Meet the Cameroonian artist worth CFAF ONE HUNDRED MILLION

In 2011, Senegalese - American superstar came to Cameroon for a concert. His coming made news just as did the fact that he was paid "according to some sources" the sum of CFAF 300 million for the show. Cameroon-based media; print, audio-visual and virtual, echoed the latter fact insistently or too persistently some would say. In May 2012, it was the turn of the formidable Nigerian fraternal duo P-Square. For their performance, "some sources”, still them, were quoted as saying they had received a gargantuan sum. This time around some restraint was shown as their pay check was estimated at just about CFAF 100 million. The pre-concert ambiance was somewhat tainted by the decision of a trade union of some Cameroonians artists to use this concert as the perfect organisation to tilt media attention in their direction in a bid to focus the spotlight on their royalty tussle with the multinational mobile phone company that sponsored the event. It is during this concert that I heard talk of discontent among the Cameroonian artists invited to perform as opening acts. Apparently they felt devalued for being paid peanuts - apparently about 100,000 CFA Francs- to perform as opening acts. All this is still according to “some sources”. 

                                                                               

A war of figures

                              So far I considered all this talk of discontent from Cameroonian artist about their meagre pay check for opening act performances as rubbish from the rumour machine. However recent remarks by a Cameroonian Makosso musician on Equinox TV‘s programme “After Work” suggest this is not the idle grumble of the unrelenting rumour mill. These remarks made me understand that this feeling of discontent is actually harboured by some Cameroonian musicians. In fact it is anchored deep in individual consciences for sure. Recent comments I stumbled on Facebook have made me understand that some Cameroonian music aficionados share the above sentiment and  feel slighted at the mere thought that P-Square could receive a whopping supposedly CFA Francs 100,000,000 as a pay check for a concert they headline, in another country, whereas home-based talent receive CFA Francs 100,000 as opening acts. Mind you, P-Square were in Cameroon again last August 2014 for another concert in Yaounde and as usual speculators let their imagines run wild as to the pay check they might have gotten. I say might because this concert was for a good cause and I think they could have, why not, “Alingoed” and “given that” for free? The comment that tripped this wire was as follows roughly: why did the organisers not give the same huge check to Cameroonian artists. This brings me to my question and with all due respect: which Cameroonian artist is worth CFA Francs one hundred million. To some this is a billion dollar question but to my mind the answer is simple: NONE at this point on the entertainment scene (which some prefer to call entertainment industry. “Wo ko tauk dee matta na deefriend day”).

                                                                       

The billion dollar question

                                 Before you label me a “hater” as it is now fashionable to do, holster your passion, fandom (or fanaticism even if you don’t like) and supposed patriotism. Take out just your reason and level-headedness and politely try answering the following questions: which Cameroonian artist can keep a concert crowd spellbound for two hours with a non-stop hit performance? Which Cameroon artist is popularly known in English, French, Portuguese and Spanish -speaking Africa? There are more questions but let's make do with these two. I know the ready-made answer to the first question will be Petit-Pays but what about the second question? I know, you are scratching your heads for answer or a decent reply but spare your breath. Did I mention that by Cameroonian artist I mean only those permanently resident here in Cameroon? In case I didn't, I have now. So don’t go blurting Richard Bona or Manu Dibango (“The Cameroonian entertainment industry will be built sustainably by those who are on seat not overseas.).

