ARE HEROES AND HEROINES MADE BY 'HEROIN'?

[Key words: heroes, heroines, drugs, substance abuse,alcohol, definition, manufacturers, scapegoat, consequences, stars, Michael Jackson, devil, Africa, Third world, God, good, evil, primitive and civilized societies]

By

Dr. V. Viban Ngo



PRELOGUE TO‘HEROIN MADE’

I have been stirred by the premature departure of Michael Jackson caused by drugs http://uk.news.yahoo.com/5/20090824/ten-jacko-died-of-lethal-levels-of-anaes-8a3eada.html to write on drugs, heroes and heroines. You are going to wonder what on earth heroes and heroines have got to do with drugs. First, what do we mean by drug? When we talk of drug, the term is so vague. I do not want to dabble in it but will refer you to experts’ definition: “A drug is any chemical you take that affects the way your body works. Alcohol, caffeine, aspirin and nicotine are all drugs. A drug must be able to pass from your body into your brain.” http://www.sciencemuseum.org.uk/on-line/brain/198.asp What are the connections of drugs with champions in our society? I will let you know without delay if you did not know. If you do, skip this missive and browse the World Wide Web but before you discard it, pass it on to anyone who may be in need of it. The truth is that all of us are in need this information either for ourselves, parenting, for others or simply to be informed. To a good number, when you are a normal person and doing normal things, you are not a hero. When you assume titanic imaginary size and prowess and are able to break boulders or moraines with your bare hands, we can call you a hero or heroine. You are no longer normal but uncharacteristic.

There is one way one could attain this magnitude. One could either be born a genius, hero or heroine, or one could acquire such importance by assuming or taking things that would transform one to a super natural being, a god. One could take what the Americans call substances, narcotics, amphetamines or what you euphemistically call medicine that may alter one’s defensive white blood cells negatively or positively. Drugs or medicine as variously known could pump excess blood into your circulatory system, to the brain too and make you do extraordinary positive or negative things. This does not necessarily work for all Ngong, Chin and Lukong or Tom, Dick and Harry as the Britons would render it. Some users are instead befuddled or stupefied. Others are emboldened to have provisional aptitude in which they do supernatural things after which they are worst off than when they started. In some languages, they are turned to cabbages, junkies or zombies. The moment of attending that self-induced prowess is the euphoric state. The taker of the power supplying chemical or combination of chemicals could do marvels. He could run, sing, dance, swim, fly or even engaged in physical or mental exercises without getting fatigued. Mind you, I am not glamorizing the taking of hard drugs for whatever reasons. If I do so I will be supporting and abating advertently untimely death, (if at all there is anything known as such) and criminal acts. Although I decry the taking of drugs there are some states that have used the law to allow its citizens to take drugs. On Wednesday August 2009 while we mourn the passing away of Senator Ted Kennedy, a seasoned giant of American politics at the age of 77 from brain cancer, the court in Argentina ruled that it is unconstitutional to punish anyone for having marijuana for personal consumption. Marijuana is a hard drug and I have seen the consequences throughout my global peregrination.

Often, drug takers hallucinate and are in a near state of depression. They are literarily maddened. I am not talking of the maddened crowd in the streets of Spain when they are being chased by bulls, stampede; the mesmerized bare-chested men at Squares in Kumbo who are fanning the black-back-bag-carrier, kibaranko during Ngonso Carnival often punctuated by carousals. I am not talking of the football hooliganism or those of a gang of vandals in the subways in New York, Chicago or in the suburbia of London, Ankara, Rio de Janeiro, Johannesburg, Mumbai, and Lagos where dogs sometimes eat dogs in their quests for drug marts’ spaces. I mean literarily temporal madness that is self induced.


ETYMOLOGY

I have been skirting around the point of heroin, drug my cardinal theme. The etymology of this word is from a Greek word ‘hero’. How comes it has a suffix ‘in’? A German chemical firm came up with a morphine derivative, an effective painkiller and christened it heroin. You are wondering what hero has got to do with medicine. If a patient or a junkie took it, he gained that one day celebrity of standing on an illusionary podium in the hall of fame. It was because of the chemicals it diffused in his or her system; he or she became euphoric and had the delusion of grandeur, our hero or heroine for that moment so to say. The users have been transformed from being natural or normal to being phlegmatically abnormal. We know why a certain drug, painkiller has the effect of heroin. It is because once taken, it instantly turned you into a hero, be it ephemeral or longer depending on your system, other drugs you take, the size of your body, you health and so many factors beyond the scope of this treatise.

Most titans or superstars are natural persons. They had not taken substances to enhance their prowess they naturally possessed and excelled in. It is when they want to sustain that power, skill that they inherently have that they are tempted to ask for more. In that case, God does not grant their request as they have reached the acme of their life or performance. God who made them knows their limits and is ascertained that if they exceed those limits they are doomed. Consequently, God gives those naught and no matter how serious they implore Him, they get alternative answers. For those who cannot take no for an answer, they look for any opportunity cost and that is the devil or gargoyle with a spiky tail. He will wrestle with God, the embodiment of good and jump on our weakness, chasms of our lives and impose himself in the guise to bridge those gaps. He, the devil is not only sweeter but glamorous. In this case, he will suggest through a medical doctor, a drug pusher, a dealer that you could improve your chances of success by enhancing your performances with drugs. He first starts by giving you free samples to assay. They are good, soporific and the results are glaring for all Tom, Dick and Harry to see. Some of these are drugs and some are called heroin and cracks and so on. These are in the category of banned hard drugs or substances in most democratic and civilized societies.

The person or persons administering these forbidden drugs or who has taught you how to cultivate and process them is a devil incarnate. When you enter to play that basket ball, football, swimming, boxing, singing, acting, sustain that stamina for hours or days on end, it is the drug that the devil has given you to bamboozle onlookers that you are naturally tough. It is when you have chosen the devil over God, evil over good and the cost could be the highest you or your relations will ever pay. These are phrases drug abusers who are in denial do not want to hear. With time, the natural power wanes and the only way to get you going, so to say is to take more drugs. You are hocked on the drugs. They become your life-line. The only way to go is to take more and more dosage.

