New Cameroon Views Blog: THE CAUSE WE HAVE CHOSEN:

The Union-nationalists of Cameroon are the advanced and humanized Cameroonian patriots who accept the usage of revolutionary, reformative and/or evolutionary methods in the appropriate circumstances to achieve the best for the Cameroonian people. They feel so much for the wellbeing and future of the land and its people that they are prepared to engage in a prolonged struggle against the retrogressive system in the country than accept conciliation that would continue depriving the people of their freedom, dignity, liberty and hope.

A person who has Cameroon at heart; a person who grieves over its pathetic vulnerability, bondage, despondence and malady; a person who can not afford to live in indifference; a person who can not live without thinking, scheming and working to rid Cameroon of the suffocating bondage of the French-imposed system should consider himself or herself a Union-nationalist. From revolution as a tool of change, the Union-nationalist accepts that those unworkable, repressive, servile, and anti-people ties, structures, institutions and concepts should be destroyed and new ones created to replace them. The Union-nationalist also accepts the reformative path in situations where the demand is for the improvement or amelioration of existing structures, institutions, ties, concepts and more; so that the wellbeing of the people would be enhanced to a state that is far better than their current situations. Also, by harnessing the evolutionary process of change, the Union-nationalist stretches pragmatism to the utmost by accepting the fact that change can also evolve in line with the pace of nature. If we bend our heads, cast aside our egoism and egotism and sincerely search for answers to the Cameroonian quagmire, we would observe with blinding clarity that the different aspects of Cameroon’s malady call for revolutionary, reformatory and evolutionary cures―depending on the extent of the malady pinpointed.

Permit me to coin a word for the Union-nationalist who accepts revolution, reformation and evolution as courses to pursue in the progressive change that Cameroon needs. I will call such a person a “revomationist.”

Yes, the majority of Cameroonians have chosen the course or path of revomation. The destination is the realization of the Dream of a New Cameroon embodied in the century old Kamerunian Nationalism that incorporated the prefix “Union” following the partition of the historic German colony of Kamerun after the First World War, and that became revolutionary by advocating for reunification and independence after the Second World War. Yes, the all-embracing nature of Cameroonian nationalism was conceived in 1910, almost a decade before Kamerun suffered the partition of its territory, a nightmarish consequence of the defeat of the German colonial master aggravated by the French-imposed anachronistic system that followed Cameroon’s deceptive reunification and independence. The consequences of the anachronistic system are stifling the efforts of Union-nationalists today.

Still, we do not feel defeated. We understand we have encountered setbacks. We feel undefeated since the times of the German colonial administration. The execution of our first nationalist leadership under the names of Martin Paul Samba (Mebenga Mebono) and Rudolf Duala Manga Bell did not stop us. It resulted instead in the build up of energy that revived Cameroonian nationalism thirty-four years after with the distinction that it sought above all to reunite the partitioned German Kamerun. This ideal of Union-Nationalism to bring together the peoples of the former German Kamerun and lead them to realize an independent, free, democratic, prosperous, liberal and humane country got crushed by its enemies and got usurped by Ahidjo. The result then was the partial reunification of the former German Kamerun and quasi-independence for the land that bears all the hallmarks of a colossal deception where those who put in their blood and sweat to see Cameroon free never made it to power.

Yes, despite the deception and the setbacks to our goals, we have been moving forward in the precarious course of our Union-nationalism, suffering the fires from our enemies, but relentless in pursuing our objectives. We know that despite the overwhelming strength of those who consider Cameroonian Union-nationalists as enemies, they are afraid of the humane and all-embracing nature of the national idea. They know that they cannot defeat Cameroonian Union-Nationalism unless the Cameroonian people allow them to. So far, the Cameroonian people have not given up despite the high price paid in defending the ideal. The price has been so high that some Cameroonians found themselves tempted into embracing alternative ideas after the failed UPC’s (Union of the Populations of the Cameroons) war against the forces (Ahidjo-French alliance) determined to keep Cameroon in bondage. The lure of conciliation reached unprecedented heights after the Franco-Ahidjo genocide that cost almost a million Cameroonian lives. Following that, many Cameroonians stretched credulity to the utmost by accepting the lies that the country could be built into a great nation through an alternative course dictated by imperialistic-minded men in Paris and their puppets and collaborators that constitute the Cameroonian system. Thirty-seven years of Ahidjo-Biya rule has proven the conciliators wrong.

Today, even skeptics and cynics who still have Cameron at heart accept the fact that Cameroon’s salvation lies in harnessing the tenets of its Union-Nationalism for the demanding task of rebuilding our potentially great nation. We should not allow the ignoramuses, uncommitted and self-centered Cameroonians to distract us with shouts of an alternative direction.

Yes, we are marching along the difficult course of weathered hopes, all the while aware of the fact that we can achieve the objective of our cause only if we stay united in our Union-nationalism. We are wearied by the attacks of our desperate enemies, but we have decided to confront them and prevent them from banishing our hopes to the doldrums that it has found itself in over the decades. Do not reproach us if you are not up to the challenge of standing up for the country’s Union-nationalism, even if you are with those who are committed to crush it. No matter the price that the cause demands, we will pursue it, rather than accept conciliation over years of perpetrated injustices, underdevelopment, despondence and discrimination. Cameroon’s Union-nationalists would not even accept any acrid offer that comes with giving away parts of their hopes, dreams and integrity. The purpose of Cameroonian Union-Nationalism is to get the Cameroonian people the things that they deserve―their hopes, future, dignity and opportunities. Those are rational demands that do not deprive anybody at all, even those who are against them.

So, do not fight us in our struggle because we will fight you back. Do not reproach us in your resignation and indifference because you have nothing to offer. Do not try to divert us or hinder us with your futile options and cowardly actions by haranguing about the great word of peace because peace is not possible when our people are being prevented from hoping. There can be no just peace when the Cameroonian people are being deprived of their dignity, future and peace of mind. If you persist, then we are compelled to fight not only against the enemies firing at us, but even against you who consciously or unconsciously, are luring us into the fire of our internal and external enemies. We acknowledge the fact that we share a common past with our enemies and that our future promises to be better if we work together with mutual benefits in mind, but we will never accept a relationship that is devoid of rationalism, social solidarity and humanitarianism.

Janvier Tchouteu January 28, 1995

Janvier Tchouteu is the author of Triple Agent, Double Cross