Below is his review : |
| Reviewer Kashim Ibrahim Tala |
BOOK REVIEW
TITLE:
THE
PAST AS PROLOGUE: ESSAYS ON CAMEROON, 1980-1995
AUTHOR:Emeritus Professor Ndiva Kofele Kale
PUBLISHERS: Nya Publishers, Yaounde Cameroon
FIRST PUBLISHED: 2022 CHAPTERS: 14,
pages 117
THE BOOK
This slim book, THE PAST AS PROLOGUE is a collection of fourteen polemical and thought-provoking
articles published in diverse newspapers and magazines between 1980 and 1995 by
the iconic Cameroonian scholar, jurist and political scientist, Emeritus
Professor Ndiva Kofele Kale.
The book is about the consequences of
the historical and political evolution of Cameroon since the attainment of
political independence. As such, it covers a whole range of subjects. It begins
by outlining how political independence set off a degenerative process in which
freedom became circumscription while democracy collapsed into autocracy. It
goes on to discuss power and responsibility as they affect political governance
in Cameroon and finally, it dwells on the disfunctionality of the state and the
crisis of legitimacy under the First and Second Republics. Generally speaking,
the book can be said to be about the lack of restraint in wielding political
power added to an unbridled scramble for materialism which in most cases has
resulted in the destruction of democratic principles. It is about the tendency
of the people in power to forget the people they govern. In short, it is about
the failure of political leadership in Cameroon.
The destruction of democratic
principles on the African continent is well documented. Scholars and political
scientists on both sides of the Atlantic like Frantz Fanon, Bernard Fonlon,
Basil Davidson, Adebayo Adedeji, Ali Mazrui, Arjun Appadurai, Benedict Anderson
and Gideon Mutiso to name just these, have commented on it. African politicians like Kwame
Nkrumah,Nnamndi Azikiwe, Julius Nyerere, K.A. Busia, Obafemi Awolowo and Sekou
Toure have expounded on it. Creative
writers like Wole Soyinka, Chinua Achebe, Sembene Ousmane, Mongo Beti, Ayi Kwei
Armah, Nurudin Farah, Dambudzo Marechera and Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie have
written copiously on it. But, the fact remains that democracy, especially the
way it is evolving in Africa is both tangential and contentious. As a result, the
subject cannot be fully exhausted.
Furthermore, since every scholar
approaches the study of a subject from the perspective of his or her own
discipline and with propositions of one sort or another, it follows, logically,
that the choice of a proposition will vary with the aim and context of each
study. Thus, although this book, The Past
as Prologue is about democracy and the wanton and rapacious use of power,
it differs from the other texts on the subject in several respects. First, it is about Cameroon. Second, it attributes
the crisis of democracy in Cameroon to those in positions of power who insist
on having their own particular brand of democracy with values so different from
those of other nations that there are no meeting points. Third, it explains why democracy is failing
in Cameroon and, it then proceeds to propose the way forward. Thus, while most of the discussions on the subjects
of democracy and political power by other scholars can be said to be based
essentially on the adage that a man who does not know where the rain began to
beat him cannot know where to begin to dry himself, Professor Kale shows us clearly
in this book not only where the rain began to beat us but also where we can
effectively begin to dry ourselves.
A key aim of this book is to
deconstruct the popular Cameroonian concept of political leadership. That is,
to challenge the over-simplified concept of leadership that the majority of
Cameroonians see as desirable and offers them the comfort of a “Messiah” who
can save them but who actually distorts leadership in unhelpful ways. Another
aim is to reconstruct leadership to give an account of a good leader, a servant
leader who focuses on identifying and meeting the needs of others instead of concentrating on acquiring power, wealth and fame for himself. In short, one who is interested in serving
people instead of using people.
THE TITLE OF THE
BOOK
The question that comes to mind here
is, why did Professor Kale decide to reissue these fourteen articles in book
form long after the impulse and circumstance of their original composition have
passed? To attempt an answer to this
question, it may be necessary to make recourse to the title because the key to
any book is its title. The book under review is titled THE PAST AS PROLOGUE. This title is accurate, compact and effective.
