Fed up with Biya regime: Grand North throws weight behind Guibai Gatama.

It was no surprise, given the fact that Guibai Gatama has, for years, been advocating better representation of the Grand North (Far North, North and Adamawa regions) in Cameroon's governing bodies. 

Guibai has also, through a movement he midwifed, known as 10 Millions de Nordistes, and his newspaper L'Oeil du Sahel, been clamouring for better conditions for the Grand North in terms of infrastructure, health, education, potable water, energy, among other social amenities.

After Guibai’s intention to run in the 2025 presidential election was made public, the populations of the three northern regions, who have been fed up with the Biya regime, are reported to have thrown their weight behind him. 

They say the leader of the 10 Millions de Nordistes movement “is the only hope to redeem northerners from decades of neglect and failed promises from the CPDM government”. 

The mooting of Guibai’s intention to run for the presidential election comes at a time Cameroon's political landscape is in a state of flux as uncertainty surrounds President Paul Biya's candidacy for a new term, though some CPDM acolytes have been calling on him to seek another mandate. It also comes at a time when the opposition is fragmented.

Grand North as election game-changer, but neglected 

It should be noted that though the Grand North, with its large number of voters, has always voted for the CPDM regime, and is key in the national political chessboard, the three northerner regions have remained among the most underdeveloped regions in the country. 

Despite its support for the CPDM regime over the years, the northerners say they have nothing to show for it. Potable water is lacking in many communities, while schools are few and far between with some pupils and students learning under trees or in ramshackle school buildings. Poverty is discernible in most communities and the Boko Haram insurgency has exacerbated the already-delicate economic situation. 

Desertification in the Far North Region, for example, has debilitated economic activities such as fishing, livestock farming and agriculture.

Feeling short-changed by the CPDM, which they have often voted for, the population of the Grand North, analysts say, will definitely vomit the Biya regime to embrace one of theirs who has often shown unflinching concern for the betterment of the lot of the Grand North. 

It should be noted that the first president of Cameroon was from the Grand North and a vast majority of the people of the three northern regions have often expressed the desire for the position of President of the Republic to return to Grand North.

An elite of the Grand North, Aboubakar Ousmane Mey, in a press interview years back, had said northerners will go to any length to see that power returns to the Grand North after Biya. It is therefore no surprise that Gatama’s candidacy for the presidential election has very quickly attracted the support from the populations of the three northern regions, especially among the youth, who are eager to see change. 

With the prominent political bigwigs in the northern regions already aging and fading out of the political scene, Guibai Gatama may be the Grand North’s trump card. 

Guibai as Grand North’s fresh option

It should also be noted that the opposition political party leaders from the Grand North, like Bello Bouba Maigari of the UNDP, Issa Tchiroma Bakary of FSNC and Amadou Moustapha of ANDP, are already in alliance with the CPDM regime’s Presidential Majority platform. Guibai Gatama, being a new kid on the block, gives the Grand North a fresh option.

Political analysts have affirmed, and rightly so, that the Grand North is always a determinant in presidential election outcomes, because of its population and number of voters. Anybody who wins in the Grand North, analysts say, will definitely carry the day.

With the Grand North having thrown its weight behind Guibai Gatama, analysts say the journalist is poised to give other contestants in the presidential race a good run for their money.   

Guibai Gatama’s atypical profile and his roots in the Far North make him a potential candidate to watch in the 2025 presidential election. 

If Guibai Gatama’s popularity among the people of the Grand North and his track record in fighting for the betterment of the Grand North is anything to go by, then he may spring a surprise at the 2025 presidential election.

Yerima Halilou, who hails from the Far North Region, said: "It is now indisputable that Guibai Gatama has emerged as a key public figure and political activist in the context of a possible departure of Mr Biya".

"But he should harmonise his efforts with the opposition and the forces of change, while retaining his role as a political activist and spokesman for the Far North. I am convinced that personalities such as Maurice Kamto and other leading politicians who are aware of Cameroon's sociological challenges would do well to take Guibai Gatama's opinions into consideration, despite ideological differences, in the best interest of the State of Cameroon,” Halilou added.

Jacob Alama, an academic, is also one of the fervent supporters of Guibai Gatama's candidacy. He said the Grand North “must get organised and promote a strong and credible candidacy to shake up the tree, otherwise no fruits will fall from it”.

“For decades, the Grand North has been producing the best results for the CPDM regime. What has the Grand North gotten in return? Poverty, under-development, lack of social amenities, you name them,” Alama regretted. 

With the presidential election outcome in Senegal where 44-year-old Bassirou Diomaye Faye was elected president, Cameroonians have since been eager to see a young person also run affairs in their own country. 

Will that person be the dynamic, smart, workaholic, level-headed, very educated and intelligent 51-year-old Guibai Gatama? That is a matter for conjecture. 

Guibai Gatama the man

Guibai Gatama, who hails from the Far North Region, is a heavyweight in the media landscape. His newspaper, L'Oeil du Sahel, is one of the most influential in the country and the most influential in the Grand North. 

He is a member of the National Communication Council, NCC, and member of the Executive Committee of Cameroon Football Federation, FECAFOOT. 

Guibai is also the Treasurer of the Federation of Cameroon Newspaper Publishers, known by its French acronym, FEDEPRESSE. 

In 2002, he was the spokesman for a memorandum of the Far North, which called for greater consideration for its sons and daughters within the polity. 

In 2015, he was the initiator of a great patriotic march against Boko Haram, which is raging in his home region. 

Later, Guibai launched a movement called 10 Millions de Nordistes. The idea behind the movement is to take power back to the Grand North. Guibai is also known for his critical stance on issues of the CPDM regime.