Nde Ntumazah, Bamenda University, And The Ring Road: What Do All These Have In Common?

By Joseph M. Ndifor

Biya was in town the other day, and so were his shibboleths rolling off his lips for the presidential audience to ponder over. It never ceases to amaze me how much snake oil this man carries with him whenever he’s headed for the grass fields of Bamenda. This time around, he came very prepared with a slightly modified package: NN, BU, RR etc! He was indeed at his old tricks, giving the same promises that he’d previously reneged on. And for those who closely followed Biya’s sojourn in Bamenda this month, the old fox almost pulled off the charade, but for the last minute when a lone photo of him and Fru Ndi came over the internet. The president had granted Fru Ndi audience and from Fru Ndi’s sneer at that meeting, it appears the sheriff in Abakwa town was literally telling Biya not to mess with Bamenda people once more. “Enough is enough”, was what I could surmise from Fru Ndi’s appearance in the photo.

But it’s another election season and what better place for the regime to kick off its presidential campaign than Bamenda under the subterfuge of the “50^th anniversary” of sort. Not surprising, the names of West Cameroon politicians who all exited the political stage not in adulation, but in disgrace were being lauded left and right for a gullible audience during the Bamenda visit.

However, when the president promised the creation of the University of Bamenda, it instantly struck me how devastating a twenty eight year one-man rule can have on a people. Even before this visit, the request for a university of Bamenda had almost become an obsession, so was the ring road. It was as if these two items-if provided-would become panaceas for what irks the Bamenda man. I offer no cynicism about these promises, but plain facts as they apply to the country.

Cameroon currently has enough public and private universities that could cater for the educational needs of those coming out of its high schools. However, these universities all lack the staff, equipment and funds that could keep them fully operational. The argument for a new university is flawed. It makes no sense to go about creating new universities without improving on those already in existence.  For those who’ve had the chance to study at any European or North American university, the very old beige concrete, stone, and brick buildings are familiar sights on any university campus. Some of these buildings date two centuries or more, but constant renovations keep them serviceable for the needs of its students. Couldn’t the ENS in Bambili, for instance, be renovated to a fully-fledged university?  Even after its creation, many years ago, has anything being added to it in terms of improvements?  

Also take the White House as another example of what improvements can do to an already existing building.  The White House, as of July 2010, is 209 years old! Yet, it’s one of the most admired buildings around the world, not because it is new, but because of its frequent facelifts over its two hundred years’ existence. But remember what happened to the old presidency downtown Yaoundé when the current Unity Palace was built at Etoudi a few years ago? It was left in a dilapidated stage until it became an eyesore around the city. 

http://gan.doubleclick.net/gan_click?lid=41000000033032675&pubid=21000000000258567

It is also not the number of universities that we create, but the quality of education that those already in existence can provide their students. And without doubt, our current universities are off the mark in terms of quality education. It’s not uncommon for a law student to obtain a law degree without having seen a courtroom or even used a law library for research or other intellectual pursuits. These are some of the items that should be improved upon at those universities around the country at this moment.  Our universities also do not adequately reflect the developmentally needs of the country, but have become diploma-issuing institutions. 

The same reflections about the absurdities of just creating new universities also apply to the ring road if ever such a road is constructed. Sometimes last year, part of the Bamenda-Bafoussam road collapsed, for the simple reason that it’d not been properly maintained.

But tis that season again and Biya recognizes that he is on the ropes. The Bamenda visit was meant to jumpstart another ploy on Cameroonians. But unarmed Cameroonians, not the military, will drive Biya out of power. The news coming out from Cote d’Ivoire is clear and loud: the international community will no longer sit on the fence while Third world politicians thumb their noses at their people. The dribbling must come to an end, and there will be no respite for Biya and his regime come 2011.

Search for audiobooks
by author, title or keyword

Comments

[oyez]

Yes sir. Another poorly equiped, underfinanced university is not what Bamenda needs. These children are going to come out and not find work. Structural impediments to entrepreneurship need to be removed and we need more autonomy

[John Dinga]

I am dying to read or see the so-called "sneer" attributed to John Fru Ndi as well as the "Enough is enough" quote. If write-ups in this medium are intended to educate people, an effort ought to be made to distinguish between a writer's inference and the facts on the field,

Secondly, after laughing at or mocking Biya or whatever else one uses to describe his many empty and unfulfiled promises, the searchlight ought to be turned on those who wallow in this distressing gullibility time and time again, especially when they drag the entire province into it for obviously myopic and selfish motives.

The so-called Bamenda man was never ever as gullible as this. All those bed time stories, riddles, parables etc were supposed to make of the sons and daughters of that province people with a critical and analytic mind, not robots dancing on the streets just because the president's coming was echoed by self-seeking politicians.

[Dr. John Titantah]

My friend Ndifor, I was almost agreeing with you until you touched the Ivorian case and the so-called international community. Do not be so naive at this age. Things are not really what the powers that be want you to think they are. You write " the international community will no longer sit on the fence while Third world politicians thumb their noses at their people." Who told you they are on the fence? What makes you think Biya is not in power so long because they want him there? It is insulting for us africans, who know the real game behind wars like the ones in Cote D'ivoire, Libya, Iraq, etc. Have you asked youself why Blaise Campaore (a dictator in power since 1987 through a military coup) should be used by the french to launch their attack against Laurent Gbagbo (who only governed for 18 months before the French financed and directed the rebellion against him) and Cote D'Ivoire? Who are behind the war in DRC that has claimed more than 5 million lives and continue to? Please, educate yourself on real international politics before venturing there.

Be careful that you do not invite these armed rubbers into you house, it will be too late to rid yourself of them. Ask the Iraqis, Afgans and now Libyans and they will educate you. You do not want slavery and colonialism back, do you?