Thomas L. Friedman, a Pulitzer
Prize-winning reporter for The New York Times in his book From
Beirut to Jerusalem tells the story of how violence turned Lebanon into a
shell-shocked stalemate and green-lined Beirut into “a huge abyss, the darkest
corner of human behavior, an urban jungle where not even the law of the jungle
applied.”
The violence that swept Bamenda today December
8, 2016 could be likened to the description of the old day Lebanon and Beirut. It
was like in a movie with water cannons, teargas, gunshots and blood, and then
deaths. Bamenda started bleeding and in few hours the city suddenly became
smoky from all angles. Road barricades were
at almost all the road junctions in the central town while some were transformed
into firesides as a military helicopter was up the sky. The incident erupted
when unidentified protesters clashed with security forces at the Bamenda
Grandstand. Matters came to a head when the unidentified youths tried to disrupt
an anti-federalism rally which was to be attended by Prime Minister Yang
Philemon (some government ministers), including Jean Nkuete, the Secretary
General of the Central Committee of the CPDM as well as some officials of that
party.The peaceful mission of the CPDM to the North West had diversified interpretations from the populace.
By
evening, Bamenda turned Labanon as cars, houses, including the 3rd
police district burnt down to ashes. Social media pictures show youths at the
City Chemist Roundabout the street with the corpse of chanting. Reports say about 3 persons have died and several others injured. But we have not yet had the exact number. Bamenda goes bloody, deadly too.
The North West Region is Bamenda, it has
been said and proven. Whether from Boyo, Mezam, Menchum, Donga Mantung, Bui,
Ngoketunjia or Momo Division, everyone is known as the Bamenda. Bamenda is a
place where “heroes come to die” says Wamey Julius. But I will contextualize
this statement by adding that Bamenda like America is a place where every
minute of the day gives birth to a new hero. From the dawn of time, the Bamenda
people have distinguished themselves as pictograms of hard work, vigor and
dotted with the willpower that historians find difficulties to comprehend when
it comes to popular uprising. This strong spirited and collective commitment of
the Bamenda people has over the years tolled to have what they have often been
seen to be and tagged by others. In other words, the Bamenda man lives the life
of a Spartan soldier who would prefer to die than to surrender. When Bob Marley
said that truth is something that must be spoken even it means "speaking
to die for it", he was surely talking of the likes of Bamenda people. A
type of life that can only be compared to toad in a heating tube that keep
adapting to the changing temperature until it finally gives off the ghost.
The inhabitants of Bamenda lived the
melody of city that keep changing to adapting temperatures. A Baghdad scenario
or some sort of a Western movie setting of radical extremes, or a place of
violent behavior, a situation in a movie where life and death are matters of
seconds. But above all the Bamenda man is a pack of dexterousness, persistence,
and warmth even when people have suffered, and or ready to. Of this, there can
be tiny debate.
For decades, Bamenda has had the
good fortune to have produced individuals who on account of their peculiar
gifts of values have contributed to the advancement of this country.
Ah! Bamenda! Home of all the heroes of
yesteryears Albert Mukong, John Ngu Foncha, Jua, ST Muna, Bernard Folon, Ndeh
Ntumazah, Prof Anomah Ngu, Nanga, just to name the few. In February 1983,
President Paul Biya declared Bamenda as his second home.
Political Giants
Bamenda still remains a focal point of
what takes place in the country politically. What, however, defines a Bamenda
man, at least within the present political environment, would be that both the
ruling party (CPDM) and the main opposition party (SDF) were created in Bamenda
which makes the city the heart of politics in Cameroon; yet circumstances have
made Bamenda the city of versions, where in a moment of civil strike makes you
live a life through a perpetual fish bowl. It is hard to imagine what this kind
of life.
The Land of Noble Birth
“Bamenda, the place where heroes go
to die.” That is how Julius Wamey, the famous CRTV anchor, in an article
titled in the same words, described the headquarters of the Northwest Region
some years back. Francis Wache in one of his articles titled: NW Region: The
Caesarean Womb Of CMR’s Democracy wrote that “the name ‘Bamenda’,
has, over the years, come to represent the whole Region. With a hint of pride
in their voices, natives of the Region, living ‘abroad’, would say they are
from ‘Bamenda’ when, in reality, they are referring to Din, Akweto,
Essimbi…‘Bamenda’, has, therefore, become generic- a reference to the whole
Region”.
When News Breaks Out, We Break In. (The 2014 Bloggies Finalist)
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