By Noela Ebob Bisong
Following the recently held colloquium which ran between April 24-25 2019 at the Yaounde mont Febe Hotel under the theme “Multiculturalism at the crossroad between tradition and modernity in Cameroon”, experts from various fields including Anthropologists, Sociologists, Scientists, and from the fields of Linguistic as well as Culture etc, have resolved that one of the fundamental solutions to the effective implementation of the living together concept, is to automatically erase appellations like ‘Anglophone/Francophone’, in referring to people in Cameroon. They have suggested that all who belong to the country must be referred to simply as ‘Cameroonians’.
Together with over 60 other resolutions reached, the experts have tabled their suggestions to the National Commission for the promotion of Bilingualism and Multiculturalism (NCPBM), for onward transmission to the necessary quarters for strict implementation, in line with the concepts of Multiculturalism and Living together, for the peace of the entire country.
In line with the resolutions at the end of the two-day colloquium which brought together several ministers, state men, experts and other officials, hope is in the air that if fully implemented, then there might just be some facelift in the current socio-cultural look of Cameroon. Some of the resolutions can be read as follows:
The Government of Cameroon must ban the words ‘Anglophone’ and ‘Francophone’ from state vocabulary and from use within the national territory. They explained that, the words Anglophone and Francophone are foreign but today serve as a source to divide in Cameroon. Cameroon is a multicultural country with hundreds of cultural groups as such the people should first be identified as Cameroonians, not by foreign words. Cameroonians are not native speakers of English and French, as such we should rather promote our national languages by teaching them in schools and speaking them in other public places.
We urge the Government to create the ministry of Living Together and Multiculturalism so as to promote the values of living together and national Unity.
We appeal to the state to create a day called “National Day of Living Together” wherein cultures and cultural values shall be showcased and aspects of living together hailed.
Many Cameroonians do not know the history of Cameroon; as such emphasis should be laid on the teaching of Cameroon’s history as one people in schools, etc.