Does it work? No. It is because your body needs more so that you could outdistance other competitors who are also taking drugs. Sports that were natural now become manifestations of the experimentation of drugs and the more effective the drug an athlete takes the better his performance. Chemists who are out to squeeze money from innocent and vulnerable people’s hearts are gladdened as it means enriching themselves to live in opulence we blatantly call blood money. The suppliers know their tasks. They go to the laboratories to try hard to get other concoctions that are superior to the ones other had been giving you. You take it and it actually works so well that you want a daily supply. You may not have the money to get more and there is a way out. The devil who led you there in the first place will give you the leeway. He is found in the computer, internet, extranet, and lives even in your parents and friends. He is in public places. He suggests that if you have fun with other persons you will not be short of cash to get on with what you are doing. He would even show you superstars who improved their ways of life by using it. He calls it fun. What is that way? Gamble your family savings! Is that all? He will suggest that you indulge in prostitution and even lead you to the whoredom. Ask men, women, animals and mannequins (robots) to penetrate you and give you money in return. There is danger in the horizon but you do not see it for you have been fooled that your clients or yourself are insulated from contaminants. You are blinded and deceived. They are not safe for once a lady accepted one client and went to his home to find five men ready to penetrate her. She insisted that they all wore protective gears and there was one there who stated that they took away maximum satisfaction. That was the last episode in her life.

TITANIC FEATS

Then, I have said nothing that is new, or that many of you are not aware of. Local media literally sing them for those who have ears and eyes to see and hear and run away from them. Even though we have said it, we have to reiterate it as doctrine to be engrained in our genes that drugs that are not prescribed by a seasoned and approved medical doctor for out sincere needs are not to be taken by any one for his escapism or creation of his ephemeral euphoric state. Hollywood stars have known of this for ages. This was known in the Middle Ages and your society in Ngonsonia [Nso’] had known of it for long. But it was never out of all proportion for it was controlled. In what was in the past known by Westerners as a primitive society or community of mine, psychedelic drugs were well known but were top secrets of the society guarded by the elders of the community. These were only given to selected and initiated individuals who needed those extraordinary powers to do extraordinary things during religious ceremonies. In brief, they were taken by masqueraders when displaying in arena before mesmerized crowds. They were taken by hooded executors of murderers and those who had sold the kingdom. One with the men following him known as the wanmabu ran for 100 miles non-stop without a sip of water. At that maddened stage, he was revered as supernatural being. Indeed, he was a hero and his power had emanated from heroin-like substance that was well controlled. This had been a well-kept secret in the society for the last 2000 years. To that society of Ngonsonia, the Europeans, S.E. Asians and Americans who open all their cats from the bag, Pandora box would be described as excited toddlers who are out for gain at all cost and with no remorse.

The list of banned substances taken in camera in the sporting world extends for miles on end www.wada-ama.org/rtecontent/document/2006_LIST.pdf I will refer you to the Anti-Duping Agency in your country. It starts with stimulants, sleeping pills, and then hard drugs that are not prescribed by authorized physicians. Acquiring some is easy and many do manufacture theirs at their kitchen tables using common household materials. Do not fire a question at me to get this information as I am not interested and will never touch any of the dark world stuff. However we can add to a catalogue of ways some persons are initiated into this bad habit. Unless you are dumb and deaf you must have heard or seen ways these are done. How are some people initiated into the dreaded gang of drugs in North America, Europe and Africa I know at close quarters? There are cases when weddings take place in some communities and wedding cakes are embellished with heroin, solid white powder. Amphetamines, cracks and many more are grounded and embedded in the stew and the guests and hosts after relishing are euphoric. Those becoming heroes and heroines, indulged in orgies, consequently living their provisional but illusionary heaven on earth.

It is not precise for many persons interpretation is someone taking heroin, amphetamines, and other psychedelic stuffs. A mere tablet of aspirin can be a drug. Even some that are given to babies have some alcohol in them and that is why they are soporific and send those who take them to feel good and sleeps by tempering with their senses. Some have described it to be better than blissful conjugal union. It depends on how you take it, your body mass, your state of mind, health, climate, etc, etc. Mere snuff, tobacco smoking, coffee or tea drinking, if taken to excess can become addictive drugs. Even if not taken to excess, the fact that hot tea changes our mood, tells us that there is a certain chemical in it that changes our body temperature or system that is a drug-like. ..vitamin C. That is therefore considered as drugs.

ALCOHOLIC BEVERAGES

Those people who smoke or drink alcohol do not even think that they are taking drugs. Beer and spirits are drugs and if imbibed to excess can damage our health and it could be fatal. Millions die year in year out owing to drug abuse as we shall see in the sample below. There are some corrupt African governments that deliberately keep prices of beer and other alcoholic beverages low; allow the brewing of alcohol and illicit gins so that their citizens drink to dead. There are no warnings on packages of cigarettes being sold of the danger of cancer and smoke related diseases. I questioned a leading Western cigarette manufacturing firm (anonymous) why they were selling their cigarettes without health warning signs in Africa and other third world countries and the reply was: “These (African. ..my italics) governments put their economic gains over the health and welfare of their citizens.” By insinuation, it was not their concern. The irony was that health warning signs were inscribed in phantom letters of cigarette packages in North America and Western Europe and are sold under the counter in most super marts and corner stores in North America. Where was the unity of the world if one part of it was doing a silly thing another condoned it for it was not in their back yard and that it did not have to affect them? The truth is that when people are dying in Africa as in the Horn of Africa, Central Africa and the Western Africa, Westerners are the ones collecting money to go and rescue them. The world becomes a muddle not only to aliens like Martians but to the earthlings themselves.

MANUFACTURERS AND DISTRIBUTORS

On alcohol as lethal drugs, when citizens of the countries are constantly drunk absenteeism is soaring and productivity is given naught. The citizens are lackadaisical when it concerns democratic government. Shrewd dictators siphon these maddened or perpetually drunk tax payers’ money they have earned by working hard with blood, sweat and tears send them abroad and do not care a damn.

