a revolution need to believe in a god, gods, or spirits. Rather, what I mean is that those who participate in a revolution need to have higher values than immediate, material gain. Karl Marx had the value of a classless society, the Buddha sought to free people from the perennial problem of suffering, Jesus aimed at creating a loving and forgiving society. Each of these entail material benefit but these benefits were not the point of the formation around which each of these leaders organized their vision. Visions are often sabotaged because of the quest for immediate, material benefit. This has been the case with the Ambazonia debacle.
Those leading this war are seeking all kinds of immediate benefits than any clear vision for the people they claim to be fighting for. The corruption that now bedevils the whole process stinks to high heaven. And this should be not be surprising. The people leading this fight are people who have all been trained by Paul Biya and all the corrupt practices they imbibed working for Biya have now been transferred into the movement, including the murder not only of people they claim to be their enemies but also of other members of their group. The greed is manifested in the widespread embezzlement of funds. Ambazonia is not even a country yet but those fighting for it have already replicated all what they appear to be fighting against - including covert murders of aides, widespread corruption, etc. The fight for an Ambazonia now may be justly described as a hoax, as Biya's last election. It is only a way for some people to make money, beginning with the companies that sell arms and ending with those who are leading this war. Those hapless young people dying at the front lines and the general populace are just pawns in the process.
That is why we need a new leadership and a new purpose. By new leadership I am thinking of people like Kah Walla, Mancho Bibixy, and Agbor Balla. By new vision I mean the original vision of fighting against the marginalization of Anglophone Cameroonians and not the corrupt quest for a new country that replicates the very problems we are railing against the Biya junta for creating. That is my proposal, as we enter 2019.
