As the community honors His Excellency Elung Paul Che, the need for inclusiveness, dialogue, and collective progress becomes ever more vital.
Let us Walk the Talk of Unity and move forward together.
Kupe-Muanenguba sons and daughters thronged the Paul Biya Stadium Bangem, last weekend to celebrate their illustrious son, His Excellency Elung Paul Che, Minister, Assistant Secretary General of the Presidency of the Republic of Cameroon.
While addressing the huge crowd, the Minister reiterated to the Kupe-Muanenguba chiefs and traditional rulers that he was their son whom they sent out as a greyhound to hunt for the game (development projects), and he made a good catch (the Bangem-Nguti road project).
The importance of this ongoing project cannot be overemphasized, as it will make Nguti and other enclaves on the 53-kilometer road stretch directly accessible to the Divisional Headquarters, Bangem, which will, in turn, become a real economic hub that will keep the heart of Kupe-Muanenguba throbbing.
There is, therefore, every reason to believe that no right-thinking mind in Kupe-Muanenguba is cynical about this landmark community-based project. Thus, we cannot thank the Minister enough for his excellence in this endeavor, and we urge him to continue pushing the gas pedal and keep the sail at full mast.
Regrettably, his siblings’ conspicuous absence and non-participation (Minister Philip Ngole, Minister Elvis Ngolle Ngolle, GM Johnson Okie, just to name these three) was a hiccup that must be discouraged going forward. And this brings to mind a few questions:
Were all those who either did not attend or participate aware of the organization of such an event?
Were they duly invited? And if ‘yes,’ by who?
Should these elders and many other illustrious sons and daughters of Kupe-Muanenguba not have been a part of the planning from the outset?
Was the event genuinely a ‘thank-you’ rally or an opportunity to show that some mattered more in Kupe-Muanenguba than others?
Was it a CPDM event or a Kupe-Muanenguba affair that should not have taken any political party color? And if it was a CPDM affair as its planning and unfolding unmistakably indicate, why was the CPDM Party hierarchy in the Division absent?
Unity is power, they say. Per Tony Blair, the first lesson of political courage is to think anew, the second is to be prepared to lead and to decide, and the third is to take calculated risks.
We are not unaware that in politics, some people must be alienated; like it or not, the moment you decide, you divide. No political party is clean regarding tactics that divide our people. While our questions beg for answers, we must categorically point out the need to bridge this unhealthy and uncouth divide for a better Kupe-Muanenguba.
Our pledge should urge us, as a community, toward reasonableness and goodwill toward fellow Bekorseh and other Kupe-Muanenguba politicians and followers alike. There is a Bakossi adage that says, ‘if you do not know how to carve a spoon, behold the dog’s ears.’ Nothing is wrong if we copycat from our NW politicians who swallow their differences at home. We need to alienate degrading sentiments that deepen our political divide and instead concentrate on addressing the long-standing problems of our community.
In that case, we can chart a course for a brighter future with less bitterness and, with determination in our purpose, end polarization and stop fomenting our prehistoric fight or flight impulses.
Collective bargaining is essential to influence policies, enhance social justice, and ensure more inclusive governance. It can lead to a more democratic, responsive, and equitable political system.
Division can help maintain power, weaken opposition, simplify governance, prevent alliances, and exploit existing divisions, but it deepens the social divide, incites conflict and violence, undermines social cohesion, and causes long-term instability.
While divide and rule can be an effective political strategy for maintaining control, its long-term consequences often include social discord, instability, and ethical issues. Many modern societies view such strategies as harmful to social harmony and democratic principles. This holds for Kupe-Muanenguba as well.
The onus is on the lone sitting Kupe-Muanenguba Minister to bring everyone together! If we could rally such a mammoth crowd last weekend just to say, ‘thank you,’ we can pull even a bigger one to seek and restore peace and heal wounds. We should not preach peace in the wilderness as if some are against it. Let’s walk the talk!
Divide and rule is a sound motto. Unite and lead a better one.
HRM Chief George N. Enongene
Traditional Ruler, Muabi, Bangem Sub Division, Kupe Muanenguba Division
