The anglophone problem is no new story the country today as even those found in the nukes and crannies of the country have heard about it. This problem did not start of recent. It has been battled upon as a cold war for a very long time now. The problem was set to the lime light by two major factors; the peaceful demonstration of the anglophone lawyers and teachers as they requested several amendments be made in their respective domains.
Through this demonstrations, a faction of the anglophone population that had the ego in them for a while now took it on them to openly evoke their plight. This gradually turned the the "lawyers and teachers" grievances into what today makes up the famous anglophone problem. It is not strange... the lawyers and teachers make up the preliminary base of every society and they are the ones who hold the fate of the country. So, the grievance translating into what presently prevails was no mistake.
At first, the saddened population had only one plead, that of federation so they could have at least a control of what goes on in their part. This would have been a great step to ease administration as it was back in the days of the country's first president and would have also prevented the the prolonged crises.
But the government failed to heed to the peaceful demands of the anglophone population for reasons best known only to her. This was not seen by the anglophone population as a defeat. Instead, it gave them reason to head straight for total secession. To this effect, there was the mobilization of all the anglophone population both home and in the diaspora by a body that was put in place for the control of the anglophone population. These unfolding activities were accompanied by peaceful demonstrations out in the streets of anglophone regions. Not all the demonstrations always ended up peacefully as several have been the times when the forces of law and order came in killing and injuring a good number of anglophones. there was also a massive arrest of the youths. This led to the put in place of the famous ghost town strategy and the operation "no schools till our cry is heard". Since then, there has been no effective classes in the anglophone regions of the country. Many of the activists were taken as prisoners to face trial under the french system of law. As they were taken in, their case started being adjourned regularly so as to keep them in for as long as the population could be calm. But that was never the case. The government dispatched a board to Bamenda (The AD HOC COMMITEE) headed by Professor Paul Ghogomu. While in the North West region, a series of meetings were held as concerns the issue. But all the worries could not be redressed as the people demanded the unconditional release of their brothers before they could dialogue.
The whole year was never blended by full time schooling as should be the case especially in most private schools. This led to an extremely poor results of about 20-30% pass in the General Certificate of Examinations Ordinary and Advanced level.
In order to for the government to mend the situation, she dispatched more board of members to the diaspora to talk with the anglophones abroad who probably were in charge of spear heading the struggle. The board met with stiff protest in all of the countries they visited. After registering a failure, the government took another measure step. At the start of the month of September 2017, the Head of State, President Paul Biya passed a decree that ordered the release of some of the advocates of the anglophone problem in an attempt to please the resistant anglophone population. This act was received with partial joy as they still hesitated demanding for the total release of all anglophones involved. According to the government, those who were not released were involved in the destruction of national symbols and emblems. Even so, they still got in there as a result of the anglophone problem so they should be set free if truly the government is out to make peace and resolve the problem. Schools were supposed to resume on the 4th of September 2017. The resumption was only effective in the other 8 regions of the country but the turn out was rather timid in the anglophone region.
As of now, there is still a great lapse as far as school is concerned in the North West and South West regions of Cameroon.
Through this demonstrations, a faction of the anglophone population that had the ego in them for a while now took it on them to openly evoke their plight. This gradually turned the the "lawyers and teachers" grievances into what today makes up the famous anglophone problem. It is not strange... the lawyers and teachers make up the preliminary base of every society and they are the ones who hold the fate of the country. So, the grievance translating into what presently prevails was no mistake.
At first, the saddened population had only one plead, that of federation so they could have at least a control of what goes on in their part. This would have been a great step to ease administration as it was back in the days of the country's first president and would have also prevented the the prolonged crises.
But the government failed to heed to the peaceful demands of the anglophone population for reasons best known only to her. This was not seen by the anglophone population as a defeat. Instead, it gave them reason to head straight for total secession. To this effect, there was the mobilization of all the anglophone population both home and in the diaspora by a body that was put in place for the control of the anglophone population. These unfolding activities were accompanied by peaceful demonstrations out in the streets of anglophone regions. Not all the demonstrations always ended up peacefully as several have been the times when the forces of law and order came in killing and injuring a good number of anglophones. there was also a massive arrest of the youths. This led to the put in place of the famous ghost town strategy and the operation "no schools till our cry is heard". Since then, there has been no effective classes in the anglophone regions of the country. Many of the activists were taken as prisoners to face trial under the french system of law. As they were taken in, their case started being adjourned regularly so as to keep them in for as long as the population could be calm. But that was never the case. The government dispatched a board to Bamenda (The AD HOC COMMITEE) headed by Professor Paul Ghogomu. While in the North West region, a series of meetings were held as concerns the issue. But all the worries could not be redressed as the people demanded the unconditional release of their brothers before they could dialogue.
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| Map Showing English Speaking Cameroons |
The whole year was never blended by full time schooling as should be the case especially in most private schools. This led to an extremely poor results of about 20-30% pass in the General Certificate of Examinations Ordinary and Advanced level.
In order to for the government to mend the situation, she dispatched more board of members to the diaspora to talk with the anglophones abroad who probably were in charge of spear heading the struggle. The board met with stiff protest in all of the countries they visited. After registering a failure, the government took another measure step. At the start of the month of September 2017, the Head of State, President Paul Biya passed a decree that ordered the release of some of the advocates of the anglophone problem in an attempt to please the resistant anglophone population. This act was received with partial joy as they still hesitated demanding for the total release of all anglophones involved. According to the government, those who were not released were involved in the destruction of national symbols and emblems. Even so, they still got in there as a result of the anglophone problem so they should be set free if truly the government is out to make peace and resolve the problem. Schools were supposed to resume on the 4th of September 2017. The resumption was only effective in the other 8 regions of the country but the turn out was rather timid in the anglophone region.
As of now, there is still a great lapse as far as school is concerned in the North West and South West regions of Cameroon.