The ugly side of the new Bamenda - Mamfe -Ekok - Abakaliki - Enugu road

Manyu Division of the Southwest Region remains an official administrative set up of Cameroon’s territory, but the curse of impassable roads and its proximity to Nigeria gives a new comer to the major towns of Mamfe and Ekok a sense of Nigerian dominance in every aspect of the society.

From Mamfe to Ekok, it is a territory powered by Nigerian fuel, accent, tradition and social interaction. The feeling of Cameroon is only made bold by the administrative presence of different state institutions and the national flag.

Beyond this administrative presence and the paper work at the customs, frontier police posts and the national identity card, Mamfe and Ekok, which form the urban nerve centers of Manyu remain largely immersed in the Nigerian way of life.

The bond has been strengthened for many decades by the neglect of the 151km Kumba-Mamfe Road which had become a buzz- weep for concerned Anglophones until recently. The same was with the Bamenda-Mamfe and until 2010 the Mamfe -Ekok lap of the road leading to the border with Nigeria.

Given that the said road falls within the Transafrican Road road No. 8, leading to Enugu in Nigeria and other African countries, the current interventions which many believe is the result of international pressure could play the trick of making Cameroon an economic hot spot in West and Central Africa.

For now, the economy of Manyu is powered with illicit fuel from Nigeria, popularly Known as “funge” or “zuoa-zuoa”. The sector remains the most attractive, given that it offers employment to hundreds of jobless Cameroonians.

The demand for the Nigerian fuel accounts for the reason why even in the devil-may-care days when passengers spent days travelling from Mamfe to Kumba, many business persons could still stake their lives. Till date, it remains a major route for the flow of contraband fuel to some urban centres in Cameroon, such as Kumba and Bamenda. The same accounts for illegal imports among which sometimes fake drugs and other health paraphernalia flood major markets in Cameroon. This alone is a major threat for which security must be reinforced given that, the road now opens up Cameroon to other nations.

A driver who spoke to The Post explained that even when the road will be completely tarred, their wish is for authorities not to clamp on the sale of Nigerian fuel in Manyu because it is affordable. A litre of Nigerian contraband fuel goes for between FCFA 400-500 FCFA, compared to FCFA 650 for “super” known in Cameroon. It is an open secret that vehicles which ply the Bamenda –Mamfe road survive on contraband fuel from Nigeria on sale in Mamfe.

With construction work on the 61km. Mamfe –Ekok road leading to the border locality Mfum in Nigeria expected to end this August, the situation on the ground indicates that the Nigerian economy is already reaping the benefits more than Cameroon.

Companies in Cameroon should be bracing to close the gap by June 2017 when the Kumba-Mamfe road is expected to have been tarred. For now, Mamfe which is the Divisional headquarters lacks a petrol station; talk less of Ekok at the border. There is no doubt that the Kumba-Mamfe road will ease the movement of goods to the major towns of Kumba-Douala and Yaounde than passing through Bamenda now.

From Mamfe to Ekok, it is a zone replete with finished products from Nigeria, ranging from illicit fuel, generators, electronics, clothing and plastic products used in Cameroonian restaurants.

The struggle by business persons to export primary forest products such as bush mango (invingiagabonensis) and eru (gntumafricanum) remain near impossible to balance the influx.

Ekok at all times is replete with trucks, loaded with clothes and cartons of other products destined for Cameroon and other CEMAC countries.

On the cultural front, it is easy to accept the semblance in vernacular, traditional dress code and even eating habits, which speak volumes of Nigerian decent but the domineering of the economy is a signal that Cameroon needs to sit up economically and make use of the potential market of over 170 million Nigerians.

The Bamenda – Mamfe – Ekok - Abakaliki – Enugu Road Corridor, the Kumba-Mamfe road put together, affords Cameroon opportunities which, if effective policies are not implemented, may see the country losing billions of FCFA in terms of balance of trade to other nations.