The real issue is business

                    Listening to the arguments expressing dissatisfaction with paying international acts more and local acts less, I discovered that some fans as well as musicians (quite surprisingly) still have a rather peephole perception of how the music business works. There have become so accustomed to the art part that they have a hard time adjusting to the business -the realpolik- side of the thing. They recognise and understand the word music and hang onto it fanatically, maybe because it is shorter or should I see easier to understand. Sadly they seem not to know and acknowledge the existence of the term “music business” which is when the art becomes or must become a product to be sold. It is when artistry must acknowledge the economics and relevance of the former to its ultimate rise to greater heights or fall into the doldrums. This is the less banal component of the music that some Cameroonian musicians and fans alike have a hard time comprehending. Otherwise how can someone expect Akon who is known on every continent and (all due respect) Romeo Dika to play in the same league financially. This is the underlying issue. Many people in Cameroon, musicians included, still don't understand that in our capitalist age profit beats everything even hypnotic beats, voluptuous hips-don’t-lie video vixens, killing-you-softly lyrics, silky voices, killer moves and punch lines so tight you can reliably use them to hang if you’re feeling suicidal (Lol, just trying to work on my rap game). Sponsors do not dole out gargantuan sums to international acts simply because the latter are international acts. It is because of where these acts will take their brands to. It is because of the fall outs in terms of positive perception and then sales that will come from being associated with these international acts. If a local act can enable a brand penetrate a market or consolidate its position or introduce it to an all new audience then sponsors will happily pay them gold and not mere silver.

                                      The patriotism card is recurrently used to prop the sentiment expressed by the facebooker above. But expecting a company to give a massive sum to a local act merely out of some naive definition of patriotism is senseless (I previously used “stupid” before opting for senseless.) Companies aren't people and so do not make emotion-based decisions. They make calculated moves. Business is chess and every move is calculated to checkmate opposition. Companies are primarily profit-seeking entities ever indebted to only this goal. They of course have a corporate responsibility to the communities where they operate but is it responsible to give 100,000,000 CFA Francs to someone who will take your brand only as far as Mbankomo*? Companies pay their taxes and so cannot be guilted into making irrational and emotional decisions.

                            Furthermore asking companies to start pouring bags of money on musicians not because they are deserve such a high consideration but because they operate in the musician’s country is encouraging laziness and a culture of dependency. It is fostering a false sense of entitlement which can be quite misleading. Nobody is arguing that corporate financial involvement is not required for the advancement of entertainment. No, this is not the opinion in this piece. The message here is that the logic to corporate involvement has not been understood and must be, squarely by fans and especially musicians before progress can be made.

                          Many reasons can be advanced for the lack of this understanding but to my mind, three are most relevant. Firstly, Cameroonian musicians, rookies and vets alike, have refused to wake and smell the coffee: they don’t want to understand and master the business of music which complies with the laws of economics (If you want great chocolate, give great cocoa). Secondly they need to recognise and deal with the fact that their competition is global and before they can enjoy a huge payday they must produce hit after hit not just for their immediate entourage but for the world at large. Jovi needs to know he is competing for endorsements with Jay-Z. In some respects you could argue this is not fair but this is just the way it is with globalisation. Thirdly they must remember what it means to exercise a liberal profession. As liberal professionals just like lawyers, unity in the absence of standardised government-back regulations is core to their survival. They need to bond and set the tone regarding how they consider themselves and want to be considered. It is only post this bonding that they could wrest better financial consideration from sponsors for their performances.

                        These I think are conditions sine qua non for them to start hitting high bank notes because there is no charity in the music business. They need to start having more hits than tweets because the former can bring in hundreds of millions while the latter can bring in nothing more than followers. “Et ce n’est pas ce que l’artiste chop.” 

Stanley Enow: the one-der kid of Cameroonian urban music

Even if you’ve been on a secret NASA mission to the Sun, you must and should have heard of Stanley Enow and the song “Hein père”. The former is the artist, proudly Cameroonian, and the latter is the master key with which he has unlocked the doors leading to the national, continental and international starosphere, garnering an MTV Africa Music Award and an AFRIMMA Award in the process. The rise of the Bayangi boy as he fondly calls himself has been imperial so much so that criticism has followed in equal if not exceeding measure.

