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vendredi 28 février 2014

FRENCH ANTHROPOLOGIST HONOURS BUEA UNIVERSITY



FRENCH ANTHROPOLOGIST HONOURS BUEA UNIVERSITY 

 (Flashback to a talk given to the university community in Buea in December 2009    by  visiting French
Professor Jean Pierre Varnier)

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The Franco-Cameroon Alliance here in Buea, headquarters of Cameroon’s South West Region, was recently the venue of an academic lecture given by French Anthropology Professor Jean Pierre Varnier. The event which took place on the 27th of November 2009 was attended by lecturers from the University of Buea including the Head of the Department of Anthropology and Sociology, Dr Akoko, and lecturers from other state universities of Cameroon. Also in attendance were students of anthropology and sociology and related disciplines, as well as members of the general public. Although the speaker’s first language was French, he delivered the lecture in impeccable English.

The subject of the talk which was: “The globalization of cultural fluxes and its impact in Cameroon”, was an arresting one for both the speaker and his audience. It was so for the speaker, because he was on familiar territory, having been to Cameroon several times before. In his own words, he was in the country for the first time nearly 40 years ago. That was in 1971 when as he put it, getting to Bamenda, was difficult because of the state of the roads. “The road was without coal tar and difficult of access, whether one approached it from Bafoussam or from Mamfe”, said the professor. But this time around, he remarked rather with satisfaction, things are different. Prof Varnier said he noticed “enormous changes in and around Bamenda, in domains such as transportation, communication and the entertainment industry”. Other areas of change he cited were housing, a manner of dressing which had become more westernized, and religion as well as the growing number of churches. The education sector was also in rapid expansion, compared with what it was in 1971.

The result of the transformations according to Professor Varnier is a fast moving web which is exposed to more and more fluxes. His view is that this is all very well and good because the mutations typify and confirm the phenomenon of the global village, but at the same time, it has an adverse effect because in the process, “cultural heritage is destroyed”.

Perhaps no one is better placed than Professor Varnier to make such claims because not only was he in Cameroon before, but he has actually published books and papers on Cameroon’s royalty, a typical example being his works on the Mankon whose , S.A.N. Angwafor, he noted was this month of December 2009, celebrating his fiftieth anniversary on the throne.

The icing on the cake for this Professor Emeritus is that he has also taught at the University of Yaounde II here in Cameroon, the Universities of Jos and Zaria in neighbouring Nigeria, and the University of Pennsylvania in the USA where he had earlier obtained a PhD. In fact, one of the key players at the lecture was Dr Yenshu Vuboh of the Department of Anthropology and Sociology at the University of Buea, who was once supervised at the University of Yaounde I by the professor.

The audience literally reveled in the question and answer session which served as an occasion to fill in the gaps in terms of delivery and reception. For example, when asked whether the speaker’s criticism of the global village meant one should capitulate to the trend of globalization, he responded that he was in no way nostalgic about the past, considering that despite the adverse effects of the trend, some gains had also been made. What one ought to do is look at the balance sheet and make the necessary adjustments, he said.

Professor Varnier added: “Old people want to modernize themselves. Everyone wants medical attention, accommodation, social rights and so on. That is modernization and that is important. But it is not a question of Europeanization because there are other types of modernization such as the American and Chinese types. The danger is the threat of destroying culture and people.”

Asked to explain why if as he put it, Homo sapiens originated in Africa and then spread to the rest of the world, Africa was still so backward, he responded that if one looks back at the history of Africa, one will notice that the continent has also done a lot to advance world civilization. As examples, he cited some of the leading food crops in Africa such as plantains and bananas which he said originated from Asia and wondered aloud whether such a movement was not Africa`s contribution to the globalization of cultural fluxes.

Regarding his affirmation that cultural fluxes might lead to minorities seeking to affirm their rights more and more, which in a way would mean that globalization is doomed to failure, the professor said this was likely. But he added emphatically that it is all a question of the world in which we want to live. In other words, it is up to us.

© TIKUM MBAH AZONGA  2009

CAUGHT IN A DIRTY TRAP OF ONES OWN




CAUGHT IN A DIRTY TRAP OF ONES OWN

He hesitated
Looking lost and incarcerated
When he finally walked in
He found he was alone, all alone
Even the wanton birds
Sent as a gift by his friend, the Fon
Had flown out
Just because of that one, precious moment.

