Part IV- Rebirth of the Southern Cameroon Nation

The Coffin Revolution and the Restoration of  the Southern Cameroons Independence

I started this series on the re-birth of the Southern Cameroons nations by briefly perusing down memory lane and reviewing how Southern Cameroons evolved from colonialism to independence. Then I established the premise of the Southern Cameroon problem using empirical data and facts by showing how the government of La Republique du Cameroun under President Ahidjo meticulously but gradually usurped power; deviated from the 1961 Constitution which was the only document binding the Union with the two states by dissolving the Federation in favor of Unification;  economically impoverished West Cameroon by shutting down , transferring and neglecting its institutions and structures of economic stability; and deliberately marginalized the sons and daughters of West Cameroon and treating them as second-class citizens. With the loss of their Statehood and equal status as inscribed at independence; their relegation to second class citizenship as a result of institutional marginalization and the desire by La Republique to completely obliterate any memory of an ever existing Southern Cameroons from the memory of Cameroonians and the archives of history ( by changing the meaning of historic dates like the 11^th  February into national  “Youth Day”); the imposition of  the French language and culture of mediocrity and  the desperate attempt to assimilate Southern Cameroonians; the die was cast.  Several attempts were made in the past to right the wrongs but to no avail. After multiple failed attempts to bring the regime to reason, former P.M of West Cameroon J.N Foncha decided to resign from Biya’s CPDM party and the government in 1990. Even John Fru Ndi’s presidential bit in 1992 was born out of the people’s frustration.  As if that was not enough, Southern Cameroonian elites and intellectual faculty came together in Buea and Bamenda under the All Anglophone Conference I and II and produced a blueprint Constitution which they proposed to President Biya with the hopes of reviving and restoring the defunct Federation but the regime still refused to see reason. In 1995, the Southern Cameroon National Council (SCNC) came to life with the sole purpose of restoring the independence of the Southern Cameroons after seeing the futility in trying to convince the government to dialogue. They took matters to the international courts where they achieved great strides. Instead of appreciating West Cameroons maturity in choosing diplomacy over arms as was the case in Sudan, Ethiopia and Nigeria, the regime in Yaoundé  decided to label them as “terrorist” and “secessionist” and went on a witch hunt of its leaders and members, causing many to seek refuge overseas. All of these efforts by West Cameroonians including their leaders  must be recognized and celebrated.  The recent 2016 strike and protests  in West Cameroon dubbed "Coffin Revolution" is the foster-child of the long struggle that started in the 1990's. 

Origin of the 2016 Strike

The current strike started on October 09, 2016 with lawyers and teachers taking to the streets of Buea and Bamenda. The president of the Lawyers Association Barrister Nkongho Agbor  Balla speaking over STV television stated that the lawyers took to the streets after failing to get any action from the government regarding their complaints on the massive influx and domination of Southern Cameroons courts by incompetent civil-law trained Francophone lawyers and judges. On the 09 of May 2015, 700 Common Law lawyers met in Bamenda to address Common Law lawyer’s issues.  Amongst these issues, they requested that the president of Cameroun create an Ad hoc Committee to address the lawyers’ problem, deploy civil law lawyers to civil law constituencies, common law lawyers to common law constituencies and a translation of major texts such as OHADA and CEMAC Code. During that meeting, they wrote a memorandum which they sent to different institutions such as the embassies of the US, Canada and Nigeria; the Ministry of Justice, the Senate, the Bar Council and the National Assembly. Foreign institutions acknowledged receipt of the memorandum. One year later, after a complete silence from the government bodies, lawyers decided to meet again on the 13th of February 2016 in Buea to assess the issue. The Buea meeting came out with a Buea declaration. On October 06 2016, the lawyers met again in Bamenda and decided to go on strike due to the adamants of the government of Yaoundé to address their issues. This francophone domination is not unique to the legal sector alone, but cuts across other sectors of West Cameroon such as education and the public services. The massive “francophonization” of the public services and the gradual dominance of the French language in West Cameroon which is uniquely Anglo-saxon region has long been decried. The government's lackadaisical behavior regarding the plight of West Cameroonians can be explained by the fact that, it falls within its Master Plan which aims at linguistically, culturally and politically assimilating and subjugating West Cameroonians into the French system and culture.