                     Love him or hate him, Stanley Enow has achieved many fits amongst which is that of the impressive conquest of the African musical world. So far praise for Stanley Enow has been tethered to the fact that he is the first Cameroonian urban music artist to receive international recognition with nomination as well as victory at leading awards like the MAMA, outmuscling in the process music juggernauts from countries with more urban music renown like Nigeria and South Africa. This is true but it is merely part of the story. It is an all too standard and narrow-minded appraisal of the Stanley Enow phenomenon when looked at from the perspective of what will remain when and if the hype ever fades and he can’t repeat the fit.

Since awards and awardees come and go, it is actually unfair to rate Stanley Enow highly merely because he has the first Cameroonian artist to win an MTV award. In our Cameroonian context where urban music is still underappreciated, Stanley Enow deserves more credit for having hoisted the national flag high using this under considered musical genre. He deserves credit for having treaded and succeeded where Cameroonian musicians plying their trade with mainstream genres like Bikutsi and Makossa have not even reached talk less of reached. When compared to Makossa and Bikutsi, a musical genre like hip-hop is still juvenile and deserves more time before hitting maturity when it is expected to hit high notes. But despite the immaturity of the genre that emerged in Cameroon in rather timid fashion in Cameroon in the late 80s and early nineties, it has with ambassadors like Stanley Enow scaled heights that are still nothing more than a far-off dream for mainstream Makossa and Bikutsi artist. This is a component of the Stanley Enow story that has unfortunately not been echoed with sufficient insistence by most if not all of those who have commented about the author of “Hein pere”.

                          Most Cameroonian artists have accustomed the Cameroonian public with plaintiff outburst relating to their increasing impoverishment due to piracy and the absence of State tutelage. This is another area where Stanley Enow deserves a standing ovation. Rather than add his voice to this pity-seeking lamentative old-school crowd, he has quietly set about charting a recording a new song for artists’ advancement and which is more in tune with contemporary realities. Who hasn’t’ seen all the baseball caps and T-shirts unambiguously stamped Stanley Enow or “Hein pere”. This is merchandising and is one of the current revenue streams being harnessed assiduously by any thoughtful artist given that piracy has considerably narrowed and is threatening to completely shut-off even the prospect of revenue from CD sales. This is a potent answer to piracy and a reliable revenue source for artists that has been exploited most prominently by no other Cameroonian artist than Stanley Enow although he is not the first to have a hypnotic smash hit topping the charts in Cameroon.

 By virtue of his trade and all its attendant constructs, Stanley Enow is not just a representation of a musical genre. He is also a generational spokesperson and a role model whose every word, gesture and even gait can brush off on his peers in every segment of the Cameroonian society. From this perspective, the artist deserves even more accolades as generally the message he has chosen to repetitively pass on to Cameroonians in general and youths in particular has been one of self-construction, hard work, pro-action and autonomy. In other words, he has used the pedestal on which he stands to tell young Cameroonians to take responsibility for their destinies, do things for themselves and stop always waiting for salvation from government or from some other manna-giving entity. Coming from a star, this is a refreshing message and component that needs to be highlighted.

                       Whether or not his rise to the top on the heels of just one song is reason enough for all the criticism is debatable. However one thing is clear- it is a challenge which the artist must overcome. The mere fact that the spotlight is now shining on him has brought popular attention in his direction. It has also raised pertinent questions as well as expectations which he must quickly answer through his music and not interviews. Is he a one hit wonder or is he a multidimensional artist who has so far shown just the tip of his iceberg? Did he luckily strike gold with “Hein pere” or is there more where “Hein pere” came from? His most recent release “Njama njama cow” is unfortunately a poor answer to his critics because it has this whiff of déjà vu since despite the tightness of the beat it is lyrically reminiscent of “Hein pere”, an ode to out childhood lullabies. If Stanley Enow wants to continue walking at the top, he needs to prove he is not a one hit wonder. The world is watching, his critics too.

