PROFESSOR PETER VAKUNTA
Many of us who pontificate on the dissonance between dissent and patriotism remain oblivious to the fact that these are actually complementary terms. It is a slippery route to walk when we obstinately cling to the insane idea that any intellectual or scholar who takes his/her country, or continent for that matter, to task is ipso facto placing himself/herself in the camp of renegades. One of the most celebrated intellectuals of our time, Edward Said, argues in his seminal book Representations of the Intellectual (1994) that “One of the shabbiest of all intellectual gambits is to pontificate about abuses in someone else’s society and to excuse exactly the same practices in one’s own” (cited in Chomsky, The Common Good, 102). Closer home, Cameroonian scholar Bernard Nsokika Fonlon in his seminal work, Genuine Intellectuals: Academic and Social Responsibilities of Universities (2009) subscribes to Said’s worldview. Arguing along the same lines, celebrated Nigerian novelist, Chinua Achebe contends that one common feature of underdeveloped nations is the tendency among the ruling elite to live in a world of make-believe with regard to matters pertaining to patriotism. He remains adamant that "spurious patriotism is one of the hallmarks of Nigeria's privileged classes whose generally unearned positions of sudden power and wealth must seem unreal even to themselves"(35). Achebe's definition of a true ‘patriot’ is one "who will always demand the highest standards of his country or continent and accept nothing but the best from his people. He will be outspoken in condemnation of their shortcomings without giving way to superiority, despair or cynicism." (35)
In the second quarter of the nineteenth century a Russian aristocrat named Peter Chaadayev was portrayed as insane by order of Czar Nicholas I for publicly describing his country as a backward nation caught up in a narrow and boastful nationalism. Chaadayev subsequently defended his patriotism—and the views which had incurred the Czar’s displeasure—in an essay entitled “Apology of a Madman” (1837). “Believe me,” he wrote in the concluding paragraph of the essay, I cherish my country more than any of you… But it is also true that the patriotic feeling which animates me is not exactly the same as the one whose shouts have upset my quiet existence… I have not learned to love my country with my eyes closed, my head bowed, and my mouth shut. I think that one can be useful to one’s country only if one sees it clearly; I believe that the age of blind love has passed, and that nowadays one owes one’s country the truth. I confess that I do not feel that smug patriotism, that lazy patriotism, which manages to make everything beautiful, which falls asleep on its illusions and with which unfortunately many of our good souls are afflicted today (cited in Giffin and Smith, 1971, p.316)
In this paper, I equally deplore what I regard as the irksome tendency among Cameroonians to equate expression of dissent with lack of patriotism. I am adamant in my belief that to criticize one’s country or continent is in and of itself an act of supreme patriotism. The Friend say, Qui aime bien chatie bien [He that loves well chastises well] To criticize Cameroon or Africa is to do it great service and pay it a compliment. It is supreme service because the expectation is that it would spur the country’s leadership to perform better than it is doing; it is a wake-up call because it evidences a belief that the country can do better. In a genuine democracy, dissent is tantamount to exercising one's constitutional right to freedom of speech; it creates room for checks and balances. Like medication, the test of its efficacy does not reside in its taste but in its effects. The test of its value is not how it makes people feel ill at east in the immediacy, but how it inspires nationals to act together for the better in the long term. Criticism may embarrass or even shock some thin-skulled folks in the short run but it will strengthen them in the long run; it may destroy a consensus on policy while expressing a consensus of values. There lies the ambivalence of the term ‘patriotism.’ Woodrow Wilson once said that there was “such a thing as being too proud to fight;” there is also, or ought to be, such a thing as being too confident to conform, too strong to be silent in the face of apparent abuse of power. An intellectual worth his/her salt, should have the balls to speak truth to power and care less about whose ox is gored. In a nutshell, criticism has nothing to do with doublespeak; it is an act of patriotism, a higher form of patriotism that may elude the feeble-minded and the myopic. Criticism connotes a higher degree of commitment to excellence and a revolting disdain for mediocrity.
I may shock some of my readers by insisting that it is not a pejorative term but a tribute to say that Cameroon and Africa is worthy of criticism. Nonetheless, if I am charged with lack of patriotism on account of my convictions, I would respond with words borrowed from Albert Camus: “No, I didn’t love my country, if pointing out what is unjust in what we love amounts to not loving, if insisting that what we love should measure up to the finest image we have of her amounts to not loving…”(1974).