There are families that use food money to buy drugs, beer, wines, spirits, and their children starve to dead. Some wines are deliberately adulterated by adding on some chemicals. Others have added red blood to enhance their values. When crooked men want to make money, they can do anything conceivable to get it. Drugs have killed many persons who had been initiated into them by the devil. Drugs have taken many to dungeons or prisons. The work of the devil is made so easy for him because most users of hard drugs have the erroneous impression that heaven is on earth or when they are in that temporal self-induced euphoric state. Who is this devil? Once more, he could be your next door neighbor you call your friend. He is a school mate. He is as young as ten years old and is being used as a distributor of drugs. He plays basket ball with you but he had got horns of a devil and wears the green gloves that will never ever make you think or believe that he could handle a grain of drug. His customers are kids who even empty their piggy bank money to buy drugs to be high during school recesses. They only sensible statement from them is that: ‘schooling is boring.’ Before you realize they have defected from school or college if at all they managed to rich that level and literature of this genre is highfalutin.

He is even a police man who distributes and is clad in his official uniform. This becomes complicated for straight law enforcement officers to know that he is supplying drugs. He is your dentist, nurse, doctor, teacher, girl friend, boyfriend, etc. He suggests that when you take the drug you are relieved of your pains.

Others’ rationale is that drugs can kill patients with chronic diseases, they euphemistically call euthanasia. [They better think hard for no one has ever created life and not one should ever plan to take it away for what they call mercy killing. They may have tangible reasons for isolated cases but many will hide behind suffering to kill innocent people so as to covet their possessions. The moment we will accept to kill the terminally sick so to say, we will cogitate on destroying the physically infirmed as they are perpetually suffering. It is no longer a proposition but some people have been taking laws into their hands to eliminate those they consider infirmed and that can never be right]. There is no end in sight and not domains are safe.

Pains never die unless we are clinically dead. Therefore, abusing of drugs will be with us as long as the world exists. Even animals take drugs but they are wiser than men in that they know when to call it a day. You can only free yourself by saying no emphatically on day one when you attend that birthday party and someone suggests that you take drugs. Finish that last dregs of wine before you head to the ‘head,’ washroom as what you thought was an innocent friend could be a messenger of the devil, an infidel sent to give you an unsolicited drug. If you had not taken the drug you would not have been in the sorry state you were or are in hitherto. If you did not take that first sip of wine just to socialize so to say, you would not have been drunk to have unwanted sex and a baby or to have that deadly motor accident.

Not only that you got hocked and you cannot do without it. You lost your job, your friends, your children, house and you are dying of an incurable disease because you had to indulge in out of wedlock sex so as to get money to keep up with your life style dominated by banned drugs. You even opt to become a distributor or a manufacturer and this is the riskiest business besides being in the battle field lined with anti personnel landmines. You blame your parents for not saying no vehemently while they first saw you with that first stick of cigarette or when they first found you with a syringe. They could not for in those days it was in vogue to smoke to charm girls or for girls to show that they were tough and could do what men could do too. You were being wooed by the devil and he succeeded. Eventually you die and your meager possessions if sold cannot even buy you an everlasting resting place. Your authors of life or some Samaritans had to shoulder that responsibility. They have to go to the bank to borrow and after they start asking why in this world you were even born. You had helped not even yourself or someone. You have left no mark on earth but have come to have fun at others’ expense. Your activities apart from accelerating the death of many put literally thousands behind bars. In other words, you are useless as an element that came to serve the devil instead of God. You epithet mimics that of Al Capone the gangster that unleash a reign of terror in America in the 1920s. The society or your parents are not to be blamed but yourself wherever you end up. You are the architect of your destiny.

HOW MANY WILL BE KILLED BY DRUGS BEFORE TOO MANY HAVE DIED?

The power they had is given to them by God. For those ‘Darwinians’ who are tempted by drugs to say that there is no God, they call it nature and that their achievements were either an accident in nature, genes they inherit from their parents or the fact that they grow in a society that measure success in competition. The persons who were the winner in the competition were the hero or heroines, not in the traditional way but they were false as they were takers of skill-enhancing drugs.

I have buried many in the morning of their lives. The list can fill a book as the New Testament and that shows that there is something awry in our world if we keep on going on like this without examining ourselves. First, I would like to underline that life without examination is not worth living! How many Michael Jacksons; How many Marvin Gayes; How many Jimmy Hendricks; How many Elvis Priestleys ….? How many Nicole Simpsons will die before the world will know that too many have died from drugs? Many die when drug swat teams burst into their homes looking for drug pushers. Task forces killed suspects or stray bullets kill nearby standers when they are chasing narcotic dealers at predawn raid in the USA, Canada, and in many Latin American countries. The case of Mexico, Columbia and a bunch of Latin American states is a gangrene that will need nerves to be cured. In the USA alone, since 2007 a total of 9,903 persons have died from narcotic related deaths. The drug cartels in the USA, Columbia, Mexico, Brazil, Afghanistan, Russia, Vietnam, a bunch of SE Asian states, and most of Latin America are sophisticated. The market for illegal drugs is limitless as there are eager desperadoes that could kill just to keep on with their life style of drugs.

As alluded to above, sometimes the hunters of hard drugs or narcotic squats are themselves corrupt and push drugs themselves; consequently it is difficult to set hardened thieves to catch professional thieves. The whole situation becomes ridiculous and one wonders when one captures the beast call drug pusher as where the head, the tail and chest are. It is a deadly beast that is completely amorphous. The task is deciphering the head, torso and other parts before knowing where to catch the beast without it attacking the catcher. It is confused and the fight for it has to start at the nursery and at individual’s family homes. These are just the tip of the iceberg. In so many countries countless numbers die from kidney related diseases and poisoning triggered by the abuse of alcohol beverages is staggering. Sadly in some there is no age limit as to when one can start drinking alcohol as in some East European states including Russia and many Sub-Saharan African states. Many gallivant our streets stack naked or are locked away by relatives who bury their heads in sand the moment they venture into the public eyes. Hard drugs or those prescribed by money driven corrupt medical doctors are sometimes responsible. The impression is that when two or three meet there must be drug sharing, beer and spirits flowing instead of God being in their midst. They break our hearts; they help to kill us softly but surely and to halt this is a task that all of us must execute.

We must stop and do what used to happen in my society sardonically known in the old days by Westerners as primitive before their civilization came or was imposed. I will tell you what they did and the society was free from drugs. Let Europeans and Euroamericans think that they invented drugs, hashish, cocaine, heroin and others. Not so! I am not going to be the one to outline them here for those dealers and killers of our children with drugs or those who crave to experiment with narcotics. No, I will give them a zero. Why do I call those trafficking in narcotics killers?

