EDITORIAL
WELCOME, INTERNET but…..
Like a long time missing an intimate friend, the entire population of the two Anglophone Regions did welcome the restoration of internet services in this part of the country last week, though not with that kind of enthusiasm which could have accompanied this occasion if the disconnection of the service had been occasioned by normal circumstances. It was certainly a misguided decision on the part of government which only ended up raising many questions about the intentions of those who spearheaded this decision. It obviously did not portray the image of the country in good light. This not withstanding however, we are moved to appreciate government for its hind sight in overturning this decision. We count it as one more step forward towards resolving the current crisis in the country.
In the first place, we are at a loss to determine who actually benefitted from the shut-down of the internet services exclusively in the two Anglophone regions. There is no doubt that government has lost substantial revenue from those who offer these services. Or will it be right to suggest that those companies that provide these services were paying taxes to government, while at the same time respecting government order to shutdown? We certainly do not think so. The story can’t also be different for those who offer these services because these companies did not find it easy balancing their account books during this period. So, where lies the wisdom in a government decision which, on the one hand only went ahead to punish its citizens, while on the other hand it deprived itself of badly needed revenue to sustain the economy.
All the same, just as we had said before, government’s decision to rescind the decision is one more step forward. What is obvious in situations like these is the contention that nature has ordained that whenever things like these happen through misguided thinking, and the repercussions tend to backfire, reason usually prevails and some light is shed. The question to ask now is: where will those who stood up boastfully before the entire Cameroonian people to proclaim that they were the ones who initiated this idea hide their faces after it was discovered that their proposition was not the best, under the present circumstances. All we can advice is for them to reset their minds and apply the same reason that has prompted the restoration of what they unwisely thought was a solution to the present crisis.
The unfortunate thing is that those who boasted openly as being behind the shutdown were Anglophones, who should be strongly believed to be speaking and protecting the interest of the very people they represent. We are saying this because we think we are gradually coming close to a consensus that there is an Anglophone problem and if it is so, we equally believe the task to solve this problem still has a long way to go. But there is every hope that the shortest road to our destination can best be traced by our collective effort including those who represent us at the top. Having removed one more stumbling block on our way, that is the restoration of the internet service to the two Anglophone regions, we think the unconditional release of those being detained on account of the part they played in the Common Law Lawyers’ and Anglophone teachers’ strike is another important step that should be taken.
We are therefore joining our voice to those before us, who have expressed their genuine concern for our present dilemma, that even those who have fled the country for this same situation, be granted the unconditional freedom to return home in order for us to put our heads together for a lasting solution to the present crisis.
There is no doubt that the approach is slow and we are aware that government is treading the ground cautiously as it is the usual ball game with governments in order to avoid errors. But the negative tendency here is also that such slow approaches are always very likely to open up to some side issues that could only end up endangering the process. When the crisis first broke out, for instance, the chances of resolving it were wide enough such as could not have allowed things to have degenerated to this level. But for the simple fact that at this initial point, government opted for a meandering course, we are still near a solution yet. The result was that there emerged a consortium parade, some of which were disqualified and declared as illegal, and ultimately leading to the arrests and detentions of some of their leaders..
Perhaps a typical example of this kind of interruption of the process by the proliferation of consortiums is the most recent emergence of the Parents’ Consortium. Such issues are unprecedented in moments when all measures must be put in place for life to return to normal, so to create a conducive environment for wider and deeper issues to be resolved faster and peacefully.
We have already mentioned that the journey to our destination on this crisis may seen long only as the government keeps following the meandering course, which only takes us far away from our destination. We have always maintained that under the present circumstance, where the prerogative of making every decision seems to lie only with the President, the challenge remains his and what he must take full cognizance of is that, the Cameroonian people still remember him as the architect of a ‘New Deal’ with which he promised to turn things around and make Cameroon a better place to live, a slogan that endeared him to so many.
To those who heard him and cared to believe, that hope is still burning in them. Mr. President, wait no longer. The time is now.