It has been an interesting succession of days since the Kumba Masssacre. Actually, it started before Kumba happened. As an avid Twitter user, albeit tweeting less and observing more, I noticed a tectonic shift in the nature of online advocacy for the Anglophpne plight over the last 10 days.
Usually, some things start on Twitter and end, primordially, there. The #EndPhoneTax campaign is a very fresh example. But this time around, the scent that sprung from the bird’s nest on the the other blue app, has wafted to this other blue app, and the Anglophone problem is now the center of debate on Facebook in a way that is has never been.
How so?
Well, there is a heavy debate on the issue by Francophone social media users; and unlike in 2016/2017 at the start of the crisis when far too many people were throwing blanket statements that all-lives-mattered the issue, or made us realise their poor knowledge of the issue, or quoted statements from Issa Tchiroma (force revient a la loi), or just plainly ignored the issue, or months after still asked ignorant questions like “mais les anglos la veulent meme quoi?” or just lived in carefree oblivion, today there is a an almost unanimous call for the crisis to be resolved. And to sweeten the pot, Paul Biya and his terrible leadership are being DIRECTLY called out as the cause of the start of, and the perpetuation of the crisis.
Even the musicians and other celebrities that we had to beg to even just speak up have finally grown balls and are holding meetings to see how they can help bring an end to the crisis. I am almost tempted to laugh and deride, but at this point I am tired, and as you are, I am sure.
It seems cruel and cynical that it had to take Kumba and 8 dead children for a massive scale to fall of the eyes of people. Even when we go back 9 months ago to the Ngarbuh inccident, we did not see this type of mobilisation. Why then so much mobilisation on the issue this time? Is it the sheer horror of the event? Or have we collectively reached our elastic limit and are now breaking at the cracks and bursting at the seams?
My little theory on that puts the cause on the #EndPhoneTax campaign. I believe everything starts from there. For the first time, I saw Cameroonians come together on social media to fight something that affected us all directly. And it helped that the main villains of the story; the Minister of Telecoms, the Cameroon Customs and Paul Zambo are all on Twitter, and people tagged, mentioned, sub-mentioned and quote-tweeted them directly; and at the end of it all, we won. Some might argue that the tax has been suspended temporarily pending a more efficient method of collection, but I still see it as a win nonetheless.
It seems a light bulb was switched on in our collective psyche in the heels of the victory. And the power of our unified individual influence in matters of advocacy And just as we were drinking the sweet nectar of victory, the Nigerian #EndSARS campaign was picking up steam. I specifically remember a Twitter user saying that with the momentum built from the #EndPhoneTax campaign we should start pushing for an #EndAnglophoneCrisis campaign.
So for those who focused on their argument that Cameroonians copied from the Nigerian #EndSARS movement, you now have your answer.
In any case, it started picking up steam; slowly at first. Somewhere along the line, I noticed that a lot of people were using the hashtag to tell personal stories of what they endured during the crisis. It was then I had the idea of creating a dedicated hashtag for people to use to tell their stories. And so #MyAnglophoneCrisisStory was born. And with this, many people told their stories and it was a reference for many francophones to read and understand the extent of the damage of Biya’s bad governance and leadership.
And from there on, the #EndAnglophoneCrisis movement REALLY began to be the talk of Twitter. The Kumba incident fanned the embers that the movement was into a huge flame, and once again, just like at the beginning of the crisis, the Anglophone problem is at the center of debate on all social media platforms, as well as offline. But this time around we are not debating and arguing and insulting each other. Everyone, well almost everyone, is of the opinion that it has gone too far. And that it must stop.
But the most interesting part of it all is the number of grassroot citizen movement and initiatives that are being created to mobilise people to find a way forward from the crisis.
Maybe this is it. Maybe this is what we finally needed to forge on ahead as one. Cynically, it had to take 8 kids to die to happen. Never mind that these incidents happen every week in Anglophone Cameroon. Social media doesn’t just reach certain places. Sometimes it does. Mimi reports about it but somehow we don’t take note. This is one of those times that we noticed.
We are all here together at this point. I know some of you are bitter that it had to take 4 years for people to finally wake up and fight along you. Just remember that they have always fought. Just not all of them. And if we choose to stay bitter or continue to point accusatory fingers, it will not help.
We are here now. More people are eager to fight Biya. Biya too is fighting back. As it stands, on Twitter, a small cyber army has been paid to push an alternative hashtag that directly imputes the blame on Amba Boys alone. Whereas the #EndAnglophoneCrisis is pushing for the fact that both parties have a share of the responsibility in the way the crisis has turned out to be.
So let’s not sit back. Let’s push back and fight. Let us all, francophones and anglophones come together and work together. Let us ride this momentum that we are on until this crisis is solved.
Even if we have to do it ourselves.
- Wandji Wilfred