Exodus; Multitude Flee From "Saviour" to "Oppressor"

Exodus; Multitude Flee From "Saviour" to "Oppressor"

As the anticipated controversial lockdown of Anglophone Cameroon approached, a tactic that was enforced by proponents of secession as means of venting their anger on the government of Cameroon for the life sentence jail term that was slammed on the Nera10 team headed by Sisiku Ayuk Julius Tabe on Tuesday August 20th 2019 and also to reenforce effective school boycott for the 2019/2020 academic year, there's been a mass exodus of multitudes of persons mostly women and school age children from Anglophone Cameroon, these days referred to as "Ground Zero" to Francophone Cameroon, these days referred to as "La Republic". Hundreds of thousands of passengers had been trooping all travel agencies within the North West and South West Regions to scramble for any available ticket.

Hundreds of Passengers at a Travel Agency in Bamenda Scrambling for Tickets

It was a sunny Saturday morning, August 24th 2019. From where I stood at the Mbon Motor Park, Mile 18 Mbengwi, I could count hundreds of passengers that just came in from Ngie, Njikwa and the hinterlands of Mbengwi like Tugi, Munam, Touembeng, Mbengbu, Zang Tabi. They all had one destination, Bamenda, from where they shall be continuing their journey to other urban towns like Bafoussam, Douala and Yaounde.

Fortunately, the fare between Mbengwi - Bamenda remained unchanged. In the past, drivers would've instantly hiked the fare. I later learnt they had been warned by Amba Boys (non state armed groups) never to take advantage of many travellers to add transport fare. Curious to see the end of the trail, I  boarded a cab too to Bamenda.

Child Who Wants to go to School

Here, I was perplexed with what befell my naked eyes. At all the travel agencies, passengers kept cuing just to obtain a travel ticket. Under the baking sun, they stood with all perseverance, non ready to give up his/her position to another. The passengers were mostly women and children of school going age. They carried along with them boxes, mattresses, beds, tables and other household items, indicative of how lengthy their stay across the other side was going to be. They were like illegal immigrants fighting to cross over into the land of milk and honey against all odds. At the ticket sales points, it was a matter of fighting with one's last strength to obtain one.

Between 2017/2018, proponents of secession had called for a school boycott. The call wasn't fully respected as in some areas, schools kept functioning. Many had hoped things will get better in 2019 so that those who had stayed out of school could resume studies. Even parents who had sent their children across to Francophone Cameroon for studies were also hopeful things will normalise so they could bring back their kids to school in Anglophone Cameroon. Prior to the commencement of the 2019/2020 school year, several campaigns mostly on social media were being carried out to support school resumption. Even the government too joint in singing the back to school choruses. 

Passengers Cuing for Tickets at a Travel Agency

Many had hoped freeing the detained leaders of the Anglophone struggle otherwise referred to as the Nera10 will be a positive decision that will in effect give way for effective school resumption. But when news broke on Tuesday August 20th 2019 that the leaders have instead been slammed a life jail sentence, all hopes became dashed to the wall. To make matters worst, Chris Anu, Communication Secretary of the Interim Government that was formed in the course of the struggle announced a three weeks shutdown of Anglophone Cameroon beginning August 26th 2019. These two bitter peels; life sentence and lockdown are what caused the biggest exodus ever of Anglophone Cameroonians from the comfort of their homes to "the enemies camp" since secessionists had been referring to Francophone Cameroon as enemies. 

Parents who couldn't bear the grunt of another wasted academic year saw a cross over to the other side as last option. Those who hadn't the means only had to continue grinding and gnashing their teeth as an illiterate generation was being raised due to the inconsiderable decisions of a few. Despite the increase in transport fares and deployment of empty buses to come transport passengers, at the end of the day, not all ended up succeeding in travelling. Some remained stranded and only had to return home in tears. The lock down date met them on the ground.

Traffic Jam at Sonac Street Caused by Mass Exodus out of the Region

Meanwhile those who made it through have been seeking admission spaces for their kids in the many bilingual schools that have sprouted up almost everywhere across Francophone Cameroon. Even though Francophone Cameroon is now remedying the increasing level of illiteracy across Anglophone Cameroon brought about by the armed conflict, many see it as a well calculated plan put in place to assimilate the once cherished Anglo Saxon system of education and instead of rescuing the system, proponents of secession are rather simplifying the process by enforcing school boycott across Anglophone Cameroon.

