Cameroon has been going through a crisis for the past three months, and they are no where close to finding a stable solution. As a citizen and a conflict resolutions person, it is my duty and responsibility to educate my brothers and sisters on what patriotism means. Based on the observation of the crisis in the past few months and the discussions that have been ongoing in the media in Cameroon and the international hemisphere, I would commend the Northwest and South West regions of this country for demonstrating their patriotism for their country. If they didn’t have a love and desire to make this country advance, they would not have gone out to call on the underlying issues that have been brewing beneath the surface.

Because they have decided to address the issues that have kept this country stagnant for years, the government has termed their actions as an act of “terrorism”. Terrorism in itself is defined as ” the systematicc use of terror especially as a means of coercion”. Based on the YouTube videos captured by witnesses, the law enforces themselves have carried out lawless crimes against the citizens.

It is the duty and responsibility of a state government to protect the rights of its citizens at all levels.  Unfortunately,  the Cameroon government seems not to get the memo. The world is moving forward and we are moving backwards. What happened to freedom of expression in this country?  Disconnecting people’s networks and taking Internet services, not only incarcerate students from carrying on their education through online courses, but also impedes families from communicating with their loved ones.  Not only have families been deprived of visiting their loved ones in the Northwest regions because of broken roads and tedious hours of travel on these roads, but they are void of any medium of communication. To begin with,  the simcards got blocked and families couldn’t reach their loved ones, especially in the conflict areas. After the incident went viral, the simcards were restored and Internet was taken off phones. This serves as a violation of human rights on many levels. I feel strongly that a good leader is one that listens to the people even down to the least of them. However this seems not to be the case right now. This is pure dictatorship and clearly demonstrates that there is no democracy in this country.
How can students be deprived of education for months and some ministers dare to say there’s nothing wrong with this country? Removing millions of thousands to deal with the immediate situation will not solve the problem in the long run. Have the decency to sit down with the people and come up with a strategy as to how to deal with the situation in a civilized and peaceful manner. Putting security forces around schools in the South west for students to return to school is encouraging to parents,  but not enough to deal with the cause of the conflict. It makes a mockery of those who are grieving thus fueling their frustrations. For how long will the government provide security?  The time an energy wasted would have been used up wisely if the government would be admit that there’s a serious problem that should be dealt with which they have ignored for years.
It would be wise not to term the people’s protest as an act of “terrorism”, because they had stepped out in a peaceful protest a few months ago and were met with lawless, brutal military forces. Using the students as an escape goat to shift attention from the crimes committed by the law forces in these past few months is called hypocrisy and cowardness. You cannot state that students should not be deprived of education and that it’s their right to have education,  when others have been deprived of their right to speak out against the crimes committed against humanity.
Come to the drawing board and settle this matter like adults and stop acting like children who do not want to share their toys and candies. Leaders are there to serve the people and not to become kings. Let justice reign in this country.