CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

1.1 Background to the Study

Since independence, few African countries have been spared of violence and armed conflict (Touré, 2017). Conflict is a major obstacle to the development of education in Africa. This is of concern because the dissenting voices of the present crisis in the North West and South West Regions of Cameroon have directly targeted education as a political bargaining chip.

The more radical Boko Haram sect started by claiming that western education is sin (Agbiboa, 2013).  Armed conflicts, ethno-linguistic disputes, religious radicalism and many other forms of conflicts have made the Horn of Africa one of the greatest conflict zones in the world (Mengistu, 2015). While economic and social injustice has been identified by many as the causes of most of the global crisis, failure of the political class to deal with the basic issues of life should carry the greatest share of the blame.

The crisis which started with well-founded socio-professional grievances by the Lawyers and the Teachers trade unions took a new turn when political interest groups later took interest in the social unrest. While many interest groups such as the United Nations, the African Union, and the civil society tried mounting high level pressure on government to yield to certain political demands, such pressure have yielded little fruits as the government has remained resolute in its stand.

It followed that the political component of the crisis was of little interest to the government as repeatedly, they showed shadow interest in addressing it. According to Christian and Lynette (2012), there is rising trend in global unrest characterized by public demonstrations and riots or disruptive actions with far reaching consequences on the society.

The history of the conflict currently rocking the two English speaking regions of Cameroon which has moved from repeated ghost town calls to armed confrontation can be traced as far back as the early 1960s when the two territories decided to come together for a stronger state on equal terms.

According to Nyamjoh (1997), the lack of political will by the ruling elites to preserve the two cultural/colonial legacies led to the feeling of marginalization by the minority Anglophones who started agitating for a return to a federal system of government in the 1990s. The complete refusal of the regime to discuss the subject led to growing separatist popularity in the region.

Many are also of the opinion that the “the Anglophone Crisis” dates back to the postcolonial era and specifically after the reunification of the two Cameroons formerly under the British and the French colonial administration. While cultural disparity in itself is not a problem, there are reasons to believe that the mismanagement of cultural diversity is the true cause of the present Anglophone crisis.

Although Huntington (1993) observed that cultural differences bring conflict, it is the poor management of the diversity that really aggravates conflict. Contrary to popular opinions, Elbadawi and Sambanis (2000) noted that the relatively higher prevalence of war in Africa is not due to the ethno-linguistic fragmentation of its countries, but rather to due to high levels of poverty, failed political institutions, and economic dependence on natural resources.

Many analysts have been quick to attribute the crisis in Cameroon to a falling attention given to the people of the former British Colonial entity by the central government.  Conflict builds up when the sense of belonging in threatened and when people feel that what they deserve is not being given to them.

Besley and Reynal-Querol (2012) provide evidence that historical conflict is directly correlated with lower levels of trust, a stronger sense of ethnic identity and a weaker sense of national identity. Thus, nation states are expected to deal with the problems of ethnic identity, while building a stronger sense of nationalism amongst its population. Brutality and military crackdown on dissenting voices has only helped to aggravate tension in many African states (Omeje, 2005).

The crisis that initially had some „force of argument‟ became very unpopular when activists started targeting school children, teachers, lawyers while calling for intensive school and court boycott. It has taken a little over two years of near complete school shutdown for many to understand the true nature of the crisis.

Government took on the offensive when the political unrest degenerated into an armed conflict, with severe consequences on the separatists, military, paramilitary and the civilian population. Conflict as an active disagreement between people with opposing opinions or principle (Mengistu, 2015), with one feeling that her interest is at stake has for long been an issue of global concern because of its far reaching economic, social and political implications.

Babbitt and Hampson (2011) argued that while conflict transformation and conflict settlement may have different political implications, they are both important in deriving relevant policies for a better world.

The history of conflict in the world is that of social and economic pains, characterized by forceful displacement, loss of lives and property, sexual abuses, economic stagnation, hatred and many more (Zeleza, n.d.). As Njimanted (2007) noted, the dire need for economic growth and development in Cameroon cannot be achieved under instability such as political protest and strike activities.

Before the present crisis, the greatest political activism and civil unrest in Cameroon dates back to the early 1990s, when the operation ghost town was instituted by the leading opposition party in the country-the Social Democratic Front (SDF), seeking political reforms. On the economic front, this operation that paralyzed the economy for over 7 months resulted to over 70billion FCFA of unearned revenue for the state (Njimanted, 2007).

1.2 Statement of the Problem

Cameroon has been battling with so many internal problems since independence from the economic crisis, the political crisis of the 1990s, the conflict in the Bakassi Penisula, the Boko Haram insurgency, intertribal conflicts in the North West region, the crisis along the border in the Central African Republic and most recently the Anglophone crisis that has been ongoing for the past four years starting from late 2016 to date.

The Geneva Convention provides for the protection of children in armed conflicts. This is not same in the Anglophone crisis as children who are supposed to be neutral and protected during war are now very much affected by the ongoing violence. Children don’t have the protection they deserve from the protagonists of the conflict. They have and are being subjected to activities that are not normally supposed to be performed by children.

The conflict has taken a great toll on children as they can be seen in arms, their education stopped and they are subjected to human rights violations and torture. It is for these reasons and more that the researcher set out to examine the plight of children in the ongoing crisis. It gives rise to the following research questions that will be followed by the objectives and the hypothesis.

1.3 Research Questions

1. What are the reasons for the Anglophone crisis?
2. What impact does the crisis have on children?
3. What measures can be taken to improve the condition of children in the conflict?

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