Cameroon: FOUR HUGE QUESTIONS about the June 30 fuel price hike

Prior to the beginning of the 2014 World Cup, I in earnest told some of my friends that I didn’t want my beloved country Cameroon to have a successful stint at the World Cup, not because of any unpatriotic propensity or desire  to stoke friendly conflict and enliven our football banter. I made this statement because I thought we didn’t deserve it but most importantly because I deep down feared any indomitable performance from the Cameroonian squad would undoubtedly result in price hikes. I just couldn’t shake off the feeling that most price hikes always came about in the midst or vicinity of sporting events in which the Indomitable Lions are involved. While Cameroonians would be huddled together in the seasonal unity often triggered when the Indomitable Lions’ partake in tournaments, I thought, government would stealthily step out and formalise a price hike. This was my fear before the Brazil- hosted World Cup kicked-off. On June 30, 2014, days after Cameroon had left the World Cup jamboree, the Secretary General in the Prime Minister’s Office, Louis-Paul Motaze, turned my fears into reality by signing a communiqué “readjusting the price of fuel and cooking gas”.

How I saw it

At the time of fearing this price hike, I was thinking of a direct increase in the price of basic commodities. I was thinking of a scenario where after a fulfilling evening, spent watching maybe Cameroon outmuscle maybe host country Brazil, Cameroonians would pick a quarrel with their respective neighbourhood shopkeeper after they accuse him of greedy mercantilism and he has tried unsuccessfully to explain to them that he isn’t trying to cheat anybody and that prices simply went up unexpectedly. I never envisaged that it would be an increase in the price of fuel. 

The price readjustment or hike proper

According to the communiqué, as from July 1, 2014, a litre of super previously sold at CFA Francs 569 will now cost CFA Francs 650, a litre of gasoil (diesel), formerly CFA Francs 520 will now be sold at  CFA Francs 600, while a 12.5KG bottle of cooking gas hitherto sold at   CFA 6000 will henceforth cost CFA 6500 Frs. Only the price of kerosene has survived the onslaught, remaining at CFA Francs 350 per litre. Despite popular outcry, it is worth saying that ending the subsidies is a necessary  and even indispensable evil given that between 2008 to 2013, these subsidies are said to have cost Cameroon about   1,200 billion CFA Francs.  For the first six months of the current financial year, it has already sucked up 157 billion CFA Francs, according to the communiqué. Furthermore the fuel subsidies stand partly blamed for the country’s overall fiscal deficit for 2014 that was projected to stand at 5.5% of GDP. According to the IMF, this deficit is expected to hit 5.7% in 2015.

However despite all the apparent economic credibility of arguments in favour of ending the subsidies, countless questions persist, demanding equally convincing answers. 

Will the fuel price hike not have a ripple effect on the price of basic commodities?

Although government strove to reassure Cameroonians that the fuel price hike would not affect the price of basic commodities, it is difficult to take the government’s word for it, not because of any narrow-mindedness or opposition but because of the dynamics of common sense and market practices. In Cameroon, fuel price hikes have often, if not always, been synonymous with an increase in the price of basic commodities. Upon leaving the port or factories, basic commodities are often transported by road. Transporters and business persons have inflexible profit margins which they would not sacrifice on any grounds whatsoever. So whenever a fuel price hike bites into these profit margins, they immediately compensate by increasing the price of basic commodities. The brunt of this increase ends up always being borne entirely by ordinary Cameroonians who have no one else to transfer the price increase burden to. The buck always stops with them. Sure government has promised a salary increase to enable Cameroonians comfortably sustain the fuel price hike effects, it has also promised some tax breaks, but this promise doesn’t answer the essential question of whether or not this latest fuel price hike won’t send basic commodity prices up. It leaves it unanswered and even engenders other questions: when will this salary increase come about? If ever it materialises, how much will it be? Will it be enough to enable Cameroonians not feel the pinch of the fuel price hike? Will this promised salary increase not provide business persons with a good reason to increase the prices of basic commodities? Conscious of the ripple effect the price of fuel has on the prices of other products in Cameroon, especially basic commodities, this question remains the most important in the wake of this fuel price hike. 

On the side-lines of the ripple effect questions lie others of a somewhat marginal yet pertinent nature.  

