Those Changes At UB Clement

Egbe Taku, Bolifamba, Buea

Bigotry And Demagogy Continued

It might, perhaps have been better to subtitle this piece as "An Exercise in Futility". But that would not be a very apt description for the new appointments which were made at the University of Buea recently, for the simple reason that the regime which carried out this project has gained everything from it; and its policy of maintaining absolute power       

over all institutions in this country, especially over the Anglophones, is furthered by it. Meanwhile, THE PEOPLE, i.e., the students who fought and lost souls in asking for these changes, the parents, the lecturers, the employees and all other stakeholders of the UB have gained nothing!

In the first place, why should a government have such a big hand in deciding who runs academic institutions? Elsewhere, it is a collection of dons and intellectuals, who select the people and the government only approves.

Dorothy Njeuma

When news came that Mrs. Njeuma had been taken off the University of Buea, students around Molyko celebrated openly. But this joy was only short lived when it turned out that her removal was not meant to satisfy the yearnings of the population. Her transfer to Yaounde can only mean that this government is absolutely impervious to change.

And to worsen things, they have brought back old cronies like Francis Nkwain, while taking out people who have shown very clear proof of merit like Professor Sammy Beban Chumbow. This is a sign that democracy and progress under this regime is impossible! The very bedrock of their policy and operations is anti people. This regime is a contemptuously elitist one, which sets out first and most to satisfy its cronies, rather that satisfy THE PEOPLE.

Enter Agbor Tabi …Again!

The reappointment of Peter Agbor Tabi to the University of Buea, is a sure sign that whereas this country could have been moving painfully slowly ahead, Biya and his men are unwilling to change. What is Agbor Tabi's track record? Is he what you can call a ROLE MODEL in any way?

What is his mettle or merit? What is he best known for? In answer to this series of questions, one can only site Agbor Tabi's tenure as Vice Chancellor of the University of Yaounde and as Minister of Higher Education, in the early 90s. It was Agbor Tabi, who, on behalf of the regime, fought hard to split Anglophone unity during the struggle for the GCE Board.

He failed there and the GCE Board prevailed. The regime brought him in, to violently crush student demonstrations for greater democracy in Yaounde. This man is being brought back because this regime wants to perpetrate the Njeuma legacy of high handedness, egocentrism, demagogy, tyranny, resistance to contrary opinions and outright bigotry in the U of B.

After all, she and Agbor Tabi have worked together before in Yaounde. And this is also why his own tenure as Pro Chancellor (unlike that of the venerable Victor Anomah Ngu before him) is dubbed "With More Powers". Agbor Tabi, the tyrant is thus being given more powers to do worse than Dorothy Njeuma, perhaps.

This regime, with all this resistance even to slow and painful change, is really pushing Cameroonians to revolt.Speaking as a Southwest man, we must take note that Agbor Tabi's appointment does us no good at all. The one who has represented the Northwest in this same post for the past years was a noble man, well respected in Cameroon.

Can the Southwest man boast of Agbor Tabi in the same way? Is it that no Southwest man of similar calibre as Anomah Ngu can be found to fill this post or do the Francophones just mean to mock the Southwest and use him to fulfil its devilish objectives?

Victor Julius Ngoh

To a large extent, Victor Julius Ngoh must be praised as an academic achiever. His books and writings have greatly enlightened some of us, especially on the history of this country.

It was a disappointment to learn that he was accumulating several positions in UB. This is not his fault, though, and we would like to hope that this did not turn him into one of those bigots who get drunk with power and cannot see anything beyond their noses.

But it is apparent that this regime has pampered Dr. Ngoh because they are using him for a certain purpose - to water down anything that could be purely Anglophone. Even if Victor Ngoh had wanted to be a committed, devoted Anglophone, the regime has already prepared him for this post as Registrar, by giving him several decision making positions.

And now in his present position, he can only do the bidding of the regime in Yaounde which has egged him all this while. And this means that UB can never be the place to be.

Julius Ngoh is there in this powerful position to ensure that this University never becomes purely Anglo-Saxon and satisfy the aspirations of the Anglophone people of Cameroon, but that it should only operate according to the destructive whims and caprices of the Biya junta.

Poor Lambi

Surrounded in this way by the regime from Yaounde, one wonders if there is any miracle that can save Professor Cornelius Lambi in his new position as Vice Chancellor. In truth, Mrs. Njeuma was an excellent Manager and in terms of infrastructure did a wonderful job at setting UB up. We must pay tribute to her for this much.

So can Lambi measure up to his predecessor? Well you cannot judge the artist until he has finished his work but it can be seen clearly, that he will have a very hard time with monstrous gurus of the regime

After UB … Where Next?

This regime sets out all the time to annihilate anything that satisfies Anglophone aspirations to a society where sanity reigns in terms of education, justice, health, security, politics, even sports. Each time it is their madness, which overtakes everything noble started by others.

Their next stop is surely going to be the GCE Board and I call on all who read this to watch very carefully. In late 1996, one writer in an article titled "That GCE Scam - Anglophones Beware" warned that going from the uttering of certain people (who are now in key positions at the GCE Board) the regime in Yaounde planned to hijack the institution because it really did not like its existence at all. And Lo! In early 1997 it happened.

They have been seeking to manipulate the GCE Board and drag the organisation of the GCE (or at least parts of it!) back to Yaounde. The integrity and autonomy currently enjoyed by that institution does not go down well with them, so they have sought to pass through Dr. Yembe the outgoing Registrar and erode this integrity.

And it is certainly because Dr. Yembe has put up a resistance akin to Azong-Wara's that he (Yembe) must now go. And just as they did with Azong-Wara, they have sent the signals when they refused to provide funds to enable the GCE Board pay the examiners their dues this year.

And the Minister of Finance is reported to have said that the payment of dues for GCE markers is not the government's priority - just like the inflammatory language Mrs. Njeuma has been using in the UB, capable of provoking war.

They want power, but more to that they want to keep the Anglophones tethered like goats. And so after the operation in UB, they are going to enter the GCE Board, bringing a new Registrar. And since the Southwest people have been praying for their own turn as Registrar of the Board; and also since they have already changed the status quo in UB, by making a Northwest man VC, this change is only obvious.  But once again, it boils down to the quality and calibre of the new (Southwest) Registrar.

And as much as we know this government, the new Registrar will definitely come, carrying two suitcases: one bearing money to pay examiners' outstanding dues and another containing a new text of application, which will water down the powers of the Board, leaving it a lame institution which will have to remain totally dependent on Yaounde.

The money in the first suitcase is meant to serve as the devil's sixpence, to send examiners drunk with happiness, while the essential stuff of this institution, won with blood, is being eroded. Any body who reads these prognostications and thinks they are mere speculations, is not a citizen of this country. Such machinations by the junta in Yaounde only invite revolution, one in which only patriots who know their country should take part.

Comments

[Dr A A Agbormbai]

Good piece of analysis!