Momo S.D.O Seals Bessi-Awum Palace in Batibo after "Illegal" Enthronement of Mbah Ndam as Fon

Momo S.D.O Seals Bessi-Awum Palace in Batibo after "Illegal" Enthronement of Mbah Ndam as Fon

It was on Wednesday July 10th 2019 that hundreds of villagers alongside observers  from within and without stormed the Bessi-Awum palace esplanade in Batibo sub division, Momo division to witness the enthronement of H.R.H Fon Mbah Wilfred Ndam  as new fon of Bessi-Awum village. Before now, his predecessor, H.R.H Fon Richardson Mbah Forkum II ruled the village for 82 years and was said to have been the longest serving traditional ruler in the entire North West region before "disappearing" on Monday June 22nd 2019. The people of the North West region believe that a fon does not die, he either disappears or travels.

Prefectural Order Sealing the Bessi-Awum Palace

Barely about two weeks after, the travelled fon returned to the palace, this time around through his son in the person of H.R.H Fon Mbah Wilfred Forkum III. Reports say the enthronement ceremony of the new fon was void of any gun firing as tradition demands and that no single administrative officer was present as the law demands since fons are auxiliaries of the administration. Heightened insecurity would've accounted for this as Batibo sub division is alleged to be a fief of separatist fighters referred to as Amba Boys.

"Illegal" Fon Mbah Wilfred Ndam
Photo Credit: Mbuh Stella/Equinoxe TV

In an interview granted Equinoxe Television on the day of his enthronement, the newly enthroned fon regretted the government imposed ban on unauthorized gun firing especially as his late father loved gun shooting so much and so he too would've loved such a practice to be carried out during his own enthronement. He also indicated readiness to join any peace endeavours that will help restore order in the entire region so that sons and daughters of Bessi-Awum can return home.

Hardly had the new fon warmed the royal stool for less than a month that the Momo Senior Divisional Officer, Monono Absalom Woloa, Knight of the Cameroon National Order of Valour, mindful of the constitution of Cameroon signed  a Prefectoral Order No. 14/2019/PO/DO/A2/SEFA sealing the palace of Bessi-Awum, 2nd class chiefdom in Batibo sub division till regular consultations in respect of the regulations in force and the tradition are carried out for the selection of a new traditional ruler for the village. The order therefore repelled all illegal actions earlier carried out by a group of persons in view of selecting a new traditional ruler and in violation of Articles 8-12 of Decree No. 77/245 of 15/07/1977 Organising Traditional Chiefdoms.

Villagers at Enthronement Ceremony
Photo Credit: Mbuh Stella/Equinoxe TV

Article 2 of the said order went on to say that Mr. Mbah Wilfred Ndam, arrogating the title of traditional ruler of Bessi-Awum village is ordered to seize from acting as such and to leave the royal palace immediately as the chairman of the Bessi-Awum traditional council shall henceforth manage all activities of the chiefdom till a new fon is selected in accordance with Decree No. 77/245 of 15/07/1977. The said prefectural order however made it clear that the sealing of the palace concerns only the fon's house and does not expel "Mafors" and their children from the palace as they shall continue to live in their homes within the palace premises as before.

The family squabble leading to the S.D.O's decision stems from a letter of complaint dated 11/08/2019 from Prince Mbah Daniel Fon against his brother Prince Mbah Wilfred Ndam for illegally enthroning himself as fon of Bessi-Awum village in Batibo sub division. The Divisional Officer for Batibo and the forces of law and order in Momo were each in their spheres of competence charged with the the implementation of the order but Mbengwi Online is yet to to confirm if that has actually been done or it's just a paper decision.

It should be recalled that chieftaincy squabbles are a frequent occurrence in the North West region in general and Momo division in particular. They've always been conflicting opinions on the subject as to whether the administration has any right to mettle into the traditional affairs of a people.

They Came in Armored Cars to Assure Security of Students & Schools

They Came in Armored Cars to Assure Security of Students & Schools

The North West regional governor, Adolphe Lele L'Afrique has been touring the various divisions within his region to mobilise for the effective resumption of schools for the 2019/2020 academic year. Last Wednesday July 31st 2019 was the turn of Momo division to welcome the governor and his entourage after Donga Mantung, Bui and Ngoketunjia. He was accompanied by the Minister Delegate at the Presidency in Charge of the Supreme State Audit, Her Excellency Mbah Acha née Fomundam Rose. 