Why call a spade a long stick for digging?

It was interesting to see how the Government parcelled, and through its media, delivered this unwelcome news. The communiqué announcing the fuel price labelled it the “readjustment” of the prices of fuel and cooking gas. The national daily, Cameroon Tribune, in its headline talked of “prices adjusted” (my translation from French) while the word “modification” was used on national television. This consistent use of soft and easily-digestible synonyms like “adjustment and modification” begs the question of why the decision not to call a spade a spade? Why the refusal to give this decision the name it deserves? Why the decision to call a price hike a “price readjustment”? Should this not be seen as a way of manipulating Cameroonians so that they can easily swallow this bitter bill? 

What’s next?

It is no secret this latest fuel price hike is the culmination of pressure from the International Monetary Fund and the ever- heard- but- never- seen donors. Since Cameroon has been a long and loyal destination for IMF dogma, officialising the end of fuel subsidies should not come as a surprise, from an economic perspective at least, “Ajustment structurel oblige”. But from a nationalist perspective, this is worrying and should get every Cameroonian uncomfortable and thinking whether they are okay with the constant national implementation of foreign conceptualisations, irrespective of their publicised selfless ends. It should equally make Government ask itself whether Cameroonians are happy with the sovereignty –depleting and socially-hazardous effects of these IMF intellectual concoctions when we know that some Asian countries spited similar suggestions of IMF origin and yet blossomed into Asian tigers.  A case in point is Malaysia. These questions are even more pertinent when we compare the promised and actual outcome of some IMF proposals. National electricity company SONEL was ceded to American ownership with the promise that service delivery would be better but that has not been the case. Power cuts are still pretty common and the rudeness of the ladies at the cash desk seems to have gone from bitter to venomous. So shouldn’t Cameroonians be weary of the endorsement of another IMF proposal especially when it makes a supposed sovereign government and country dance to the whims and caprices of its wisdom? Most especially, it should get Cameroonians asking what is the next IMF suggestion Government will implement?

Where will the money saved go to?

If the argument in favour of ending the fuel subsidies is anything to go by then for the remaining six months of the current financial year, State coffers should save at least extra 157 billion CFA Francs that would have been used for fuel subsidies had it not been scrapped? Consequently this reality begs the question of where will the money go to? To what ends will it be put? Given the rampant corruption, Government should spare a little space in its mind for our sceptism.

                                                                                   

World Cup 2014: Bad times to be Eto’o

It’s hard to make a generic statement about the role of football in African countries without sounding shallow. But as a Cameroonian, born, bred and resident, I can confidently and factually say football in Cameroon is a religion in whose doctrines Cameroonians believe, in whose shrines they pray even if they are in ruins, and whose prophets we adore. No other prophet has been adored and even worshipped with more blind devotion than striker Samuel Eto’o.

                          Since bursting unto the world footballing scene in the early 2000s with Spanish side Real Mallorca, he has commanded the loyal fanship of almost all football loving Cameroonians. The devotion has been so great that each time he has moved to a new club, he has dragged along a mammoth congregation of followers who have also changed their club allegiance just like their idol. He has become a god and like most mortal gods, Eto’o has often missed his strides: remember May 30, 2008 when he head-butted a journalist. Back then and despite other wrongs, both rumoured and verified, Eto’o has benefitted from the immense goodwill he has been stocking over years with his on-pitch performances.But with this 2014 World Cup in Brazil and on the heels of two defeats, one against Mexico where he was missing though in action and the mulling against Croatia wherein injury prevented him from making the cut, the Chelsea forward seems to have completed depleted the goodwill he built and enjoyed almost unquestionably. With rumours and visible signs of unrest in the den, the player has come under bitter and sometimes unfair criticism for his absent presence and the overall poverty of output from the often hailed Indomitable Lions. The intensity and consistency of these criticisms have left many wondering why Eto’o? Why is Eto’o so criticised although the slightest attempt at objective inquiry will readily provide more reasons, besides Eto'o, for the inability of the Lions to roar, talk less of exacting submission from any of their foes so far.  Well, two reasons can credibly explain this situation.