The key words, “Past” and “Prologue” have been carefully and deliberately
chosen by the author to conscientize the reader and to contextualize the
problem.
Simply put, the word “Past” refers to the
period of time before and until but not including the present time. That is,
from 1980 to 1995. The implication of the word “Past” is that, we cannot hope to
look forward to the future without first looking backward to our past, to our
history. Put in slightly different terms, since the past is a prelude to the
present and a determinant of the future, it follows logically that the best way
to the future is through the past. This interpretation of the past concurs with
the African view of history as a continuum consisting of a past, present and
future-all inseparably linked together.
This imperative of looking inwards
toward our past as a pre-condition for fundamental social, economic and
political change is accentuated in the following Igbo proverb which states that,
“A man who does not know where the rain began to beat him cannot say where he
dried himself”. One gathers from the ramification of this proverb that the
mistakes of the past can be valuable if we are ready to learn from them. Nevertheless
one cannot deny the fact that some of the articles in this book do bring back
unhappy memories of our country’s past. This begs the question how do we as
Cameroonians react to these unhappy memories? Experience has shown that we have
developed a phobia about our past and a total aversion to criticism whether
positive or negative. In other words, we have chosen to turn a blind eye to the
agonies of our past, especially the curtailment of the freedom of criticism by
blatant intimidations and draconian decrees, and often physical incarcerations.
That is, we have decided to play the ostrich, and we have become cynical and
apathetic.
It is obvious from a reading of this
book that the moral and philosophical stances of the author do not condone these
escapist tendencies of Cameroonians to shy away from reality and seek
consolation in the amnesia of illusion. The eminent Nigerian writer Chinua
Achebe, reflecting on the reactions of his countrymen to the socio-political
imbroglio in their country, declared as follows:
I believe that in
our situation the greater danger lies not in remembering but in forgetting, in
pretending that slogans are the same as truth; that Nigeria always prone to
self-deception, stands in great need of reminders… I believe that if we are to
survive as a nation we need to grasp the meaning of tragedy. One way to do it is
to remind ourselves constantly of the things that happened and how we felt when
they were happening (MYCD, 1975: XIII).
What Achebe has to say about Nigeria in
in the above excerpt is unfortunately true of the Cameroonian predicament.
Professor Kale is also asking us the same question in this book: what are we
able to do with what has happened and is still happening to us?
Let me now turn to the other key word
in the title to wit: “Prologue”. Simply put, the word refers to an anticipating
act or event. It has been used by the author as the catalyst of the
socio-economic and political quagmire in which Cameroonians have found
themselves. As the author himself explains in the introduction of the book, “the
past provides the foundation upon which the present and the future are built.
It is, as it were the prologue to any discourse on the present” (p.1). The author goes further to extrapolate that:
The idea that
history sets the context for the present was very much in my mind when I
decided to republish these essays in book form. But my appropriation of Shakespeare’s
“What’s past is prologue” metaphor in the book’s title is not only intended to
mean that the past is predictor of the future. But to suggest also that though
the past is already written, the future remains ours to mold, subject to the
choices we decide to make. Our past merely sets the stage for the story that is
yet to come. In this sense, Cameroon’s future is a blank page on which the real
story is yet to be written (Africa Excellence, March-April, 2022:P30)
The implication of Professor Kale’s
statement is that this book is addressed to the present generation of
Cameroonians. If that is so, then it is an indictment. That is, it acknowledges
the fact that our generation, the generation that witnessed the Re-unification
of Cameroon has failed and woefully too. We have been unable to react to the
notions of exclusion and marginalization otherwise known as the “Anglophone
Problem”. Hence, we have to cede the
ground to younger and more vibrant blood. That, you will agree with me, is a
painful truth which may not be easy to digest.
