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| Professor Victor Julius Ngoh |
May 20, 2022 clocked fifty years since the Federal Republic of Cameroon became a unitary state with the abolition of the federal structures of West Cameroon and East Cameroun states.
However,
Cameroon celebrated the golden jubilee of the unitary state in the midst of the
on-going socio-political crisis in the Northwest and Southwest regions of the
country, otherwise known as the Anglophone crisis.
AFRICA
EXCELLENCE Editor-in-Chief, Christopher Ambe, caught up with the
President of Catholic University Institute of Buea (CUIB), Professor Victor
Julius Ngoh, who is a renowned Cameroonian professor of history, for a
conversation about the jubilee.
Excerpts:
Professor Ngoh, you are very versed with the
historical and political evolution of Cameroon. Cameroon just celebrated the
golden Jubilee of the unitary state. Would you say it was worth celebrating?
My answer is Yes- because after 50 years the
unitary state is in existence. The fundamental reason that was advanced for the
creation of the unitary state was to ensure the stability, unity and
territorial integrity of the then Federal Republic of Cameroon.
And I think 50 years afterwards there
is the unity, there is the territorial integrity, but we must recognize that
society is not static. There are challenges coming up every day, so for us to
think that the unitary state, unitary system is not worth celebrating is wrong.
We celebrate taking into account the fact that there are some problems; there
are some challenges which have to be addressed as the country moves forward.
Do you
think the unitary state has lived up to its objectives?
You see, living up to its objective is not
final; it is a process and this is what most Cameroonians should understand. It
is a process of nation building, a process of ensuring that there is stability.
There is no country in the world that the population can conveniently say “Yes”
we have arrived; even in the United States, Britain, France, Germany or South
Africa it is a process. And in the process, Cameroonians across the board,
regardless of political coloration, should work as a team, should have a common
goal and criticize collectively with the knowledge that we are criticizing in
order to improve on what we have.
Those in power should also accept
criticisms, meant to improve the situation. Those in power do not have the
monopoly of knowledge, just as the opposition does not have the monopoly of knowledge;
both parties should work together in the interest of the fatherland.
You are aware of the
Anglophone problem in Cameroon. Do you think this problem can be solved with this form or
system of government in place?
No, it is not a problem of system of
government as such. It is a problem of “Do Cameroonians or the Anglophones
actually know what they want?” Honestly
speaking, no right-thinking Anglophone, right thinking Cameroonian in this age
will believe that the Northwest and Southwest regions of Cameroon can
successfully have the so-called Federal Republic of Ambazonia or an independent
state comprising Northwest and Southwest. I am sorry to say it: the on-going Anglophone
crisis which degenerated into an armed conflict has exposed the enormous
differences between the peoples of the Northwest and the peoples of Southwest;
we should recognize that. It is hard to accept it because the general tendency
is that, once you say it then they would say you don’t support the unity of the
Northwest and Southwest or the unity of the Anglophones; but if we are not
honest with ourselves this crisis has exposed the differences and animosity
between the population, the people, the indigenous people of Northwest and the
indigenous people of Southwest. Anglophones
(those in the Northwest and Southwest) will gladly support a federal structure
but not a two state-federal structure and not an independent Northwest and
Southwest state. Once that is agreed then to resolve the crisis becomes easy;
it is important to note that those who had been nursing the idea of an
independent Northwest and Southwest just exploited the trade union grievances
of the Common Law lawyers and the Anglophone teachers as if they were offered
the opportunity on a plate of gold. They exploited that and highjacked what was
a genuine corporate demand and transformed it into a political situation. And
if you recall very well, at one point during the negotiation between the adhoc
Ghogomu commission and the lawyers and teachers in Bamenda Wilfred Tasang said ‘this
is not teachers’ demand but an Anglophone problem; if it were teachers’ demand
we would have been talking of teachers grievances; this is an Anglophone
problem and at one point he said, “We shall know who governs the Northwest and Southwest.”
That is what he said; that “we will bring the Cameroon government on its knees.”
And the records are there! So I think once both parties understand what’s going
on and Anglophones who support and
finance the conflict also understand that
and the Government puts in place genuine
inclusive dialogue the crisis shall be solved. And with genuine inclusive
dialogue, you cannot say we are going to discuss on the independence of the
Northwest and Southwest; it is a non -starter.
