Cameroon's war on terror: President Biya needs help

The fight against the Nigerian Islamic terrorist sect-Boko Haram in Cameroon is now a complex multifaceted war dear to all Cameroonians making President Biya and Cameroon a fragile State vulnerable to terrorist take-over in the Grand Nord regions despite the creation finally of a multinational 8,700 strongman force.  After the massacre of hundreds of civilians in Fotokol in the Far North region of Cameroon recently by the Nigerian Islamic terrorist  sect Boko Haram, Cameroonian civil society groups and the opposition have all edged the Biya regime to call for a national day of mourning.  

As Cameroon Concord earlier observed the perception that the atrocities of Boko Haram are wedged by disaffected and jobless youths who oppose and hate Western Education is becoming pedestrian. The sophistication of the command and operational structures of Boko Haram leaves no one in doubt about this reality.    The weapons deployed to commit the ongoing pogrom appear to have been acquired and brought to the war zones through a complicated network. It is hard to believe that a conflict of this magnitude can occur without a complex network of individuals and organizations supporting Boko Haram’s criminal war effort. It may be reasonably suggested that it is a political establishment serving distinct interests in Nigeria and Cameroon. In Nigeria, it has never sought ransom for the many victims it has abducted. In Cameroon although officially classified as a nebulous or illusive enemy, it has turned abduction for ransom into a lucrative business. 

However, three days after the massacre of innocent Cameroonian citizens, our Chief Executive and Commander-in-Chief is yet to address the nation or even to issue a statement via his Secretary General at the presidency of the republic. The nation’s Roman Catholic Bishops are also maintaining a kind of silence of the lamb while the Protestants are busy commenting on the aftermath of the election of their new moderator. Many opposition figures condemned the attacks through the social media making it look like a kindergarten kind of stuff. Correspondingly, Cameroon Minister of Communication and government spokesman Issa Tchiroma Bakary gave a vague press briefing without any information detailing what actually happened on February 4^th 2015 at Fotokol. It was then followed by another press conference this time around by the Minister for Defense Edgar Alain Mebe Ngo’o who spent the whole time allocated to challenge the correctness of Cameroon Concord’s report of 400 civilians killed at Fotokol. Minister Edgar Alain Mebe Ngo’o told the world that only 81 Cameroonian citizens were killed including 13 Chadian officers. This to our intelligence officer based in the Far North is making a mockery of the 92 people slaughtered inside the great mosque not including those who met their day on the streets of Fotokol. Our senior political correspondent in Yaoundé revealed that nobody loved the Minister Mebe Ngo’o press conference. It is hard to tell who really the Cameroon government spokesman is. So even at these difficult times in our nation’s history, the Biya Francophone Beti-Ewondo government still thrives on Grand South and Grand Nord acrimony.

The point we are making here is simply that no one in the Biya administration takes responsibility, no one apologize and no one resigns. Why is President Biya quick to announce the release of foreign hostages be they French or German citizens but is yet to comment on this war crimes committed by the Nigerian Islamic sect on the Cameroonian people? It is evidently clear that our president needs help. The failure on the part of the Secretary General at the presidency Ferdinand Ngoh Ngoh to make public a statement on behalf of President Biya immediately or after such horrible incident raises concerns about the President’s men!! Is President Biya really working with the good guys? We of this publication believe and fervently too, that the right thing to do is to provide President Biya with the help he badly needs at this time. Cameroon Concord is sounding it loud that these are extra-ordinary times that require extra-ordinary measures. President Paul Biya in his fight against Boko Haram should start putting in place a strategy to develop the entire Grand Nord regions in areas of education [schools], creation of jobs that has gone largely unaddressed by his predecessor. This will bring a meaningful change of mentality and a multiplier effect.

Cameroon Concord is asking the Head of State to appoint with immediate effect a real crisis government involving retired army Generals and Colonels at the head of the Ministry of Defense, National Police Force, the Secret Service- Department of External Research and above all, a military governor in the Far North region. We are calling on the Prime Minister and Head of Government Yang Philemon to order the establishment of a daily time slot in all television and radio stations operating in Cameroon dedicated to information on the ongoing war and the precautionary measures to be observed by the citizens.  Finally, like the Higher Judicial Council meeting, President Biya should summon the Supreme Military Council forum and grant the media complete access to deliberations and discuss the war on terror, the presence of foreign troops in our homeland, mapping out the way forward that will continue to make the people of the Far North region see themselves and other Cameroonians as one person. A stitch in time saves nine.