Dreams of Tomorrow – An Article by Alliance Ankiambom, Cameroon

My dear country Cameroon used to be very peaceful. It was once referred to as the most peaceful African country. Although this didn’t mean that we did not have our own plagues troubling us. Cameroon consists of over 52 tribes with different native languages. Its diverse cultures add so much colour and beauty to the land.

Cameroon is made up of 10 main regions, which are further divided into divisions and sub-divisions. We also have two major languages namely English and French. These languages were gotten through the annexation by the British and French respectively. Out of the 10 regions, 8 of them are made up of French speakers while the other 2 are English speakers.

It all started in November 2016, when teachers and lawyers took to the streets in the English-speaking part of the country, demanding for some laws to be reformed to suit them and include them in the system. This was met with gross resistance from the Government. It did not only end with them; traders were quick to join this movement for their voices to be heard as well about their own problems plaguing them, most of which were bad roads, marginalization of the minority English speakers, and the high rate of unemployment. To be candid, so many points were raised which would have been resolved had the government been willing to listen to them.

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However, all of these were met with resistance, arrest and torture of the youths. Before we knew it, schools were shut down. This was a way of demonstrating how serious the instability was getting. Forces were formed by the English-speaking youths to protect their own people. The violence became increasingly shocking. A once peaceful country became a nightmare. There was an increasing number of curfews, the crime rate increased and is still on the rise, and illiteracy has also taken over. Teenage pregnancies are now a normal thing. Poverty and hardship are greatly on the rise, and displacement has become the order of the day. Don’t get me started on those in the rural areas who cannot afford to be displaced.

What happened to former Cameroon? All these people wanted was a better country for themselves and the next generation. Why does change have to come at such a great cost? How can we go back to that country where our morning greetings weren’t sounds of gunshots, where stray bullets did not have to hit innocent children who just wanted to go to school, where officers of the law shot at innocent children because their parents did not give a 500frs ($1) bribe?

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My dream is to see a Cameroon that fosters education and vocational training, is crime-free, and is accountable to all the Sustainable Development Goals. Since the future lies with the younger generation, a Cameroon that is more enabling will be amazing for us all to create and foster growth. I dream of a tomorrow where poverty is completely eradicated and everyone is treated as humanely as possible. Where everyone is given fair opportunities, where protests are treated with more seriousness, and not met with serious resistance from those who should be supporting the community.

What about a Cameroon that has constant electricity? A Cameroon that allows children to actually study on computers instead of just visualizing them? These are all-inclusive. I dream of a better tomorrow, where we can all celebrate our bravery, our talents, and hard work instead of cutting corners to be able to reach our goals.
These dreams can only become reality by changing one community at a time and empowering one young person at a time. Our minds will let us travel places so far as we guard whatever we store in them. The positive outlook of our minds will bring about our dreams of tomorrow.

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I often ask myself, instead of waiting for a new president after every presidential tenure, why can’t we the youth rally together and send in our own candidate to run for presidency? Someone who understands the plight of the youth, who has lived the life we all are living and is hungry for change. How do we even go about advising the youths that voting during elections is the best option? Starting at just the municipal levels, we could begin changing from the bottom and move upwards.

I have dreams of tomorrow, you have dreams of tomorrow, we all do. Together we shall build what we want our tomorrow to look like. What our children and their children will be proud to have and to behold. It is a tough journey, but with eyes lifted to the heavens where our help comes from, there is hope and our dreams of a better tomorrow remain valid.

This article was published in the March 2022 edition of the WSA magazine.
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