EDITORIAL ON SCHOOLING IN AMBAZONIA

• Archives & Analysis
• September 09, 2022

In today's editorial we revisit the aspect of Education with peace By Fredley MUZANG TAH, The Soul Searcher. He captions:

SCHOOLING IN AMBAZONIA DURING WAR: THE FINE ROPE THE I.G. WALKS

(From PDM for PEM)

Men have many reasons for which they spend sleepless nights; some because of empty entrails while others spend nights calculating how to rob their neighbours or are actively involved in highway businesses; others still, good men, spend the night watching over the city. Nations have gone to war over women and for flimsier reasons, but real men suffer from insomnia over the future of their children while well meaning, purposeful nations go to war to acquire or protect a heritage for generations to come. The future of every community can best be anchored on the education it gives their children. That makes education the best heritage to bequeath to posterity. This accounts for the centrality of education in the Ambazonian crisis. That is also why the position of the Interim Government on schooling in the Home Front during this war is of utmost importance and should be understood by all and sundry and articulated properly by all who communicate for the struggle irrespective of factions. A misrepresentation of this position can lead to regrettable consequences. Little wonder then that all factions are tactfully aligned with the position of President Sako's government on the matter.

Interim Government Position

The position of the Interim Government on schooling has not changed since President Sako rose to the helm. The following excerpts from a release by the Department of Education and Strategic Collaboration, DESC of August 25 2022 is an apt synopsis of that position:

"...It is the desire of the DESC and the IG, in general, to see all schools open, with teachers and students actively involved in the teaching and learning activities."

[But that]

"As has been the case in the past years, we reiterate that we favour school  resumption once parents and school authorities are able to ascertain the security of the children and teachers..."

In the past, President Samuel Ikome Sako stated that the IG cannot guarantee the security of our children in schools while LRC thugs are moving about, seeking to kill anything male in Ambazonia. That is why a few children go to school in relatively secured urban areas but not in rural communities which are hardest hit by the enemy's genocidal army, with hundreds of school infrastructure destroyed and many others including hospitals occupied by LRC government soldiers. The republican thugs from Yaoundé have shot and killed several children on their way to and from school, attacked schools and killed children in classrooms all in a bit to blackmail the struggle; the cases of GBHS Ekondo Titi and St Theresa in Kumba are still fresh in our memories, neither have we forgotten Enondialle and Tataw, two gentle sweethearts slaughtered by the genocidal thugs from Yaoundé. Consequently, the Interim Government has placed the responsibility of taking the decision of whether or not to send kids to school on the parents of the Home Front who live daily with the carnage and the genocide. The struggle is therefore a permanent partnership, with responsibilities and decisions shared by all and at various levels.

The IG's position is the best to assume on the subject for several reasons; most importantly, education is the anchor of this struggle being the immediate cause and catalyst of the crisis. Therefore, that which parents stood up for should not be overlooked at any point in the struggle for statehood restoration. The leadership of the struggle therefore seeks to carry along the people on the Home Front who, while supporting the struggle in many ways, still want their children to continue schooling, to acquire even the "half-baked" education. While crying, keep crawling. No parent I have spoken to on the Home Front wants to keep their children at home till God knows when BUT, all are ready to give away an arm to have homeland independence restored. The position of Ambazonia's Home Front parents should be understood and well managed. Dealing properly with this position has quashed the enemy's favourite line by which it stated that "Ambazonians in the diaspora are wicked and selfish for stopping children on the territory from acquiring education while their own kids attend schools in the West." We do in fact know that Yaoundé does not give a damn about Ambazonia's children and their education; Paul Biya's ensigns are busy shutting down confessional and community run schools in the most affected war zones. The only reason the colonial D.Os do this is to deprive our children of even the half baked education they offer. We  are grateful that our parents and relatives, the very ones, the betterment of whom we travelled abroad, have understood this and have shut their minds to Yaoundé's misinformation campaign. By taking the risk to allow children to go to school at all, Ambazonia's parents have demonstrated an acute thirst for knowledge and deserve support from UNICEF and the international community.

