SYMPOSIUM ON NONVIOLENCE
RESEARCH
PEACEFUL COEXISTENCE : THE CAMEROON MODEL
SAIBOU ISSA, Department of History, UoNg, Cameroon
Statement of the problem
The Republic of Cameroon is located in West Central Africa, but often listed among the countries of Central Africa.
The country is inhabited by about seventheen millions persons and more than two hundred ethnic groups, each one speaking his own language, having its own history and traditions. Like in Nigeria and Chad which are Cameroon’s neighbours, the relationship between certain ethnic groups namely in the Northern part of the country where characterized, in the past, by domination and violence. In these countries, precolonial heritage and colonial ethnic policy led to civil war, destruction of the state and lasting insecurity. This was not the case in Cameroon.
Like in Nigeria, Chad and Ivory Coast, Cameroon is made of savannah and forest, generally known as the North-South opposition. Generally, it is not only a geographical contrast, but also a human and religious opposition. In these countries, religious and regional belongings backed political affiliations and the building of armed political groups.
Cameroon belongs also to a region in which the democratization process, in most of the countries of Central Africa, is jeopardized by electoral fraud, massive violation of human rights and authoritarian practices, leading to civil war, military uprisings and different forms of political and social instability.
Natural resources, especially oil, are other factors of conflict in Central Africa. In Angola, Nigeria and Congo Brazaville namely, oil is a major factor in the civil wars experienced by countries.
Considered as the Africa in miniature owing to its diversity, Cameroon contains most of the factors which caused instability in its neighbourhood : ethnicity, democratization, management and control of natural resources, regionalism, historical heritage, etc. But Cameroon is still a stable country, being an island of quietness within an effervescent region, opening its doors to refugees coming from all over Central and West Africa, all the time managing to preserve peace and national security.
Is there a Cameroon secret of peaceful coexistence ? What should be done in order to sustain peace in Cameroon ? What can Cameroon offer or teach to Central Africa, Africa and the World ?
These are the major questions guiding this
multidiplisciplinary research project initiated by lecturers from the
University of Ngaoundere in Northern Cameroon and which would be possibly
conducted in partnership. It is part of the process under way at that
University for developing competence and creating a center for peace and
security studies, research and documentation on Central Africa.
North-south: discusses
and have a dialogue
Saïbou Issa
Like a number of countries of sub-Saharan Africa (Senegal,
Nigeria, Chad, Côte d'Ivoire, Sudan for example), Cameroon contains a North and
a South that are not only cardinal points. The limit between these two spaces -
sahelian and equatorial - is not only a geographic border : the North and the South are two
historic and cultural inheritances, two human characteristics, two religious
nuances … which are so many sources of instability. Nevertheless, contrary to
the countries above quoted in which the North-South contrast entailed civil
war, armed rebellion and display of ethnic and religious hatred, this dichotomy
appears, in the case of Cameroon, as a simple crack in the building ; a
crack which is the object of a permanent debate, but appears as an improbable
source of cataclysm.
This contribution, elaborated in a historic, diagnostic and
forward-looking perspective, aspires to redraw the evolution of the « Northern
Issue » in the Cameroonian political game, to stand out the stabilizing
compromises and to examine the conditions of sustainable peace in the
interregional relations in Cameroon.
Islam and Christianity in Northern Cameroon : Dialogue of religion or Dialogue between Clergymen?
Islam was introduced in Northern Cameroon in the early 19th century through violence perpetrated in the name of jihad while Christianity appeared after the German explorers ‘discovered’ the region in the late 19th century, inaugurating therefore the new era of colonisation. Since then, Islam and Christianity had learnt to coexist through mutual respect. But recently, with the democratisation process and the evolving of the religious revivalism both shaking the region, the quest and the need for dialogue became striking to avoid widening the gap between the two religions. With the approval of the local authority, Clergymen and Muslim leaders instituted a bi-annual meeting dedicated to ease the rising tensions between the two communities and to find common grounds for mutual interests.
