Facing National Challenges

As usual, stock-taking on the evolution of national life is in vogue. Unique in this year's activities is the fact that a generation of Cameroonians who are 27-years-old know only the New Deal era. Such youths in the same way as Cameroon under Paul Biya, have long gone into the age of maturity and can validly count their blessings, trials, tribulations and make a reasonable projection into the future.

Talking to most Cameroonians aged 27 this year, their cry is that they would want to have jobs and lead decent lives. That could rightly be one of the major points of reflection that the many manifestations across the country to commemorate this anniversary would be looking into. President Paul Biya has himself stated that "democracy is indeed a socio political regime in which the relations between men are regulated as per the respect of their freedom and their equality; in this way, it remains the only form of government which truly and genuinely strives to base social order on the imperative of human dignity". This vision of governance carries the seed of Mr Biya's political stewardship in Cameroon over the years.

No matter the age group, Cameroonians have been living witnesses of the evolution of the country, especially under the Biya era, in its quest for the creation of nationhood and modernisation. Democratisation moved from the rungs of the party to a multiparty set up that has been viewed variously depending on where people belong. That is perhaps normal in a country where people have the right to self expression.

Consequently, without committing a political testament, Cameroon Tribune's analyses of the 27th Anniversary of the New Deal delves into the diplomatic, agricultural, sporting and socio-economic evolution of the country within the past years.

Coming ahead of an upcoming presidential election in the country, the life of the nation has, within the past months, witnessed unprecedented effervescence given the intensification of the fight against corruption codenamed operation "Sparrow hawk" which has seen the incarceration of some top-notch of the regime on charges of misappropriation of State funds. Some have been quick to conjure the spectre of victimisation in an attempt to derail public attention.

No matter the arguments, the management of State funds has been a major undoing for some who have often taken refuge behind political party activism to siphon state resources for personal gains despite incessant calls by President Paul Biya for probity in handling public affairs.

When President Biya said therefore in Monatele, near the national capital, Yaounde prior to the last Presidential election that things would never be the same again, sceptics still committed the error of thinking that it was a mere political slogan. But the facelift that Yaounde and Douala have been undergoing and the inauguration of some infrastructure have testified to the President's determination to endow Cameroon with a significant legacy.

The challenge may not be a day's job given that there is still a fraction of Cameroonians who behave like passers-by, always looking the other way when things go wrong in the areas over which they have the authority to turn things around. Such a situation has often been compounded by the multiplicity of ethnic and sociological groups in the country. They have rendered more challenging the task of guaranteeing peace and stability in Cameroon. Thus, it is understandable that the country readily prides itself of being an oasis of peace within a desert of a turbulent sub-region and President Paul Biya as the main architect even if the real quest for a forward looking nation must be the concern of all.

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