Last Words for 2017: A Year of Hard Lessons
The writer reflects on 2017's major events—the Anglophone crisis, infrastructure projects, and government inaction—as teachings about collective responsibility, self-reliance, and the distance still to travel. Rather than despair, the reflection distills gratitude for the year's struggles as catalysts for clarity.
We have made a lot of progress as a culture this year.
I’m thankful for the “aff gone me” community who showed us how unsustainable their candy diet is. Because of them people realized stupidity will shine you a torch in the morning and run out of battery by sunset. Because of them many have found what we truly need is more Tchassa Kamgas and Nicole Hanffous.
I’m thankful for the struggle, I mean the Anglophone Problem. It showed us the power of a united people and it also showed us we can’t achieve anything by being united in the morning and divided at night - when the thief usually comes.
I’m thankful for the government of la republique, Orange Cameroon, MTN Cameroon, Bidoung Mpkwatt and Prof Roger Etoundi for they have shown us the power we have with the internet. They also showed us how we misuse that power every day.
I’m thankful for President Biya. He has shown us the president of your country cannot do anything for you. He has shown us that we need to think for ourselves for the battle is ours. He has shown us that he cannot give us the lives we want by signing a piece of paper. We have to start with ourselves by holding each other equally responsible for the future of our country as we hold the president.
I’m thankful for the Bonaberi bridge and the Kribi seaport for showing us our reliance on foreign ‘aid’ and ‘investments’ will not solve our problems but will rather slow us down.
I’m thankful for the Bafoussam - Bamenda dirt road for it reminds me we are a long way from building a dream country and society. It reminds me most of the work lies ahead.
Finally I’m thankful for all those who believe in themselves and their ability to make a positive change in our society. I pray that we all lose interest in ego aggrandizement and give ourselves fully to the service of our nation. I pray that applause does not turn us into monsters and increase our cravings for fame and more applause.
That said. Thank you all for making 2017 a great year in the history of our nation.
Let’s make 2018 the year of MORE WORK AND LESS ENVY.
Happy New Year!
2017 was a turning point in Cameroon's contemporary political moment, marked by the escalation of the Anglophone separatist crisis and widespread internet shutdowns. The piece speaks to a moment when civic consciousness was colliding with state action (and inaction), and when ordinary Cameroonians were grappling with questions of agency, unity, and the limits of institutional power.
The piece captures a particular Cameroonian intellectual posture: deeply critical, yet refusing cynicism or passivity. It insists that citizens cannot wait for leadership to materialize—they must become the architects of change themselves. That argument remains vital in contexts where institutional reform moves slowly and where the gap between aspiration and infrastructure is visceral. The writer's refusal of both despair and naïve optimism models a kind of clear-eyed hope that has only grown more necessary.