Buea’s English language prowess fading in the face of modernity!

A Social Reflection by Mark’s Abaiko

The creation of the University of Buea through decree No. 93/034 of 19th January 1993 laid the foundation for proper English language expression in Buea.

Just two years after its establishment, the University of Buea became a zenith for the English language in the South West in particular and Cameroon in general. Immediately entering the University of Buea back in 1995, beginning from the gateman, your timpanum will be heated with clean and eloquent verbal expressions of the English language that will unconsciously land you in a state of admiration and desiderata for emulation.

Marks Abaiko, Secretary General – Association of New Generation Authors (ANGA)

Drawing inspiration from the University of Buea, Private higher institutions of learning could not be indifferent as they ensured the spirit of effective English Language expression encapsulates each student in their institutions.

By the year 2000, the town of Buea had already been clouded with grammatical words oozing from the vocal cavity of UB students in particular and students from private higher institutions of learning. The contagious nature of this English language articulation transcended from Molyko, the distribution centre, to Dirty South, Malingo, Sosoliso, Clerks’ Quarters, Sand Pit, and finally bugged down to Mile 17. As it descended to Mile 17, which is the local area of Buea, the grammatical nature of the atmosphere inadvertently coerced the local businessmen and women to parambulate using the English language. From kwakoko sellers, fried chicken, Mami eru, drivers, and even “bambe” (luggage carriers), all struggled to advertise and converse with their customers using the English language. In fact, as a person engulfed with the pidgin language, upon visiting Buea, you will need an atmospheric helmet to prevent the grammatical words that were protruding from every mouth in the city from damaging your medullar oblongata. And after staying for a month, you will notice you have been pregnant with English expressions that are yearning to be birthed.

Due to this scenario, proper English language expression became the identity of the town of Buea. Musicians and comedians contributed enormously to spreading this information to the entire Cameroonian population. I can remember the famous comedy skit made by Spako and Zachary, where they compared the behaviours of mad people in different towns in Cameroon. At the turn of Buea, they said, mad people in Buea are not only clean, but they speak good English. This comical verboseness became the most ardent publicity for the identity of the town of Buea. This publicity magnetised the interest of not only the Anglophones in the South West and North West but even the Francophones, who flooded the University of Buea and other private institutions in a bid to get a taste or embrace the effervescence of the English language articulation.

During this era, all the students made efforts to speak Polish English and represent Buea wherever they went. This identity became so popular to an extent that whenever an Anglophone speaks English in a Francophone region, he will be asked, “Tu sort de Buea?”, meaning “Are you from Buea?” The notion that the English language is a borrowed language was completely dormant during this epoch.

Surprisingly, as of 2017, the atmosphere began changing, and the pidgin language began creeping into the University of Buea, which was perpetrated by the so-called slay queens who created their headquarters in Molyko. Since Molyko is the distribution centre, the pidgin English began spreading like wildfire to the nooks and crannies of the city. And by 2020, Pidgin English had gotten a comfortable seat in the town of Buea as students began using it regularly on campuses. Between 2020 and 2023, English language articulation was still suffering from a heart attack as many observers and well-wishers, like this writer, prayed for her quick recovery. But the emergence of “hookup girls” in 2024 was the final hammer on the nail in the coffin of English language expression in Buea.

In 2024, my visit to the University of Buea and some higher institutions of learning landed my ears on the most porous, disdaining, and odious expression of the English language, which transformed me into a state of apoplexy. Though the administrators neglected this aberrant, and even struggled to make this new image cryptic, some observers were busy in the compilation of a documentary to expose the nonsensical and annoying English language expression by Buea students, and after a magical suspension, the result was finally released by the graduates themselves during the recent graduation ceremony at the University of Buea and other private institutions. Social media observers assembled the most porous and misguided expression of the English language from some of the graduates and broadcast it on social media platforms. These grammatical errata springing from the mouths of so-called graduates consist of such as:

(1) The thing is that na, is like that na

(2) I was like, I was like

 (3) Everybody know I am a good girl

(4) I want to meet people on the top

(5) I am on the University of Buea

These bombastic expressions of the English language forced many to question the authenticity of the certificates they brandish. Some even question how they manage to scale through Ordinary Levels and Advanced Levels. While these questions were popping up in various comments sections, the graduates who claimed to be victims, coupled with their vegetable-mind sympathisers, came up with a defence that English language is a borrowed language and that we shouldn’t expect someone studying accounting, biomedical sciences, or engineering to speak good English, that those who are required to speak proper English are those who study letters or linguistics.

This is the funniest defence I have ever read stemming from supposed graduates or literates. The elements to ruminate upon include: Do accounting studies begin from primary and secondary school, where the basics of the English language are taught? Are all the notes in accounting and engineering in figures? Do the lecturers teach only in figures? The answers are all in the negative because all textbooks and lectures are in English using words. Again, if they complain that English is a borrowed language, does it mean that the students who speak and write accurately are from Britain? Another important point these defence counsels of poor expression of the English language should note is that the term “Anglophone” means English-speaking. So the badge of an Anglophone is the English he speaks, so if we say our language is Pidgin, why are we not called Pidginphones?

The general cause of all these poor English expressions is because students don’t attend classes and read textbooks and novels. They spend time working in restaurants and snack bars, while some spend time creating content on social media. They only have to cram questions and answer booklets during tutorial tests and final exams.

As a consequence, they will succeed in passing the exam with empty heads because the little they crammed will evaporate after they insert it on paper.

While it is disgusting to live with the reality on the ground, we call on the administrators of the University of Buea, and Private Institutions of Learning to take action and bring back the identity of the town of Buea.

 

Marks Abaiko, Secretary General – Association of New Generation Authors (ANGA)

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