Common Law lawyers marching

Common Law lawyer being dragged to the ground by the police

What initially started as a peaceful protest march to denounce the injustices quickly turned violent when units of  police and gendarme erupted from nowhere and began brutalizing the peaceful protesters. The lawyers were seriously beaten up and taken to the Muea Police station with total disregard for their noble profession and status. Videos and photos of the police brutality on Southern Cameroon lawyers with robes and wigs flying in every direction circulated on social media (Facebook), causing massive anger among Southern Cameroonians.  Teachers, students and the general populace joint the strike in protest of the treatment of the lawyers in particular and the marginalization and annexation by La Republique du Cameroun in general.  

Mancho Biblyx and the Coffin Revolution

Police brutalizing and compelling innocent Southern Cameroonians to sit and lay in muddy water.

Throughout the months of October, November and December, the strike continued Southern Cameroon wide, drawing more crowds as more videos emerged, showing French Camerounian police (speaking entirely in French) dragging young girls outside of their university dormitories and residencies and making them shower inside muddy and dirty puddles. Many more became infuriated when they learned that Francophone police and gendarmes broke into the rooms of girls in the university of Buea, looted and raped some of them with total impunity. 

While some were raped, others were arrested and sardine parked in military trucks to a destination no one knew.

The protest got really violent and salty on December 8^th 2016 in Bamenda when the Prime Minister (Philemon Yang) and the Ministers of Special Duties (Atanga Nji), both of Anglophone origin decided almost foolishly to make a provocative trip to Bamenda in the heat of the protest and host a  CPDM  regimes' party rally. Infuriated by such provocative move, the population in Bamenda expressed their anger by blocking the “sellouts” in their hotel rooms in Ayaba hotel. The police used teargas canisters and live bullets in response to the peaceful and nonviolent protest and as a result, approximately 150 youths were arrested, many were injured from the gun shots and the beating and about 8 innocent youths were killed in both the Northwest and Southwest regions. Amongst the confirmed dead, we have:

1.      Sambella Divine (19 years old Bali boy and form 5 student of Longla College killed in his house Small Mankon.

2.      Clement Ngwa Ndoh (Shot at Commercial Avenue in Bamenda and buried in Mankon)

3.      Akum Julius (student at the Bamenda University killed on December 11)

4.      Ndoh Ndanya (Mankon youth, married, killed in Bamenda)

5.      Divine Bongkem (Killed in Bamenda and buried on December 10 in Kumbo)

6.      2 other youths were killed in Kumba among them was Ernest Mukete (21 years old).

  (May their patriotic souls rest in peace).
 

Apart from those arrested and taken to the Kondengui Central prison in Yaoundé, firsthand information from Bamenda revealed that on December 12, 2016, some 25 youths that were transferred from Bamenda under the Senior Divisional Officer (SDO) of Mezam’s order went missing.  Here are the names of those that were declared missing.

1.       Tatae Ncok
2.      Roger Gadinga
3.      Asangon Joseph
4.      Penny Nickson Asobo
5.      Che Roger Funwi 
6.         Mbah Louis
7.      Bah Joel
8.      Bruno Teneng
9.      Valentine Biyenuah
10.       Donsong Miafo Herman
11.      Ngwa Denis
12.      Tikom Charles
13.      Niba Oliver
14.      Nziki Solomon
15.      Nkwenti Sama Emmanuel Penn
16.      Mbi Luois
17.      Akewo Casen
18.      Kenneth Fobah
19.      Acha Mbah Valary
20.      Atawan Feojus
21.      Yembe Clinton
22.       Mudoh Elvis Abong
23.      Fongole Lesley
24.      Menia Ferdinand
25.      Winceslaus Azeh.

The difference between the current protest and past resistances against the regime of La Republique is the fact that social media, particularly Facebook has been a key instrument for information dissemination and crowd sourcing. With a total distrust in the reports from the nation television channel CRTV, many turned to private media such as Equinox TV and Facebook to share raw, uncut and unedited videos, photos and official documents from West Cameroon. The force of social media has been undeniable stronger than any military weapon of the regime in this revolution (Mark Zukeberg can be proud of himself). While all of these was happening, President Biya maintained his usual silence on the issue. Despite reports of casualties in Bamenda,  President Biya completely ignored it and instead chose to bask in hugs and showcase his mastery of the "selfie stick" in a reception organized for the  female indomitable lion team that was yet to recover from the resounding defeat at the Female African Nations Cup. 

