The installation of Nguelemedouga as sub district officer of Nyanon

The ethnic mixture of Nyanon was synonymous to a gift to the electoral fraud strategists of the Ministry of Territorial Administration and also the ruling CPDM party and disaster to the opposition. Cappolytree was now sure to be gratified with a parliamentary seat by the government for supporting her during the 1992 presidential elections. Cappolytree will get the vital Eton votes in Nyanon during the 1997 municipal/legislative elections. And member of the electoral fraud think tank of the ruling party and those of the ministry of territorial administration were convinced. His victory which was certain even before the elections were called, will assure the ruling party at least a member of parliament from the Sanaga maritime division that most thought that, in spite the perfections in electoral frauds, envisaged and put in place by the ruling party and the ministry of territorial administration, the division was lost. While waiting for the electoral body to be called to the polls, the installation date of Nguelemedouga, the pioneer sub district officer of Nyanon was set. And on that day and date, a convoy of Japanese made air conditioned four wheel drives, carrying the divisional officer and other top local ruling party dignitaries as well as those from Yaoundé drove from Edea, divisional capital of the Sanaga maritime to Nyanon, headquarters of the newly created sub district that also bore the same name.

The delegation was accompanied by team of journalists from Douala, seat of the provincial service of the state owned Cameroon Radio Television Corporation (CRTV). According to records of such a motorcade kept by the oldest man in Nyanon called Bakot, the last time a similar motorcade drove into Nyanon was in 1958. That year, the motorcade was not civilian, but a military conveyor of French Forces in search of Ruben Um Nyobe, the leader of the Union of the Population of Cameroon, who was thought to be hiding in the area. The installation ceremony of Nguelemedouga as pioneer sub district officer of Nyanon took place on a hilly part of the town but was snubbed by the population. The only natives who turn up were a group of nationalist Bassa youths, who came to show their displeasure at the government’s continuous plans of partitioning Bassaland. They carried placards on which they wrote: we want the reunification of all Bassalands, while others wrote: we want the creation of a province that will be called: luminous province. It will be a province that will include the Nkam, Nyong and Kelle, parts of the Wouri divisions and parts of the South province, where there exist indigenous Bassas. The demonstrators also promised to drive away the Etons nationals or tribes from Nyanon.

elie-smithsstory: State grants, one of the causes of divorce amongst African immigrants(part 30)

elie-smithsstory: State grants, one of the causes of divorce amongst African immigrants(part 30)

The reasons why Nyanon sub district located in the Sanaga maritime division was created

In Nyanon, where Nguelemedouga was transferred to, because he supported the planned installation of Islamic rule in Couseri and Makari, the speaker of National assembly Honourable Abdulkadir was very happy. For he knew that, however brilliant Nguelemedouga was, Nyanon was where his career will be destroyed. All top government dignitaries in Yaoundé knew that, Bassaland in general was not an easy place to work in, but Nyanon was a largely difficult and slippery terrain to work in. Nyanon was a new sub district created by the government to help one of her Bassa sympathiser, who had spent lots of monies during the previous presidential elections, in order to permit the ruling Cameroon’s People Democratic Movement (CPDM) to win in the Sanaga Maritime division against one of the two candidates of the Union of the Population of Cameroon (UPC). The UPC was one of the many opposition parties of Cameroon. Nyanon’s creation was a kind of pay back time from an unpopular government who wanted one of his supporters to get a parliamentary seat.

The central committee of the ruling party had tried in vein to impose Cappolytree in other constituencies of the Sanaga Maritime division, but met resistance and threats that, if he was imposed, the constituency will vote for either one of the two factions of the UPC or for candidate of the nightmare of the ruling party, the opposition Social Democratic Front (SDF). Hence they resolved to elevate Nyanon, a village within the Ndom sub division into a sub district and also an electoral constituency. Nyanon was ideally situated on the map of the Sanaga maritime division. For it share a boundary with the centre province, precisely the Lekie division, which was populated by Eton nationals or natives. The Etons belong to the greater Beti Nation. This meant that, Nyanon was a majority Bassa district, but it had her own minority Betis population, who would vote during the parliamentary elections and will certainly overturn any tendency of the electorate to vote for the opposition.

