Baligham is Cameroon in miniature, deserves to be Subdivision — Elite, Babila Henry.

As one of the first communities in the North West Region that is almost 50/50 English and French-speaking, Babila Henry has insisted that creating a Subdivision in Baligham will fit squarely to President Biya’s vision of promoting national unity and social cohesion as the community is host persons from five other ethnic groups of the country. 

The charge de mission of CPDM has also sized up what Baligham, a bastion of the ruling CPDM, has been able to reap from the New Deal Government. He has also revisited the maiden International Women’s Day celebration in the village and other issues. He was interviewed by Doh Bertrand Nua. 

Excerpts below.

As an elite, what was the feeling like after the massive turnout of women for the maiden celebration of the International Women’s Day in Baligham? 

It was a feeling of pride. We were very happy, particularly for the number of women and girl children who came out in Baligham for the first time, not only to defend their rights but to prove to the world that they play an essential role in the development of the community: socially, economically, and politically. The women came out en mass to show the world that peace can still be talked of in the North West Region, thanks to the groundwork of all the elite of Baligham, with the King of Baligham, HRM Doh Gahyam II, taking the lead.

Specifically, what was your contribution to this massive mobilization of women?

Our roles involved mobilisation of the population, the financial contribution, encouragement of the women population to come out and discussing with other elite and the women group coordinators, urging all of us to turn out. It is true that the turnout was massive, but it was not up to the number of people that we expected in the village. Other commitments prevented many others from attending. So, the number was not as much as we had expected, but the number of people who turned out was massive. 

Let me also use this opportunity to thank the President of the Baligham Women Worldwide, Dinga Judith, and the Coordinator, Nkafor Bernadette, for the great work they did on the ground to enable us have this resounding success. They organised conferences at the palace, sensitised the women to their rights and obligations. The Baligham woman is a hard-working woman. All of what we are today is thanks to our mothers. We think that investing in them is important. Investing in terms of them knowing their rights, obligations, acquire education, jobs, create businesses, and be present in njangi groups, as well as take part in all aspects of the development of the village. The Baligham woman has proven during this Women’s Day that they can do what a man can do, and so we are all behind them.

What has been the feedback so far since this celebration?

The feedback has been enormous. In fact, from the Santa Subdivision to Mezam Division, to the entire North West Region and the country at large, we have been receiving messages of congratulations on what happened in Baligham. It was great.

Let’s talk about peace efforts in Baligham. What has been your role and that of other elite in sensitising youth within the context of the conflict in the North West and South West Regions not to embrace violence?

It has been a herculean task. We have been talking to our young people, discouraging them not to join these groups; because, perhaps as others say, the groups do not have very good objectives and the avenue they are using is not a good one. So, the young people in Baligham through my own effort and that of other elite have distanced themselves from violence. Baligham is still developing and we cannot destroy what we already have. 

When the palace was attacked, we joined the Fon who was almost killed in the attack, to rally our youths and create vigilante groups in all the 21 quarters in the village. Today, if separatist fighters try to enter the village, the palace will immediately be alerted, and they will be flushed out. It is our common, collective duty, not a one-man’s show. All of us have been into that. It may need funding, it needs advice, it needs coaching, and it needs our presence. We are doing it as much as we can do. That is why we had that result in Baligham, and that’s why our own children have separated themselves from violence, because you can’t get anything good with the use of violence. Violence begets violence. When you use violence, violence follows you.

So, we want to use peace and to respect the policy of President Paul Biya. For close to 10 years, he has been using peaceful means in tackling the crisis. Compared with other countries, he [Biya] would have used violence to bring peace, but he has not used it. So, that is why we are using the same policy of the Head of State as CPDM militants. Three-quarter of the village are CPDM militants. We are using the method that our leader [Biya] is using to bring peace in Baligham and we stay by peace.

What has been the spin-off of these peace efforts in the education milieu in Baligham?

School enrolment in Baligham is better than even in the Santa Subdivision and in parts of the North West Region. The Fon follows up the teachers and begs them to come in. The elite follow the teachers and beg them to come in. Not to scare away, because if children are in class and the teachers are not there, the children will go away. So actually, the teachers that are sent to Baligham, have been begged to come and stay and teach because a child is nothing without education.

Education is the best thing that you give a child, and this time, we are talking about the girl child. Education is the best thing that we give the girl child. If we don’t give the girl child education, then the girl child will be useless. And when you train a girl child, you train the community.

