Cameroon is a very funny place. It is a tragedy of Shakespearean proportions but with many laughing moments that could beguile you into not seeing how bad things are, and could potentially be.
On Tuesday, June 28th, the FECAFOOT's president, Samuel Eto'o, announced during a meeting with the press that 560 million FCFA that was destined for the football federation had not yet seen the fout walls of its bank account. In Sammy Ndolo's own words, this money was held "by obscure forces of the senior administration."
On Wednesday, June 29th the money was announced to have been wired to the bank account of the federation as attested by the screenshot that carries this publication. So, in all, it took about 24 hours for the issue to be resolved. Basically a sacrilegious feat if we have to go by how this government seems to pride itself in always driving on the wrong side of the lane of governance.
Ironically, the teachers of the OTS movement had to jump through bigger hoops to get some of their wrinkles ironed. And that wasn't without the heavy arm of Atango's law threatening them. But we will come to that in a moment .
Eto'o has essentially had to bulldoze his way into getting things done ever since he ascended to the presidency of one of the most coveted institutions of this country. His every move has been watched, analyzed, encrypted and decrypted. I mean who knew that the Cameroonians could huddle around their television screens to watch the FECAFOOT elections one day? Talk less of CRTV broadcasting it live.
In just six months, Eto'o has done A LOT. And it is even more apparent as he has a media machine behind him; from FECAFOOT putting out locker room videos to sports publications and even music-centric blogs like our colleagues at 237Showbiz following his every move like a 4pm shadow.
He is Samuel Samuel Eto'o after all. His aura and fame transcends our national borders and the era of social media makes his every move travel far and wide.
But if Eto'o has been able to achieve everything he has at FECAFOOT this far, to the point of strongarming the Ministry of Sports into releasing funds in just 24 hours, it is because Eto'o has one thing that most people at the head of institutions in this country do not have - LEVERAGE.
Eto'o is Eto'o. There isn't a better way to say it. He is Africa's greatest footballer ever and you can go on at this point to recite all his achievements in that sport.
But the one that sets Eto'o apart and gives him the leverage he has today to be in total control of the Federation to the point of reminding the Minister that he and he alone has the prerogative of choosing a coach and eventually going ahead to nominate Rigobert Song as had coach, is the fact that unlike the many creatures of the Biya administration he got to where he is today by the power of his own efforts and of his two feet.
Unlike the many people we know today at the head of some of the biggest and prestigious institutions of this country, he didn't get to where he is via party allegiance, quid pro quos, or kissing the right behinds.
It'd be hard to paint this as picture perfect, though. Knowing how this country is set up, he may have perhaps had to play a bit rough here and there and get dirty here and there, but there is no denying that at a certain level if certain people accept to get into the mud with you, it is because you have been able to pull yourself to the point of having access to the mud. And that access, Eto'o unlocked it by the sheer power of his own effort, and of his two feet.
You cannot kill what is already dead. And it was as a dead man that Eto'o ran for president. It helped him that he has a strong character and is overall a very stubborn individual with an overdose of megalomania that makes him believe he can achieve anything he really wants.
What many of us young people lack in this country is knowing how to build the right kind of leverage for ourselves. The worst is when we think wrongly that we have leverage or that our leverage goes a certain length. That's why you will see a mid-tier artist drop a surprise album and only announce it on their Facebook page. Because they think that since Beyonce dropped Lemonade as a surprise album, they can too. They forget how long Mrs Carter has been in the game and how hard she had to work to get there.
We are all not Samuel Samuel Eto'o and many of us will die without ever getting anywhere near his accomplishments. Even many of his closest teammates did not have the heart nor the ambition to fight the obscure forces that this administration has cooked in its deepest entrails. He had to go in, horns locked to win the presidency, and now most of those teammates are in tow.
We can't all be Samuel Samuel Eto'o, but there is a lesson to be learned in how he built the leverage he is enjoying from today. Hard work, determination always striving to be better, and always asking for better.
It is important for us know that in order to get ahead, we have to learn to build leverage for ourselves. The kind of leverage that does not seek to be full of itself, but one that helps you make the right choices and only fo the things that you want to do. And the best way to do that is to hard and strive every day to be the best at what you do and put in the effort to become better.
And when you do get leverage, it is important to learn how to best manage it. The leaders of the OTS movement had the government in their grip at some point. And then they made the mistake of resuming teaching. And now they are at an impasse.
We cannot all be Eto'os, but working hard enough to be the beat at what you do in your small area of business will sulrely get you enough leverage to decide what you want to do without much fear of a something being taken from you.
-Wanjii Wilfred.