Boko Haram can’t put CMR under fire-Prof N. Ngolle

Renowned political scientist and university don, Prof Ngolle Ngolle Elvis has declared that the attack in the northern regions of the country by the Islamic sect, Boko Haram does not mean Cameroon is under fire. He explained that the recent declaration of the President of the Republic, Paul Biya that “Boko Haram cannot be above Cameroon” is a message of confidence and conviction. He made the declaration in an exclusive interview he granted The SUN Newspaper in Yaoundé last September 11.

Quizzed to know if Boko Haram has brought fire in the house that makes the Biya regime panic, the Political Scientist and Member of the Central Committee of the ruling CPDM Party, Prof Ngolle Ngolle said “Thank you for giving me this opportunity to say something on this burning topic but to be very candid, there is no fire in the house.

Factually, scientifically, intellectually, empirically, there is no fire in the house because Cameroon as a nation is together, one and indivisible and the state commands a mastery of its borders, territorial integrity, its unity and the loyalty of its people.

Therefore, there is no fire in the house of Cameroon because the laws are still in place, the institutions are all in place working, the citizens continue to be loyal to these institutions and the Constitution is in place. Sure there is a challenge but to the house, but the house is not burning. The security policy and other approaches are working for Cameroon to continuously enjoy its peace, security and its unity.”

Asked to comment on the Lekie elite call in the Centre Region that is still animating public debate in the country, the Political Scientist and CPDM Central Committee member said “Well it is rather unfortunate sometimes that citizens in their freedom express themselves freely and sometimes they can go overboard or get excited or miss their tongue, over estimate or under estimate.

I believe that the citizens of Cameroon are free, be them militants or not to express themselves the way they want. Nothing says that what they say is necessarily right but they are free under the constitution to express themselves.

We have been seeing this with CPDM militants and militants of other political parties. As to whether or not they have the right to express themselves, we all agree that all Cameroonians have that, constitutional right.

A free people is the best guarantee for peace, security, unity of a country but in their daily expressions, others get sensitive to these daily expressions because they either feel insulted, incensed, nervous.

That is the unfortunate side of democracy and freedom. But once a state like Cameroon has accepted to be a free society, we have the tools to manage these waves of expression of freedom. Freedom to say something does not make right what you say.

But in the case of the Lekie Elite call, it is unfortunate because obviously some of our compatriots, high state personalities did not feel comfortable with these forms of expression either in terms of tone or content and then reacted in their freedom also. But does that make the two, stranger to one another? No, does that make fire in the house? No. In democracy, people are free to disagree and often agree to disagree but continue to live as fellow citizens and compatriots. All that we can say as observers of what is going on is that as a nation of patriot, we are all compatriots in all the ten regions. We are each other’s keeper because Cameroon is one and indivisible.

All Cameroonians see each other as good guards. In our daily discuss we have to be sensitive to the fact that as a united and indivisible country, in our freedom we should at all time guard against making other compatriots uneasy.”

Saluting the spirit of unity, Prof Ngolle Ngolle underlined that “If you look at what is happening since Boko Haram began its incursion on Cameroon in 2013, Cameroonian people be them of the CPDM or other political parties, be they of whatever editorial line, churches and mosques, civil society, business associations, trade unions have demonstrated that in spite of this diversity, they all believe in protecting national integrity of Cameroon by supporting the President of the Republic in his policy approach in warring off and solving this terrorist group of Boko Haram.

That is something we should build on because if you notice, everyone is agreed to the fact that boko haram is a common threat to our security. It is an anathema to the republican value that we uphold here. Regardless of all, Cameroonians are people who see each other more of liability than asset.”

The political scientist argued that the fact that some Cameroonians who due to their vulnerability are recruited into Boko Haram sect in the attacks in the northern region does not make it an internal rebellion because “first, everyone knows that it was created in Nigeria. It is only in 2013 that Boko Haram created since 2002 in Nigeria made its incursion into Cameroon.

It should be recalled that Professor Ngolle Ngolle who is former member of government has received several distinctions from media groupings such as CAMASEJ Meme Branch, The Star, The Horizon, The Guardian Post and most recently Chronicle newspapers qualifying him as the most prolific and outstanding defender of the Biya regime.