By George Esunge Fominyen
First October is a complicated date in Cameroon. In recent times, it has been replete with stories about troop deployment to the English-speaking parts of Cameroon and the arrest of activists of the Southern Cameroons National Council (SCNC) and members of other anglophone nationalism organisations. The period leading to this date, until last year, usually saw Anglophone elite -mainly ministers and people linked with government - travelling to their places of origin to discourage their kin and kith from gulping the seccessionist theories of the anglophone movements. I had a strange experience of this October 1 fever back in 2000.
At the time, I was a sprightly young broadcaster working for the newly created FM Mount Cameroon in Buea. During this teething stage of the radio, we had transportation difficulties, especailly after late shifts. So on this night of the 30th of September, we had rounded-off broadcast and a group of us were leaving the CRTV South West complex.
Being the youths we were, we could not help talking and laughing loudly. Then one of us noticed a curious movement around the rather grown lawn that covers the frontage of Radio Buea.
"Esunge tu as vu ça?" (in french Esunge did you see that). He pointed at the lawn. First I thought it could be one of those terribly huge snakes common in tropical Africa. Then, I thought my colleague was joking again. I laughed out and warned him to keep those his "francophone jokes to himself". Suddenly, there was further movement.
Soldiers crawled out of the lawn with AK 47s and other weaponry. Others jumped out of the grass that had grown into a thick bush along the walls of Radio Buea. Now, I could sense trouble. our female colleague stood like in a trance. Not wanting to appear as chickens my male colleague and I took bold steps towards the gate.
We were stopped by the soldiers. They asked us to show our identification papers. We did. Then they advised us to be quiet because this was a "serious night". Yes, it was the night breaking to October 1.
This deployment came in a particular context. On 30 December 1999, a retired Justice - Federick Ebong Alobwede - had read a message proclaiming the Independence of the Federal democratic Republic of Southern Cameroons over Radio Buea (South West Provincial Station of the state-run CRTV). He was part of a group that seized the station just when it was wrapping-off broadcast on that day. That 1st October was therefore the first after the proclamation of independence and so there was a solid deployment of troops in the broadcasting complex - just in case anyone had bright ideas about taking over a station again. In addition, there was a new and popular station in the compound -CRTV FM Mount Cameroon (ours).
We quietly walked out of the gates and managed to find our way to our homes. We stayed for nearly a month with our military companions whose presence diminished during the day and surged at night. Throughout my stay at Mount Cameroon FM, this was the same routine every 1st October. I wonder how it is today.
I really can't put a finger on this whole circus that occurs around this period. Illegal or legal meetings here and there; reports of hoisting of flags; disclaimers from authorities; real and/or suspected deployment of troops, fueling sometimes unsubstantiated claims for asylum. Why the hell do these guys not sit down and talk? What they are good at is backing their own concept and reading of the happenings of 1961, particularly the "transition" or "heist" of 1st October - depending on the side of the river you are standing.
Now if you are not conversant with Cameroon history go to other sites for background. But be wary about what you get. Cameroonians in the British administered territories voted on 11 Febuary 1961 not Ist October. Yet, I find it a cumbersome story for my blog. It begins from being named shrimps or is it prawns (Camaroes) by Portuguese sailors, continues under a German Protectorate and colony called Kamerun, detours to being divided between the French and British as spoils of war, opens-up to self-determination under various circumstances on separate dates (1 January 1960 and 1 October 1961), narrows down to a Federal, then United and today simple Republic of Cameroon. A mosaic of 250 ethnic groups, an equal number of languages and dialects in addition to French and English and my favourite -pidgin English.
As you can see, it is not easy to agree on things in such circumstances.
For instance, my grandma tells me that in the days of the British trusteeship 1st October was celebrated as Empire Day. In mainstream Cameroonian history books, it is the day on which then Southern Cameroons formally re-unified with the already independent french Cameroun to form the Federal Republic of Cameroon. Since the re-emergence of strong anglophone nationalism championed by organizations like the Southern Cameroons National Council (SCNC) it is said to be the day on which the former UN Trust Territory under British Administration gained independence. Oh yes...soldiers are decorated and receive new epaulets on this day...
I wonder what other thing this day stands for...ummmm...
