As Cameroonian youths battle to come to reality with what the future holds for them after the 49th national youth day and in the wake of the Boko Haram insurgency, the National Chairman of the SDF party, Ni John Fru Ndi has said that years of sustained efforts to improve the living conditions of ordinary Cameroonians could be spoiled by entrenched tribalism and growing terrorism in around Cameroon.
Ni John Fru Ndi made the declarations in an address to the Cameroonian youths on Monday 9th February 2015. According to Fru Ndi who addressed the youths from his Ntarinkon, Bamenda residence, Cameroon was hard hit by economic crisis in the 1990s.
This, he noted was characterized by closure of state-owned enterprises, lay off of workers, 75% salary cuts, devaluation of the CFA Franc, deprivation of households from basic social amenities such as health and education amongst others.
The widespread under-employment Cameroonian youths suffer today, he noted, are the consequences of some of these development since the 1990s. This, he explained are even more glaring when it is considered that youths below the age of 16 years make up 45% of the population and are supposed to be in primary or secondary school, while those aged between 17 and 40 years who make up 38% of the population remain underemployed.
Fru Ndi regretted that Cameroon’s production structure has completely lost its structure with the creation of a significant informal sector given that the formal sector is highly skilled-based and selective. He opined that this creates a situation where the majority of young people in the informal sector are not included in the financial system, creating a situation where there is uncertainty for the future since youths lack job security and are kept in dependence and survival. It is out of these, he intimated, that the SDF was born in 1990.
Despite these, Fru Ndi warned the youth that tribalism and terrorism are two major evils that could hoodwink them, albeit unknowingly, from benefitting from the efforts that have been made over the years. “We must shut the ills that plague our nation. The first is terrorism.
It is an evil that is geared towards undermining the integrity of our nation. Boko Haram members want to frustrate all efforts Cameroonians made since colonization to build a nation. This is the reason why it is the duty of all Cameroonians to mobilize and stand up against this calamity.
The response to this type of threat cannot only be military, but national and economical as well. Economic because terrorism brings misery and this part of the country suffers from the unequal redistribution of the country’s riches, national because the threat requires all to mobilize.
The second evil is tribalism. After more than 50 years of independence, tribalism is still a scourge.
It only causes division and hatred that would put in distress in the national spirit. Major national events like defending our national territory and elections are moments when conflicts are fueled by tribalism”.
Fru Ndi further regretted that it was deplorable to see a small group of persons; definitely with the evil intention and the fear brought by the regime they defend trying to manipulate one part of the country against the others.
This, he said is clearly the type of manipulation that led some countries like the Central African Republic, into chaos.
While noting that president Biya is not unbeatable, Fru Ndi said the struggle of the SDF has always been guided by the urgent necessity to avoid such moments of self-destruction, a thing that can only be achieved through continuously building peace.
He said though the Biya regime has sacrificed all to stay in power, including the stability of the state, the SDF is proposing a new “Authentic Transition Plan” that would be the only solution to keep the flame of hope and social justice burning.
