How do I begin this? Well....Okay. Amidst the fervour of the belated celebration of Cameroon's Reunification, I was struck by a question asked by a friend on social media and the reactions that followed in its wake. The question was 'Existe-t-il réellement un problème anglophone au Cameroun ? and this far it has left a trail of reactions on both sides of the language divide. This piece is a reaction to the question and to some of the reactions to the question.
Which Anglophone Problem?
I don't know if I was pushed by the quest for a refreshing angle to this piece or by an unsettling feeling that there is a problem with the coinage ' Anglophone problem' but as I set out to write this post I found myself searching for the definition of the mundane word problem (I didn't have a problem with the definition of the word Anglophone). As per the Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary I stumbled upon, this word means (1) a thing that is difficult to deal with or understand; and (2) a question that can be answered by using logical thought or mathematics. So logically I asked myself if Anglophone Cameroonians are something difficult to deal with or understand? I don't think so else the advocates of Reunification would not have advocated for it. Neither are they a question that can be answered by using logical thought or mathematics? This pre-analysis led me to the realisation that this association of Anglophone and problem in the same term is a serious misnomer that (1) perverts credibility of the grievances Anglophone Cameroonians have by pegging it to a negative especially in the minds of their Francophone counterparts and (2) distances any curious onlooker from the grievances themselves. Let me explain.
The problem with problem
The word problem is negatively connotated in society thus it usually alienates and not enlists people's attention or sympathy. This bad reputation tends to affect all other entities that flock with the word Problem. How many times have you been asked to replace the word problem with challenges in a report? If you haven't yet been asked to do, ask a friend?
Summing up Anglophone Cameroonian grievances into the term Anglophone problem often leads to the question of which problems which in turn means more efforts must be expended to elucidate the grievance whereas if the label Anglophone discontent, disgruntlement, frustrations or the highly politically incorrect marginalisation is used it would readily lead to the question of what are they discontented,disgruntled or frustrated about?
This is why I think there is no Anglophone problem. I think there is Anglophone discontent, disgruntlement, frustration and marginalisation. Whether or not this is justified and anchored in fact is a song I'll sing another day so stay tuned for Part 2 of this Post.
P/S: Lol. Please don't go telling on me that I am a secessionist or one of their sympathisers because I am none of those. I am not one of those who thinks further fragmenting Africa along colonial lines is the way to go. I
