Collaboration is a very obvious concept. All Ambazonians would mention collaboration as a way to progress the Restoration more quickly, even if just to decry the lack of it! On this page we attempt to outline the manifestations of collaboration that could be embarked on in a daily routine.

Between RFs

This is where our self-defence groups back and support each other. Even if they are from different groups, they know that they are working for the common goal of restoring the nationhood of Ambazonia. They know that the existence of each of their separate groups means that Ambazonia is more likely to succeed. They have more eyes if they can rely on each other. If LRC militias are traversing our country, our RF should rely on each other to keep them informed so that they are not surprised. If one of our RF groups is attacked, they should rely on nearby RFs of different groups to back them up and mitigate any damage and fallout. This situation would make all the RFs safer together – that is because of the existence of the several RF groups. This sort of collaboration relies heavily on trust that can only be built locally. They must rely on their own instincts and observation on the ground to decide where such collaboration is feasible and possible. The RFs must communicate at least to avoid any misunderstandings that could expose all of them to danger. They must remember that they are the ones putting their lives on the line and must prioritize their own local instincts over any dubious or doubtful or illogical orders from outside. If the RF collaborate this way, those dubious orders will cease as, lets face it, the authors of those dubious schemes who are not on the ground, are not the ones putting their lives on the line. The minimum common area should be to be sure or trust that the separate RFs are definitely working to liberate Ambazonia. Of course like in every sphere of life all such collaboration should be under constant review and because it is not joining, could be adjusted or ceased or intensified as confidence changes. Remember it is your lives you are putting on the line! Money is not everything! You will be rewarded more when our country is free, but you must make sure you keep all RF lives safe as they are the most essential ingredient of the restoration. You need to be able to trust that RFs are RFs. If they are, you have worked out that they are working for the Restoration and that they rely on you just like you rely on them. That means they will inform you if enemy forces are headed in your direction, or information you and request back up when they engage the enemy. All of this depends on a level of confidence that is built slowly based on intelligence – sustained intelligence.

Between RFs and Civilians

The restoration started when all Ambazonians came out in 2017 on that September day. Grand mothers came out, children came out, all areas came out. All areas have constantly observed the Country Sunday all this time ever since. That is because the vast majority of our citizens are committed to the restoration. Our population needs to rely on the RFs as the RFs need to rely on our population. The RFs should be different from LRC militias when our population encounter them. For example our population should not feel they need to hand over money to any RFs like they commonly have to every time they come across LRC roadblocks. Our population needs to feel safe that the RFs are working to protect them in all circumstances. If any citizen is arrested, there must be no question that the solution is that money should be paid. That would be kidnapping for ransom, which is a war crime and is utterly un-Ambazonian. In the war-situation we need our population to back our RFs and this will only come from mutual trust. In fact our RFs and population should aim to get to the state where we are just all the citizens with the same objective of regaining our dignity and freedom in our nation, that is, not even thinking of two sides. RFs know that our citizens will be under pressure and being courted by the enemy with all manner of inducements. As such RFs must work on winning hearts and minds. Our people must be able to see a better future when our nation is restored. They must be able to spot at least one positive difference between the RFs and the enemy forces in those daily encounters. If RF road blocks have been mounted they should be necessary and for a purpose but must not subject our citizens to anything they experience at the hands of the enemy. The aim should be that the RFs cause the withdrawal of the enemy check points as that would be a very swift improvement and positive dividend of the liberation struggle.

These two areas of collaboration on the ground would go a long way to speed up the end of the La Republique du Cameroun occupation of Ambazonia.

The Mistakes

Collaboration is so logical that some think that it is simple and must be done. It is certainly logical but the collaborators need to rely on their assessment of each other to ensure that they are working on the common cause. They should collaborate in different stages. You could share some information first, then when confident enough, have meetings, then resources or operations. Certainly do not expose your bases as a first step unless you have the strong trust to back your instincts. If someone is offended because you are not exposing all your resources and positions, it is OK. They should be carrying out the same due diligence and should understand and be patient if they wish to build confidence. Don’t prioritize hospitality, prioritize security!

Diaspora Collaboration

The diaspora has more time to collaborate and the dangers for them are not as immediate. Obviously their collaboration is important for optimising the resources they have to put in the restoration. Working together would make the resources go a longer way by avoiding anything from duplication at best, to in-fighting at worst. The due diligence for this collaboration should follow the same methods of establishing the common base of their ideas – aiming for the restoration of Ambazonia. The three outcomes of this collaboration would be to encourage the G0 collaborations, gain favourable diplomatic resources and nudge LRC towards a more sensible easier negotiated route out.

The IG document on Building Bridges outlines the protocols for diaspora collaboration but it is also a good basis for all the other aspects discussed above. The gist of that document is summarised:

The IG is OPEN to building bridges of reconciliation, collaboration or unity with any Ambazonian entity (individual, group, movement, association, organization) that meets the following two obligatory prerequisites:

1) Existence of evidences of an OPEN DECLARATION that the Ambazonian entity in question stands for the total and unconstitutional INDEPENDENCE of the Former British Southern Cameroons aka Ambazonia.
2) Documented evidences or TRACT RECORD of the Ambazonian entity (individual, group, movement, association, organization) FIGHTING the enemy LRC Diplomatically or/and Legally (Litigation) or/and by Advocacy or/and militarily through the self-Defence actions of their forces in G0.

Addendum

The chaos of audio and counter-audio in the August lockdown and no August lockdown must have been music to Dobekreo’s ears!

Declaring a “no lockdown” is a very difficult logical and psychological message to send.  But it needed to be sent and the whole fallout of the situation could yet have the positive outcome of triggering the sensible collaboration scenarios, some of which are suggested here. Too much time has passed for us to put the spectacle to “lack of experience”. It is clearly an issue of egos and of ignoring the constant and common message from the ground calling for “one voice”. That means collaboration.  No single “leader” should have taken it on themselves to declare a lockdown whether for a day or a month without consulting others. That must be the big lesson. In future if many audios come out for a lockdown they should all have the same message. If they are many it should only be because they are in our different languages rather than because they are from different groups.

What we can attribute the spectacle to is lack of maturity. We do not have mature leaders yet who would see the main objective ahead of any idea that they personally are “the liberators”. Maturity will be when they work out that they should keep in constant communication on their common objectives and try to expand those objectives so as to optimize the effectiveness of their efforts.

The key word is listen. Listen to GZ, The Diaspora is not more important or cleverer! Listen to the RFs, they have a better idea of what is going on and can be more helpful to other RFs than the Diaspora “Strategists”. RF lives have to be treasured and guarded jealously. Any RFs killed and displayed by the enemy is an affront to all RFs first, and then to the dignity of our nation. We need to know all enemy movements on our land and ensure we use them to minimize further losses.

We have less resources than the enemy. We have less experience with manipulation tactics. But we have Right, Resilience and …our Flag.