Dear
lovely people,
This
is one of the most confusing and saddest story I will ever have to share. I love those early days in my life when I used
to be with her. And I’m trying to forget those days which still get me dying
every moment and for which I can’t get myself back, it’s just like getting a
one way ticket to a heart break town. Remember I said it will be confusing? Read
on…
La Republique is her name and I am Southern Cameroon, we came into a relation on 11th February 1961 when I as a former British colony, decided through a United Nations Plebiscite to gain ‘Independence’ by joining with her as a French colonial territory. Before we were together, I was one tough guy to look at girls, as I thought that “Man! These girls are useless”, this is how I use to be. But this thought wasn’t going to last for long. Sooner than later, I got myself into her arms. She had a crush on me, but hadn’t a way to speak with this tough guy. Somehow by chance, she pinged me thinking it was a friend of hers. But I got it that she was unaware of whom she was texting with, I explained that she was texting the wrong person. At first, she didn’t believe me but later, she came to know it was me.
Trust
me, she was excited and started telling her friends about our conversation.
Those girls were jealous of her, because they wished to make friends with me
but La Republic got into their way. That is how our story started, a beautiful
beginning. I saw changes in me during those early days and thought that “Hey! There is a girl who can make me fall
for her”. Our days went routinely well such as early meetings in the
mornings, late meetings before going back home, cute texting, sharing love with
chocolates, lone walk in empty roads, I mean they were one wonderful bunch of
days in my life.
Days passed in the same way, our union got modeled in the form of a Federal structure in October 1st 1961 in which I assumed the statehood of West Cameroon and La Republique assumed that of East Cameroon. It was indeed a merger of equal states as stipulated in the 1961 constitution. We soon found ourselves in a situation wherein our parents and our larger families, didn’t accept us and to resolved this, on 20th May 1972 we all resolved to abolish the existing federal structure through (I would today say) a misleading Referendum in which the numerical majority from the East Cameroon family imposed a unitary structure over the numerical minority of my West Cameroon family. That’s where the seeds of division were sown.
She was
forced by such a dispensation to leave me. After some days, we got together
again which was unexpected. I never thought we will continue again. I was in
her arms once again just the way I did earlier. We were together just like in
those days. However it wasn’t delightful for both of us, because as much as I
wanted her, it wasn’t same with her wanting me. Yes, I was crazy about her and
always being mad at her. Whenever I asked her “don’t you have any feelings for me just the way I have for you?”
every time she replied “I do, but I don’t
express it”. This was really hurting to me each time she said that and to
make it worst, in February 1984, her family decided without consultation to
change our family name from United Republic of Cameroon to just ‘Republic of
Cameroon’- a name that they had before the 1961 Plebiscite.
Since then, my family has continued to articulate our direct and indirect discrimination on the basis of the colonial language (English) and have been undergoing a process of forced assimilation. Knowing each others state that we are never going to be together harmoniously again. My family and I took a decision to leave her as soon as possible… though a reasonable number of my family members are still in the state of fear for me to leave her forever. It’s true I love her much as I have never loved anyone else. She has always been special to me, I have always tried to express it to her and to show her how special she is to me. But it has always been one sided, she is not expressive, even though she loves me much.
The way forward
is difficult to decipher right now partly because of a lack of unanimity especially
within my family. I am confused whether they are advocating an exit
option in order to assert and reclaim their statehood or clamoring for a more
inclusive architecture that would address and redress their minorityhood. I have been like this till now. Just like starving for a
lasting solution...
No comments:
Post a Comment