The president taking selfies with  the female indomitable  lion  while West Cameroon youths were being killed in Bamenda and Buea by his police and gendarmes.

Dialogue Attempts

Following the casualties from the government reaction to the protest, what initially began as a Lawyers and Teachers strike grew into West Cameroon-wide problem which the regime has been unable to contain thus far. Protesters have become resolved to ending the Francophone domination and marginalization and many are now demanding either a Federation or Independence as the only two solutions to the problem. With the turn of events, Southern Cameroonians decided to form a Cameroon Civil Society Consortium uniting leaders of the legal and academic sectors of Southern Cameroons to speak as a united front.  When echoes of the protest and the brutality made waves on social media and on foreign medias such as France 24, BBC and Al Jazeera; the government in a move to salvage its name decided to send a few sycophants to Bamenda to attempt to convince the members of the Consortium to drop the strike.

The Prime Minister head of government  Philemon Yang was charged with the responsibility of setting up a committee to dialogue with the trade union leaders. On the 8^th of November 2016, the Prime minister created an ad hoc committee headed by the Minister of Higher Education Jacque Fame Ndongo. The Cameroon Teachers’ Trade Union CATTU headed by Mr Tassang Wilfred took exception to the appointment of Fame Ndongo as the head of the Ad hoc Committee for two reasons: firstly, because they believed he is a part of the assimilation through harmonization problem and secondly because among all the Engish speaking elite of West Cameroon, the PM chose a Francophone to dialogue with Anglophones.  However, they decided to give it a chance. During the meeting held between the Committee and the CATTU on November 2016, the teachers’ trade union found out that the government was acting in bad fate and was not ready to resolve the issues raised by the teachers. Also, the trade union also saw the Ministers’ continuous rejection of the existence of an Anglophone problem as sign of deadlock. The Minister, Fame Ndongo is quoted to have said in a meeting in Bamenda that “Cameroon is a bilingual country, anybody can go anywhere and teach in any Language.”

The meeting ended in limbo and CATTU decided to continue its sit-in strike action.  The same deadlock happened in the meeting between the lawyers and the government. As a result, an indefinite strike has been declared until the issues of Southern Cameroonians are resolved. A general protest that was supposed to be held on January 02, 2017 was called off by the Consortium for security reasons. However, the Consortium released a memo declaring January 09, 2017 as the beginning of “Operation ghost town” in the Northwest and Southwest regions”.  

Way Forward: Observations, Best practices and Proposed Solutions

While waiting to see the outcome of the January 09, 2017 ghost town and the next plan of action from the Consortium; I will like at this juncture to throw in a few best practices and solution tips that could be helpful in guiding the struggle to a successful outcome. It is evident from the general assessment of the Southern Cameroons that there appears to be two schools of thought: - Federalists and Secessionist (I prefer to the term Autonomists). The third option which is a Unitary State (current status quo) as desired by the regime in power is completely nonexistent in the hearts and minds of Southern Cameroonians. Now let me go ahead and explore the two options. Using empirical lessons from past struggles for Federation and Secession in Africa, I will outline a few points for consideration that can bring about success in Southern Cameroons current movement.

Secessionist (Autonomist)

What is Secession? The word Secession comes from the Latin term "Secessio". It is the act of withdrawal of a group from a larger entity (mostly a political entity such as a country), a union or an organization. Below are few actions that the leadership of Southern Cameroons revolution need to consider as they fight for their freedom and  autonomy  from the colonial pangs of La Republique du Cameroon.

1.      International Recognition

According to Edmund Keller writing about secessionism in Africa (published in the journal for African policy studies in 2007); for secession to be successful the proponents will need to be internationally recognized as being bonafide and legitimate. The  Southern Cameroons case  is unique in the realm of international relations. I base this assertion on the fact that its path to independence was full of twist and turns as I outlined in part one of this series.

 First and foremost, Southern Cameroon has international status within the United Nations and is recognized as a "People" -  under former German Protectorate and later under British rule. Secondly, they became a Mandated territory and moved to a Trust territory status under the League of Nations and the United Nations respectively. Thus, unlike the Biafra secession where Biafra was an integral part of Nigeria, the Southern Cameroons had a unique status as a People on the international platform. She was never a part of La Republique du Cameroun.  