Paradoxically, while the religious leaders from both sides are discussing on matters concerning the general interest such as the scarcity of rain, the drought issue, the hunger threat, misunderstandings, mistrust and suspicion persist without any courageous intervention being made by the hierarchy of either side. The accusation of betrayal is so common that neither Clergymen nor Imams are willing, meanwhile, to channel down the goodwill and the spirit of dialogue created by their bi-annual meetings.
This discussion focusses on ways and means that hamper the spreading of dialogue among each community and why is made taboo for Muslims to discuss with Christians and vice versa.
Bienvenu Denis Nizesete
If the olive branch, the twig and the dove are universally
considered as the symbols of peace, they do not embody necessarily the cultural
identities of the peoples which use them. In Cameroon, signs of peace are
different and espouse the natural and cultural frame that inspire them. The
variety of symbols of peace
(vegetables, animals, movements, etc.) also expresses the inclination of the
Cameroonians to promote peace. Such study about the symbols of peace, consist
of making the inventory and interpreting all the signs, the gestures, the
words, the artefacts, the meals, the playful performances and rituals which accompany peace.
The Dracaena herbora (tree of peace), cola nuts, water, shared meal, invocations, songs and dances among others,
constitute some of the elements of peace which are studied in this research.
For the
preservation of the peace in Cameroon : the duty of reciprocity in
interethnic migrations
Abwa Daniel
Cameroon,
in its guiding principles, considers that every Cameroonian must feel at home
everywhere in Cameroon. It is by this way that the political authorities try to
limit tension between the Cameroonian peoples, each ethnic group having its own
history (Cameroon count more than two hundred ethnic groups). If the principle
is important, its execution is rather difficult considering the resurgence of
ethnic solidarities nowadays. Each group considers that it has its home place
where it must be the main beneficiary of the political advantages at first,
economical and social then. Therefore, ethnic solidarity competes with the
principle of Cameroon belonging to all the Cameroonians and constitutes a
powerful germ of destabilization of the country. That is why we think that the
preservation of peace in Cameroon must go through the duty of reciprocity that
every Cameroonian must adopt when he leaves «his home place » to settle down to
« the another one’s home place ».
Nna Mathurin
Since more than a decade today, Cameroon engaged into the
process of democratization. This process which spreads out in all domains of
the national public life, is characterized by the recognition of the main
liberties to the citizens. It seems curious to notice that the essentially
belligerent and conflicting democratic game during the first years, stabilizes
gradually and certainly. The euphoric demand of change drove neither to the
overthrow of established political order, nor to the total destabilization and
murderess system observed in some States.
An efficient explanation of this situation is certainly in
the role of the State. Such assertion relaunches the theoretical debates on the
role of the State in the liberal political systems and on the capacity of «
former regimes » to manage political change. In Cameroon, in spite of the
autoscuttling of the liberalization process, the State was able to keep a force
which allows her to master the political innovations by maintaining the
necessary controls which avoids the floods and the skids.
Educational
system and peace in Cameroon
Mbengué Nguimè Martin
Several social groups
leave in Cameroon since times immemorial. They maintain different social relations. The friendly
or conflicting character of these depends, besides on factors such as the human
nature, the kind of education received by the Cameroonians in the African
domestic frame, in the Koranic school or in the western school. The present
work aims to put in motto the role of the educational systems in the birth, the
prevention and the management of
conflicts in Cameroon.
How the various modes of
training the young people contribute to the approximately peaceful cohabitation
of the social groups in Cameroon by limiting conflicts to the only peaceful
stage ? In other words, why and how the purchase of African, Western and
Islamic knowledge ease the instinct or the belligerent run up of the young
people?
To answer these
questions, this study examines :
- the typology and the
characteristics of the educational systems functioning in Cameroon ;
- the social and
political advantages that the Cameroonians get from the educational systems
developed in their country ;
- the way the
Cameroonians of which make use of their cultural luggage to manage conflicts
successfuly.