Yet, the question still remains: Can
this generation rise to the challenge? Or will it behave like the absurd man in
the proverb who leaves his burning house to chase a rat feeling from the
flames? In short, will this generation make or mar the future of our beloved
country? Will we of the cursed generation wake up from our slumber and help
them to fulfill their historic destiny, or will we sit back with folded arms
and watch them follow in our doomed footsteps? These are some of the poignant
questions which Professor Kale is putting to us through this book. No matter on
what side of the divide we find ourselves, one thing is clear- there is no
middle-of-the-road stance, no fence sitting. The following two passages remind
us that there is no equivocation in the matter. The first passage is taken from
Act IV scene 3 of Shakespeare’s play Julius
Caesar. Hear Brutus admonishing Casius:
There is a tide
in the affairs of man,
Which, taken at
the flood, leads to fortune:
Omitted, all the
voyage of their life
Is bound in
shallows and in miseries,
On such a full
sea are we now afloat;
And we must take
the current when it serves
Or loose over
ventures.
The second excerpt is taken from
Bernard Fonlon’s book “THE IDEA OF
LITERATURE”
Once to every man
and nation,
Comes the moment
to decide,
In the strife of
Truth and Falsehood,
For the Good or
Evil side,
Then it is, the
brave man chooses,
Whist the coward
stands aside,
Doubting in his
object pity,
Till his Lord is
crucified.
Fortunately, the
malaise that is plaguing our nascent democracy though infectious is not
incurable. In fact, Professor Kale has
made it abundantly clear in this book that the mistakes of the past can be
valuable if only we are ready to learn from them. Here, I think, is where Professor Kale has
left his indelible footprints on the sand of time. By proposing positive alternatives to the
present set of leaders who selfishly appropriate scarce resources, Professor
Kale is reminding us, his readers that what we actually need in Cameroon is the
direct opposite of these inheritors of political power. In effect, he is
calling on us to eschew mundaness, encrustedness and sclerosis towards which
life inevitably tends in present day Cameroon.
We need servant leaders who will lead us forward to new ideals.
Like the
influential and visionary Nigerian writer Wole Soyinka, Professor Kale is pointing to internal responsibility for the
deplorable state of our country.. That
is why he is admonishing us to pluck courage and take full responsibility for
changing our society for the better.
That is why he is reminding us that a nation that lacks men of courage
in times of peace faces the threat of physical and moral decay. In actual fact, Professor Kale has himself
taken the lead by demonstrating through his writing that “in contrast with
dangerous political power, there is another kind of power, the power of
creation.
THE AUTHOR
Emeritus Professor Ndiva Kofele Kale’s
life is an open book which all of us can read. Hence there is very little that
I can tell you about this great personality that all of you in this hall do not
know already. Nevertheless, since I have been given the privilege to deliver
this review, I will tell you the little that I know about this radical
potentate..
Emeritus Professor Ndiva Kofele Kale
is an illustrious son of the native soil. Although he spent most of his adult
life abroad and contrary to the misdirected comments of his detractors, he
knows his country and his people very well. He has a clear insight into the
social and political structures of Cameroon and the future direction of its
evolution.
He is an internationally acclaimed
scholar of broad interests and notable achievement, a legal luminary and an erudite
Professor, a prolific writer and a progressive social scientist, an
intellectual aristocrat and a controversial politician.
He is a man of ideas known and revered
for the brilliance of his mind and his pre-eminence as a political pundit. He is also famous for his radical engagement
with the politics of his country. Over
the years, he has demonstrated an unwavering commitment to the transformation
of Cameroon into a land of promise and opportunities, a land where justice and
equity would reign supreme. He is a critical conscience and a potent moral
force. In short, he is a Socratean
gadfly and a genuine intellectual in the Fonlonian sense of the word. As a potentate, some people have tried to
understand him while others have chosen to misunderstand him. Some people have sought his company while
others hate even his shadow. His
commitment to the cause of ordinary Cameroonians and his courageous acts of
conscience have put him directly in the
firing line in his opposition to powerful forces whom he sees as betraying the
people in whose names and by whose sacrifices, political independence was won.
Major concerns in this book.
Professor Kale is concerned in this
book with issues of genuine democracy, good governance, social justice, and
freedom of speech. His point of view is that power is seductive and destructive
in its own way. He also advances the
view that it is as a consequence of failures in leadership that Cameroon still
lulls and gropes in apathy and inertia over half a century after it started its
stultifying march towards an elusive socio-political and economic Eldorado. He shares Chinua Achebe’s perspective that
power; whether political or religious derives from the people and that its
possessors should be accountable to the people.