It was at exactly 1pm in the Mbengwi Council Hall that the officials were received by the administration of Momo and Mbengwi. In  a quickie welcome address, the mayor of the Mbengwi Council, Madam Tebe Beatrice told her distinguished august guests "This ceremony is a signal to the expectations in the days ahead." While stating the purpose of his visit, governor Adolphe Lele L'Afrique told attendees "We have come here today with the aim and mission to remobilize the school community, stakeholders and the entire population of Momo to organise themselves in such a way that come September, classes with resume in this division."

This was followed by an intervention from the S.D.O of Momo Division, Absalom Monono Woloa during which he unraveled a balance sheet of his area of jurisdiction.  "It's a pity that the academic year 2018/2019 was very devastatingly negative in Momo Division" Monono told his superiors.  "We effectively started with some schools but due to threats and arts of arson perpetrated by armed individuals, all the schools shutdown" he continued. 

Monono also confirmed that as a result of  insecurity, the few primary and secondary plus high schools together with teacher training colleges and vocational training institutes in Momo that had few students at the beginning of the year later closed down and some students and schools were compelled to relocate to Bamenda and other regions to finish the academic year. Not only were schools shutdown within the division, some suffered arson and theft like the Government Technical Teacher Training College (GTTTC/ENIET) Mbengwi where equipment worth tens of millions were carted away by hoodlums that have decided to pick up arms against the state.

 "We have carried out searches and discovered some of these materials stolen from schools in some houses" the S.D.O assured his guests and then proceeded to notify them on the numerous sensitization campaigns his administration has been carrying out to educate the population on the need for schools to resume. Hear him; "It's a challenge we've been giving to our parents in Momo Division that they should know that there's not going to be an official examination where Momo will be declared first in honouring ghost towns, in destroying school property and school boycott. When others are giving orders on social media that no schools but their children are going to school, we shouldn't be foolish to allow a situation where our children will be the losers when competitive exams and jobs will be launched and the educated children of these activists come to occupy all the positions."

Before rewarming his seat, the seasoned administrator also condemned the hypocrisy of educational stakeholders like inspectors, delegates, teachers and all other civil servants that have completely abandoned work on basis of insecurity but are seen attending church services, funerals, meetings, markets and doing private jobs. He quoted the example of the Mbengwi District hospital which he said is the most secured as it is just near a gendarmerie post but yet is not functional as all the doctors and nurses have abandoned work. "There are health centres inside the quarters, some of which are even illegal that when we take wounded civilians and soldiers there, we meet nurses on government pay roll working there" Monono regretted.

H.E Mbah Acha née Fomundam Rose, Cameroon's Minister Delegate at the Presidency in Charge of Supreme State Audit

He then ended by giving statistics of the distribution of the Head of State's instituted Emergency Humanitarian Assistance Package to internally displaced and affected persons in Momo division. From his statistics, the government through the Ministry of Territorial Administration has on about three occasions given goods to be distributed to the concerned in the two pool centres of Mbengwi and Widikum. So far, 264 IDPs in Mbengwi and 507 in Widikum have been assisted, giving a total of 771 meanwhile 158 and 105 new IDPs have been registered in Mbengwi and Widikum respectively pending assistance.

The governor and delegation was assured by the traditional rulers present that schools will effectively resume in Momo Division come September 2019. This, after room was given to the floor for reactions or questions. First was Pastor Abanda Edwin of a pentecostal denomination in Mbengwi who stood up and lambasted the hypocrisy of the state in seeking lasting solutions to the crisis. He told them "For our children to go to school, we need peace and for there to be peace, we need dialogue." He also added that government knows those to talk with for there to be effective school resumption but keeps pretending.

Among the governor's entourage were the regional delegates of basic and secondary education, employment and vocational training, the regional coordinators of the distribution of the emergency humanitarian package and the disarmament, demobilization and reintegration commission. The officials each took turns to present statistical analysis of the situation in their respective domains with regards to the crisis. First was the regional delegate of Employment and Vocational Training, Madam Foo Ngang née Injoh Prodencia Awa who disclosed that out of the six public vocational training institutes within Momo where courses like fashion designing, decoration, building construction, wood works, carpentry and joinery, plumbing and sanitary  installation were being offered, that is SAR/SM Mbengwi, Menka, Ngie, Widikum and Azeh, three were touched by the crisis. The regional delegate of basic education on his part revealed that around the end of the 2017 academic year, Momo division had 39.980 pupils but as at now, the number is zero. He added that 16 primary schools were vandalised and 4 are currently being occupied by separatist fighters.

