“He rode into Minna, not in triumph but in trauma, in a mournful mood, the type you witness at the burial of a young person. He practically crawled into the city with a few aides in tow with no 21-gun salute, no guard of honour, no buntings, no welcome placards and no songs of praise. The dribbling had come to a ruinous end for a man who had every opportunity to be a quintessential hero in this unhappy, heroless, land.”
Newwatch’s Ray Ekpu on General Ibrahim Badamasi Babangida’s 1993 ignominious exit from power.
Ray Ekpu, in these succinct words, might have captured General Ibrahim Babangida’s fall from grace, and while Tunisian President Zine Ben Ali’s destination after fleeing last Friday’s turmoil in his country is unknown, he, presumably, also followed IBB’s fate into oblivion. As unprecedented as this may appear in the Arab world, the ripple effects of Ben Ali’s flight from power may also lap at Cameroon’s political shores. I fondly remember those heated arguments in the mid eighties –whether the regime may cave in to a multiparty system- among Cameroonians when Glasnost and Perestroika hit Eastern Europe. While the regime, for the sake of acquiescing to this external pressure, gave Cameroonians illiberal democracy, the brave ones haven’t succumbed. They are still fighting with the regime, day in and day out, chipping away its powers until it too would be ousted.
But this old lesson, that there is a time to govern and a time to peacefully relinquish power, has been so elusive to some African leaders to grasp. This is because as last Friday’s events were unfolding in Tunisia, bottled up, for close to seven weeks now behind what now appear to be fortresses in Cote D’ivoire’s capital, Abidjan, are Alassane Ouattara and Laurent Gbagbo, each laying claim to be that country’s legitimate president.
However, when the crisis began to unravel, Cameroonians appeared to have bought ink by the barrel. A deluge of their write-ups poured in on internet blogs and in newspapers, a majority, by my own rough tally, supporting Alassane Ouattara. As intellectually invigorating as their arguments appeared, they all portend or may be harbingers for what may befall Cameroon should it be doomed to follow Cote D’ivoire’s direction.
But like a segment of Ivorians-and this where hypocrisy rears its ugly head-some Cameroonians have become besotted with this idea of “French influence” over their country’s affairs that they’ve refused to see the devils right in their own midst.
I’m viscerally opposed to the idea that Laurent Gbagbo should hang onto power for two reasons. First, while some African woes are definitely associated with “French influence”, they’ve often been ratcheted as facades by rulers like Gbagbo who want to stay in power. I’ve often cited Sekou Toure’s Guinea as another epitome of this African hypocrisy. Here is a country that at the dawn of its independence in 1958, its first leader Sekou Toure proclaimed, not only in words, but in actions, that there would be no trace of “French influence” as it forged ahead to govern itself democratically. The French literally packed, including cutting off telephone lines, and left the country. Yet, for twenty six years, until Sekou Toure’s death in 1984, Guinea, for all what Toure had denounced about “French influence, still remained in a penury state, even worse than how the French left it.
So what went wrong with Guinea after 1958 and Toure who, from independence, was staunchly against France? Some, in defense of the neocolonialism doctrine, have suggested that the French hurried out through the main door, but then quietly sneaked back in through the window. It’s all baloney. This hypocrisy of ours has prevented us from calling ourselves what we really are: We are Neanderthals in the whole wide world, unable to run our own affairs efficiently!
Second, in support of Laurent Gbagbo, some Cameroonians made reference to the fact that having been declared to be the legitimate ruler by Cote D’ivoire’s Constitutional Council, the world, as a courtesy, should show respect for that country’s institutions. But Laurent Gbagbo’s political difficulties also stem from a history of “no precedent” in this regard. The respect of state institutions has never been taken seriously by Francophone African leaders. When former U.S. President Bill Clinton was hauled to the court by a judge a few years back over the Monica Lewinsky affair, it took these leaders by surprise why a sitting president could be treated in such manners. But the respect of “state institutions” is what U.S. politicians, including sitting presidents, do not want to be perceived as being disrespectful of by the public. But can anyone point the world to any Francophone African leader, who has demonstrated to his people, that he respects “state institutions”.
Should it then-because of this ineptitude at governance- be any surprise that some African countries must now take marching orders from international and regional bodies? As humiliating as this be appear to some, the Ivorian crisis is a test of what other African countries may have to follow. It won’t be easy.
See what is happening in Africa; for example Tunisia,Ivory coast,Zimbabwe.Do Cameroonians really believe Biya will leave power without a fight.We shouldn't follow the French.Look at Southern Sudan,that is what Southern Cameroonians should be preparing for.Independence not another seven years of dictatorship.Make your choose brothers and sisters of the Federal Republic of Ambazonia we have made ours.Like it or not, sooner than later the truth will be exposed and we will be free.Ambazonia will be a state recognized by all.
Posted by: Legion(for we are many) | Tuesday, 18 January 2011 at 12:26 AM
Wishful thinking is good, very good for the soul. It would be nice if the scenario from Habib Bourgiba Avenue in Tunisia is reenacted in Ivory Coast, in Cameroon and elsewhere but....
Some times I worry. I worry because taking over from an unpopular regime is one thing; delivering the goods is another. Don't young military men take over power and promise to free the people? But ultimately what do they offer other than the AK-47? For as long as I can remember the cry has been the bad guy in Etoudi.But then when I venture to look at what Cameroonians do to each other on a daily basis, I shudder to think what will happen if they actually hauled out the tenant of the Unity Palace. Our greatest identification tag has come to be the hurling of insults at each other instead of supporting with constructive ideas what our congeners propose. Governance is such a great idea but it requires only human beings to do it, human beings who support each other, supplement each other's efforts. If that be the case, wishing for the bad guy at Unity Palace to leave makes lots of sense.
