In his message delivered on December the 31^st to the Cameroonian people, the 83 year old leader announced that the resilience of the Cameroonian economy has been welcomed by our nation’s donors including the International Monetary Fund.

The Cameroonian dictator made a mockery of the Anglophone nationalism and observed that “Cameroon is One and Indivisible and it will remain so”.  Biya noted that it was “unacceptable” that the symbols of the state were desecrated and economic activities paralyzed by those he painted as “manipulated protesters”.

For Biya, the Anglophone problem does not exist and correspondingly, the recent riots in the South West and North West regions were the work of a group of “extremist, manipulated and instrumentalized demonstrators”. The national chairman of the ruling CPDM party added that it was not forbidden to differ in opinions in any Republic. But argued that nothing great can be built in verbal escalation, street violence, and challenge to authority.

With age telling on him, the Cameroonian leader revisited the Eseka train disaster that claimed the lives of 79 people and left approximately 600 wounded. In this regard, he promised to take swift action. Economic issues were also at the heart of the head of state’s speech. Biya spoke of major projects under way or nearing completion. He said that the recent extraordinary summit of the Economic Community of Heads of Central African States (CEMAC), that held in Yaoundé on the 23^rd of December, under his initiative, was a meeting that “Revitalize growth in the zone “.

According to Mr Biya, 320,000 jobs were created in Cameroon in 2016. To conclude, the Head of State invited his compatriots to have a thought about the Cameroonian soldiers and civilians fallen for the defense of the homeland.

By Soter Tarh Agbaw-Ebai