It is no longer news to highlight that Cameroonian leaders are oppressive, and they rule not to bring prosperity and happiness to their people but to line their pockets and oppress their people.

The Southern Cameroons crisis, which has played out for more than five years and has consumed thousands of lives, is unquestionably the outcome of government policies and decisions designed to marginalize a section of the country’s population. 

Much infrastructure has been ruined during the fighting and confidence in the government is at its lowest.

Millions of Southern Cameroonians have lost faith in the government, and it is incumbent upon the government to rebuild that confidence, especially by reviewing the current political dispensation which leaves much to be desired.

It is the government’s responsibility to ensure that the conflict, which has killed thousands and ruined the economy of the two English-speaking regions of the country, is addressed. Its silence over the last five years seems to be deliberate and it is unfortunately not golden.

However, the government alone cannot bring about peace in Cameroon. It needs responsible and honesty parties for it to play its role. The Southern Cameroons revolution which started with a protest by lawyers and teachers seems to be bereft of honest and well-intentioned leaders.  

Over the last three years, those who lay claim to the leadership of a revolution which started in 2017, have clearly demonstrated their greed.

The unquestionable honesty and leadership demonstrated by people like Dr. Fontem Neba, Barrister Felix Nkongho Agbor-Balla and Sisiku Julius Ayuk Tabe when the revolution was in its embryonic phase, has slowly but surely given way to incredible dishonesty. 

Today, the revolution is being considered as a milking cow by the leaders who spend most of their time fighting each other because they want to be in control of the resources placed at their disposal by the Southern Cameroonian Diaspora. 

But more dangerous is the ignorance that is playing out on Ground Zero. The rogues who pass off as fighters have shot the revolution in its leg.

Many Southern Cameroonians have carefully jumped ship because of the ignorance many of those who claim they are fighting to liberate the population are displaying. 

The rogues now kill for money. Kidnapping has become a lucrative business and this is sometimes fostered by the leaders leaving in the safety and comfort of the United States and other Western countries.

When a revolution is designed and implemented by illiterate criminals, it is doomed to failure.

These illiterate criminals are destroying anything in their path. Schools, hospitals, and government offices are all being burnt by people who do not even understand how development plays out. Who destroys his own infrastructure because he is angry with the government?

Today, the Queen of the Rosary Secondary School (QRC), Okoyong, Manyu, Division, one of Cameroon’s best girls’ schools, has been torched by these miscreants who clearly belong to a different epoch.

Their excuse is that the students were practicing to participate in Youth Day celebrations. If these so-called fighters were worth their salt, why could they not go to the grandstand to disrupt Youth Day activities? 

The Cameroon Concord News Group strongly condemns this irresponsibility, and it is urging QRC past students across the globe to organize a massive fundraising campaign which will make it possible to replace what has been destroyed by those “sons of Satan”.

The Cameroon Concord News Group pledges its support to OPSANs whenever they launch this fundraiser to rebuild the school. QRC has produced some of the brightest minds in Cameroon and it deserves our support. 

By Joachim Arrey in Canada and Soter Tarh Agbaw-Ebai in the United Kingdom