Secession, Language and Independence in Cameroon

One thing which really beats me about the SCNC's case for Secession is its grounds....the way I understand it, the major ground is the fact that the minority 'English Speaking' side has been the subject of gross marginalisation and manipulation by the majority 'French Speaking' side...Okay point taken...

I am no Historian but when you observe secessionist movements worldwide from the Kurds in Iraq, to the East Timorese in Indonesia and even closer to home the Basques Separatists in Spain..one thing is common..there is a fundamental Divisive point which transcends LANGUAGE [underline that plisss]..which is at the root of any secessionist demands or tendencies.

Take the case of the Basques in Spain...Although ostensibly fighting for the autonomy of the whole Basque region, including the three French herrialdes,The Basque people are the oldest indigenous ethnic group in Europe, and have lived uninterrupted in the same region since the beginning of recorded history...

If you compare this to the SCNC's case there is a gaping contrast that is to say the least scary...yes the Conferences of the 60's and 70's changed the facet of West and East cameroon's political landscape but those are no grounds for Secession.....Infact let me give you a vivid illustration of how this is such a wrong and unfounded cum unworkable notion...if we were to have an Engish/French [Anglophone/Francophone] divide...how would you explain the fact that somebody in Mbouda [on the French side] would have so much more in common with somebody in Santa[on the English]..5-10 miles away than he/she would do with a compatriot in Ngaoundere.....sooner or later they will want to secede on Cultural grounds too...birds of the same FEATHERS flock together not the same song/tune..

The point about Tiko port being mis-managed does not hold becos the Kribi port was a stark victim of the same fate...all gov't managed agencies that were closed down were closed in every province of the country not just the Anglophone ones...mismanagement is rife in every dimension of cameroonian society and in my opinion if we were getting it right on that front there wouldn't be such indiscreet calls for secession...

If you ask my opinion on the issue..I will say this..when I just turned voting age in cameroon the then main opposition party SDF ran on the Federal Platform...I whole-heartedly supported that platform and I still do..not a two state federation though but a federation based on cultural, political and resource-distribution parameters....if you are intelligent enough to work the number out then you are welcome..anything <= 2 is unacceptable ..by me that is

Bottomline is ...you cannot divide a country because a section speaks french and another speaks English or anything close to that...infact the Canadian example should teach us a lesson...we can be independent without being separate..again ask the Quebecois in Canada....the complex and heterogenous constructs of and within our society will be be in grave jeopardy if the Secession Option was adopted... remember that it is these same constructs that have been at the heart of our stability...as a nation

I thus second any point about self-help..the first step towards any kind of independence is being independent....not asking or fighting for it from somebody else...