At the continental level, the Southern Cameroons through its organizations such as the SCNC and SCAPO have been instrumental in stamping the name of Southern Cameroon on the African map. It is worth mentioning here that in 2009, the SCNC and SCAPO won the case against La Republique du Cameroun in Banjul. The African Commission on Human and the People’s Rights (ACHPR)’s ruling on the Southern Cameroons Vs La Republique du Cameroun; acknowledged that indeed the Southern Cameroons was under forceful and unlawful occupation and annexation by La Republique. Among the demands of the court,  was the need for “constructive dialogue” between both parties and the court emphasized that the outcome of the dialogue be forwarded to the African Union General Assembly and the UN. La Republique has failed to live up to this ruling till date as it keeps avoiding dialogue like a bad plague. While acknowledging that the annexation and occupation was a violation of Article 20 of the Charter”, the court stated that Southern Cameroonians were entitled to exercise the rights to self-determination under Article 20 of the Charter as a separate and distinct people from “La Republic du Cameroon.”

In addition, in April and May 2009, a group of UN Surveyors visiting Cameroon planted boundary lines and pillars separating Cameroun from the Southern Cameroon. On May 20, 2010, the President of the UN General Assembly Dr. Ali Abdussalam Treki boldly presented gifts to the president of La Republique Paul Biya. The gifts consisted of two framed maps, one being the map of La Republique du Cameroun with its original boundaries obtained at independence on January1, 1960. The other map was that of the British Southern Cameroons prior to October 1 1961. This was a slap on the face of the occupational regime of Yaoundé and it sent a powerful message to the regime that the UN was aware of the situation on the ground.

President Biya being presented with the maps of the two Cameroons.

My Recommendation: I will urge the current leadership of the Consortium to delegate a spokesperson who will begin an international campaign to propagate and sensitize the international community on the plight of Southern Cameroonians in Cameroun. Social media and news reports are good but they are not enough. The Consortium needs to make physical contacts with leaders and heads of state such the United Nations Secretary General and the presidents of countries such as the United States which is the champion of freedom and human rights, Canada, the United Kingdom and the African Union. The Consortium also needs to makes its presence felt by attending interviews on internationally renowned news media such BBC, CNN, Al Jazeera et al. and talk about the cause the Southern Cameroonians are fighting for. In the midst of the international move, the delegate should also meet with the Southern Cameroon diaspora and raise funds to keep the revolution alive. After the Ghost town scheduled for January 09, 2017, attention should shift from local to international while maintaining the pressure on the regime on the ground.

2.      International Support and Partnership

Most Secessionist movements have often depended on international support and outsiders to bankroll the movement and support them politically in order to achieve international recognition with regards to their demands. This was the case with Eritrea where its diaspora played a key role in legitimizing the secessionist movement in the eyes of the international community. The Biafra war of secession failed partly because they were unable to gather enough international support for their cause. 


My Recommendation: In this regard, it is imperative that Southern Cameroonians across the board in general and in the diaspora continue to play the avant-guard role of galvanizing the support of sympathetic groups and human rights organizations. Southern Cameroonians in the diaspora also need to continue the pressure on foreign government embassies and all UN agencies to look into plight of the Southern Cameroonians. The fight for revolution needs all hands on deck both at home and abroad.

Also, in international relations and diplomacy partnerships and economic interests are very important attributes. It is imperative that the Southern Cameroons leadership (Consortium, SCNC, SCAPO, SCYL, MO RISC) come together as one and send a delegation to meet foreign leaders and forge partnership and friendship agreements. La Republique is in a long-lasting marriage with France and par excellence the United States. Southern Cameroons needs to forge partnerships with other African Union countries and UN member states with veto power such as Russia, China, Japan, the US, pressure the UK into righting its colonial wrongs. They also need to make promises of economic deals with the most influential of the Countries that will stand by her in the struggle. Foreign nations want to know what is in there for them before they can throw their weight behind a cause.

3.      Timing  

The timing of a secessionist movement is also very critical for success. Some questions to ask are : At the time of  the secession , is the political group dynamic both locally and nationally conducive for the action? Is there a strong sense of unity and collaboration?  A good and noble action or movement will fail if it is carried out at the wrong time. The Southern Cameroonian leadership and people have to understand the critical nature of the timing of the current movement. 