Many do think that to kill as the pogrom in Rwanda, Sierra Leone, Congo Democratic Republic, the former provinces of Yugoslavia, Cambodia and Vietnam, one has to take a machete, a loaded AK47, or a crossbow and shoot some they disagrees with. If you deliberately propagate the use of drugs that leads to addiction of users, who eventually kill to carry on with their life styles or kill to get a bigger market as in Mexico, some parts of Canada, Brazil and Europe, you cannot be exonerated from being a killer. Remember that if the dealers and suppliers were not there, the users would still have been alive and there would not have been gang wars to control drug marts. In the same vein, if landmines manufacturers and distributors were not carrying out their so-called dastard economic activities, innocent bucolic folks would not have been killed or maimed by these devices at post bellum. As aforementioned, drugs were well known in my society and they were strictly for medicinal or religious purposes. They were controlled and handled only by the initiated, medical doctors, alchemists and not any dilettante or incorrigible malcontent. For that reason, the closely guarded secret stayed for two thousand years and was never a problem in the society. Today, Westerners, S. E, Asians, and Latin Americans in particular have blatantly opened the Pandora boxes of drugs as long as those lords and princes of Hollywood open their excess money to buy them at night. Can the trend be reversed?

THE CASE OF MICHAEL JACKSON

Suddenly there were foreigners who invaded that my ‘primitive’ society. Some glamorized drugs, openly used them and it was never controlled as in the primitive societies. In my primitive society innocent farmers turned maize fields into hashish plantations as basements are turned into growing fields and narcotic manufacturing centers in the West. It was not long before the youths saw the truth that was drugs. They avariciously took them and died in droves from overdosing…shooting to control and chase away intruders from their markets or shooting defectors whom they feared would reveal their secrets to law enforcement officers who apparently were corrupt. Does this sound like the contents of a Rio de Janeiro or New Mexico or Chicago suburbia dailies? The fear is when toddlers as young as ten years old are involved and school grounds and parks are distribution centers as in the sprawling city of Gatineau. If the users were not dying, they turned into cabbages or junkies. Many were seen maddened by the drugs they took. At the time of writing, Saturday, August 22, 2009 many still walked around in their birthday suits and the moment they realize the condition they are in, some take away their lives. In this case, the devil wins as we saw the devil won in his tug of war with the super star Michael Jackson. He had gone but the pains he left behind lingers on with his family, his fans and many of us who were not even his fans. It is because we are all human and interconnected. We all mourn for him as we did for Diana Princess of Wales. Whatever the rate of grieves, the show must go on. It is hoped that grief will fortify us to resist temptation of drug abuse, vices and to endeavor to stamp them out of our lives. Sadly, many will still come up and will be caught in the same snares as apparently was Michael Jackson and many that went before him and more lining up to drink from the same cup. We, like monkeys will still cover our eyes with a leaf assuming that our entire bodies are covered and insulated from the bullet of the hunter.

We are all vulnerable. Even many will read this article and will still be victims. Listen to what a French shop assistant who was working in a shop I was managing once told me when I confronted him on smoking profusely: “If I smoke and I am happy and I will eventually die. If I do not smoke I do not enjoy my life and I will still die. Therefore, I have decided to be smoking to enjoy my life.” The devil will still come to tell them that it they can only take one ‘joint’ of hashish and they will be cured of their pains and before they realized they are taking heroin and still craving for more. They become artificial heroes and heroines and the first drug taken is a statement that they better dig their grave not only six feet deep but twelve feet deeper. It is because their untimely death will cause uncountable heartaches and soul-searching. I am convinced that the rest of the members of the Jackson family will continue to feel guilty for these reasons.


SCAPEGOAT

If Michael Jackson were cornered as occasionally he was, he attributed his lifestyle to his stoic father, Joe Jackson. He is not the only one who had parents that wanted the best from him. I met a Jewish child of six at the Nepean ward of Ottawa whose mother took him to be trained as a professional swimmer, to swim like a fish several hours a day. He was fade up and did not know what to do for his father was siding with his mother. The uncles and aunts were barred from coming closer to Michael Jackson. He was in denial and that was when the devil gripping him softly but surely as cancer induced by smoke. To protect his integrity, some members of his family and friends are even suggesting that he was killed for his wealth, others that he was poisoned so as to covet his property. If he was killed when it was a well documented fact that he was a drug abuser, a fact alleged to have stemmed from the burning of his hair during a Pepsi commercial filming in 1984, how would that be separated from substance abuse and poisoning by his entourage?

Let me not digress from the Jewish child I met in the swimming pool. The only outsider the child met to tell his tale and be listened to was me. The child told me how he was being forced to be the best swimmer in the world and ended: “Sir, I am fed up. I do not know what to do. I do not have a choice,” he sadly ended. I was flabbergasted and saddened for I could not help him. In this case, I blamed the society where one is schooled to mind one’s damned business. When you are pugnacious, the reward may be a stray bullet. When I went home that night, I cried and wondered how I could help that desperate child. My apprehension then was that if I reported to the authorities, that child could be taken away by the Ottawa authorities for adoption. Today I read of a young mother in Ontario who left her child in a car in temperatures of above 30 degree Celsius to dash into a shop and do her shopping and police were called on her by a passerby. The person who called the police did a right thing. He perhaps served the life of that child and the mother will never forget her hard lesson after paying fines or serving imprisonment. With hindsight that was the right thing that I should have done. I failed my God with my naïve reasoning that I had only met him for a month and it might have been that he could have fabricated his story. At the time of writing Saturday, August 22, 2009 I am still crying for that child was tortured. He should be in his twenties now if at all he survived his ordeal. He might have grown up to be successful but the truth is that whether successful as Michael and dying in the morning of his life, the parents would still be pointed a finger at as Mr. Joe Jackson for having deprived Michael of his childhood thus pushing him to the reclusive state he was in before he eventually “committed suicide” or died mysteriously on June 25, 2009, many are in denial of.

