I am writing about this because:
- I’m very angry
- I’m African
- I have your attention
- I do not have the emotional capability to keep answering every single message on the same.
Few weeks ago, 11 Thai kids were stuck in a cave. The world stopped. The sigh of relief was almost tangible after the end of the rescue operations.
Side story that one.
Since 2016 Cameroon has been in war. Just so that no one gets left behind, it’s not a civil war like some guys have been claiming. It is different when those being attacked are unarmed civilians whose only mistake is their knowledge of English. The Cameroonian military is carrying out a genocide in the West African country, one that has left thousands dead, many maimed, and even more displaced.
Where is the world? Attention is only given to everyone else but Africans.
Let me give you context:
Cameroon has a President. He is unique, this one. He spends most of his time in Switzerland, going to his country once in a while perhaps to collect more taxes to sustain his lifestyle. Now, Paul Biya has been in power for 35 years (since 1982) and he will most likely still be on the ballot this year. The 85-year old President recently held a cabinet meeting, the first in about two years.
His hands-off approach has complicated the country’s differences further. Cameroon has influence from both the British and the French. If that was not clear, we are now talking about colonization. Okay, not talking about, just hinting. Anyway, as he tours the world, North West and South West Cameroon which are primarily Anglophone regions, continue being marred by chaos.
If anyone of you follows African politics, you know the bar is not even low in Africa, it is totally non-existent. African leaders think of no one but themselves. Selfishness that runs deep within our veins, selfishness that was inherited from our forefathers, selfishness that has been merged to be one with our (lack of) humanity.
Quite a number of people asked me what the UN is doing about it after I did a number of posts over the last few days. The main question here would be what the African Union is doing about it. Matter of fact, what is that body doing about anything? They certainly have not talked about the modern-day slavery in Libya, have they? What has your President said about it?
The problem with Africa is that everyone believed the lie that only the white man has the answers to all our problems. This is the lie that makes us continue wallowing in poverty and untold misery years after “independence”.
You need to know this because it is important. I don’t expect one blog post to bring the war to a stop – it would be so cool if that happened though. It is important because for long, Africans always hide in the shadows. I mentioned the Thai kids up there. Would I have wanted it to end differently? Absolutely not. It taught me many lessons though. I saw Africans watch the whole thing unfold with bated breaths. I asked my friend what the big deal was. Again, not because I would have wanted it to go differently, but because that never happens where I am from. The world has never come together to help Africa (ns) fight their wars. Pun intended. No one has to anyway, that’s why I joined the rest of Africa, and the world, in watching professional divers from across the world rescue the kids. That is why I gave a sigh of relief after every one of them came back safe. That is also why when I watch clips on innocent kids being killed in Cameroon, I feel helpless and I know that the only weapon I have is my words. I also know we can be the generation that puts others first. We can be the generation that did away with this selfish gene in Africans.
Paul Biya could, and should, end this war.
We do not want to visit a genocide memorial like the one they created in Rwanda. We want to visit a peaceful Cameroon, a country that will have a triumphant story to tell. A story that features the fact that when the rest of the world could not, her African brothers and sisters stood with her.
Useful Links so you get the depth
Africa Rise!
Nyaboga Morang'a
Wachira, an enlightening post. If only African stood up for itself and decolonise their minds on this poisoning idea of whitisim. Africa unite. Let’s stand up. We can’t be butchering our brethren on a mere reason of speaking this foreign language or that. Why and when did it start to matter which foreign language one speaks? Why do we have to promote such languages by killing each other? Rise Africa. Our peace lies in our hands .