The current protest in Buea, Bamenda and the rest of Southern Cameroon comes at a time when the people have lost hope in the government and feel helpless. Southern Cameroonians have suffered annexation, marginalization, assimilation and wanton human right violation with total impunity from the perpetrators. Their lands and resources have been looted and exploited to enrich other regions as well the political elites and cohorts in power. There is a general feeling of frustration.  This can explain why the calls for a general uprising and demands for return to Federation and Independence have been widely embraced by at least 90% of Southern Cameroonians. To back this point up, one will recall how 10 years ago, most Southern Cameroonians tried to distant themselves from the secessionist ideologies  preached by groups such as the SCNC and SCAPO.  Many were still hopeful that political power was going to change hands and the new leadership was going to cater to their demands. Despite the many cries by pockets of disgruntled groups,  the regime in power did nothing but add more kerosene to the sparkles of fire. 

Moreover, in the past there was rivalry and petit competition between Northwesters and Southwesterners, mostly fueled by the political power struggle in West Cameroons after independence. The old election-time campaign rhetoric and the name calling between J.N.Foncha  and Endeley where Southwesterners were described as “proud people” and Northwesterners as “Come no go” had trickled down to the next generation. The government was able to exploit such minor rifts to achieve its divide and rule program. Unfortunately for the regime, its policies and treatment of Southern Cameroonians as a whole has over the years produced a bonding effect contrary to what the regime had hoped for. The indiscriminate suffering and pain endured by Northwesterners and Southwesterners alike had actually sowed the seed for deeper unity. Today, Northwesters and Southwesterners have tapped into their common heritage and culture as a survival mechanism and are now fighting a common enemy which is the regime of Yaoundé. It is safe to say in this case that Culture is deeper than politics.  Both communities have been cooperating and working together without any problem for the past decades. For example, in the SCNC Chief Ayamba Ette Otun (Southwesterner) has worked harmoniously with Mr. Nfor Ngala Nfor (Northwesterner). The same goes for the current Consortium where the leader of the Teacher’s trade Union Tassang Wilfred and Barrister Harmony Bobga of the Northwest Lawyers Association (Northwesterners) are working hand in gloves with other Southwest leaders such as Barrister Nkongho Agbor Balla (Southwesterner). The general West Cameroon population has also demonstrated great unity since the onset of this revolution and the bond only gets stronger each day that passes. These examples reinforce the fact that the political and cultural timing are all perfectly aligned for success. 

4.      Dialogue and Referandum

The recent protest in the Northwest and Southwest regions of Cameroon came as a blow to the regime in Yaounde. They did not expect the strike which began as a lawyer and teacher’s issue to gather so much steam among the rest of Southern Cameroonian population. The unity and steadfastness manifested by the people of Southern Cameroons in the current protest is unprecedented in the history of Cameroon. 

This has caused massive panic in Etoudi, evident by the number of ministers and emissaries that have been deployed to appease the Consortium leadership. Safe to say that Ministers of La Republique have made more trips to West Cameroon in the past 3 months alone than they ever did since Biya came to power. While the goal of the regime is to maintain a good name in the face of the world, the people of Southern Cameroons are bent on getting their issues resolved. The multiple bribery attempts against the Consortium members have been largely unsuccessful. Confused that they have not been able to have their way with bribery as usual, the regime is starting to learn a lesson of integrity from Southern Cameroonians.  

The message which the noble leaders of the Consortium is sending to Yaoundé is that no amount of money is big enough to forfeit the future of the current and next generation. The failure of the few dialogues attempts between the regime and the Consortium shows the ill-fate of the regime to grant concession. It also shows their desire to maintain the status quo which has been to their benefit alone. 

My Recommendation:  Looking at history, from South Sudan to Eritrea; there has never been any successful dialogue between a marginalized group and the regime in power that did not involve a third party. Thus whether the goal is to achieve a federation or an outright secession and independence; no regime will be willing to grant so much autonomy to a group it considers as second-class citizens or slaves. In the Southern Cameroons context, they are regarded as “Extremist” and the regime does not even recognize its trade unions as legitimate. Worse of it all, the regime has yet to publicly accept the existence of an “Anglophone problem” although ironically, it has been making moves to solve the very problem it claims does not exist.  