The slogan goes: ‘When you train a boy, you train for himself; but when you train a girl child, you train the community, you train a family, you train the society, you train the country’. That’s why Baligham people are attached to the training of the girl child. We ensure that all of them go to school at the right time. We are working hand-in-hand with the teachers, working hand-in-hand with the parents who are in the village. That is why schools are operational in Baligham.

Let’s talk about the upcoming population census. What is your message to sons and daughters of Baligham as census agents will soon descend to communities?

Since the publication of the circular of the Prime Minister, we have asked all our Njangi houses, all our Baligham community meeting houses in Yaounde, Douala, Bafoussam, Bamenda, all over the country, and those who are even in the diaspora, that if it is possible, we all should go back to the village and get counted in our different families for us to know exactly how many of us are there are. But those who cannot by reason of illness, work and other things may stay, but they should talk to their family members, friends, everyone they know. We want to know how many we are in Baligham. Because Baligham needs not only remain in terms of size and population, but we need to evolve. And we are thinking that our time has come.

As a politician, do you think Baligham has gotten enough compensation for the support it has given to the ruling CPDM party over the years?

There is a slogan that ‘God's time is the best’. If we go by compensation, we may not see anything. But we have some schools. We have a technical college and a Government Bilingual High School in Baligham. We have close to six government primary schools. We have Catholic schools, Presbyterian schools, the Baptist have just come in too. We have four health structures that government has created in different quarters. We have the Youth Empowerment Centre which the Minister of Youth Affairs just inaugurated. We have the National Integration Market that was constructed to serve both the North West Region and the West Region in fulfillment of President Paul Biya's policy. So, when we look at it at that level, we can say that we have not been left behind.

Politically, we have the Mayor of Santa who is now from Baligham. It is also a political achievement. We don't have Ministers, Directors General in State corporations, Directors in the ministries. But we think that one day; the Head of State will surprise us. But most importantly, we are going in for a global collective development of the village. If the President gives us, we say thank you. If he doesn't give us, but those things in the village that everybody will benefit, we say thank you.

Where do you see Baligham in the envisaged creation of new administrative units?

Everything being equal, Baligham is supposed to have been a Subdivision for many years. If we are talking of it now, it's because the government has given us the opportunity for the creation of new administrative units. We are bringing the matter up now because it is overdue.

Santa first and foremost is a Subdivision of many large villages, which normally should not be all under one Subdivision. And that's why there is a lot of friction at times which does not augur well for the development of the single Subdivision. Baligham merits its own Subdivision as we speak. It's not only today, it was yesterday. So we think that with the reorganissation of the administrative unit that is ongoing, government will not forget us, especially the fact that we never fail in giving our majority vote to the CPDM and its leader, President Paul Biya. During the last presidential elections, Baligham offered 96% of its votes to the CPDM. I'm talking as the charge de mission who was on the ground and who collected the information at the level of the division.

What specifically makes Baligham to merit a Subdivision?

Its size, the quality of the infrastructure it has and the socio-linguistic nature of the place. Baligham is host to people of almost five ethnic groups of Cameroon. They speak French and English interchangeably. That's why the Bilingual High School was created in Baligham. We are one of the first communities in the North West Region that is purely or almost 50/50 English and French-speaking. So, creating a Subdivision there helps these different villages around, from the West Region, to grow together with Baligham. Baligham stands a better place to serve as a Subdivision of diversity. Baligham is Cameroon in miniature. If Baligham is made a Subdivision you give Francophones and Anglophones the same way to grow. Nobody feels as a stranger in Baligham.

Concerning infrastructure, we have good houses in Baligham that can house administrative officials like the Divisional Officer, house government services that can be created with the coming of the Subdivision. Baligham has electricity and pipe-borne water. We also have town green areas, we have large roads, and we have boulevards. So, if they look clearly, we deserve a Subdivision. Outside that, the Gah [Fon] of Baligham has encouraged the elite to come back and build more houses, more social centres, more animation places so when people are in Baligham, they can have leisure and relaxation spots. The CPDM even has a hall in Baligham. 

Is there any particular message you want to send across as we round up this interview to the entire community to push Baligham ahead?

Anyone with Baligham blood running in his/her veins should join us in the fight for the development of the village. Let all of us stand behind the Gah of Baligham, he has shown us that he is for the general interest and that he is development-prone, all what he sees is that the village should develop. 

Thank you responding to our questions

Thank you for the opportunity. God bless you.