Politics & Government

En Esprit Républicain

A fierce, code-mixed poem that channels anger at Cameroon's political dysfunction through bitter irony and layered metaphor. The writer moves between colonial history, present-day authoritarianism, and personal resignation—asking whether the nation's elites will ever stop treating citizens as prey.

J.N. NkohJ.N. Nkoh· 10 December 2018

En esprit républicain, egg smell stew langa make yi burst canda to larva Like small pikin with small pikin sense, Yi no fit wise say na dinner yi di provide for fowl community so As dem don put we for inside category for esclave, Na so we too for inside sia don take elang adapté position for guerier Even as politiciens for ngola don decide for nonsense lewa Soté reach for level way certificat for big book don be na papier for tie makala We no di sua for tangté transformation pour caterpillar

We don di fear Kalashnikov for alepok soté we toe line, Like school boys in kaki even when na time for sleep Inside frustration, na so jeunes en confusion tramolimov mimba say body na firewood Onetime onetime dem cha antelope guns na yi population anglo Reste coincé entré bataillon imbécilenard renforcé (BIR) and bataillon tramolimov ambazonien (BTA) Headmaster for Etoudi na pilot for air-neocolonization, toujour en l'air So head boys them don take position for maître for mental arithmetic en esprit républicain Them forget say inside sia headmaster don versé water for escargot di perm next man for enter gridlock

Repé and remé tori we say for yestayears, situation nova compliqué like jesnoh But I wonda how them nova keep even two plots for me since sa coutait kolofap Inside the same ridment like headmaster for ngola, Repé expect me for harmer wen longue don compliqué so? Like all good players, I deserve assist, So I just di chill en esprit républicain di downsize my exportomycine33. If ya best moov na for leave we die then write long letter like Marafa Kno say we too don understand the chema for transformation into butterfly Like capitain Cabral, we go enter field score own goal before equalize again, For that esprit, tous le monde win même quand sa ndem Esque na today we enter chemin pour l'Italie? Même sep en désert Kalahari, ngah dem don ten toes Use kind kind esprit for transformation just becoz Headmaster and yi entourage for ngola don see we like gibier, Demarcation for langue colonial na the new ruler for put margin before you start write Eh à zambe wa, mentalité esclavagiste don truncate DNA for Camerounais. One day na one day, en esprit républicain, Na so we too go drag you for goudron, putam for pikup en plein jour En tout ca, je boir dabor ma bière mon frère, n'a mimbo go quencham

En plein veste et cravat, grand banditisme jesnoh na coin populaire, We too get to wear this cranpong one day, Like major for bataillon imbécilenard renforcé, we to get to make ala pipi toe line, for seka say promotion il y depend Jesnoh, we too get to ask waself if we too go di give na pass parallel or meritocratic Like grandremé use to tori we ' thing way di do caca go do coffee too' En esprit républicain, na so encestre for république Sardinard langwa we say ce irrecevable, Anyha, we too go di clap for yi en route pour maison Marafadien

By J.N. Nkoh

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