That is the way the nation was supposed to be functioning
though it looks like we were stressed by the boko haram and the SELECA rebels
for us to realize that we can not do without each other. So there is nothing
new about the theme except that we are discovering what we have been suppose to
be doing just because we have been put under stress. All the components of the
nation are supposed to function together so that we can have peace,
development, love and feel that the nation belongs to everybody. With the
stress we have been going through, we are learning that lesson the hard way
that we can not survive if we do not come together.
Are you saying that
this is the beginning of that synergy between the defense forces and vital
forces?
Yes, you might call it synergy between defense forces and
vital forces, but e can rephrase it and called synergy in the whole country,
synergy in all sectors. Yesterday you would have thought probably that “bensikins”
are not important. When we talk of vital forces, who is a vital force? If you
try to define that, someone might think it is the professors who are the vital
forces, it is the ministers who are vital forces or people who have all the
millions that are the vital forces. No e every Cameroonian is a force to reckon
with. Every Cameroonian, a grandmother, a woman and a baby, everybody has
something to contribute so that we can survive together. That vital force therefore
actually refers to everybody.
When we are talking
about vital forces in this case, we are referring to those who have coughed out
the financial resources to make sure that the military boys are comfortable as
they fight.
How do you know? That is not true about vital forces. If you
think that your money makes you a vital force, you got it all wrong because some
of the people who have coughed out the money, if you ask them to even take a
leisure trip to Maroua now, they would not go.
There are people who have sacrifice more than all your money put
together. Those soldiers who are sacrificing their lives, those families whose
children are up there, those families whose husbands and fathers are up there,
they are sacrificing more than what your pockets can cough up. So if you think
that you are a vital force because you gave a few millions; that is wrong.
How do you want people
who are not having that money to contribute to help?
It looks like the nation has kind of understood the lessons.
It is not about money. It is first about patriotism, love for the nation or
country. That is the most important thing. If you do not have the love for your
nation, then it does not matter what ever thing you do, it will not hold. If we
are fighting like we have been fighting boko haram, the little boy on the
motorcycle who gives the information that there is danger over there, it is
safe down there and that information saves lives, that boy is bringing to the
table a better chip for bargain. He is actually contributing more than the
millions you can ever cough up. What we are doing in the nation, we come to
realize that we can not really neglect anybody. A lot of household would
neglect their house help, drivers and in the hospital those that keep hygiene
and sanitation, in the radio house like this might be the journalist might
think that he is more important than the technician, no something like that do
not exist. It is only in the poor and underdeveloped countries like this one
where we have these class barriers. In real societies, everyone is important.
You have watched the
celebrations of the national days over the years, what do you make of the
approach we give to the celebrations?
Well I am glad you call them celebrations before but this
time around the celebration would have a different meaning. We just used to just gather around, tell
ourselves some few stories, and bring ourselves some history notes, dust them
whether they are right or wrong is not the issue. What ever the issues is, is
not important. Wherever the truth lies probably is not important and then we have
ourselves a great day and we go drink and dance. That is all. And we do this
year in year out and we do not really address ourselves to the key issue. This
time around, we have realized that until we start talking as one where there is
no Anglophone and no francophone, no army no civilian and there is no
“commandement” and no pieton or what ever. When we begin to realize that
Cameroon can not function until we come under one umbrella, we would begin to
respect each other for whom we are. That is the most important thing and until
we get that right. Until we realize that
no tribe is more important than the other, that no job position is more
important than the other; and until we realize that even for one reason or the
other if you are making more money; if you understand that you have to
contribute for the good of the community; if you realize that if you have been
given a job, the job is not for your family, tribesmen, it is for the common
good. If we now begin to realize and grow out of our greedy selfishness and
begin to embrace the concept of common good, this is what this theme of the
20th May is all about-working together for common good if we have to rephrase
it. If we begin to get this into our
understanding, then the country would get out of its mess.
You were part of this
celebration when you were still a student. Do you have the impression that the
pupils or students today would make the difference you have just talked about?
No, the students today do not know what common good is. We
have killed the spirit of common good in our nation. The spirit of common good
is the spirit that was supposed to be preached and practiced by the adults so
that the children can copy what they see being done but we have been hearing
one thing and seeing something else happening. If we sincerely carry out a
study amongst our youths, they would tell you that life is more about me and
me. Caring about the neighbor and realizing that the child across the street is
equally your responsibility is something they are not aware of. Probably with
the present dispensation and circumstances, we are beginning to understand that
we ought to care for each other more.
Since you are talking
about pupils and students, should we only blame the teachers?