Peace and security in
Central Africa : the example of Cameroon
Samuel
Théophile Batoum-Ba-Ngoué
The context of
globalization engendered in Africa generally and in Central Africa in
particular, new forms of conflicts. These conflicts are due to the illicit traffic of light weapons, the
proliferation of the traffic of drug, the appearance of the refugee camps.
There are transborder ethnic conflicts, civil wars, coups d’Etat, massive
movements of populations. Issues which were considered as simple internal
conflicts, appears more and more as a potential source of subregional
insecurity.
What could explain peace
and security in Cameroon within this unstable environment ? Several
dimensions could be considered : political, religious, cultural, historic,
educational :
- the historic dimension suggests
that the particularly violent conditions in which Cameroon began the
postcolonial era influenced the permanent search for peace;
- the political dimension examines
the policy of national integration with regional balance in order to ascertain
that the diversity of the country is represented in the State bureaucracy and
politics;
- the cultural dimension shows how
the cultural patrimony is erected as national wealth.
-
the religious dimension shows that diversity of faith, instead of being a
source of instability, rather popularize the words of peace, love and
brotherhood.
- regarding the educational
dimensionn, the insertion civics in the programs lauding patriotism, national
unity and respect for state institutions.
The peace factor in
regional development
Iya Moussa
Peace has been always a major preoccupation for human societies.
So, in the planning practices, the preservation and the promotion of peace
occupy an important place. But how is it translated concretely ? This
contribution tries to answer this question.
At the urban level
:
- To make an inventory and analyze the
spaces of peace (palaver trees, holy wood, etc.);
- To identify planning systems
the objective of which is to maintain or to develop peace;
- To analyze the modes of
organization and conservation of the spaces dedicated to the preservation of
peace.
· At the regional level :
- To make an inventory and to analyze the
modes of divisions of the national territory and their link with the promotion
of peace;
- To analyze the mechanisms of
settlement of land conflicts.
Four decades of peace in Cameroon :
an insight into the underlying human and natural factors
Ludwig N. Metuge
Post-independent Africa, South of the Sahara has, in the last four decades, been the scene of political upheavals, coup d’Etat en counter-coup d’Etat. While the period between the 1960s and 1980s was characterised by monolithic political systems, the 1990s heralded an era of pluralistic politics, reluctanly welcomed by some political leaders.
Apparent disillusionment of the masses, with the conduct of State business by the ruling elite in nearly all nthe Central and West African States, has been at the root of unprecedented political violence and wars. The question is, given its Central-West-African geographical location, and its multi-ethnic sociological make-up, how has Cameroon managed so far, to sustain its independence, remaining an island of peace amidst an apparent wartorn and unstable Central Africa ? Therefore, the main purpose of this paper is to attempt an answer to the above question, and to further identify human and natural factors to which we owe our peace, pinpoint some vexing trends that may fragilize this peace, and finally suggest steps to be taken to pre-empt social injustices that usually degenerate into wars.
Oral litterature and
culture of peace
Clément Dili Palaï
Generally speaking, oral
litterature as crucible of the cultural patrimony constitutes a set of oral
productions of a people, which are passed on from mouth to ear and of
generation in generation. Myths, legends, epics, tales, bed songs, riddles and
proverbs are also alive testimonies of the situations of conflict and relaxation
lived by the man in the past and in the daily.
So, Cameroonian oral texts are
advisable, from a range, to study the strategies adopted by the man to master
war situations and to strengthen peace between the various social components.
In other words, it is a question of seeing how the playful and didactics of the
Cameroonian oral litterature contributes to cultivate peace among people.
Literature and peace:
reading two temperaments and two intentions of writing the Cameroonian novels
Jean
Marie Wounfa
The history of Africa is marked out
of violence in varoius forms (slavery, imperialism, wars, etc.). The reaction
of the writers in front of this situation suggests two attitudes diametrically
set. Some of them, following the example of Mongo Béti, lauded revolution, violence as means of resistance and so their
works present iconoclasts heroes sometimes ready to carry weapons to defend the
homeland or to make triumph their ideals.
