NW, SW elated at return of internet but count their losses
By Wifah Jennyhans Nde
The news broke out at 5pm on Thursday 20 April, 2017 that the Head of State, H.E. Paul Biya had instructed the minister of Post and Telecommunications to reinstate internet in the North West and South West Regions which was cut since January 17, 2017. Like the victory of the Indomitable Lions at the AFCON finals in Gabon, 2017, inhabitants of Limbe like in Buea, Kumba and Bamenda received the breaking news with plenty of euphoria as screams of joy could be heard sporadically from every corner of neighbourhoods of these two Regions.
When THE SUN stepped out to find out the feel of inhabitants to this news, joy was visible enough on most faces as they spread broad smiles and immediately brought their smart phones to resume online chatting and browsing. The joy was even so strong that some had to risk road accidents as they rushed into the streets in celebration.
Immediate reactions such as “Thank God you are back”, “I was lifeless without you”, “I miss my boo..” could be seen streaming online in response to the internet restoration. The skies were lit, brightened mostly by joy. Common browsing habits like ‘selfies’ in public places instantly resumed. Those who had abandoned their mini computers now picked them up for dusting and eventual use.
Holla Hiro, a level 200 student in HIBMAT, Buea told The Sun that “The return of the Internet has brought much relief to me and my peers particularly now that we are not going to school. We can now browse and catch fun as well as keep in touch on a more regular basis. Personally, it brings more hope to my music career as am now sure my fans can download my latest single on Youtube, like my page on Facebook and follow me on Instagram”.
While some people were thanking God for the return of internet, others directed their thanks to the government, saying the Head of State deserves a motion of support for once again proving his fatherliness.
Gwain Colbert opines otherwise; “No thanks to any government for the return of internet, rather government should be punished for depriving Cameroonians of their deserved right thereby, inflicting untold pain and suffering to a wide range of people living in the North West and South West Regions of this country. The UN General Assembly resolution of 2013 states that cutting off or slowing down of internet can never be justified by any government. ”
During the 93 days of internet blackout however, enormous damage was caused which affected wide and varied sectors. In the domain of business, billions were lost yet business owners are expected to pay taxes to government. Michelle, a young entrepreneur in the telecommunication sector based in Limbe said huge losses were recorded; sales compounded but did not qualify the financial loss for fear of exaggerated figures. Another young man whose name is withheld running a cyber café in Buea decried he could not even feed himself talk less of paying his bills. Most cyber cafes were shutdown, some businesses relocated to other towns like Douala and Mbouda. Financial transactions recorded very slow pace as some had to go by phone calls for transfer of money from one part of the country to another, start-ups returned to zero, “The Silicon Valley”, Buea was blanketed as businesses went to a halt. According to Mr. Gwain Collbert, the founder of “A Common Future” a Human Rights Advocate for the provision of internet at affordable rates, over FCFA 6 billion was lost in Bamenda alone.
“More than 500 NGOs which lobby for funds to provide services in the domain of health and education exist in the North West and South West Regions. Government creates schools without classrooms. These NGOs are the ones who lobby for funds from foreign bodies to assist in the construction of classrooms, provide health services in several suburbs of Cameroon. The peak period for their fund lobbying is usually during this time that the internet was cut” Colbert sates. He furthered that, a lot of damage has been done to Cameroonians living in the North West and South West Regions following the suspension of internet including loss of communication, dead projects, unemployment and impediments to research. Gwain stated that this is a crime which is punishable because internet is a fundamental right according to UN resolutions of 2010 and 2014, thus the provision of internet at affordable cost is just as important as the provision of health care and education.
Another group of people who suffered huge setbacks are researchers. University lecturers and students had to either migrate to internet zones or abandon their projects.
Munteh Fidelis, a final year student at the Higher Teacher’s Training College, ENS, Bambili told THE SUN that: “My experience during this long period of internet blackout was a bitter challenge. Considering the fact that we are potential government employees, we had to chew every sand put in our months. It was clearly not the lecturers’ fault and so, we were given assignments that warranted us to go online for research. In cases of group assignments, we contributed money and one of us will travel to Mbouda, a neigbouring town, to do the research on our behalves. For individual assignments, everyone puts in his personal efforts to rush to Mbouda, a total strange land for me to do assignments and which later earned us the name ‘internet refugees’. Some of us got arrested on the suspicion that we were either internet scammers or those feeding the Diaspora with latest happenings in the region. Families had to spend FCFA hundreds of thousands for the release of their loved ones”.
Despite the suffering by a cross section of Cameroonians in the North West and South West regions, Mr. Gwain made some recommendations which include; government should take actions in compliance with the laws of this land, training of administrators on crises management techniques rather than making generalized conclusions, Government should go after individual criminals and punish them according to the provisions of the law and finally, Government should pass legislations for the surveillance of internet in order to quickly tract perpetrators of wrong doings.
On the other hand, Mr. Gwain decried the spread of rumors and fake news on social media. He said individuals have become self-declared journalists where they can just sit in their rooms with their mobile phones and break the news, propagate hate messages and create unnecessary tension among peaceful Cameroonians. Colbert suggests individuals like that should be immediately tracked and brought before justice. “No Cameroonian should be a party to hide such criminals. They are destroyers and should be punished accordingly, the law provides for that”. He explains.