The root causes of Africa's pitiful performance on the international scene are not a mystery to any keen observer of the political circus that governs the continent — comprador bourgeoisie, tribalism, corruption, impunity, myopia, mutual distrust, constitutional rape, blind allegiance to ex-colonial masters and more . My question is not whether or not Africa can overcome all the fatalities associated with arrogance of incumbency. My concern is the modus operandi needed for this beautiful but misdirected continent to get out of the quagmire. I believe that Africa has all it takes to be the light of the world; I also believe that it is falling apart on account of its compromised ideals—good governance, accountability to citizens, fair play and sustainable development.
Gradually but unmistakably, we are succumbing to the epidemic of power abuse perpetrated by the ethnic oligarchies in Africa. In doing so Africa has failed to live up to her capabilities and pledges to its citizenry. The measure of the shortcomings of Africa's leadership is the measure of the African patriot’s duty of dissent. The intellectual has a critical role to play in blowing the whistle on the failings of leaders. The role of the intellectual in enlightening the rank and file and setting records straight for posterity is crucial. In doing so, the genuine intellectual must strive to distinguish himself/herself from "okrika" or "kokobioko" intellectuals. In the work referenced above, Said examines the ever-changing role of the bona fide intellectual in the task of nation-building. He suggests a recasting of the intellectual's vision to resist the lures of power and money. Said concludes that it is the role of the intellectual to be the voice of integrity and courage, able to speak out against those in power.
The discharge of this vital duty would be seriously handicapped by an unworthy tendency to categorize serious criticism as patriotic dissidence. It behooves our universities and personnel therein to step up and perform the salutary task that their grooming affords them because the most valuable public servant, like the true patriot, is one who gives a higher loyalty to his country’s aspirations.
In a nutshell, suffice it to say that we must nurse the germ of dissent that lies in gestation in all of us. We must come to terms with the fact that patriotism can be interpreted in a myriad of ways. If it is interpreted to mean unquestioning support of existing policies, its effects can only be pernicious, serving to accentuate differences rather than reconcile them. If, on the other hand, patriotism is understood to mean love for one’s country or continent that pushes one to always demand the highest standards of one’s leaders, and to accept nothing but the best from one’s leaders, then and only then does it become a lasting basis of national strength. Or as Mark Twain would have it, “It were not best that we should all think alike; it is difference of opinion that makes horse-races” (Giffin and Smith, 320). Like Chaadayev, I do not believe in smug patriotism; I abhor that lazy patriotism which manages to make everything seem beautiful— patriotism that falls asleep on its illusions. I was raised to question authority and to speak truth to power. I will continue to hold leaders of the continent that I love the most—Africa, accountable. I have done so in A Nation at Risk: A Personal Narrative of the Cameroonian Crisis (2012) and Cry my Beloved Africa(2008 ) and will continue to do so until the powers-that-be in Africa regain sanity.
About the author
Dr. Peter Wuteh Vakunta is a professor at the United States Department of Defense Language Institute in California, USA.
Notes
Cited in Against the Grain, p.317)
Ethnic group of the incumbent
Hollow intellectuals
The Social Democratic (SDF) Front is the main opposition party in Cameroon. It is led by Ni John Fru Ndi and receives significant support from the Anglophone regions of the country. The SDF was launched in Bamenda on May 26, 1990 in opposition to the ruling Cameroon People's Democratic Movement. Following the launching rally, six people were killed by security forces.
This author has fictionalized this episode in his book of poems titled Ntarikon: Poetry for the downtrodden (2008).
Works cited
Achebe, Chinua. An Image of Africa and the Trouble with Nigeria. London: Penguin Books, 1983.
Camus, Albert. Resistance, Rebellion and Death (Translated from the French by Justin Obrien).New York: Vintage Books, 1974.
Chomsky, Noam. The Common Good. Tuscon: Odonian Press, 1996.
Giffin C. Frederick and Ronald D. Smith. Against the Grainst: An Anthology of Dissent, Past and Present. New York: New American Library, 19701.
Joseph, Richard. Gaullist Africa: Cameroon under Ahmadou Ahidjo. Enugu: Fourth Dimension Publishers, 1978.
Said, W. Edward. Representations of the Intellectual. New York: Pantheon Books, 1994.
Vakunta, W. Peter W. A Nation at Risk: A Personal Narrative of the Cameroonian Crisis.Bloomington: I-Universe, 2012.
---------Cry my Beloved Africa, Langaa, South Africa, 2008.
___. Ntarikon: Poetry for the Downtrodden. Bloomington: AuthorHouse, 2008.
Comments