20th May, root cause of Anglophone crisis!.

20th May, though officially the day of National Unity, it commemorates a transformation from a federal system that joined the two States of English and French-speaking cultures to a centralised State, under the slogan of “national integration”.

It was a noble policy in speeches that promised an Eldorado but the reality on the ground is a different ball game. President Paul Biya conceded in an interview with Mo Ibrahim, at a Paris peace conference that assimilation “failed”. 

For almost a decade questions being ask following the conflict of separation in the North West and South West Regions beg for answers. How can we truly celebrate unity when one part of the country is under lockdown every Monday?

How do we justify the enormous expenditure on festivities that merely create a facade; an illusion of cohesion that fails to reflect the nation’s deep divisions and uncertainty?

Are the two entities that have been united treated equitably, or have they been absorbed over time? Even if the government wins the war today, will that victory bring unity? If every fighter lays down their arms, will that alone bridge the rift? Is the political intention sincere or there is a charade at play?

As one Anglophone commentator has written: “I remember when we still believed in unity. We came together as one people, full of hope and excitement for what that day meant. But over time, the scales fell from our eyes. We realised we had been deceived. We are treated as second-class citizens in a country we call ours. Our culture, language, and values have been dismissed, and we are mocked at as Les Anglofools, Les Anglos, Les Bamenda...".

“Young men and women from the Anglophone Regions spend six to ten years in university; not because of academic failure, but because they are forced to learn in a language foreign to them. When they struggle, they are labeled 'les paresseux' (the lazy ones)”.

This year’s May 20 celebrations, like those since 2017, when the Anglophone conflict erupted, has lost the lustre. Many areas in the North West and South West Regions, are coerced into participating, and celebrations takes place under the shadow of heavy security, which has however been relaxing as normality crawls in. 

How can unity be forced? How can a National Day feast look so vibrant in all eight Francophone Regions, yet, be marked by fear and apathy in the two Anglophone Regions?

In Francophone Regions tomorrow, the streets and ceremonial grounds will be filled with sizzling activities; pomp and pageantry. 

Believe it or not, in the Anglophone Regions, 'celebrations' will be timid, but for a few students and civil servants who will turn out; many compelled by fear for their jobs, not by any sense of unity. 

The billion dollar question that remains unanswered is; what exactly are we celebrating? How can unity be enforced at gunpoint? How can a national feast be joyous in one half of the country and somber in the other?

How can we speak of peace when the people living in the crisis-hit Anglophone Regions are being killed and kidnapped on a daily basis? 

Not surprisingly, the narrative from government apologists is simply that; “They are killing themselves”.

As Louis-Marie Kakdeu, an economist and politician commented last week in the media, the “Cameroon's national unity, enshrined in 1972, is a fragile achievement that requires sustained political, institutional, and civic investment. The time for symbolic commemorations is over; now is the time for courageous reform. Ignoring the Anglophone divide, regional inequalities, and youth disengagement exposes Cameroon to a disintegration, whose consequences will extend far beyond its borders”. 

As The Guardian Post sees it from an articulate perspective, the problem is leadership with a government that refuses to listen. True peace will never come through speeches that sound like love melodies, through suppression, or through the barrel of the gun.

It can only come through honest and inclusive dialogue; by acknowledging past wrongs and by granting meaningful regional autonomy, not a Special Status that has resolved no problem for those who once had their own systems, identity, and way of life. 

Injustice and inequality cannot be buried under fanfare or forgotten with slogans like national integration, one and indivisible and living together but not "eating" equitably.

It is time to pay attention to the signs of the times. 

Across the world, history teaches that unresolved injustices do not simply fade away—they are passed down from one generation to the next. The pain lingers, the memories endure and cannot be hidden with celebrations or obliterating history.

As Cameroonians celebrate National Day tomorrow, our wish at The Guardian Post is that the powers that be should urgently right the wrongs that are the root causes of the Anglophone crisis; that since 2017 morphed into an armed conflict. 

Until that is done, celebrating May 20 in Francophone Regions in pomp and pageantry, while the reverse holds in Anglophone Regions, will be nothing else than throwing dust into Anglophones' eyes. 

This article was first published in The Guardian Post Edition No:3793 of Tuesday May 19, 2026