He propounds the view that free and fair elections form the bedrock of
genuine democracy. Finally, he believes and strongly too that the solution to
the Cameroonian problem lies in a change of leadership.
Let me now take the liberty of putting
some of Professor Kale’s ideas into my own words in order to give them my
personal touch. Firstly, political leadership in our country personalizes and
monopolizes power. That is why political power in our country constrains,
contains and crushes. Secondly, the power holders insist on their right to
evolve their own form of democracy which best fits their narcissistic
interests. But, their own form of
democracy no matter the name by which it goes, is unfortunately based on
perceptible principles and values which are not shared by other democratic countries. If anything, it is a travesty of genuine
democracy. That explains why the leaders
refuse to leave power voluntarily and why the transfer of power through a
democratic process is almost always problematic.
The term “power” has appeared
repeatedly in this discourse that it has become necessary for me to define
it. Power is an umbrella word that means
different things to different persons at different times. As a result, there are several definitions to
it. But for the purpose of this
treatise, I will limit myself to two only.
Kent Sandstrom suggests, for example,
that “power is the capacity to get other people to think, feel, or act the way
you want them to even if they do not want to think, feel, or act this
way”. Buckley, on the other hand,
defines power as the control or influence over the actions of others to promote
one’s goals without their consent, against their will or without their
knowledge or understanding”. Power, therefore, is characterized by asymmetrical
relationship and results from unequal dependency. Seen from this perspective, power is a
dangerous instrument that must be used with great care. As Lord Acton puts it, “Power tends to
corrupt and absolute power corrupts absolutely”. Our elders on their part say
that, “the sweetness of power lies in the abuse of it”. That is why the
traditional African concept of power in the form of political leadership is
seen as a function of society as a whole.
That is, power is conferred upon the few by the many in a
socio-political context. The implication
here is that political power derives from the people that is, the subordinates
or less powerful and that its possessors,
that is, the super ordinates or power holders, should be accountable to the
people. But, traditional African society
also recognized the fact that human nature endows individuals with the capacity
to be both good and evil. This duality
is believed to be ever present in everyone.
That explains why the distinguished Nigerian novelist, Chinua Achebe, wrote in his acclaimed novel, Anthills of the Savannah that:
In the beginning
Power rampaged through the world, naked.
So the Almighty… decided to send his daughter Idemili, to bear witness
to the moral nature of authority by wrapping around Power’s rude waist a loin
cloth of peace and modesty (p.102).
It is therefore this lack of modesty,
and the inability of the possessors of power in our contemporary society to
recognize the obligatory “moral nature of authority”, coupled with their
“unquenchable thirst to sit in authority on their fellows that Idemili holds in
contempt” (p.103). Seen in the light of
the above, Democracy can be said to depend, in the final analysis on the
character of individual men and women and the moral standards of the community.
Conclusion of My Exegesis.
Professor
Kale holds the firm view that Democracy has become an international norm and is
inextricably linked to globalization.
Thus, there is no opting out of it except, of course that Cameroon wants
to remain irrelevant in the world perspective.
Therefore, our take home message today
is this Our political leaders have failed us, but they could not have succeeded in doing so without our
collusion. What I am saying here is that
those of us who constitute the Cameroonian intelligentsia are as much to blame
as our corrupt leaders for the failure of Democracy in Cameroon. As the proverb says, “A man who brings
ant-ridden faggots into his hut should not grumble when lizards begin to pay
him visits”.
The book, Power as Prologue is well organized and clearly written. The subjects of Democracy and political power
are presented in a straightforward and compelling manner. In my estimation, the author has attained his
goal of writing a personally relevant and enjoyable book. He has also made the
subjects of Democracy and political power approachable and interesting for
readers. In short, this is an important book for readers with an interest in
the political evolution of Cameroon. That
is why I am entreating you all to buy and read the book. That is why I am imploring you to buy several
copies and send to your friends and relatives.
Above all, I urge [every] to endeavor to share the vision which Professor
Kofele Kale has so carefully enunciated in this book.
