Cameroon: Why We Need a Two by (X) State Federation

By Mwalimu George Ngwane

Anglophone Lawyers have spoken. Cameroon needs a Federal system. Going by the experiences surrounding the debate on the concept of Federation among Anglophones, I will not be surprised at the re-emergence of rebuttals and old hackneyed but sometimes sterile blame game narratives in our public space.

The common denominator between the Southwest and the Northwest Regions is that they both stand for a Federation. A ten-state Federation emphasises Provincial Protection, while a two-state Federation emphasises Regional Sovereignty. The magic numbers of two and ten have put the North Westerner and South Westerner at daggers drawn as if any of the principles has been bought by the establishment yet.  We have been so divided along the lines of two and ten that we refuse to see the issues involved and the risks concerned. Just as we have echoed a unity-in-diversity conversation, so too have we given a false impression that a person who believes in the two-state federation must be a North Westerner or a naive South Westerner.