Letters: Manyu Diaspora must learn from the Asian Diaspora! ⁰

Many people have been wondering why the Asian Diaspora has made giant strides forward in Europe and North America, but the answer is obvious. Asians know how to pool their resources in order to achieve their goal. Their humility is a massive asset which has enabled them to reduce their dependence on Caucasians.

In many Western countries, Asians such as Indians and Chinese have actually established parallel economies which operate based on the rules of their new environment.

This is unfortunately not true with the African Diaspora which is struggling and has not yet figured out that unity is strength.

Most Sub-Saharan Africans come from environments wherein the solutions to their problems have been designed by nature but none of them is willing to learn the lessons of nature.

Sub-Saharan Africa is both savannah and forest and there is a lot to learn from this environment. Locust attack in a group! Lions hunt together to reduce the chances of their preys surviving their attack.

A pride of lions is bad news to any animal.  Hynas attack as a herd and they hardly kill each other though they may fight over their catch.

Crocodiles move in hordes, making it possible for them to tear their preys apart with relative ease. Even ants know that to overcome their challenge and guarantee the safety of their queen, they must work together.

In Cameroon, the people of the grass field understand that there is power in numbers. It is no surprise that the Bamilekes are those running the country’s economy and their northwest neighbors are dogging their footsteps when it comes to collaboration.

North westerners know that you will gain more through collaboration than through confrontation. They also know that conflict is as old as man, but their humility dictates to them that by addressing their differences, they could attain their common objective with relative ease.

But not every Cameroonian ethnic group sees life the same way. The people of Manyu have, from time immemorial, held that divided we stand and they are not going to change their ways anytime soon. They all are the best educated and their universities are always the best. Unity is not strength in Manyu.

Put ten Manyu people in one room and let them know that you have CFAF 50 million for any project of their choice in Manyu Division and that they should come up with a project plan which could create thousands of direct and indirect jobs in Manyu Division.

Strangely, if you come back after 20 minutes, they would not be talking to each other because they would have exhausted their stock of insults on each other. The objective was for them to talk to each other so that they can bring about development in their region but with Manyu people, development efforts are always counter-productive as they will never agree even on the smallest things of life.

After many decades abroad, the Manyu Diaspora remains the most fragmented Diaspora. Collective effort is not their forte and each of them always wants to be a hero. Just living abroad is a huge achievement to people of Manyu descent.

Strangely, they all always say their region has been neglected. Who else should be thinking of Manyu Division if the people who come there cannot work together to achieve the benefits of unity?

Working with other people requires humility and working together builds confidence and character. It is rare to see two Manyu people really getting involved in a partnership. Their bloated ego will always stand in the way of business and they will, at best, become enemies because of the business, with each of them accusing the other of engineering the failure of their business.

They are yet to understand that classroom knowledge has very little to do with success in life and business.

Business and life require a vision and not certificates. Formal education gives you information, life gives you wisdom. If you know how to use both, you will be the most accomplished person in life. The Manyu Diaspora must learn from the Asian Diaspora.

By Soter Tarh Agbaw-Ebai