It is about a system, a philosophy. It is about a mindset and
if we do not correct that mindset so that everybody, be they professors at the
university, student in the high schools or primary schools knows that it is not
about self, it would not work. That thinking has gone down for many years and
is deep down into the bones, so we need to able to refresh and redefine
everything and give everybody in Cameroon a different understanding. This would
be not just by saying but by doing. That is why I love the giving that has been
coming from the nation in support of the army, those that are suffering and
their families. It starts from somewhere where you also have to participate in
solving that problem so that the women who have been contributing from Batouri,
Ndian, Ntundip and from everywhere to that course begin to feel that they
belong to what great nation under President Paul Biya. Whether you like him or
not at this material moment, he is the leader of the country and we need to
come together to support him otherwise someone else would steal our country.
In 1972, you were still
in secondary school. Would you say that by that time you understood what the
celebration meant other than what the students understand today?
No, I got a certain understanding and for so many years this
understanding has been going on. I am not so sure whether my understanding is
right or wrong. I do not know whether he spirit with which the national day was
crafted is still the same spirit that is maintained today. I am not so sure
whether everybody is happy but the most important is that it is time we begin
to look at each other eyeball o eyeball whether mistakes were made or not and
begin to do things better.
Dr. Ngwanyam, when the Head of State has to visit a region, people of
that region start preparing gifts, some creating associations. All these are in
a bit to please the Head of State. When he was going to Bamenda for
celebrations to mark the 50th Anniversary of the armed Forces, you
guys of the North West region created an association known as Friends of
President Biya. What was the intention?
You are talking about this outfit
called CAPBIYA. It was an outfit that was meant for youth; an umbrella that
would gather youth, gather people so that we begin to think together to see how
we can support the president to succeed in his objectives and vision. By then
his vision was not very clear, in 2010 afterwards, the President has come up
with vision 2035 which is a vision expounded all over the national territory.
CAPBIYA is therefore refocusing on this vision 2035 and finding out what should
be thinking. How should we be working so that vision 2035 becomes a real
success? It is not only about President
Paul Biya. He has crafted the vision and the vision is going to live pass him
into the couple of centuries that are coming.
If we sow the right seeds now and do the right things, vision 2035 would
be a reality.
It means that you created the outfit then waited for a slogan from the
president
No, we created an outfit to
support him in all his positive activities. You know every year he tells the
nation, let us do this or that. There
were short term goals fighting for peace fighting for that and so on but 2035
is a long term goal. We have short term goals to achieve. We are talking about
peace, fighting terrorism, fighting tribalism and corruption. Corruption
somehow has been a song in the nation. You cannot keep on talking corruption.
We have to go pass that level and find out what are the root causes of
corruption and begin to attack at that level. Just talking corruption would not
solve any problem. We have to start revisiting themes like rigor and moralization,
love for each other and work ethics and looking at our education. All these
things put together were coming out in bits and pieces but vision 2035, he
thought again and let us refocus, redefine things and see how by 2035, we would
be able to showcase this and that. We
hear about vision 2035 and probably most people do not understand what it is.
Vision 2035 is a date, a time line in which we are saying that by that time
this and this should be visible. We should be able to say that we have this and
that. Vision 2035 is not a magic year. We are not going to be drinking, dancing
and sleeping and celebrating the way we are now, cheating and telling lies and
then when the bell rings for 2035, Father Christmas would show up at our door
and the nation would change. Vision 2035 is actually a philosophy. If we are
doing the right thing, we would be seeing the indications of 2035 as early as
2025. By 2035, we would actually be mature not starting.
Our concern here is that with such outfit, the President does not learn
anything new from those who pass for members in the sense that when he listens
to you, you are only articulating his own ideas.
The president articulates ideas
and says let do this. But we have to be able to break those things down to be
able to get result and get to 2035. We have to do a SWOT analysis. That is what
are our strength Weaknesses, opportunities and what are our threats. We asses where we came from, we left in 1960
and here we are in 2015. What have we achieved? If we compare our selves with
other nations that were on the same pedestal with us, what can we see? If we do
that analysis, we would see that we have not done well at all. If we say that
we have done well then we deceive ourselves and are not ready for change. If
you compare yourselves with countries like South Korea, Malaysia, Singapore and
so on we realize that we are still in
the dark. Even at this material moment as we speak, small countries like Rwanda
are putting things in place and are doing very well. We are still in the dark
ages as far as our mindsets are concerned. So it is more first about accepting
that we have not done very well, sitting down and thinking the whole thing all
through because as a man thinketh so shall he be.
No comments:
Post a Comment