Furthermore, when the Williams sisters: Venus and Serena Williams were being trained as tennis players by their parents, neighbors could have been telling themselves that their father was excessive. One, it was unusual for African American families to be engaged in such elitists’ sort of game. Two, they might have been ignored as no African American woman had ever reached Wimbledon and the Caucasians or Africans who were neighbors simply ignored them as beating about the bush. Therefore, when Michael Jackson blatantly talked of his father torturing him, one could say that his sort of torture was relative. I will explain below.


THE PAINFUL TRAILS OF SUCCESS ARE FORGOTTEN ONCE WE REACH OPULENT MINES

Even if Joe Jackson had detected the talent in his son and wanted to get the best out of him, then Michael should have known that his father was doing all that for his good. In the eyes of Joe Jackson, he did the best for his son. Many had done that in the past and their children grew up to congratulate them on a job well done. It is for that reason that the success of most of us start from home and not from without. Others like Michael had grown up to accuse their parents of being responsible for their psychological absurdity. When Michael released Thriller in 1984 and was the best selling artist ever in the universe, did he blame his father Joe Jackson? Did his father sanction the devil to enter Michael’s head to make him not to be satisfied with his achievement? Did he tell him to start chiseling his physiognomy? Mr. Tiger Wood attributes his gulf successes to his late father. He had his blessing. If he decided to misuse his wealth and direct it to drugs pushed by some Hollywood physicians as they sneak in to corrupt actors and actresses for their money, do you think he would have levied his craving for drugs with the ways he was brought up by his parents? I am poor and still looking around the world for a job that could make me happy and the people I work for. Do I of all men attribute my state of poverty to my parents, myself, the society, the devil or God or a combination of all of these characters? Can substance abuse be a panacea to my or our interminable vista of problems?

Dr. Viban Viban Ngo
Is the author of
[1] BEFORE YOU LEAVE FOR EUROPE AND NORTH AMERICA: A ROUGH COMPANION GUIDE FOR (AFRICAN) STUDENTS.[authorhouse, Indiana]
[2] WHO IS AFRICAN AMERICAN? CROSSING RACIAL BARRIERS www.baico.ca Ottawa, Canada
Your can reach me at vibanngo@hotmail.com




[Gentle readers while I appreciate you reading and passing it on to others, could you give me your feedback. Your silence could make me to be complaisant that I am making a contribution when I am wasting your time and mine]. If you like my missive, please pass it on to friends. All I am crying for, is for us to rescue one sheep missing out of 100 in the flock.]

REACTIONS TO H.E. SYD MADICOTT, DEPARTING HIGH COMMISSIONER OF UK AND NORTHERN IRELAND'S INTERVIEW

I read various reactions to the interview of H.E. Syd Madicott, the departing UK High Commissioner to the Cameroon Republic, former French Cameroon after serving there for four years. It appears he had stirred an hornets' nest.


If Britain had never been in any position to issue a statement concerning its position on the debacle of The Southern Cameroons-Ambasonia, variously known as the British Southern Cameroons, I have the conviction that it is high time this better be done if violent clashes are to be avoided in the Southern Cameroons-Ambasonia and Britain blamed. The High Commissioner or Ambassador implies that the Southern Cameroons National Congress (SCNC) is exaggerating its fight for the restoration of the Independence of the Southern Cameroons and that its cause is not internationally known. The Ambassador want grievances to be trumpeted before actions are taken. Did Adolf Hitler trumpeted his plans and his vicious acts before invading France?  Did he not know that the Hutus in Rwanda used on the radio messages before the massacre of the Tutsis started in 1994?  Would he have heard that broadcast in even if the announcers were screaming? What action would he and Her Majesty's Government had taken to stop the pogrom? Others think that it is the British Ambassador who is dampening what could be a volatile situation and running away from it instead of addressing it. Does he not know that it was Herald Wilson's Government that created the situation? If the UK's Government had given the political Independence to The British Cameroons as was the rule of the UNO, this palaver would have been shelved and we would not have been talking of wars or skirmishes in the future.


Ideally, commissioners or ambassadors refrain from talking too much without consultation. I see that Mr. Madicott has jumped the queue here. Perhaps on the assumption that he was leaving La Republic du Cameroun that is forced itself to be in the Commonwealth of Nations, then he should expect to be welcomed at No 10 Downing Street with an explanation to give when he lands at London.
Dr. Viban Viban Ngo.


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"ambazonia Forum" , "igbo Forum"


My Reply to H.E. Syd Madicott, British Ambassador to the Republic of Cameroon (LRC) comment on the global progress of the Southern Cameroons National Congress (SCNC)
The present rotating Prime Minister of Cameroon Republic Mon. Philemon Yang while Cameroon Republic ambassador to Canada never introduced himself as the Cameroon Commissioner to Canada. He was the Ambassador from the beginning of his mission right to the end for 22 odd years. He is a solid man who knew his history though he toed the line of his bosses, Ahmadou Ahidjo and Paul Biya, the incumbent President of Cameroon Republic. On that act, he is perhaps a very shrewd man who would not lie to satisfy his bosses and you will see why from what I have outlined below.

First of all, we should make it crystal clear to the honorable British High Commissioner Mr. Madicott to the Cameroon Republic that he is having a false title. He should be the Ambassador of Great Britain and North Ireland to the Cameroon Republic that achieved its independence from France on January 1st 1960. We of Ambasonia-Southern Cameroons are still waiting for our own British High Commissioner at Buea our capital as we are and have been a Dominion under the British Empire and had sang 'God save Our Gracious Queen/King'. We had never ever been under the French and are not yearning to be under the Francophonie (Francophony). The whole issue is being trivialized. I do not see the Francophonie stooping down before the Commonwealth of Nations or knocking at their door for membership. That will be a travesty.

Cameroon Republic has never and will never be a member of the Britain Empire and what is happening now is a gimmick and political thievery the Honorable Ambassador is glaringly and naively siding with. We would like to suggest that the Ambassador be tutored by his American counterpart before he is interviewed next time. I am not arrogant but I am realistic and diplomatic for reasons you will soon see.