In front of this tendency we find another more balanced and
pacifist, the attitude of which is marked by tolerance and sometimes
neutrality. We intend to interrogate the formal structures of the works
considered in the corpus to put in evidence the ideologies which presided over
their conception and realization. Proverbs, maxims pacifist vocabulary which
enamel the texts subjects; the subjects ; the intrigue which encourages or
which excludes tensions, toughening, conciliation, domestic and social harmony
; neutrality of the persons and of authors in front of some events vectors
of the values hold particularly attention as and the ideological standards of
bellicosity, of neutralism or of pacifism.
Ethnic and cultural pluralism,
quota policy and sociopolitical stability in Cameroon
Atangana Mvogo Florent Guy
. Likened to a Harlequin's dress,
Cameroon counts two official languages, three great religions, a pleiad of
ethnic groups and of African languages. This aggregate is expressed in the
often trivialized formula « Africa in miniature ». Since the country gained
Independence in 1960, it experienced various threats to its stability, the most
recent being the threat of secession by the English-speaking region of the
country in december, 1999.
Paradoxically and unlike the nearby countries as Chad and Central
African Republic, Cameroon enjoys a rather remarkable political stability.
Numerous factors contribute certainly to maintain this climate of peace, but
there is no doubt that one of the major factors is the quota policy or policy of regional balance practised by the
goverments of Cameroon since Independence.
The material security of
the soldiers as a factor of sociopolitical stability
Bell Jean Pierre
Unlike some of her neighbours whom one calls centers, Cameroon is
presented by its leaders as an island of peace; this in spite of the misery of
the mass. The common denominator in all these countries which experience
internal confusions is the involvement of servicemen or the police. How could
one explain the loyalty of the Cameroonian servicemen to the established institutions
? Is the motto of the army, Honor and Loyalty, enough ?
Our contribution voices the following
hypothesis : the particular care of the servicemen in a context of economic
crisis anaesthetized in them every warlike vague desire.
« The seller of eggs does not look
for fighting » : economic foundations of the culture of peace among
the Bamiléké people
Médard Lieugomg and Jules
Kouosseu
On the eve of Independence, Colonel Lamberton wrote that
the Bamileke people constitute a pebble in the shoes of Cameroon. It means
that this people represented a threat for the stability of the young State.
Nevertheless, in spite of the frustrations that they accumulated and in spite
of the demographic and economic trumps which they have and which, under another
heavens, fed ethnic and destructive insurrectionary movements, the Bamiléké put rather a lot into
the building of their country.
This contribution tries to encircle the ins and outs of the
current pacifism within this people. We examine its historical roots, the
spatial factor the habits and customs of the bamileke communities on the one
hand. On the other hand, we focus on the economic foundations.
Inventory of the traditional
mechanisms of pacific regulation of the conflicts and of the promotion of the
peace in the North-Cameroon
Saïbou Issa and al
Cameroon generally and its Northern part in particular, is made of
various peoples having each its cultural substratum. Among the elements of
their cultural patrimony, the culture of the peace appears at the right place.
How do the traditional societies of North-Cameroon resolve the
conflicts within the communities and between communites ? Who are the makers of
peace ? What is the impact of modernity
(Islam, Christianity, colonization…) on these mechanisms ? How do that
“peace from below” contributes to the establishment of a culture of peace and
to the stability of Cameroon ? This contribution aims at making an analytical
inventory of it.
The parallel modes of settling
disputes and their contribution to the preservation of peace in Cameroon
Nkou Mvondo Prosper
In a society where people live and practice various activities,
conflicts exist, since their interests
are generally divergent. The conflicts can be approximately important. The most
dreaded form of conflict is the war. A conflict, so minor is, can arrive at
this extremity if it is not settled properly..
