Happy Birthday Mr. President

Only a few hours before Valentine, the day when love is being seriously emphasized, another celebration had just preceded it. President Biya celebrated his eighty-second birthday.

Surprisingly, not many people followed this event around the nation, but the celebration in Yaounde, appeared to be such an occasion in which political hawks hijacked to show how much they love the president.

At least, nonetheless, it must have offered Mr. President satisfaction, that the almighty God has kept him to see another mile stone in his life.

At 80, it is indeed necessary to be grateful to God, more especially at this crucial time in the history of the country he has ruled for the past 40 years or so.

The good thing is that Mr. President is still what it takes to be a leader. He is appreciated for some of his decisions, he commands some respect from the international community. He has displayed some measure of openness, especially in the area of freedom of expression. The press under Biya is no longer what it was before.

The democratic experience is on course, even though not without a blend of bad faith, and the emphasis on peace and unity have been the catch words of the regime, which at times usually earn him strong criticism that he has no right to claim to be an embodiment of peace.

I have taken time to mention all these because, it does not seem any sign that the man is ready to relinquish power anytime soon, this being the wish of his opponents.

I am also saying this because, in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Joseph Kabila has given up his ambition to go for another term, due to pressure mounted on him, even though Kabila is still a much younger man.

The picture of the good days of Houphoues Boigne of Cote De’Ivoire, who was being supported to his office, until he died in office, is just another case of a galaxy of sit-tight African leaders.

The case of Mugabe in Zimbabwe is another man with a fine mind that thinks that the whites had done so much damage to black Zibabweans that he needs to protect his fellow blacks until the last minute when he gives up the ghost.

The problem with Mugabe is that, he is not only snobbish of the West, but holds the belief that Zimbabwe is Mugabe. Let him consider himself wrong.

In Cameroon under Ahidjo, it seemed that after Ahidjo the nation will collapse. Here we are, nearly forty years after.

So Mr. President, I wish you a happy birthday