elie-smithsstory: French strategy to divide & rule plus their fantasies about Africa(part 29)

elie-smithsstory: French strategy to divide & rule plus their fantasies about Africa(part 29)

The North West province of Cameroon: a province with her own codes of operation

The North West province of Cameroon, even though she is majority Christian of Protestant or Roman Catholic faiths, she has a minority Islamic population and a mild brand sharia law is applied via her Islamic courts. But, there are almost no inter religious confrontations. The only recurrent confrontations in the province are that of the farmers versus grazers. And the sources or causes are the ever reducing vegetations, whereas the population of livestock and people are growing. But, to add to the complexity of the province and her people, even though they are highly Westernised, Christianised and some Islamised, they have not abandoned their traditional beliefs. Above and beyond all the codes that civil servants needs to master before embarking into the province in order to work without any polemics, the North West province could easily be one of the best province for any civil servant in Cameroon to dream to work in.

But since most civil servants sent there are most often French-speaking Cameroonians, who are not very religious and who also snub their own traditional values and thus show little respect for the conservative way of life of the people of the province, confrontations always occur. The most hazardous thing for a civil servant in the province to do is to snub her Royals, Churches, Temples or Mosques. Any civil servant who doesn’t belief in God can work in the province, but if he/she tries to bring any libertine ideology or wants to destroy traditional values, he/she will meet the resistance of the people. However, civil servants posted to the North West and who have taken time to study the people and respect their own set out rules, do succeed and is also a benchmark and an assurance for promotion in Yaoundé. But if he/she fails in the North West, it might chime the toll bell of the end of his career promotion within the civil service.

elie-smithsstory: Africa : almost always poorly presented in France(part 27),

elie-smithsstory: Africa : almost always poorly presented in France(part 27),

The reasons why top French-speaking Cameroonian civil servants have problems in anglophone cameroon: the case of the North west province

But in the North West province like in the entire English-speaking region of Cameroon, individuals know their rights , how to preserve their rights and don’t entertain government officials who want to intrude into their private lives or want to curtail their freedoms and cultural identities. Another reason is that, the people of the North West province like the overwhelming majority of English-speaking Cameroonians do consider French-speaking Cameroonians, as dubious colonialists who are and were not able to respect the most elementary tenets of the unification agreement of October 1^st 1961. Hence there is constant friction with all top civil servants posted to the region, especially if he is not English-speaking and wants to impose laws without consulting the people. In the North West province, families become famous for their royal national/tribal links, the number of children who have been educated to PhD level and also the number of politicians they have produced. But the second seem to be the trend of the past, for these days, families become famous for the numbers of children killed during demonstrations by trigger happy Government Forces. It is a pride that some of their politicians and elites who are actors on both sides of the political and governmental/opposition platforms, use to give a messianic or doomsday touch to their political speeches and approach to events.

In order for any top civil servant posted to the North West province, in particular those of French-speaking Cameroonian ancestry, to succeed to win the hearts of the people of the province, he/she must first show that, he/she is a traditionalist, who gives respect to the local chiefs or Fon or Lamido. Traditional authorities in the North West province wield strong influence and commands more respect than the central government. Hence, any sign that; a top civil servant posted to province won’t or don’t want to respect traditional institutionalised rites, sparks confrontation immediately and even rumours that, the newly posted civil servants had disdain for traditional authorities in his previous post, could ignite a deluge of petition writing, that will certainly force the central government to appoint a new civil servant. Another stratagem to win the hearts of the people of the province by any top civil servant, who are either a Governor or Divisional or sub divisional officer, is upon taking his/her functions, he/she must make sure he attends regularly the various Christian religious meetings held in different parts of the province. And to coin it all, if the civil servant posted is Anglican, Roman Catholic, Protestant or Presbyterian, it will be highly appreciated even though it is not necessary. The North West province of Cameroon, even though she is majority Christian of Protestant or Roman Catholic faiths, it has a minority Islamic population and a mild brand sharia law is applied via Islamic courts but, there are almost no inter religious confrontations.