The
last minor shake-up in the appointment of governors and the shape this
exercise has taken is a welcome development but for the purpose for
which it was deemed necessary. In this shake-up we noticed that the
governors of the Far North and North regions are now indigenes of the
respective areas
As it is usually the case, no reason was given for this exchange of
regions, but the guess cannot be far from the truth, that with the
rising threat of Islamic extremism in those regions, which has provoked a
mass mobilization of troops in that part of the country, it needed
indigenes of the area to supervise this security operation.
Otherwise, we do not see any urgent call for such a change.
Nonetheless, since the security of our territory and its people is
paramount and if it is the wisdom of government that an indigene will
take the task as a personal challenge, all that Cameroonians need to do
is to add their blessings to his assignment, knowing very well that he
is there first, in the interest of his kith and Kin of the region and
the country Cameroon at large.
This mission obviously places the new governors in a position where
compromises become sacrilegious. After all, it is their indigenous
regions, the land of their birth, a pride they must defend at all cost.
While we appreciate all this in good faith, there is another broader
dimension to this development. We think there is a moral lesson to learn
from this appointment of indigenous governors to administratively
supervise the management of affairs in the area from which they hail.
This is stated with every authority drawn from the aphorism that, all
wealth, all wisdom, all virtue is held in trust for the community to
which the individual belongs, and that, to acquire their value, they
must be ploughed back to the same community.
An indigene therefore owes his community this debt of serving his people with every available zeal in him.
Experience has shown that the present system where governors, or even
SDOs are appointed to areas not of their own origin have usually acted
like rulers of conquered territories, knowing that they have nothing to
lose, but so much to gain.
Firstly, they are answerable to no one in the region or division they
rule. They are answerable, according to their self-esteem only to the
authority above that has put them there and that any time that there is a
shake-up they simply leave with impunity.
In short, their assignments in most places have proven to be counter-productive.
It is therefore a better option for government to embark on a policy of
appointing governors and other senior administrators to areas of their
origin as a kind of balancing act.
It is certain that such an appointed administrator will feel guilty
among his own people if he acts outside the rules or in most cases where
he behaves like a tyrant.
As our democracy advances at a steady pace, it is necessary we start
drumming the beats of a solid landing on the shores of our dream land.
These beats are certainly advocating for a review of the constitution to
include the election of regional governors. This is a veritable option
for genuine development of our various regions. The bottom line for now
is the indigenization of the appointments of governors until such a time
that the Cameroonian will be offered the opportunity to elect his own
governor.
culled from The Sun Cameroon, first published in The Sun Newspaper No. 269
