Southern Cameroons: Why the Resistance Needs to Go Beyond Just Resisting ⁰

A new greatness awaits the Federal Republic of Ambazonia, but Southern Cameroonians must define it. Our top political priority over the next two years of the resistance should be to deny recognition to any Southern Cameroons group that does not take directives from the Interim Government. Clearly, the tables have turned. We now have a US administration coming up with a very different agenda on how to deal with the vicious regime in Yaoundé.

The all-out onslaught by the Trump administration against the Biya Francophone Beti Ewondo regime has left Yaoundé reeling, scrambling to protect its leader Paul Biya and people they hold dear. The Ambazonia Self-Defense Council Restoration Forces have been resisting with unprecedented levels of energy, and the resistance has been working shockingly well so far.  It is evidently clear that the Biya regime is approaching its end and French Cameroun is going to be on fire.  Southern Cameroonians living in La Republique du Cameroun need to think and rethink things. There is need to change as they can’t keep playing CPDM game: they need to go back to our Anglo-Saxon principles and help in crafting our own, new vision for what the Ambazonian nation should be.

Biya’s incoherent speeches, his disregard for genuine dialogue with the leadership of the Interim Government and his obvious personal flaws has put him at daggers-drawn positions with Europe, Australia and the United States. Biya no longer has the support of the even the Central Committee members of his ruling party to propel him to the Presidency this 2018.

Since the meeting with the US ambassador, the war in Southern Cameroons has gotten worse and Ambazonians recently lost one of their brave commanders Fru Akuma. This was followed by the killing of George Nwangi at Nguti by French Cameroun army soldiers.  Southern Cameroonians have never been more unified on any one topic than its dislike for the one and indivisible Cameroon.  It’s natural at this point in time for every Southern Cameroonians to rally behind the Interim Government and focus on the resistance. Ambazonians should remember that powerful institutions such as the IG are almost always defined by what they are for, not what they are against.

As long as we’re only resisting, we’re waiting for the Biya regime to launch another attack. Not only will we be always on the defensive, we’ll limit our imaginations to a reality within the boundaries of Biya and French Cameroun’s world.  Mindful of the unprecedented levels of participation by the US, Nigeria and above all France, it’s unlikely we’ll be able to effectively resist every move.

Winning this war and securing the Ambazonian territory is not about chasing Biya and his gangs out of Yaounde as the Americans and the French have agreed. That has its own problems. Winning is not about seeing opponents in French Cameroun bleeding. Winning is far grander: channeling unprecedented levels of consolidating and multiplying our territorial gains into an idea for Southern Cameroons that not only combats the corrosive policies we’ve seen in La Republique, but can lead to a permanently better future for all Ambazonians.

It’s not a surprised that no French Cameroun politicians who oppose Biya have come out with clear messages about how to advance a progressive agenda in the current crisis in Southern Cameroons. Perhaps they’re just as taken aback by the Biya assault as the rest of us Ambazonians.

The race to succeed Biya has evoked some powerful discussions about where Ambazonians go next. The Acting President of the Federal Republic of Ambazonia, Sisiku Ayuk Julius Tabe long made a case for the future of the territory and his favorite articulation stands tall on “My Trip to Buea”. The reality is that every Southern Cameroonian wants to have an independent state. Consequently, the resistance must demonstrate to the world our inclusive, moral, powerful one and togetherness behind our IG that we want to see beyond the struggle for independence. That togetherness will not only carry us through an inevitably difficult war of independence, but well into the future. It’s difficult for misguided Southern Cameroonians such as Cho Ayaba and Boh Herbert to think that way right now, but it has never been more necessary.

By Sessekou Asu Isong, London