He doesn`t know he`ll never be reinstated
Even if he`s only slightly embedded
That`s why his old umbrella now looks like a fin
He has no phone
All he can do now is make useless girds
He`s so lost he calls himself Ofon
Doesn`t he realize he`s also lost the bout
Simply because he made the Fon lose that moment?

CAUGHT IN A DIRTY TRAP OF ONES OWN

CAUGHT IN A DIRTY TRAP OF ONES OWN

He hesitated
Looking lost and incarcerated
When he finally walked in
He found he was alone, all alone
Even the wanton birds
Sent as a gift by his friend, the Fon
Had flown out
Just because of that one, precious moment.

He doesn`t know he`ll never be reinstated
Even if he`s only slightly embedded
That`s why his old umbrella now looks like a fin
He has no phone
All he can do now is make useless girds
He`s so lost he calls himself Ofon
Doesn`t he realize he`s also lost the bout
Simply because he made the Fon lose that moment?

OUR MAYOR AND HIS ABSENTEE WIFE




OUR MAYOR AND HIS ABSENTEE WIFE

It`s not a question of fame
If it`s that one, anyone can be famous
No, it`s about honour, and that takes guts
It`s not enough to see the world
And live like a Baroness away from home.

If really, you want the name of the game
Then first of all spare a thought for poor Mayor Ross
He`s the one man who doesn`t just walk; he struts
So how can you take his eccentric wife`s word
Knowing that all alone, once more she traveled to Rome?

CASSAVA PRODUCTION TO RECEIVE A BOOST



CASSAVA PRODUCTION TO RECEIVE A BOOST

Undoubtedly, cassava is a major crop in Cameroon. It is cultivated either as a cash crop intended for the market or as a food crop, intended for home consumption.

Nonetheless, if Agriculture and Rural Development Minister Essimi Menye is to be believed, then there is better news because production in the sector is soon to be industrialized in order to maximize benefits.

Menye was speaking recently in Sanaga Maritime Division of the Littoral Region while presiding at the first Pilot Committee for the Development and Valorization of Roots, Tubers and Plantains which took place earlier this month.

The minister says he wants to see cassava serving as the raw material for a lot more industrial sub products. So far, Cameroonians use cassava for its starch which is in turn used by agro-food industries for the manufacture of aromatic cooking cubes. Cassava is also used to make sugar, flour and as a substitute for maize in beer.

The National President of the Cameroon Association of Bakers, Jean Claude Yiepnou Kapwa, says when cassava is used for baking bread; the product makes no difference in terms of taste and can last for up to three days before reaching its sell-by date.

A recent study carried out by the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development revealed that if while baking, bakers give the cassava component only a 10 per cent portion, that would significantly raise the quantity of the crop in demand nationwide by up to 50 000 tons per annum. In real terms, that figure represents some 25 000 hectares of produce.

To attain the objective stated by the minister, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development has put in place a number of measures, one of which is the setting up of the Pilot Committee for the Valorization of Roots, Tubers and Plantains in March 2013.

Another measure taken is the starting up of seedling farms. The ministry, as part of its policy of acquiring and distributing improved seedlings to agricultural entrepreneurs within the framework of the 2013 crop campaign, accorded some seven million cassava cuttings for use in the agro-ecological zones that favour the cultivation of the crop.

Work so far accomplished in the sector was recently explained to `Cameroon Tribune` by the National Coordinator for the Pilot Committee for the Development and Valorization of Roots, Tubers and Plantains. According to the coordinator, 13 wood parks have been put up this year. Ten more will be added in the Centre, Littoral and South Regions Additionally, some 26.5 hectares which is 60 per cent of initial projections, have been planted.

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FOOTNOTE

This story was first broadcast on FOUNDATION RADIO, `The Voice of the Voiceless`, FM 100, Mile 6, Ngomgham-Mankon, Bamenda, on the 16th of September 2013. The Radio is part of The Fomunyoh Foundation (TFF) whose CEO is Dr. Chris Fomunyoh.

jeudi 27 février 2014

PLEASE, FORGVE ME



PLEASE, FORGVE ME

I didn`t mean to
It was a slip of the tongue
That`s why it came out so wrong
So, please, don`t hold it on me.

Tonight, I`ll set the table to for two
Even if you`re in Hong Kong
Of the ladder I know every single rung
So, don`t even think about the fee!