The birth of South Sudan as an independent country was celebrated with much fanfare in 2011. Images of people dancing for joy were beamed on many television screens around the world and the impression was given that a new day had dawn in the land of a hitherto oppressed people. That new day has however hardly materialized as the new country has now numbered itself among those that give Africa the bad name of being a warring continent.
The case of South Sudan is very similar to that of Southern Cameroons. Like South Sudan, the people of Southern Cameroons see themselves as a minority English-speaking people wronged by a majority French-speaking people. More precisely, Southern Cameroonians see themselves as a minority English-speaking people oppressed by a French majority government. For the most part, there is hardly a conflict between English-speaking and French-speaking Cameroonians, for they are often neighbors. The main problem is about how the majority French-speaking government is treating southern Cameroonians. While in South Sudan the conflict was cast in a religious light as a conflict between Christians in the South and Muslims in the North, especially through the influence of American Evangelicals, the situation in Cameroon appears to be linguistic and policy driven. However, the goal South Sudan has achieved appears to be the goal leaders of Southern Cameroons are seeking - independence from La Republique du Cameroun.
This goal is however something that needs to be rethought because it gives the impression that southern Cameroonians are united under the English-speaking banner. The impression was also given that South Sudan was united under Christianity. However, after independence, we started hearing of differences between the Dinka and the Nuer and how this has led to bloody conflict between them. Right now many are only talking about the language that unites Anglophone Cameroonians but less is being heard of the xenophobic tendencies that Bamenda people often experience in the South West Region. Politicians may fan the flames of this xenophobia in the event of independence and the Utopia which people seek may hardly be realized. This is the lesson from South Sudan and must be taken into account in the context of the present Anglophone struggles. It must be acknowledged that the situation is more nuanced than we sometimes make it to be.
The case of South Sudan is very similar to that of Southern Cameroons. Like South Sudan, the people of Southern Cameroons see themselves as a minority English-speaking people wronged by a majority French-speaking people. More precisely, Southern Cameroonians see themselves as a minority English-speaking people oppressed by a French majority government. For the most part, there is hardly a conflict between English-speaking and French-speaking Cameroonians, for they are often neighbors. The main problem is about how the majority French-speaking government is treating southern Cameroonians. While in South Sudan the conflict was cast in a religious light as a conflict between Christians in the South and Muslims in the North, especially through the influence of American Evangelicals, the situation in Cameroon appears to be linguistic and policy driven. However, the goal South Sudan has achieved appears to be the goal leaders of Southern Cameroons are seeking - independence from La Republique du Cameroun.
This goal is however something that needs to be rethought because it gives the impression that southern Cameroonians are united under the English-speaking banner. The impression was also given that South Sudan was united under Christianity. However, after independence, we started hearing of differences between the Dinka and the Nuer and how this has led to bloody conflict between them. Right now many are only talking about the language that unites Anglophone Cameroonians but less is being heard of the xenophobic tendencies that Bamenda people often experience in the South West Region. Politicians may fan the flames of this xenophobia in the event of independence and the Utopia which people seek may hardly be realized. This is the lesson from South Sudan and must be taken into account in the context of the present Anglophone struggles. It must be acknowledged that the situation is more nuanced than we sometimes make it to be.
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