Boko Haram serves the interest of Paul Biya
One of the biggest gambits of the 21st century is undoubtedly taking place in the Lake Chad Basin, yet hardly anyone realizes it. The political future of the economic heart of central Africa Cameroon is being played. For those who do not know a gambit is a term used in chess which means a voluntary sacrifice of pawns in the opening. Only here the chess game is not for fun, but it is rather a lethal war game that has already seen a lot of bloodsheds. Pawns are those souls sacrificed on the altar of malicious agenda of those in power or seeking power. After 32 years of absolute reign in the head of Cameroon, the game is far from over. President Biya of Cameroon for the first time he is facing the war on his territory, and he knows he is at the crossroads, between a people who has forgotten itself in a kingdom that never ends, and this tunnel that seems to plunge them into abysmal depths of poverty all-out, an international community made of sharks that play the card of resource and geostrategic positioning, and of course his succession in the head of the State. At 82 he knows himself that he is in the twilight of his life, and he knows as any statesman from the mold of France Africa networks, that he will have to be survived by all means, and pave the way to a successor who would print its action in line while safeguarding his assets to the chagrin of those who believe that a change of person can be a change in policy.
The choice that at first sight would seem Cornelian, facing the rising insecurity in the Northern part of the country, in fact is not. Since the beginning of hostilities Cameroon's President showed he mastered his subject to the point where we begin to ask good questions. Far from us ideas of invasion of bravery of armed forces nor much less the bargain in the lives of men and women who were taken hostages, it is time to ask the question of why the kidnappers who every time showed their good faith in the release of hostages, even after ransom payments, are uncompromising in the way they sow misery and death in the villages of the border between Cameroon and Nigeria? Lays there, a logic of double standards that rings false, in view of the barbarism which Islamist hordes have proven to be capable of , logically one would expect them to be peoples with whom no dialogue is possible, yet the opposite is happening and why? Caught in the flood of emotion many lose the thread of ideas to put any logic in their reasoning and understand why and how. Far from anathema or servile hate, of the diverse proponents, it’s time to tell the truth to the people whose children lives are gnawed in the stuff godsend that benefits the regime.
The reality of the issues and forces in struggle, is so complex for the layman, that those in control of the manipulation are not moved, probably they acknowledge how safe and invisible are their bludgeon, which deliver unstoppable shots.
Brilliant politician in business for over 50 years the President of Cameroon undoubtedly has seen the coming of the terrorist network and the winds of the Arab Spring, which everywhere dropped even most seasoned bullies. It would be lying to say he does not know what is happening in the new global geostrategic that took out Laurent Gbagbo, Muammar Gaddafi, Ben Ali, Hosni Mubarak and Amani Toumani Toure, to a lesser extent.
Reports of WikiLeaks, published a few years ago which showed the concerns of the Cameroonian President on his record so far negative and his desire to go out head high, may have reached an achievement with the activities of the Islamic sect Boko Haram in northern Cameroon.
Today Cameroonian patriots in the soul seem to trust their president; Paul Biya since 1990 has never had such a popularity rating in the Cameroonian public. Despite some voices of discord, the Cameroonian people in their majority seems to give him a blank check, and he seems to have understood this, uncovering a Pan-Africanist character, which at the edges is nothing else than pure comedy one cannot call himself a pan Africanist when he assimilates takfirist to African independence fighter of the first hour. One cannot evoke pan Africanism when he is unable to infuse a dynamic between the countries inter action of the sub-region where generally he shines by a screaming absenteeism at different summit. Again there, lays a logic of double standards that fit well with reality.
Many spoke of caution in the approach of the Cameroonian president when it comes to the management of large files, such as commercial trade with the northern hemisphere. Cameroon's President ratification of the EPA treaty, Economic Partnership Agreements with the European Union has proven that he was rather advocating a continuation of the one-way commercialism of the northern hemisphere against the south. A real pan Africanist would think twice before ratifying such an agreement aimed at low words, to flood African markets with European products exempting the latter to all customs duty, unfair competitive conditions would follow and would destroy the economic fabric of African countries irreversibly. It’s not an exemption from tax on commodities from the south to the north that could resolve this ambivalence. This treaty is the copycat of the Nanking treaty between China and the Great Britain in 1842. A treaty that shined by its blatant inequality. The newscast is focused at the war against Boko Haram so that everything happening around goes incognito, and no one can get excited.
Having forced his way to the east with China to which was given a few markets, at the aim of Afro Arab political crises and Ivorian imbroglio, Paul Biya appears to have reached the target by interesting and bringing to the table of negotiation the West whose prows figures are France and the United States to convey with him, the future of Cameroon, instead of letting the major Western powers unilaterally decide, as it appeared to be the case initially. The entry into war of Chad, the convocation of the heads of state of major African armies in Dakar by the US Army shows that now, a certain common ground has been found between the various protagonists. The granting of the construction of the second bridge over the Wouri in Douala, the economic capital of Cameroon, to a French company after removing the project to a Chinese company which proposed to realize it for half the current price, the visit of Laurent Fabius French minister of external relations at Yaoundé are signs that do not lie.
In the theater of operations, terrorism since September 11, 2001, seems to have become the centerpiece around which politicians are anchored to build their vicious agenda. Also with the passage of laws of exceptions in Cameroon, gradually the scene is taking place. Imagine for a moment that the conflict between Boko Haram were to continue until the next presidential election in 2018; something that more than ever seems to be possible. In the current configuration of a people ignorant about the real issues of what is going on behind their back, the Cameroonian president is sure to win in a landslide, the urgency in delay would give him the votes he would not had have under normal conditions. Best in an environment where term limits is ancient history since 2008 he could even grow into cynicism, and impose a successor to the Cameroonian people as his own son. In that case he would enjoy at first a favorable opinion with respect to the success of his special army forehead against the puppet nebula, and secondly his designs, would be almost covered from top to bottom by the laws that he managed to impose step by step. Also anyone issuing any dissatisfaction would be liable to terrorist act according to the regulations of the new anti-terrorism law.
Will understand those who can, political science, which the Prince Machiavelli in the unity Palace of Etoudi seems to have mastered with deadly accuracy, is not a science that enables people to be well governed, but rather allows the rulers to better maintain their power over the masses. Etienne de La Boetie said: "Tyrants are great only because we are on our knees". Some are kneeling since without even realizing it, despite the moral and material misery that has been installed and that helps keep peoples in pens. peoples so formatted that it will be difficult for them to accept a leader different from whom they have known for over 30 years.
By Hubert Marlin Jr. Elingui
Journalist Writer