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Cameroon: Beyond Cleavages
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Cameroon Tribune (Yaoundé)
COLUMN
16 May 2008
Posted to the web 16 May 2008
Richard Kwang Kometa
White or black pairs of shoes with carefully washed, and at times, starched uniforms will on May 20 come out of the boxes in several localities across the country. Some kids must have been dreaming of the excitement that will come with the games and sporting activities organized at various Sub Divisional, Divisional and Provincial headquarters to mark the National Day.
The symbolism that such an event carries goes beyond ethnic, tribal and regional barriers. It rightly serves as an occasion for the instigation of civic values in the national psyche.
The urge to identify with the National colours of Green, Red, Yellow is definitely spurring schools, legalized political parties and the military to gear up to demonstrate their loyalty to the State.
In the past, some political parties have even made use of the May 20 National Day celebration to earn their legitimacy by publicly demonstrating that they are a recognised political group in the country.
In Yaoundé, the nation's capital, administrative officials started holding preparatory meetings since the month of April. The military in various cantonments began rehearsals for the day since 8 May 2008. The preparatory activities in Yaoundé, like elsewhere in the country, are often so intense that normal daily activity tend to be altered. Some business diehards cannot help complaining that the blocking of roads and public places to create room for smooth rehearsals has a negative effect on their businesses. The simple solution to such a problem would be to communicate the rehearsal schedule to the public so that people should be ready when time comes since the nation must have an occasion like the National Day for reflection and Commemoration.
The effervescence around May 20 festivities this year, like in the past, characterises the determination by the State to drum up the sense of nationhood into the entire population. Consequently, the 36th edition of National Day celebration in Cameroon this year announces high expectations judging from the level of nationwide preparations. Military officials across the country and the civilian population like schools as well as political parties have been rehearsing the march-past with the intension of giving the occasion a particular touch.
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Cultural dance groups and sporting competitions by primary and secondary schools are some of the variety of activities that will create the occasion for Cameroonians from all ethnic groups and regions, linguistic and religious background to commune as a single and unified family, Cameroon.
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