For the Ambassador to ignore the historical facts that we were attached to the British and are culturally different from the French is not only sad but very naive. It is that very mistake or naivety the British made when they lumped the Southern Sudan with the North Sudan that is predominantly Arabic. That caused bitter fighting that had been going on since the 1960s. The British saw the southern Sudanese who have been imposed with Islam and forced to speak Arabic as being the same with the Northerners and thought that they could forge a united Sudan where the rulers were to be the Arabs and the full-blooded Africans would continue to be slaves or servants. The British had forgotten the head of Governor Gordon that was cut off by the dreaded Sudanese fanatical Islamic leader, Mhadi and his cohorts when they could not see how the British could come to challenge them for enslaving the Blacks of Sudan and selling them to Persia, and other Arab communities in the Middle East. What I am saying now is that the forced unity of the north and the south failed, as the Arab never ever considers any full-blooded African as equal to him. He is ever a servant or a slave or a sex object and should be seen and not heard. That is why the Southern Sudan, variously know as Equatoria or Azania will stand as an independent nation state in Africa very soon. That is the only way they can run away from slavery and suppression of the fair skinned Arabs. They cannot stand the suppression and oppression as the Southern Cameroons any longer under the occupation of Cameroon Republic.

According to the British Ambassador to the Cameroon Republic and that is his right title and not ‘Commissioner’, if there are tribal links, African had to forget the colonial links. Who created the Southern Cameroons-Ambasonia? The British created it. Is it not right that they, including the SCNC tell Prince Charles, Queen Elizabeth II, P.M. Gordon, his parliamentarians and those of the Conservative opposition of the perpetual suppression and oppression of the Southern Cameroonians-Ambasonian under the force occupation of Cameroon Republic with the tacit support of the French Government? If the SCNC does not, they will tell them tomorrow when the scenario would turn sour that they were never informed. Were the British and Americans not being informed of the dictatorship in Rwanda and the ugly scenario that was brewing? They were but they all ignored it because it was a black country and blacks are still in the eyes of some whites, sub-human beings.

The secret agreement among the British is not to comment on the Southern Cameroons-Ambasonian political situation. Is that the right way to go about it in the parliamentary democracy we all are striving to implant in Afghanistan and elsewhere?

Why do they turn their backs on the country each time it wants to restore its nationhood and sit with other nation states? What has tribal links of the Western Region of Cameroon Republic with NW Region got to do with suppression of the Southern Cameroonians-Ambasonians ? Has Mr. Ambassador ever visited the Southern Cameroons-Ambasonia?

The Ambassador forgets that the Republic of the USA is culturally linked to Britain than the Southern Cameroons-Ambasonia that got its independence on October 1, 1961 is linked to Cameroon Republic that got its independence on January 1st 1960. When it came to payment of taxes without representation, what did the USA do? It asked for political independence from their colonial masters, the British. Where was that cultural relationship the British Ambassador to the Cameroon Republic is talking of? Where did it go? They, the UK and the USA all spoke the same language, English and had the same culture and were under the same King but the US opted to be independence. What was wrong with that? What is wrong with the Southern Cameroons-Ambasonia restoring its stolen independence owing to the nonchalance of the British Labour Government?

According to the British representative at Ngoa Ekelle, [Yaunde] there got to be blood bath as in the Southern Sudan, the Sierra Leone, Rwanda or the Congo Democratic Republic before the Southern Cameroons-Ambasonia is known in the world to have a case for its independence. The Ambassador has never bothered to read the history of The Southern Cameroons and he is enthused with drama that he has forgotten that all that is following a peaceful channel as the SCNC and other political parties in the Southern Cameroons are not considered as being viable or active? Is the world advancing or regressing?

There is no important British ambassador or representative at the UNO or in the UK that is not conversant with or following up the political cries in the Southern Cameroons but this Ambassador. He is trivializing the Southern Cameroons-Ambazonian case. They all sit at Yaunde and never bother to cross the River Mungo and see what is happening in The Southern Cameroons-Ambasonia. Mr. Ian Smith of Rhodesia and the other minority South African Caucasians once trivialized the plea of Africans for majority role. It came in spite of it being suppressed by the Conservative Government of Maggie Thatcher and President Ronald Regan. The restoration of the nation state of the Southern Cameroons-Ambasonia will come willy-nilly.

Surprisingly, when it comes to democracy among Africans dictatorship is preferred to democracy. The British Ambassador to the Cameroons should have been castigating President Paul Biya for his dictatorship and the enslavement of Southern Cameroonians-Ambasonians instead of guiding his missiles towards the innocent SCNC.

The world associates Africans with wars and backwardness that any organization within it that is for peace is considered not worth being considered. How many times has the SCNC addressed the UN General Assembly? We wonder if diplomats are copied by their Ambassadors in New York, Geneva and so on. If the SCNC takes its case to the UNO, UNPO and other organizations, it ever copies the representatives of other governments around the world. one wonders why on earth the message is not loud and clear to this Ambassador and his cohorts. Does it mean that those bespectacled men and women wearing navy blue suits are just pieces of furniture? They are not. I believe that the Ambassador’s case is just a maverick.

Mr. Ambassador you do not see. There are one and one half million Ambassonians in Nigeria because of the hawkish ways they are being treated in their country by the Cameroon Republic Gendarmes and the Police; there are several hundreds hiding in your country, the UK for fear of President Paul Biya's autocratic rule and the occupation of their lands. There are thousands in the USA, Kenya, South Africa and Ghana running away for similar mistreatment and a day hardly passes without me and other reading of their plight. You said that the SCNC that is registered with the UNPO has no case, and then I wonder what Her Majesty's Government has sent you to be doing at Yaunde. (This is the English spelling Mr. Ambassador. I see you write Yaoundé ). We feel that P. M. Gordon should revamp his mission at Ngoa Ekelle for this man is having conflicts of interests and should be recalled home.