Some people claim the
Anglophone problem started in October 2016. You are a renowned professor of
history and you have been following the historical and political evolution of
Cameroon. Do you agree that the Anglophone problem started in 2016?
The Anglophone problem did not start in
2016. The problem or grievances or complaints of Anglophones started far back
as 1961, immediately after reunification when a presidential decree created
administrative regions and appointed inspectors of administration in October
1961and West Cameroon was one of the administrative regions with Jean-Claude Ngoh
as the inspector. That’s where it started and Anglophones started complaining
that it was not what they had bargained for. Unfortunately, Anglophone political elites
could not present a united front and that played into the hands of President Ahmadou
Ahidjo. And, of course, even when we moved to 1972, Anglophones asked for the
dismantling of the federal structure. They happily campaigned for it .It was
not imposed. Then we moved from 1972 to 1984- because that is where Anglophones
started complaining forcefully - the change of name from the United Republic of
Cameroon to simply Republic of Cameroon. Anglophones said “oh when at first it
was a federal republic we recognised that we were there; United Republic we
recognised that we were there; now it’s just simply Republic of Cameroon -the
name that French Cameroon obtained on 1st January 1966, so now West
Cameroon no longer belongs in the union-so we are out.”
But they fail to understand it was not
a presidential decree that changed the name to the Republic of Cameroon; what
obtained on 4th February 1984 was a law passed by parliament and at
the time the Speaker of the National Assembly was an Anglophone, Honourable S.T
Muna. Fon Angwafo III was a member of the constitutional law committee; the Minister
in charge of Relations with the National Assembly was an Anglophone - Joseph
Awunti.
So you have the situation in 1984 and
Anglophones started agitating; there were various Anglophone pressure groups
and in April 1993, the All Anglophone Conference (AAC) was called to get the
Anglophones’ position towards the constitutional conference which was put in place.
The AAC decided for a return to the federal structure. They said it openly that
it was the position they planned to take
to the conference but unfortunately the powers
that be did not look at it favourably.
Then there was another All-Anglophone
Conference II- secretly held in Bamenda So you ask yourself if the All -Anglophone
Conference I was public and its resolutions or recommendations made public what
happened in Bamenda with the All-Anglophone Conference II- because the secret
resolution said they no longer wanted a federal structure, they no longer
wanted autonomy but they would use all means to secede and declare an
independent state; that was in 1994. Shortly
thereafter, you had the creation of the Southern Cameroons National Council (SCNC)
and the goal of the SCNC was independence for the Northwest and Southwest regions,
not improving the Anglophone grievances. And in 1995, John Ngu Foncha and Muna
led a delegation to the United Nations and unfortunately they came back and
told a lie -that they had succeeded in convincing the UN to reopen the Southern
Cameroons decolonisation file. A good proportion of Anglophones believed all
what they said and even contributed money and that reinforced the agitation. The
SCNC now launched violent activities in certain areas in the
Northwest; people were killed because they wanted the independence of Northwest
and Southwest. In December 1999, SCNC attacked CRTV Buea and declared the
independence of the Northwest and Southwest region (the provinces). And with
all of this the Government was able to ensure the unity and territorial
integrity of the state; so what happened in 2016 was just a continuation of
what the extremists had in mind ever since.
Professor, what are the
misconceptions about the unitary state that you want to dismiss?
First of all, what happened in 1972 was not reunification; that should be made ver
y clear because I have heard some historians, journalists, political scientists, lawyers talk of 1972 Reunification. Reunification took place on 1st October 1961; what happened in 1972 was the dismantling of a federal structure and putting in place a unitary structure.
There
is a difference between something being politically unwise and the thing being
constitutionally right; and if we all agree that Article 2 of the Federal constitution
said “sovereignty lies with the people and this sovereignty can be exercised
either through the elected Members of Parliament or by a referendum which means
that, at the end of the day the supreme authority lies with the people; so you cannot
say an article prevents the people from exercising their supreme sovereignty. So
when some Cameroonians and even legal minds say Article 47 meant that the
federal structure could not or should not be dismantled, then at the same time
you say supreme sovereignty lies with the people then there is a contradiction somewhere.
Courtesy: AFRICA EXCELLENCE magazine ,Cameroon, July-August 2022 edition
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