Ambazonia News was waiting as eagerly as any other Ambazonian to get the presentation of the four “principals” from Canada. Instead, the “neutral” spokesman, in the person of Comrade John Akuroh, communicated the postponement “due to fast new developments”!
The good aspect of the communication was the clear and unequivocal declaration of the position on absolute and unconditional independence of Ambazonia, not to mention the implied deference to the people on any decision. This last part at least alleys the fear that, drunk on flattery, any or all of the “representatives” could “sign for” Ambazonia! Phew!
The fear of “drunkenness on flattery”, however, persists.
Despite claiming to be mindful of La Republique du Cameroun’s modus operandi, the fact remains that the “representatives” have allowed their “selection” to “go to their heads” to some extent.
Comrade Akuroh did use the phrase “selected to talk” or words to that effect. The question would be “selected by whom?”. This question does not go to those who were selected per se, except in a purely rhetorical invitation to consider that they might be underestimating their strength. More of this aspect later.
The IG raised this same question to the facilitators when asking for, among other conditions, transparency on each participant and their status. It is no secret that one of the parties does not meet this requirement and is not represented among the four who promised the now postponed update. That means they are going to persist in their opaque position of being very active in the process but not being declared!
As long as the four “representatives” know and are happy we can move on to cautioning about the danger of “flattery”.
Being invited individually and flattered should ring alarms among the “benificiaries” as the method La Republique du Cameroun used to break up the West Cameroon institutional strength and progressively attempt assimilation. To counter this tactic all “invitees” should know their strength comes from the strength of the independence movement as a collective and that if they succomb to flattery and undermine the movement body they could be turfed out as soon as La Republique du Cameroun can ascertain the momentum of the Liberation Struggle has diminished enough. If you turn up to the next gathering and cannot see the fellow “representatives” you saw last time do you know why they are not there? Who should you find out from? Build bridges and improve your strength.
Some will trust Canada’s position to be above the suspicion aired here but remember the run up to the plebiscite when many international partners implicitly denied us the self-determination we should have had! They had then, and have now, their own calculations and we cannot assume their neutrality in the process! They are not forthcoming on the aforementioned “opaque participant” and, therefore, not placing any importance on being viewed as neutral or impartial. Nothing personal, but they just do have their own interest. This brings us to the pressure tactics of “fast moving developments”.
We must take neutrality at face value. But can we? If so, our country’s affairs must not be rushed to meet anyone else’s timetable. The process belongs to us, rather than us to the process. Our representatives must keep open channels with the broadest base of leaders and deliberate extensively prior to any exchanges with the enemy side.
The Most High God is the Watchman of Ambazonia.