Mr. Ambassador, can you really take the North Sea Oil and covet it and give nothing to the Scots? If the English ever did that, that would be the day that you would have devolution in Scotland. Is that not what Cameroon Republic and France have been doing in the Southern Cameroons since 1972? They give nothing to the Southern Cameroons from their oil and other resources. They help to impoverish the Southern Cameroons-Ambasonia and anyone who dares criticize them is called an enemy in the house. Or, they ask them to go to hell. Is that the parliamentary democracy we learned from Governor Field our Last Governor of the Southern Cameroons? Have you ever plied or asked any of your lieutenants to ply the KUMBA-MEMFE-BAMENDA dirt highway? You cannot venture as you will never survive or go through even with your 4x4 brand-new Land Rovers.
Is that not a motorway of a country that is producing oil? Is our CDC not richer than the Gambian Government? Are they not having independence though sandwiched in Senegal? Are they bigger than us in population? Why must we be slaves in our homeland and you come with your French support and make a statement that we have to remain so since we are related to the elements of Western Region of the Cameroons Republic. Did you old government in Berlin 1884 take into consideration African tribes when they were drawing their boundaries? Were or are the British not related to the Germans? Did they allow the Germans to trample on them during the Second World War? You are talking of the Bamilekes, When the Cameroon Republic forces where shooting at our students at Buea did any of them issue any statement to condemn the actions of the police or gendarmes? If they were or are our brothers you alleges, how comes they are ever silent and guarding only their shops.

I am surprised that you have not mentioned that we are not related to the elements of the British Northern Cameroons? I think you better stay mute as the other diplomats have been doing rather than tarnish the name of the Great Britain that is known for parliamentary democracy.

Are we not tired of the flood of blood in Africa? Instead of praising the efforts of the SCNC and other political parties, you want to tell us that they are not known and that our case is not relevant since the old tribal links are not important that the colonial creation.

Let us be serious. Our parents supported the British to fight against Adolf Hitler to get rid of his suppression of the French and other Europeans. You have forgotten your history so soon? We fought Hitler because he had forgotten the democratic ways and was suppressing and oppressing the Jews, the French, gypsies, homosexuals, Czechs, etc. He threatened the democratic governance of the British. You came to Southern Cameroons and got our fathers recruited to fight with you to teach Nazidom its lesson. We did that together. It now our turn and you are calling our struggle a child’s play. Is it? Many Southern Cameroonians fought side by side with the Royal Troops and died in the jungles of Burma, the deserts of the Middle East to restore democracy in Europe and the world. It is our turn and you are trivializing it Mr. Ambassador. You claim that we are crying wolf!!! Are we?

Do we not have a problem? We have. You want to link our case with the French Quebec in Canada and the rest of the English speaking Canada. The Quebecois were defeated by you the British but we were not defeated in any battle field. The Quebecois are a lot better than us. They have a parliament, a Prime Minister, banks, police force and many more not suppressed by the rest of the English-speaking Canada but the Cameroon Republic closed ours and it was the only democratic government is the whole of Western Africa in the 1950s. The French and Cameroon Republic want us to take arms so that they can defeat us in the battle field. Is that the way of modern Britain? Did you forget what the French did in Biafra ? Come on Ambassador?

Our parents opted to join these fellows who turned us to animals and steal from us daily. Yet you sit blinded and do not want to admit it because you will hurt France that benefits from the stolen oil from our country. You do not want to admit it. Are we not tired of wars in Africa Mr. Ambassador?

When it comes to Africans, the Caucasians always look at them as sub humans. Why can the Ambassador not look at history? Why is Britain that once had an Empire where the sun never set in which The Southern Cameroons-Ambasonia belonged suddenly shying away from taking that leading role she used to take? Do you want us to exhume Sir Winston Churchill to say it loud and clear?

The Cameroon Republic (French Cameroons) was never and had never been part of the British Empire . If they had to be there, it is because they have the feeling that they could benefit from the Commonwealth of Nations and the Francophonie should they hold the Southern Cameroons-Ambasonia under their apron string! Then of what good is a man who belongs to all the political parties? He becomes a goody-goody and cannot make any contributions since he does not want to offend the other parties. The Bible states it clearly: A man cannot serve two masters.

Of course, the British have the feeling that if they could use the Southern Cameroons-Ambasonia they could expand the Anglo-Saxon culture. They have been doing this and to see it being thwarted will not be good for them. The second language in the most populous country in the world, China is English and no force is needed. Then, minus this link, all Francophones, know that the key to entering the UK and the USA , which they consider their heavens on earth now that France is saturated is to master the English Language. You are now hearing from me.

Do you now see that Buea University created to meet the demand of the Southern Cameroonians-Ambasonians when they were being harassed at Yaounde French Universities is flooded by the Cameroonians from across the Mungo? They harangue its chancellor to admit their children who have not passed the advanced level GCE so that they could learn English to proceed to the USA and the UK. They do this at our expense as our children are left floating in air or are chased to go to Nigeria. The Catholic Mission that had ever been ignoring the cause of the Southern Cameroons-Ambasonia as the British Ambassador to the Cameroon Republic saw the need and are planning to create a Catholic University at Buea, the capital of The Southern Cameroons-Ambasonia. They always forget Bamenda as it is alleged that it is the domicile of intelligent men and women who would not take 'no' imposed by the Cameroon Republic for an answer. We will tell you that one day Bamenda will not only have one English university but will have five to meet its pressing demand.
Keberry, J.


INTERVIEW

SCNC Lacks International Support - British High Commissioner
Published:August 17, 2009
H.E. Syd Madicott has been the British High Commissioner to Cameroon for close to four years. On the eve of his departure, he granted this exclusive interview to The Post.


SCNC Lacks International Support - British High Commissioner
Monday, August 17, 2009

Interview By Francis Wache & Francis Tim Mbom
H.E. Syd Madicott has been the British High Commissioner to Cameroon for close to four years. On the eve of his departure, he granted this exclusive interview to The Post in which he discusses wide-ranging issues, including the SCNC, the democratisation process, the state of the media and much more. Excerpts:

Madicott poses with journalists at end of training in Limbe
The Post: At the end of your mission in Cameroon, what memories are you taking back with you?
H.E. Syd Madicott: Moving is a rather unsettling time: I'm moving job, moving country and moving house. I'm left with a wide variety of memories about Cameroon - most of them pleasant ones. I've enjoyed my three and a half years in Cameroon. I have loved the impressive landscape of Cameroon, for instance, the West and Northwest Regions, the Far North of Cameroon and the jungle. I've been to the seaside resorts, the big cities. All of those places will leave a distinct impression on me.