Armored Cars Securing the State Authorities

As concerns secondary education, its regional delegate, Mr. Ngwang Roland Yuven unveiled startling statistics from which it was gathered that out of the 63 secondary schools in Momo division, only 3 managed to at least receive a student at the start of the 2018/2019 academic year but later shutdown as one, Saint Benedict's Comprehensive College, Widikum had to relocate to Bamenda. "Out of an expected enrolment of 5.511 students in Momo, we had just 154 that showed up at the beginning of the school year mostly in teacher training colleges" said the delegate. These later transfered to Bamenda. He added that out of 93 teachers that were directly affected by the crisis in the region, 4 are from Momo and that still in the same division, out of the 63 secondary schools, 22 have been partially or wholely destroyed. Fortunately, out of the 7 secondary school teachers in the region that died directly as a result of the war, non was killed in Momo division. 

Apart from schools and classes, Mr. Ngwang Roland also presented statistics about results which indicated that in the recently published end of year examination results, Momo had no single candidate for BEPC, CAP, Probatoire and BAC. For CAPIET, Momo sent in 92 candidates (the GTTTC Mbengwi students that relocated to Bamenda) out of which 89 passed giving a percentage of 98.87%. Lastly, for G.C.E, St Benedict's Comprehensive College, Widikum that transfered to Bamenda scored 100% in the Advance level and 88.89% at the Ordinary level.

Taken aback by the poor performance of her division as concerns the functioning of schools, Minister Mbah Acha née Fomundam Rose, Cameroon's Minister Delegate at the Presidency in Charge of Supreme State Control, coming in as an elite of the division while addressing the stakeholders made it clear to them that whether Momo children go to school or not, they will continue to do their job. Talking to the press at the end of the meeting, she said "When the schools will start, I promise the children of Momo that I am going to assist them in one way or the other because it bleeds our hearts to see that the children are not going to school." She went ahead to make it clear that educating children is for the benefit of families and communities not state officials. "Competitive entrance exams have been launched and their qualifications are certificates not staying in the bush. If I didn't go to school, I wouldn't have been minister. So I will want to see many more high civil servants, ministers, governors, S.D.Os come from Momo Division. It will be our pride" she ended

Combat Ready Government Troops

On the day of the visit of the state officials to the Momo Divisional Headquarters, Mbengwi inhabitants were compelled to stay indoors as a ghost town operation was forced on them by separatist fighters. This prompted Minister Mbah Acha to express dismay. She said "I am surprised that when the governor and S.D.O invite people to come seat and talk about the school year, a ghost town is declared as if what the governor and prefect are coming to say here is for their interest" She attested to the fact that they've been holding a series of meetings in  Yaoundé but can't seat there as ministers and decide what will happen on the ground, reason why she decided to come and talk to her people as an elite not as a minister because she has nothing in Mbengwi to control. 

During the various presentations in the council hall, the Momo S.D.O and regional coordinator of the disarmament commission talked of how some fighters have laid down arms and are currently undergoing reformation at the regional centre. Not long had the delegation departed from the hall to the S.D.Os office in G.R.A for a security meeting that the separatist fighters announced their presence with sequential gunshots just near by. A tensed atmosphere of confusion and panic then ensued as people ran into buildings for safety. The gendarmes and police officers that were at their duty posts in Mile 18 Mbengwi stood in front of their offices on high alert. The BIRs and war artillery that came in from Bamenda responded to the approaching enemy with thunderous gunshots of various magnitudes. The fire exchange exercise lasted for over a minute before subsiding and a calm atmosphere returned.

The back to school campaign was a repetition of a similar exercise carried out last year by same officials with no positive results. It is expected that this year, there will be a great improvement in the functioning of schools in the N.W region in general and Momo division in particular. This because many persons including  national and international bodies have been intensifying calls for school resumption because the anglophones are the ones losing in the school boycott. The governor shall in the days ahead be visiting other remaining divisions within the region to preach the same message.