Internet reinstatement received with mixed feelings in Southern Cameroons

Cameroon's veteran Dictator Paul Biya finally yielded to pressure from home and abroad yersterday Thursday April 20, 2017 at exactly 5:00PM by ordering the immediate reinstatement of the internet in the north and south west regions of the country.

The internet which was cut off from these two regions in January had greatly crippled economic and socio cultural activities and attracted criticisms both from home and abroad.

Nevertheless, the news of internet reinstatement in these two parts of the country have greatly been applauded by some inhabitants and at the same time ridiculed by others.

A Limbe resident welcomes the internet with joy. “Welcome back internet, courage to my fellow brothers and sisters. Let’s continue from where we ended” he says.

I am waiting to see my south west chiefs to begin sending their motion of support for Paul Biya for restoring the internet in the region” mocks a South West resident.

“Popo you think you are smart, our fight was never about internet; we need our independence. Let the struggle continue” writes a Bamenda resident on her Facebook page.

Another Facebook user writes on his time line “when you were cut off internet from southern Cameroons, it was never announced. When you restore it, it becomes an Easter gift. The struggle has just begun”.

Despite the blackout, some Cameroonian startups found ways to get online by creating an “internet refugee camp.” On an even brighter note, during the shutdown, 17-year-old Nji Collins Gbah, whose hometown was cut off the internet, emerged as the first African winner in Google’s annual coding competition.

Many Southern Cameroonians have said it is a step in the right direction but they are still waiting for the unconditional release of all protesters who were illegally abducted and arrested and whisked to the Yaounde central prison; they say it is then that they can start real negotiations with the government of Cameroon.