The Consortium needs to be united now more than ever and  seek to involve a foreign third party in any dialogue henceforth. The United Nations stands as the best candidate to mediate the issue between the regime and the Southern Cameroons given that it was party to the problem that currently plagues the Southern Cameroons (by not offering the third option for “Independence” in 1961).  Also, while seeking to bring the United Nations on the dialogue table, the Consortium should re-iterate the need for a Referendum to be conducted in Southern Cameroon under UN supervision with the two unique options of “Federation” or “Independence”.  The Southern Cameroons problem has gone pass the lawyers and teachers issue. It is a  problem that affects every sectors of life in West Cameroon. It is time to let the people decide their fate and not impose any hurriedly pieced together agreement that will need to be revisited some years to come.

5.      United and Visionary Leadership

Visionary leadership is paramount to the success of the secessionist movement. Every revolutionary endeavor always raises the question of ethnic homogeneity. As such, the leadership in place has the paramount duty to ensure that all the different ethnic groups within its territorial boundaries feel a sense of belonging and that their interests will be pursued and protected. If leadership fails to do so, the regime in power will try  to exploit the disgruntled groups, attempt to win them over and create dissent in order to sabotage the movement.

My Recommendation: In this same vein, I would like to re-iterate the need to unite all factions of the Southern Cameroons movement together into one body. This includes all the leaders of SCNC, SCAPO, SCYL, MO RISC and the Consortium.  The existence of multiple groups besides being confusing, sends mix messages to the Southern Cameroonian populace as well as the international community. Also, there is need to consolidate the message and agree on a common objective. While other groups promote Federation, some are championing Independence, leaving the masses not to know where to belong. This brings me back to the idea of a Referendum.  It is okay to have diverse goals as long as the referendum can decide what the majority wants. If there is no referendum in the agenda of the current struggle (which I think should exist), then it is utmost to unite the different schools of thought into one umbrella. Southern Cameroonians need to be sure of what they want and speak with one voice. South Sudan although fighting for secession and independence still needed a referendum to decide its fate.  For Federalists, another option would be to demand a Federation as a prelude to secession. The fact remains that, unity in leadership is necessary, if not, the world will look at Southern Cameroons and its multiple factions as a joke and not take the struggle serious.

The Federalists

Federation has become a growing trend among many post-colonial African nations. Many societies in Africa today see federation as a solution to the complexities caused by their colonial heritage and the Berlin Conference of 1885. The African concept of federation is quite different from the European or American concept because of the historical difference of its people. Of the many successful attempts at federation in Africa, only a few cases actually succeeded: - Nigeria, South Africa (though unofficially) and Ethiopia. Micheal Burgess, writing on Federalism in Africa (published in 2012) defined Federalism as “the recognition of difference and diversity in its many forms as the driving force of federation”. In other words, Federation is the co-existence of different and diverse groups of people into a single unit.  People can however have federalism without a federal institution or system. Some other forms of federalism include decentralization which fragments the state into sub pieces (localities or regions) with autonomy. The key ingredient of a federation is the notion of autonomy that is inscribed in the federal constitution with the guarantee of equal representation in the central government’s decision-making process.

Why most Federations Failed?

1. Economic Imbalance between the richly endowed communities and groups versus the poor groups. This point is key in avoiding conflicts within a federation. As observed by Michael burgess, there has always been the argument of whether each state should have exclusive ownership of its resources. The solution as observed in some countries in the past  has been the creation of a federal account where each state deposited revenues from its resources. The constitution however made provisions to cater for the constituents from which the resources were exploited. A certain percentage (13%) of the revenue from the resource was taken from the federal account and returned the state  for its own development.  This made the state whose resource was being extracted not to feel exploited. This practice which was very famous in keeping federations together in the 1960s is called the “derivation Principle”. However, when leaders and dominant groups began to centralize power and revenues to themselves, disregarding minority oil-producing groups or states; it led to uprisings and demands by minority groups to secede.   
2. Size imbalance with one group dominating the other and using its size to dictate its policies on the smaller group.
3. Ill-will and annexationist tendencies of the larger group against the smaller group. 
4.  Difference in ideology and vision between the components of the federation. One party sees   federalism as a means of unity and the other sees it as a stepping stone to independence.
5.  Division and political in-fighting among the leadership in the federation.
6.  The feeling of relegation, the desecration of the other’s culture and identity and the absence of  national unity.
7.   The violation of the human rights of weaker group.
8.  Disrespect or violation of the terms of the federal constitution and its values. 
9.  Lack of  institutions for accountability, justice and democratic expressions.