The modern States established frameworks of solving disputes. One
speaks then about justice, the preservation of peace being its essential
mission. The Cameroonian system, following the example of other modern systems,
proclaims the monopoly of its justice. The State officially refuses to give
enforceable force to the decisions made by authorities others than his. But a
young State without great resources, in a poor and indebted country, can not
give birth but to weak institutions. The justice of the Cameroonian State is
weak ; it experiences a crisis which prevents it from completely
undertaking its role of preservation of peace.
Beside the official system (that of the State), there are parallel
frameworks of settling disputes, a sort of justice that one will not find again
foreseen by the State laws, but a justice which works in opened sky, making
competition with the official justice. This justice contributes a lot to
dissolve the multiple conflicts which, if they had not found a solution, would
have driven to the chaos.
These informal authorities of settling disputes are engaged not
only in conflicts between citizens, but also disputes between citizens and the
administration, without forgetting the conflicts that engenders the dysfunction
of the state institutions in the relationships between them. It is important
then to examine these informal justices which work for peace in Cameroon, in
the shade of the State which showed its limits.
Management of the space, settlement
of land disputes and promotion of peace in the rural areas : the case of the
plains of the Far-North of Cameroon
Bernard Gonné
The plains of the Far-North of Cameroon
experiences many socioeconomic problems which handicap their rural development.
The most common difficulties of development are notably those of land disputes
connected to the problems of witchcraft, famine, aridity, in brief to the
problem of poverty. Nowadays, one assists more and more to the emergence of
conflicts over land taxes and ownership, sometimes particularly violent. my
objective in this work is at first, to study the ways the rural conflicts are
settled with or without the intervention of the State authorities. In the
second time, I put in evidence the necessity of a consequent policy of
management of space, to immortalize peace in these breakable areas.
Cameroon : the
combinatorial foundations of peace and of stability
Atemengue Jean
de Noël
In a sub-region of Central Africa characterized by
instability, insecurity, and even war, Cameroon calls attention to itself,
since almost always, as a peaceful and stable country. If one indeed leaves out
of consideration the episode of the localized civil war which marked this
country during the first decade after the country gained Independence, Cameroon
lived always globally in peace and institutional stability. People had even
thought that the process of democratization and liberalization of the political
life which was dangerously wrinkled at a moment, would slip in a bloody
confrontation between the various great ethnic and cultural components of the
country. But, that was not the case.
To understand the « Cameroonian exception », it seems to me that
one needs to consider some issues which are tied one to another : the memory of
the Cameroonian people; the extraordinary ethnic and cultural diversity of the
country and the policy of regional balance. The central hypothesis of this work
is that it is the combination of these three fundamental factors that allows,
by immortalizing them, to protect peace and stability in Cameroon, at the same
time as they slow down hardly, and it is the other side of medal, every
authentic political integration.
The foundations of the
democratic exception in Cameroon
Aba Jean Calvin has Oyono
The institutional life in Africa is in perpetual motion. The colonial
sequence there was at first the previous one. Then came an African postcolonial
State profoundly marked by the unique thought molded in the single party
system. Today in democratic transition, Africa is painfully in search of
sustainable stability of its political and administrative institutions. Every
process of democratization of the State which is the passage from the social
orders of a closed type to those more opened and competitive, has necessarily a
heavy levy to pay. Does Cameroon escape this turbulent logic of the State
evolution ?
Social peace reigns there indeed.
That seems strange in the eyes of the global context and arouses questioning.
There is a sort of democratic exception which takes body in this country. So
arises the fundamental question to know what could justify this situation of
island of peace within this agitated majority. The actors of the political game
are a rather paradoxical explanation of it. If it is real that the official
speech of the government, either in it political or legal forms, constantly
stresses the virtues of, the psychology of the citizens, as for it, in spite of
the meeting of the ingredients of social implosion, is, bizarrely , in
hibernation.