This discussion is addressed particularly to the soldiers of Southern Cameroons, and in general to all of us. The Force of Argument corresponds only to one arm of the international doctrine about the settlement of disputes. It corresponds to the settling of conflicts by peaceful or non-violent means. The other arm of the international doctrine, which for some reason the people of Southern Cameroons have not discussed seriously, is the right to self-defense or the use of force against aggressors. We may say that The Force of Argument is a political weapon, and the Argument of Force or Right to Self-Defense is a military weapon. Every people have a right to avail itself of the two. If you preach the Force of Argument without also preparing for Self-defense, you are looking only at one side of the coin. The adage goes that “if you want peace, prepare for war”. The people of Southern Cameroons seem to be doing themselves the disfavor of believing that there is a coin that has only one side when they say “The Force of Argument and Not the Argument of Force”. The one-sided preaching of the Force of Argument is paralyzing even our own soldiers. By soldiers I mean those who by their own natural disposition, act like the white blood cells in the human body. Obviously, the people of Southern Cameroons must have their own soldiers, for nature never creates an organism without its own mechanism of self-defense. This is an additional proof that it is no sin to wage war in self-defense.
The international community takes no people seriously who see the Force of Argument as the only means open to them. The perpetual question the international community asks itself is: how serious are a people to be also taken seriously? Anything short of the exercise of the right to self-defense seems to the international community to be short of the required degree of seriousness! The exercise of the right to self-defense is the only mechanism by which the international community determines the seriousness of any people who are laying a complaint about the violation of their own space of existence by another people. Let the people of Southern Cameroons examine all the records of history; they will find that it is so. How do we expect people who got their sovereign independence by fighting for it to pity us, when they see that we are not willing to risk our lives for our own? No one of course will tell you to take up arms for your rights, because he would appear in the eyes of the world to be encouraging violence. But does their silence and indifference, and even conspiracy, towards our struggle, which is a model of peaceful attempts to resolve conflicts, not speak loud enough to us that the only language they understand is that of Force?
We have told our people that LRC would exterminate us if we rise against it! That is a lie, of course! The colonial regime has only been emboldened to hear such doctrine from some of our leaders, for the doctrine not only gives it the monopoly of violence against the true owners, it also destroys our fighting spirit and effectively prevents our case from being placed on the agenda of the international community! However mighty a criminal may be, the only thing that encourages him is the darkness in which he operates. As long as our case is not yet on the conflict map of the world, it is still relatively in darkness! Which reports on conflicts mention our case? Which world leader has raised the issue?
See the difference in military might between the Palestinians and the Jewish State. Yet by being willing to risk life and limb and to die for their rights, the Palestinians are finally winning! The Jewish State is retreating, despite its military might! In defending yourself, it is not so much the weapons you have but your willingness to risk your own life against an intruder that sends the message to the world about your seriousness. We can delude ourselves as much as we want that we are serious; but the world and onlookers have other tests for seriousness!
It seems to me that in our begging to be heard, and using a language the international community does not and cannot understand, we are acting exactly like Foncha did. He acted more like a catechist than a statesman! If for once he dared to stand up, we would not be where we are today. But he kept begging and assuming the impossible that Ahidjo with his colonial designs would be reasonable. We are going down that road again! We simply do not seem to understand the nature of imperialism! Imperialism is by its nature unreasonable; it is a premeditated crime founded on force. The only language it understands is force! The more reasonable you are, the more violent it gets!
If you die in silence, the international community is only too happy that your voice was never heard, for that is one less problem for it! Strange it is, but these are the sad facts. Is it time to open the debate about the Right to Self-defense as the other arm to the internationally recognized and legal means for the oppressed people of the Southern Cameroons to free themselves? We must not continue to do the psychological damage to our people by saying that the Force of Argument is our only means and not the Argument of Force also! The Argument of Force is fully legal, international and within our means! The taking up arms against aggressors is neither ungodly nor a sin. By providing every creature with a defense mechanism, Nature tells us that self-defense is no sin! The international community cannot escort us to the Limbo of the Force of Argument and forget us there! In fact, we are the ones who misled ourselves by throwing away one recognized avenue of freedom. We must trace our way back! The rest of Africa (except Southern Cameroons) is relatively free of colonialism today because the people rose against the “infinitely” more armed and superior Whiteman!
Adopting the Force of Argument without accompanying it with the Argument of Force or self-defense is like saying that you will defend the country only after its sovereignty is restored, but not before! How sound is that? How would you come into possession of that sovereignty, if you dare not stand up against the occupiers? However hard we cry, the world still thinks those are only crocodile tears if we would not risk anything for what we say is so dear to us! Or are we saying that we will never take up arms to defend our country? Shall we be the country without an army? The obligation, right and honour to defend your country are one of the highest virtues a human being can manifest. The right to defend your property is an ownership right that all owners must exercise against intruders! The onus is on the soldiers of Southern Cameroons to get into their function.
In the meanwhile, the politicians must exhaust all the peaceful means available while putting before the world its responsibility in turning our attachment to the peaceful resolution of conflicts into a liability. The international community would never be able to free itself from the total responsibility for the violence that would erupt in the Southern Cameroons case, because we have followed every prescription for peace and the same international community has ignored us precisely on that account! Let any country, organization or world leader who would condemn us, show the world in what way he supported the peaceful struggle of the Southern Cameroons or stood up against the crimes of La Republique du Cameroun! So we have their full permission to resort to the Argument of Force! It is for our leaders to put this in no mistaken terms before the international community while the soldiers swing into action as proof that we will use all the means allowed by the international community to free ourselves. In this connection, a threat only belittles us. What the world should see is action, not threats and promise to take action.
Other political actions that remain unexplored are (1) street protests and general mobilization; (2) our presence at all international corridors of power. It is particularly disheartening that we are not seen at even African Summits where we could effectively bring our case to the attention of Africa and other world leaders attending those Summits. What excuses can we give for such glaring oversights? Our leaders should not take this as criticism, but as calling their attention to serious omissions. We should effectively be seen at all major world and African gatherings; with a “universal case file” that states our case in no varying terms.
The people of Southern Cameroons have more courage and determination than they think. When they wanted the GCE Board, they faced the tanks and tear gas to get it; when they wanted a radio, they set it up; when in Nigeria, they faced far bless tortures than in La Republique, they finally walked out. We may be slow to start anything, but when we put our minds to it, we always finally do it. All the internationally recognized options to free ourselves must now also be taken seriously. Leadership in this respect is all we need.
Think about these things.
Author: Denis Atemkeng
