Lighting Another Anniversary Candle

Both members of the Cameroon People’s Democratic Movement (CPDM) and those who have over the years supported the ideals proffered by President Paul Biya have been out to show their attachment and loyalty to the Head of State. After he first took the oath of office as President of the Republic of Cameroon on 6 November, 1982 he presented to the nation values around which he intended to govern the country. To make good his promises, Mr Biya has over the years carried out several projects and warded off several contingencies that could have steer the boat of State offshore.     
While grappling with the implementation of policies intended to stamp his footprints across the national territory, President Biya came head on with the first veritable upset being an abortive Coup d’état on 6 April, 1984. This gave the country a foretaste of upheavals that several African countries had witnessed and tainted the country’s image as an oasis of peace in Africa. This was the beginning of the stark reality of power tussle. That was to be followed by a disturbing economic crisis that reeled on to see the country inscribed on the Heavily Indebted Poor Countries Initiative (HIPC) until around 2006 when Cameroon graduated from the HIPC and eventually set the pace for emergence by 2035. That is clearly an ongoing process which has also been confronting its own challenges and requiring continuous readjustments by the government in order to enable Cameroon meet the set goals under the leadership of the Head of State.     
If the economy has been full of sagging curves, the political life of the country in no way presents a straight line either. Succeeding Ahmadou Ahidjo under the one party system led by the Cameroon National Union (CNU), President Paul Biya sought to stamp his identify by transforming the party at a landmark congress in Bamenda in 1985 to the Cameroon People’s Democratic Movement (CPDM). As if to pre-empt rocky days ahead, he introduced pluralistic elections within the party by 1988. In 1990, there was the wind of change manifested through a general outcry across Africa that countries ought to drop the one party syndrome to imbibe multi-party democracy. Cameroon today prides itself with over 300 political parties, even if most remain suitcase and occasional political outfits. Some have however played a key role in fostering the democratisation efforts in the country by answering present during the various polls. Progressively, the country has witnessed major political evolutions, moving from the 1972 Constitution which President Biya met, to the 1996 Constitution that has given rise to the Senate (2013) and the Constitutional Council (2017).     
Such changes have been the result of institutional adjustments aimed at respecting the will of citizens to be part of nation-building. Perhaps one area of the demonstration of the resolve by Cameroonians to defend their country was through the Bakassi conflict with Nigeria. By throwing their weight behind the Head of State in pursuing the option of negotiated settlement and appropriate legal procedures that culminated in the verdict at The Hague on 2 October, 2002, Cameroonians showed their adherence in President Biya’s calls for peace and dialogue in conflict situations.     
Trying moments like the Boko Haram incursions in the Far North Region have rattled the nation, but not wrecked the ship. It is the same situation with the upheavals raised by grievances of the teachers’ and lawyers’ trade unions of...