The main reason why I included the reasons for the failures of most federations is because, I want the proponents of federalism to look at them closely and determine if they believe the regime of  Yaoundé will be willing to put in place all the right conditions  that will guarantee peaceful cohabitation in a two state federation in Cameroon. Will the regime make a u-turn on its "annexationist" ambitions and suddenly begin to look at and treat the Southern Cameroons as its "Equal"? Reflect on that for a minute.

Dialogue

 As mentioned above, the current dialogue initiatives have all resulted in deadlock due to the regime’s ill-fate. Looking the history of the regime,  I have very high doubts that they will agree to give such autonomous powers to Southern Cameroons in the event of a  Federation without the presence of an international body. That is why I insist on the need to bring in a third party to the dialogue table so that the leaders of the Consortium don’t get bullied into accepting a hurriedly patched up deal in the name of a Federation. 

I strongly oppose the current dialogue environment and dispensation. The Consortium is no match to the regime’s heavy machinery. Although they have succeeded to shaken the regime thus far, time may be a factor of defeat.  They more the deadlock persists, some members in the struggle may grow weary and decide to accept whatever small concession the regime may offer as a deal. Southern Cameroonians may end up accepting a “Trojan Horse” in the name of a federal constitution and find themselves where they began.  I cannot over-emphasize the need to invite an international third party to the dialogue table who will ensure both the security of the members of the Consortium as well as validate whatever agreement is made.

All Anglophone Conference III

Desperate to forge a new path that would bring back the Federal structure and salvage the pride and identity of Southern Cameroonians, a group of Southern Cameroonian non-partisan elite came together in the 1990's in the  All Anglophone Conferences in Buea and Bamenda. During these conclaves, they took a common position and designed a blueprint federal constitution that was sent to the regime in Yaounde. Although the regime did not follow up on the work of the AAC I & II, it is quite commendable to see the unity that Southern Cameroonians demonstrated. Fast forward to 2017, Southern Cameroonians find themselves in another critical moment of their history and the leaders of this current wave will be judged by their descendants based on the achievements of this struggle. With the division in the vision (federalists and secessionist/autonomists), it is very important for the elites of come together in a think-tank with the Consortium so that they can have a united position and front. The Consortium is doing an awesome job so far, but they need everyone on board to help them strategize on the next move after the January 09, 2017 ghost town. I strongly recommend a third All Anglophone Conference to be held either in Bamenda, Buea or in the diaspora so that Southern Cameroonians can speak with one voice. 

Conclusion

West Cameroonians are a peaceful people who only clamor for justice and equality. All of West Cameroon will come together one day and lift up its leaders both past and present and have their names engraved on the pillars of history.  Today, many who used to discard the SCNC, SCAPO et al. as extremists are now seeing reason with them. Today, this struggle is no longer that of a few factions as was the case in the 1990's. It is that of a “People” united by history and culture, from the hills of Sabga in the Northwest to the cocoa and coffee  fields in the Southwest, standing up in unison to fight for a cause started by many brave men and women in the past. 
France is not ready to give up the exploitation of the massive oil reserves that the creator in His infinite wisdom and generosity  blessed West Cameroon with. Reason why the Yaounde regime has never flinched when it comes to resolving the problem of West Cameroon. The regime is wrapped around the fingers of France and the president of the Republic is under constant pressure not to let go of West Cameroon which they view as  their de facto ATM (Automated Money Machine). 
How long will West Cameroon continue to stay quiet while its resources are plundered and exploited and its population languishing under abject poverty? The timing is right, the feelings and the people are united more than ever to break free. The blood of the fore fathers of West Cameroon is calling for justice. The blood of all the youths who have been killed and the pain of those who are languishing in the prisons of La Republique is calling. It is NOW or NEVER.

God Bless Southern Cameroons and the Republic of Ambazonia.

"When injustice becomes law, resistance becomes a duty". Thomas Jefferson.