                              Against the backdrop of the above portrait, Samuel Eto’o is undoubtedly the first reason for the criticism being heaped on him. Surely if he could choose, he would have preferred to put in match-winning plays rather than be an impotent act in a play of defeat. However despite all his good wishes, his inability to deliver performances when compared to his past exploits, especially at club level, have justifiably given reason to more and not just some people to hurl criticism at him. For diehard fans, the easy culprit has been his injury and since it can’t talk it is guilty as charged. But in the injury’s defence, it must be said that even before being called up to team for the World Cup, he was nursing this injury while with his English side Chelsea. For a player who intends to carry on playing professionally, wasn’t it prudent for him to throw in the towel for the long term sake of his career instead of endangering his future for a one-month fling with possible glory? Forgive his critics for they may not know who they are criticising but isn’t this Samuel Eto’o the same who is the leading all- time scorer at the African Nations Cup? Isn’t he the guy who has accustomed the Cameroonian public in general to awe-drawing performances that brought Olympic glory in 2000, AFCON glory in 2000 and 2002 as well as a finalist spot at the 2003 Confederations Cup? In simple terms, Eto’o is a victim of his past prowess. Since he accustomed his Cameroonian fans to quality and praise in return, they can be forgiven for criticising when he is below par.

                     Secondly the striker is equally the victim of the continued unofficial competing comparison between Drogba and himself amongst the public. Since the mid -2000s when both players were at the height of their careers, there has been an unrelenting debate, started and fuelled by fans and pundits alike, as to who is the better of both strikers. In this  sometimes objective and often times sentimental debate Drogba has come out on top successively when the measuring rod has been their spate with their national teams, which officialdom would want to constitute the enduring legacy of every player. Circumstances have come to the Ivoirian’s aid; he inspired his country to their maiden World Cup in 2006, providing the nation with a unifying factor when it was plagued by war. Such a context amplifies and gives added prominence beyond the world of sports to a fit with which Eto’o too can credited but which has been blighted severely and erased from collective memory by the Lion’s own doing. So since Cote d’Ivoire just like Cameroon qualified for this year’s World Cup and both players were selected by their respective teams, this debate has raged on. Comparatively again Samuel Eto’o, with his evasive presence in Cameroon’s one nil defeat to Mexico bowed to Drogba and his second half entry in their 2-1 victory over the Samurai Blue of Japan. As strange as it seems, Drogba won this latest match off although he came off from the bench and did not even score. His entry was credited with Cote d’Ivoire's eventual victory, just as in past deadlocks in which the Elephants’ have found themselves, proponents of this argument say. This is contrasted with the blandness of Eto’o’s on-pitch presence and his sometimes pervasive off pitch presence. Samuel Eto’o’s inability to walk away with a victory from this umpteenth unofficial standoff with his pal Didier Drogba is another reason for all the rotten eggs he is being pelted with.

                          Many other factors can account for the current fate of the Indomitable Lions and Samuel Eto'o. There is even an aspect of scapegoatism in Samuel Eto’o’s fall from grace in the eyes of the Cameroonian public. There is also an aspect of frustration as Cameroonians seem fed up with Eto'o's shortcomings. This criticism could be nothing more than a manifestation of this frustration which emanates from Eto'o's depletion of all the goodwill he had left. We could go on and on with the guessing. Whatever the case, he deserves some of the blame not just because he is the great Samuel Eto’o but because he is one of the eleven.  Most importantly he deserves some blame because he is one of the few Cameroonian players to have benefitted the most from the goodwill of Cameroonians. Isn’t it said to whom much is given, much is expected? Samuel Eto’o is a big boy and rather than lash out and challenge his critics to a duel he should spread his shoulders as wide as possible to bear as much responsibility as he can. Those are the same shoulders he has been using to carry all the praise heaped on him. Right?