Chris Anu, Secretary of Communications & IT of the imaginary Federal Republic of Ambazonia has in a Press Release referenced PRREF#0030-09/12/2019, stated the position of the Ambazonia Interim Gov’t, on the subject of School resumption, emphasizing that it is not their policy to continue having schools shut down in Anglophone Cameroon.
“If we had our way, all schools would be opened and running”, he maintains.
Recalling the position they held at the eve of the commencement of the last academic year, where they had unequivocally declared that they were in favour of school resumption in as much as parents and school authorities could determine on their own that the security of the children and teachers was guaranteed, Chris Anu states: “We wish to state once more that our position from last year hasn’t shifted. We want our children to go back to school. In fact, we would rather they are in school than in the bushes and refugee camps”, he says.
However, he notes that “the problem we face is that it is not within our powers to guarantee their security and safety should they go back to school”, insisting that only the Cameroon government can guarantee the safety of children who go to school.
Maintaining that neither streets nor schools in Anglophone Cameroon are safe, Chris affirms that “Owing to these circumstances, the Interim Gov’t of Ambazonia cannot vouch that children go back to school without the ability to guarantee security and safety and we equally do not advise any parent seeing the prevailing circumstances to put his or her child in harm’s way”.
Chris Anu, on behalf of the IG explains that “Our immediate solution/suggestion to this matter is that the UN, and UNESCO in particular facilitate the get back to school in the Southern Cameroons. We have appealed to the UN to declare the entire territory of the Southern Cameroons/Ambazonia a buffered zone – get Cameroun soldiers to pull out, our Restoration Forces go on recess, the UN or ECOWAS Peace keeping forces brought in to instill security, and we provide our shovel ready curriculum to UNESCO to facilitate learning until the time negotiations are finalized”.
The Press Release furthers that “We are very much ready for this collaboration to see our schools once more re-opened for learning. This is the only option that guarantees the safety and security of children going back to the classroom. This is our stance as far as school resumption in the Southern Cameroons/Ambazonia is concerned. We can guarantee that schools will resume the very next day that the UN facilitates such security measures that protect our children as they go to school”.