There is better education ahead for these children though, but that will only be possible after we bring this war to the victorious end God has ordained for us. Many think that Ambazonia cannot win this struggle on the battlefield. This thought  undermines God and His plans for us. Will God ordain a thing and not make good what He has ordained? Numbers do not matter in a cause backed by God, but  we must meet some minimum requirements.

Yes, we can win this struggle militarily and actually flush out the enemy from the territory. But can we do this when the men in the trenches have to fight and go on holidays because of lack of weapons and accessories? There is therefore the urgent need to commit more means to homeland self-defense and to push out the enemy now so that our children and teachers can return to school everywhere and in safety.

The next justification for the IG's position on the matter is the international community. Nobody doubts that the international community has a role to play in the restoration of Ambazonia's botched independence. While international treaties and charters may not directly bind us at the moment, it is in the struggle's best interest that we respect some of these instruments where possible. Not to do so might lead to the struggle being tagged with terrorism labels that come with nefarious consequences from those we are courting. More so, we are using the charters, conventions, and treaties of this international community to defend our case. If it is good for the goose, it is good for the gander. Wisdom is profitable to direct.

Education is a principal right of the child, and we of the Interim Government know this more than anyone else because the deprivation of education is the immediate cause of this war. More so, it is more in our interest that our children go to school; this is very important for the sustainability of the self-defense war. Fighters need a minimum schooling to be able to read, manipulate, mount and set up the arms they use, as well as invent their own war gadgets. We should be ready for a long haul even though we want to push Laripoblik out today. It is a very fine rope the IG is walking concerning the opening of schools. Every discerning and well meaning Ambazonian should understand fully the IG's position and articulate it smoothly. As I write this piece, CNN is reporting that Ukraine's children are returning to school amidst the war this September and that they will need psychological support. While we are fearful of children going to school amidst the war, we trust that the teachers on the territory who have opted to take the risk of teaching our children during war will also go the extra mile of acting as counsellors and fitness trainers to provide the much needed psychological and physiological support. Without these, more children might be destroyed in the classroom than LRC is actually killing with guns. There is no telling what happens to a child who sees his or her mate gunned down or who returns to school the next day and learns that their desk mate was killed by "a stray bullet on their way home." The effects of a roundly traumatised generation can be very devastating, and insurmountable in the future. These courageous and daring teachers should also be able to act as peer counsellors to each other.

From Permanent Drafting Mode to Permanent Eviction Mode

At the moment, more than 80% of Ambazonia's children of school going age are at home, in bushes or in exile. We of the Interim Government owe these children the duty of getting them back to schools, from their homes, as soon as possible. The ONE THING we can do to achieve this is increase our financial commitment to the struggle. There is a persistent appeal for the use of IEDs on the territory, the impact of which has always been devastating on the enemy. That appeal is shared here. BUT IEDs cost a lot of money. That money is in our hearts and wallets to give. Giving miserly to the struggle will not bring this war to an end soon enough. Can we make more funds available? Once a year drafting is no longer tenable.  The struggle should be on Permanent Drafting Mode, PDM, drafting at least twice a year so that the ARFs can be on Permanent Eviction Mode, PED. The army that must win a war does not fight and retreat to wait for more arms. Fire power must be sustained. The shipment of weapons, accessories, food and medication to the war front should be a permanent project with no pauses. So far, I cannot say in our favour that we have been up to this task. This is the hour for battle reawakening.

We want Ambazonia's children to return to schools in their motherland, from their homes, in a serene environment and atmosphere, void of trigger happy genocidal thugs from Yaoundé. No parent should have to fix their eyes on the threshold of their homes, their hearts beating from the palms of their hands, not knowing whether Tataw Braddy or Enondialle will return alive or not.

I advocate for the Permanent Drafting Mode, Drafting after Draft so that our ARFs don't run out of ammunition; so that we can produce enough IEDs and purchase RPGs in trunks; so that our valiant men can be in a Permanent Eviction Mode. This is the price we must pay for our children to return to school in perfect tranquility. This price should be paid NOW and not later.