Cameroonian intellectuals under renewed dictatorship

Teachers of higher education can and should actively participate in the fight against the oppressive system currently prevailing in the country. To engage in this fight, they must first break free from selfishness and arm themselves with courage.

It appears that scholars of Cameroon are presumptuous, faint-hearted, obsequious, less productive and selfish. Some of them have taken themselves as opponents to the renewal plan while they are a semblance of criticism. I call them the boat flies, because they stir much without going to the bottom of things.

In Cameroon, scholars are the true minions of the Biya monarch. They pass the light of their time to make motions of support for him. With these praises, they expect a promotion, maintaining the positions they occupy or some other benefit, especially considering that the overwhelming majority are active members of the ruling party.

At the head of the Ministry of higher education there is a man who possesses the characteristics of a thornier to perfection: Jacques Fame Ndongo. He is not limited to draft points of support to his idol, but he published books in which praises are showered on him.

In 1983, he published with other cantors of the regime the biographical essay " 'Paul Biya ou l’incarnation de la rigueur' and 'Le Renouveau camerounais : certitudes et défis'.

In the annual ranking of 100 best universities and colleges on a continental scale none in our country is found in the list.

University profs in Cameroon are not keen to offer quality education and have high level scientific publications. Too favorable opinion they have of themselves comes rather from the benevolence of the satrap towards them.

They pretend to ignore that Biya was one of the actors of the genocide of the Bamileke at the time he was in charge of mission and Secretary General to the Presidency, under Ahmadou Ahidjo.

Although the latter has disappeared for a long time, Cameroonian teachers are afraid of him. Our university historians obscure the dark past of Biya. They are a few anecdotes about Ahidjo. A few jacks of neocolonialism are shameless denial, thus insulting the memory of hundreds of thousands of dead Patriots.

They believe to be great historians! It is illusory to expect researchers from universities in Cameroon who say the truth about what happened to the Bamileke and in the Mungo between 1959 and 1971. It is the same for the explosion of Nyos and Lake Monoun in August 1984 two years later.

This incident and this disaster may not have had place if the attempted coup of April 1984 had succeeded. Thousands of dead from the blasts, hundreds of deaths from the failed putsch are both put on the account of the Biya terrorist compatriots slaughtered during the riots of the early 1990s and February 2010.

They must be sadistic to persist to worship a man who committed so many crimes and who hold the majority of the population in poverty. Placing their personal interests above those of the greatest number, academicians in Cameroon are guilty of treason. In their rave texts, they renew their steadfast commitment to the President of the Republic because there.

Indeed, these intellectuals are in bad faith. Already in the universities and the institutions of the Ministry of scientific research and innovation, laboratory facilities are inadequate or outdated, libraries lack new products and reliable catalogues.

If the working conditions were optimal, the country would attract researchers from all nations. Under Biya, this remains wishful thinking. Because they are not competitive, Cameroonians and other black Africans living under the dictatorship just publish articles in journals that they have created.

Rarely, there are contributions from researchers from industrialized nations. Nevertheless, our brothers and sisters feel great. It is necessary to rebuke those intellectuals who flagornent dictators, to face themselves.

In conclusion, I appeal strongly to political scientist Owona Nguini and other intellectuals in Cameroon: gather all your courage and take part in the struggle against dictatorship! If you do not, you are vile people.