Events in the North West and South West Regions of Cameroon, especially on Friday 22 September, 2017 and 1st October, 2017 have resulted in...
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Events in the North West and South West Regions of Cameroon, especially on Friday 22 September, 2017 and 1st October, 2017 have resulted in an avalanche of reactions across the country and even abroad.
As expected, while some are calling for peace, harmony, and concord to exist in the country, others seem to be trifling with the issues, either by applying salt on injuries or simply playing with fire.
Name-calling, invectives, and outright hate language appear to be progressively filling the airwaves and even some people think they command the monopoly over what is right and must be accepted.
Yet, common sense requires that in situations of disagreement, people should be able to first of all identify the essentials, know the Rubicon that must not be crossed, and be able to preserve fundamental values that are dear to everyone.
The numerous calls for dialogue that have been persistent over the months in the country ought to mean that there exist a way forward no matter the areas of divergence. It has been unanimously accepted that being able to talk remains a safety-valve for genuine solutions to the crisis.
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| Voice of Reason Needed for Peace to Prevail |
Moreover, to be able to dialogue also warrants that those involved should accept to look at the issues at stake and be able to heal whatever wounds that might have been created. Otherwise, if the concern is just about settling scores and holding tight to initial positions, then the alternative could only be a deadlock that benefits no one.
Looking back at what has happened so far, the facts are that people died in the confrontations that occurred between the defence forces and the demonstrators on 1st October. The way it happened and the number of deaths have continued to be subject of debate in most public and private places.
It could have been expected given the attention that the social unrest in the two regions has attracted. But deplorable slants are being obvious in calls for extremist positions, generalised hatred and intolerance.
No one can deny the fact that in times of any form of strife, the victims can please anybody, especially when we are talking of a country where the population has common development challenges that they need to join forces and overcome.
Ignoring such common concerns of development to target each other as adversaries can only be counterproductive. Unfortunately, there are evident cases of barefaced opportunists who think the best way out will be to exacerbate the situation and make political gains irrespective of the damages that they cause to Cameroon.
The nation and its peoples are too precious for anyone to trifle with and those who even flirt with the idea of looking at civil strife as a benign occurrence may have to be reminded that such a parochial vision of life is dangerous.
Since the outbreak of the social tension in the North West and South West regions last year, any solution provided by government has been arm-twisted by extremists who think that the only way out should be that their viewpoints prevail.
Over time, there are those who think they are on the right side of history and without bordering to investigate the facts, fall into the cheap talk of cynicism and diatribes thinking that by so doing they would be seen as true sons and daughters of Cameroon.
They might have their justification, but the sacrosanct fact in this case is that Cameroon must belong to Cameroonians who on a daily basis have to act and feel like people who share a common heritage.
It may also not be anecdotal insisting that every citizen at individual levels has the obligation to effectively work for social cohesion in the country rather than keep thinking that it is the responsibility of others.
Just by throwing slangs and other hate language at a neighbour could in itself be wrong and dangerous for a society like ours which has a myriad of diverse religious, ethnic and cultural differences that must be reconciled.
In times like the one the country is going through today, such need for collective wellbeing ought to be the rule and not the exception.
Reason and cohesion cannot be taken for granted anymore because we need all the vital forces of the nation in order to forge ahead with the challenges that the nation keep facing on a daily basis. - Cameroon Tribune
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