Posted by: J. S. Dinga | Tuesday, 18 January 2011 at 07:09 AM
“I’m viscerally opposed to the idea that Laurent Gbagbo should hang onto power for two reasons. First, while some African woes are definitely associated with “French influence”, they’ve often been ratcheted as facades by rulers like Gbagbo who want to stay in power.“
I advise you to be less visceral in your opposition and become more engaged in seeking the facts about the crisis in Cote d'Ivoire.
“Second, in support of Laurent Gbagbo, some Cameroonians made reference to the fact that having been declared to be the legitimate ruler by Cote D’ivoire’s Constitutional Council, the world, as a courtesy, should show respect for that country’s institutions. But Laurent Gbagbo’s political difficulties also stem from a history of “no precedent” in this regard. The respect of state institutions has never been taken seriously by Francophone African leaders.”
When do you suggest the respect of state institutions begin in Francophone Africa?
Posted by: TAGRO | Tuesday, 18 January 2011 at 12:24 PM
I think Cameroon will have to go the Tunisia way in order to prevent a repeat of what is happening in Ivory Coast.
The Cameroonian people must stand up and force Biya out. Like the Tunisian people, Cameroonians must not wait for election results.
Thus, while the presidential candidates are campaigning for next term's presidency, the people must be mobilised to oust Biya.
If this doesn't happen then Cameroon will have to go the Ivory Coast way, with more serious consequences to follow.
One thing is certain... Paul Biya WILL NOT BE in office for the next term!
Posted by: Dr A A Agbormbai | Tuesday, 18 January 2011 at 12:29 PM
Sadly Biya and CO don't care
Posted by: Paul Piot | Tuesday, 18 January 2011 at 12:47 PM
Post-Script:How Francafrique was killed in Abidjan.
French foreign policy in Africa was/is meant to safeguard French interests. Fact.
It has never been for 'democracy' [and I use that word loosely] or for the interests of the Gabonese, Camerounians, Togolose, Rwandans, Madagascans, Congolese, and the other places in the continent and beyond, where they've left their trail of blood.
This time around, the fourth estates of the 'international community' [CNNs, BBCs,France24s, N.Y.Times etc have all of a sudden become loudspeakers for the cause of democracy in Africa. I do not beleive them.
It is as though the script leading up to the Iraq war eight years is been re-written, with a different cast, on a different set. Ivory Coast.
I have never underestimated the power of propaganda...
The issue is so crucial that African 'experts', international civil servants and others are being dispatched to enlighten the unenlightened about the Ivory Coast.
We are not fooled. We are not fooled.
A few dozen Hugo Chavez's are being born on that continent everyday.
No condition is permanent.
Signed
KFW
[email protected]
Posted by: palapalaeditor | Tuesday, 18 January 2011 at 07:49 PM
It`s an old trick. Want to perpetuate your political existence? Create a bogeyman.
Thus the Nazis invented "the Jews", Capitalists created Communists and vice-versa, post-colonial African leaders used the return of the "white-man" to rescusitate waning support, and with the demise of the cold war, "the commies" have been replaced by "muslim fanaticism" to justify imperialist objectives.
Unfortunately, we (the expendable masses) consistently fall for this ruse. We are willing to hug the devil, if only to be saved from the ogre lurking in the woods.
Posted by: limbekid | Thursday, 20 January 2011 at 04:00 PM
Njimaforboy, where are you hiding your cone head? People are making history in Tunisia, yet you keep on sticking your cone head in perpetual darkness.
Biya and Ni are dining in Ebolowa, they will soon do like wise in Ambazonia, where is your soldier ant army with its famous amphibious attacks? Ku'nyam!
Posted by: Mallam Shehu | Thursday, 20 January 2011 at 04:10 PM
Palapala Editor has his head in the right place. Do not be fooled. In Africa, they are only interested in democracy when it goes their way. Many people are fooled. They do not understand that they are being manipulated.
Posted by: orangedude | Thursday, 20 January 2011 at 04:28 PM
Please don't call anyone "Kunyam". That's not a very nice word! We don't want any of our citizens committing suicide, do we?
Posted by: J. S. Dinga | Thursday, 20 January 2011 at 07:05 PM
Good to know you guys are still here. We can only go as far as the military permits. That is where the line is drawn.If they side with the incumbent, we are doomed but if just a quarter sides with us, then a new day has just begun.
Posted by: Bob Bristol | Friday, 21 January 2011 at 04:07 PM
Bob Bristol, I used to think you were an intelligent guy until now. What is on your mind? You want to join those mindless, jobless and frustrated fools against our country? The Tunisians were killed on the streets but what changed?
The PM merely changed the party and one day, the president might walk back to Tunisia just as Baby Doc did in Haiti. I shall eat my head if Baby Doc is ever prosecuted. Lets wait and see.
Posted by: The Observer. | Friday, 21 January 2011 at 04:53 PM
The Observer, they Tunisians are not done yet. They are still on the streets. I am as disappointted as you are about the present gov't formed by the Tunisian PM. But part of the military are already with the protesters. Others are slightly passive, which to a sense, works in favour of the protesters. If this happens in Cameroon, Biya would have to run as well. This is what I am talking about.
Posted by: Bob Bristol | Saturday, 22 January 2011 at 11:45 AM