Cameroon:For Whom Are State Burials?

By Tazoacha Asonganyi in Yaounde

Divisional Officer(DO), Fonya Felix Morfaw and other fallen heroes of the Bakassi peninsula were buried in their various villages of origin last weekend.

I have always had a mixture of conflicting emotions following the repeated carnage in Bakassi. A feeling of pride at the thought that there are citizens who serve the country with everything, including their lives; a feeling of frustration at the thought that our military is a helpless lot that submits to repeated, murderous attacks from "unidentified" gunmen to which they respond with terse communiqués to inform a bewildered citizenry; a feeling of suspicion that what we are witnessing in Bakassi may turn out to be more about intrigue and self interest than military business and national interest...!

It is usually said that war is politics by other means.

Therefore, it is when politics fails that war ensues. Politics is an art which when well practiced, provides an alternative for violence and bloodshed. It is to the credit of politics that Bakassi was won back to Cameroon not through war but through politics.

Politicians are usually not aware of the weight of the political responsibility they carry. Most have refused to heed the wisdom of a US Supreme Court judge that in politics, the most important office is the office of the citizen.

The citizen is most important because they hold the key to the fate of the country, which depends on their achievements, their talents, their services to the country... their patriotism! Patriotism is an obligation of citizenship, a sense of duty and sacrifice on behalf of the country.

You can attack patriotism frontally like those who are perpetrating massive embezzlement of public funds are doing, or you can attack it subtly by celebrating the wrong people as heroes, thus draining patriotism of its true meaning.

Legitimacy of government is advanced by the degree to which it nurtures and rewards patriotism... how much it keeps its own side of the patriotism deal.

There is symbolism in state burial because it honours and celebrates heroism and patriotism. Such symbolism is vividly caught by the manner in which other countries recognise and celebrate those they consider their fallen heroes through state burials.

A few examples will suffice.When the popular gospel musician Sonny Okosuns died some time ago, Nigeria gave him a state burial because he was considered "an epitome of celebration, freedom fighter, patriot and great Nigerian... with a thousand and one Okosuns waiting to be discovered and celebrated, in Nigeria..."When three urologists perished in a road accident in Ghana, the incident was described as "a national disaster" and they were given a state burial because of their achievements among "a handful of urologists in Ghana..."When fifteen soldiers died in a helicopter clash in Mongolia during their effort to put out a bush fire, the minister of Emergency immediately resigned stating that "I have no moral right to continue to hold the post of Minister of Emergency. I decided on resigning soon after the crash, but could submit my request to the Prime Minister only after the national state of mourning ... We failed to live up to our responsibility as we did not have any emergency preparedness plan..."
The government declared that "...the people of Mongolia have not faced any greater period of mourning, have not seen any greater loss of brave sons than this. These 15 died protecting their native land from wild fires. The State of Mongolia, on behalf of its people, salutes our fallen heroes..."

A free apartment was offered by the state to each of the 22 families whose men suffered the crash and a bank account was opened to help the families of the victims and survivors; ordinary people donated whatever they could; big business houses came forward generously...Barring Marc Vivien Foe, all those who have had state burials in Cameroon have been close associates of Paul Biya – ministers, former ministers, ambassadors, "states men"...

Our fallen heroes in Bakassi, whether they are those of 21 November 2007 or the recent ones of 9 June 2008 which included the DO of Kumbo Abedimo, have not received the attention from Cameroon that they truly deserve. It was not proper for the Head of State to spend up to ten days abroad following the 9 June incident before returning to the country. He should always remember that there are national calamities like these that can cause him to shorten his holidays to add to the symbolism that surrounds recognition of patriotism.

Someone may say that the dead were decorated with medals. Decoration with medals in Cameroon are more about the medallist deciding to fill candidature forms and knowing the right people, than about achievement, talent and service to the country.

The attribution of medals to our Bakassi fallen heroes instead of giving them state burials is a mockery of the concept of patriotism, and betrays not only government’s real intentions in Bakassi but also their concept of service and sacrifice for the country.