DIASPORAN CRTICS AND THE NEEDED CHANGE (Part 3 of 3) Diaspora offered young Cameroonians since the school year began? How many schools has the Diaspora built? How many potable water points has it provided? How many health facilities have they provided? When we had an outbreak of cholera, where were they? Why are they not investing heavily back at home? Property is a very lucrative domain in Cameroon. Whether you build for a family or a business, you will have tenants. So why not cash in on opportunities such as the newly created University of Bamenda and build houses for students and lecturers? In that way you make some money and help Cameronians with much needed low cost housing. The opportunities are limitless. 6. TAKING AIM AT THE WRONG TARGET I talked about the obsession with the removal of Paul Biya? But Biya is only one Cameroonian. Street protests did not remove him in 1990-1992. So what has changed so dramatically that we think it will work this time. Political success needs patience and planning. The opposition should note that and start preparing for the next presidential election today. Seven years is a short period politically. Even Ni John Fru Ndi, the incontestable leader of the opposition will still be politically young enough to become president in 2018. But he must look forward and not backwards, and start preparing now. Cameroon is more important than Paul Biya. That`s why people come and go but the nation remains. 7. DO NOT COUNT ON THE WEST Some Cameroonians said hey were going to demonstrate in Washington. I do not know if they did it. But what would be the message to Americans who see a bunch of Black people, not even looking like their own, African American brothers, blocking their streets with placards on some distant president and country? Won`t your hosts simply turn round and wonder loudly: “Why on earth don`t they take it back to their own country and leave us in peace?” And concretely, what do you expect Obama to do? March into Yaounde with a big stick and beat Biya out of Etoudi? Since when? In other words, you are asking someone else to come and tidy up your own dirty backyard for you. 8. INTERNATIONAL OBSERVERS Diasporans have been quick to quote the American ambassador saying the election here was flawed. But the observers from the African Union, the Commonwelath, and La Francophonie, after making some observations, concluded that the results were acceptable. The UN Secretary General Ban Ki Moon issued a statement of appreciation. We can`t ignore that. Besides, we have not seen any Western countries recalling their ambassadors as a sign of protest. Remember that when a couple of years ago, the American embassy staff quit their rented property and moved into the purpose-built embassy on the way to Mont Febe and the Etoudi Palace – just next to what is widely regarded as Paul Biya`s reirement home – the ambassador said this shift from renting to ownership indicated that ‘we are here to stay”. 9. THERE ARE NO PERFECT ELECTIONS Regular observers know that there is no such thing as a perfect election anywhere, even in the West, including America. An example is the September 2011 election held in Zambia. Observers preferred to conclude by using the expression: “Zambian Election Not Perfect But 100% Better”. This decision was reached even after some irregularities were noticed: “These were just some of the observations made by the Zimbabwe Electoral Support Network who were also invited to observe, and who concluded that Zambia had a number of good practices, but had to improve on fair and balanced coverage of all political parties in the media, lack of gender parity in Zambia’s electoral processes, and lack of a clear framework on political parties financing, so that smaller political parties are not disadvantaged.”