NEWS ANALYSIS

 Biya beware: Boko Haram is unlike Macquis, others

 

“Political language is essentially bad language because it is usually sentimental and devoid of facts”. These are the words of the celebrated George Orwell in an essay titled: “Politics and the English Language.” Orwell cites two statements on the same subject in two different newspapers, one a pro-government newspaper and another a newspaper sympathetic to the opposition. Read what the pro-government newspaper wrote: “The government has taken tough measures against terrorists”. Below is the one in the pro-opposition newspaper: “The regime has begun a vicious crackdown on the freedom fighters”.

Such language-usage was common in Cameroon in the early 90s. The state media referred to SDF supporters as “vandals” while their party leader called them “soldiers of democracy,” “hunting dogs” and other endearing names.

President Biya’s utterances about Boko Haram before leaving for the USA-Africa summit in Washington constituted what Orwell calls “bad language”. He likened the war he since declared against Boko Haram to those against the Macquis, propagators of the “Ghost Towns” operation and the war against Nigeria in Bakassi. Bad language is synonymous to propaganda language because the facts on the ground are different. Let us examine the wars which he claimed Cameroon has won one after another.

The war against the Macquisards shortened to “Macquis” was a long drawn bloody campaign against UPC nationalists who wanted Cameroon liberated entirely from the French. The “Macquis” chose to function from the forest and Ahidjo used not only the Cameroonian army, but also French military machine to crush them. Um Nyobe, for instance, was hunted like a wild beast and finally mowed down by a French machine gun in the forest of Loum. In order to win the sympathy of the population and build up profound hatred for the “Macquis”, the Ahidjo regime orchestrated the killing of innocent citizens whose heads were cut and hung along the public highway and while the “Macquis” were accused of being behind the killings.

The Biya regime didn’t really crush the operation “Ghost Towns” activists. It simply manipulated and split the hard core opposition. Proof that the regime lost the war is the salary cut of close to 70% which took effect from 1993, approximately two years later. The “Operation Ghost Towns and Civil Disobedience” dealt the Cameroonian economy a severe blow. Djeukam Tchameni’s “Carpe Liberte” which came up with the idea of “Carton Rouge”(Red Card) was so effective in handling the gendarmerie that the “Ghost Towns” operation registered close to 100% success in Douala despite the titanic efforts of the late Jean Fochive and Paul Nji Atanga to counter it. Till date, Atanga boasts that he bought a hundred taxis which security men used to neutralise the “Ghost Towns” operation in Douala. But Douala residents at the time would testify that there is more propaganda than truth in that allegation. We all know that Cameroon got Bakassi thanks to the International Court of Justice, ICJ ruling, not military force.

Can Cameroon crush Boko Haram?

The answer to the question can only be given after a careful examination of the facts on the ground. Biya made the declaration of war against Boko Haram in far away Paris and reiterated it at Nsimalen while leaving Cameroon for the US. Many of us still recall that during the “Ghost Towns” strike action in 19991, the president visited Douala after receiving threats not to set foot there. “Me voici a Douala”, he announced while there and encouraged by the applause from supporters, repeated with emphasis “Me voici donc a Douala”. If he thinks Boko Haram is like the “Ghost Towns” operation, let him go to the Far North town where Amadou Ali’s wife was kidnapped and several soldiers killed and declare: “Me voice a Kolofata!” then proceed to sleep there and see what Boko Haram will do to him.

When you declare a war on somebody or a group you move to confront the enemy in his own territory. You don’t declare a war and wait for the enemy to come and meet you in your own territory. The Americans have provided useful examples on what to do after a war declaration. As soon as the US declared war on the suspects of the attack on the World Trade Centre and the twin Towers of New York, US fighter jets left for Afghanistan, the base of the terrorists. 

The argument was that if Americans failed to confront the terrorists at their own doorsteps, they would attack Americans at home as they did on September 11, 2001. Osama Bin Laden was pursued and killed in the heart of Pakistan. Boko Haram is not hiding like the “Macquis” in the heart of the Equatorial forest in Cameroon. Its head quarters is the forest of Sambisa in Nigeria. Rather than seek Goodluck Jonathan’s assistance, Biya has chose but Idryss Derby of Chad, who, though a former rebel, doesn’t master the Boko Haram terrain like the Nigerian leader.

The way forward

If Cameroon is to win the war against Boko Haram, its military must collaborate with Nigeria and meet Boko Haram in Sambisa forest or wherever the sect’s headquarters is.  The fact we must first face is that Boko Haram has carried the fight to Cameroon’s own territory. Immediately Biya declared war against the Islamic sect in Paris, Boko Haram launched an attack, killing some soldiers and kidnapping Chinese engineers and carting away ammunition. Not only that. The Nigerian islamic sect is reportedly recruiting jobless and disgruntled Cameroonians. It has reportedly recruited 500 youths from Hon. Cavaye Djibril’s Mayo Sava division.

 Biya must also reconcile with fellow Cameroonians. Biya is yet to convince fellow Cameroonians that his policy of empowering fellow Betis and running the country as a personal estate is for the good of the nation. No army, however, well trained, can win a war without the collaboration of the population; especially an unconventional war against a faceless formidable enemy like Boko Haram.

Finally, Biya should also stop carrying fire and water in the same mouth: fighting Boko Haram and negotiating at the same time with them to free those abducted. Neither the US nor Nigeria negotiates with terrorists.