“Every passing day gets more Cameroonians of the North West & South West believing in having a separate State”
A recent interview granted Radio France Internationale, RFI, by the United States Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs, Tibor Peter Nagy has been generating much energy across the board ever since.
“There is something about Cameroon that keeps on giving me sleepless nights, which is causing much bleeding in my heart. It is true the Major National Dialogue was a positive step, the liberation of political prisoners too was a positive step. What is necessary now is the implementation of the resolutions…”
“Every passing day gets more Cameroonians of the North West and South West believing in having a separate State. That is not the best solution to the US. Cameroon is one country with two systems. What the people in North West and South West want more than anything else is decentralization, authentic decentralization, not just a change of words…”
“People want to take care of their own affairs….”
The foregoing is an approximate rendering of what “Mr Africa of Donald Trump” according to RFI said about the situation in Cameroon.
This has unavoidably made many contemporary actors to start getting a change in idea about US position on Cameroon. A bunch of literature has erupted apparently celebrating a US stance against separatists, with one reading “Tibor Nagy administers a spanking on separatists”. But the varying responses to this press outing unveils two salient truths.
To begin with, the myriad of reactions, first and foremost prove beyond reasonable doubt that the US position matters in this conflict. That even after branding the US as interfering in internal matters, all parties are aware that American intervention is a necessary and avoidable evil. So instead of delving into hysteria, we must pose more positive steps.
Secondly, the seasoned US diplomat was of course using very fine diplomatic language to tell whoever wishes to hear that American opinion depends on that of the people concerned.
He meant that if our day-to-day actions keep transforming federalists into separatists, we will have ourselves to blame. Authentic decentralization, with elected officials being above appointed ones is a direct equivalent to federation. We could quickly conclude that the former American foreign service officer who served as the American ambassador to Guinea and to Ethiopia has constant nightmares about Cameroon.