The other thing that strikes me is the amazing diversity of the people here, in Cameroon. You have 200 odd ethnic groups, 200 odd languages and a great variety of physical types and a bewildering variety of cultures. I also think I have learnt a lot here. Cameroon and Africa in general can teach us a many things - respect for age, family solidarity, attachment to culture, dignity and elegance in the face of poverty and adversity and resilience. The enterprise of Cameroonians constantly amazes me.
What were your happiest moments?
What I have enjoyed most is working with my team at the British High Commission. We've got a very good team. I hope they will give the same support to my successor as I have received from them. It's been pleasing to see how some people who were on our guard force are now doing jobs in our offices. We've been able to promote people internally who've got talent. One of the things this tells me about Cameroon is that there is a lot of unexploited talent here which a general economic uplift will make a better use of.
I've met lots of very senior people - from the President down. I've also enjoyed my exchanges with ordinary Cameroonians. One of the things I've done recently, that was a big pleasure, was to go to a small village in the Northwest called Weh, in Wum Division, which is the home village of a number of people who work in the British High Commission in Cameroon. Many members of our guard force and several members of our office staff come from Weh.
I received a big reception when I went there recently. I was given the title of one of the notables of the village, Dzeekeweh, which means "Voice of the Weh People". That was a nice honour to receive. I've also been honoured in other places. I am an honorary citizen of Limbe. But I also think of some of the things we've seen that have helped Cameroon in its development. In my first few months here, we saw Cameroon reach Completion Point in the Extended Highly Indebted Poor Countries (HIPC) programme, which has brought massive debt relief to the country.
Britain supported Cameroon unequivocally in this. We've also seen the introduction of the Criminal Procedure Code, which a lot of British effort went into helping develop over a 20-year period. Although it has not yet been fully taken up by all Magistrates, the new Code is at last in place. It was also a great thrill to be at the handover ceremony in Akwa in Bakassi when the Nigerian troops started to leave Cameroon - a great day for Cameroon - and Nigeria. As you can see, there's been a lot to celebrate and many happy memories here.
What were the lowest points?
Come to think of it, if there were any significant low points, they are submerged among the happier moments. I was not very well in the period just before Christmas. I had to go back to the United Kingdom for medical treatment. It was depressing to be out of the firing line and I was very glad to get back at the end of January.
What do you think you would be remembered for?
I hope I would be decently forgotten after a short while and, then, my successor will take forward the work of the British High Commissioner in Cameroon. I haven't come here to establish a legacy or to be remembered too long after leaving, but I hope I'll be able to go home safe in the knowledge that I did my best.
What were the highlights, the milestones of your stay?
It was very interesting to observe the 2007 elections and, as you are aware, I had some things to say in a statement I made with some other diplomatic missions after the 2007 elections which suggested that the elections were not entirely satisfactory. I think it was right to do that at the time. I don't regret it. I think what we've also seen is an increasing coherence from the European Union in the way that it deals with political development in Cameroon. We've got a structured political dialogue with the Government of Cameroon and I was at a session recently that took place earlier this month. That forum can be developed further to bring more benefits to us both in the relationship. Working with my European Union colleagues and other diplomats has been another highlight.
Also, contributing a little bit to the media sector has been a thing I have enjoyed doing. We've also worked in other areas like the prisons, which I consider is very worthwhile. I have also enjoyed working with the government of Cameroon. In particular, I must mention the former Prime Minister, Inoni, and the current Prime Minister, Philemon Yang, whom I met frequently when he was the Assistant Secretary General at the Presidency. From these two gentlemen, I've had nothing but courtesy and kindness and that has been a great help in fulfilling my mission here.
What are your views on Cameroon's democratisation process?
I think every country is at a different stage in its democratic development. There are things about the British electoral system that are going to need to be looked at and, possibly, changed over the coming years.
In Cameroon, the country has reached a certain stage of democratic development in that people at least expect to have free and fair elections. Following the 2004 recommendations of the Commonwealth, about having an independent electoral commission, we've seen that electoral commission established as ELECAM. I wish them every success in their work. I think they've got a challenging task to do two things before the next election: first to make themselves ready to organise the elections administratively and second, to demonstrate their objectivity and impartiality in a way that will encourage Cameroonians to vote and participate fully in the next election.
We would hope, for example, to see a much higher number of Cameroonians registered to vote. I would have thought that the figure that ought to be 8 million for a country this size. It doesn't seem to me to be acceptable to say that registration is a political act and therefore the responsibility of the political parties. It should be regarded, I think, as a civil act which every citizen is entitled to do, freely and relatively easily.
What, according to you, should be done to make it more entrenched and credible?
It is not for Britain or other countries to lay down what is acceptable to the Cameroonian people (although Cameroon has, of course, like many other countries signed international human rights treaties which commit the country to run free and fair elections) . It's up to the Cameroonian people to decide what is acceptable to them and then insist that they get it. One of the aims in having an independent electoral commission is, principally, to avoid elections in the future where the result is contested. At the same time, you want the biggest, most credible mandate for those people who are elected, whether it's the President, parliamentarians or local councillors. For that you need more widespread participation.
The electoral system also has to be credible enough and secure enough to prevent or severely reduce some abuses we have witnessed, such as people being unable to register; people registering and not being able to collect their registration cards, multiple-voting and impersonation and other abuses.
Are you convinced, from the way ELECAM is constituted, that it is credible enough to conduct free and transparent elections?
It is not for me to be convinced, it is for Cameroonians to be convinced. You can make your own assessment of whether you think Cameroonians at the moment have enough confidence in ELECAM. I think ELECAM will want to demonstrate that it deserves the respect of Cameroonians in the coming months leading up to the 2011 elections.
What is your assessment of the Cameroon media?
Firstly, let me talk about the media scene in general. I am pleased to say I think Cameroon has a largely free media, much freer than in many other similar countries in Africa and elsewhere. That shouldn't allow anybody to become complacent about the media scene here. I think that freedom needs to be supported and maintained with a degree of vigilance. I think the period has now passed where the Government was set on further legislation in the sector, since the withdrawal of the social communications bill in, I think, 2006. Self-regulation is the best guarantor for the right kind of standards in the sector. I don't mean self censorship, I mean self regulation. I think it is up to Cameroonian media organisations to behave responsibly and, therefore, reduce the pressure for further legislation.
One or two things that have been of concern over the past few years has been the harassment of journalists. This isn't widespread but it does happen. We have recently journalists convicted and imprisoned by a military tribunal. I am not arguing that this is illegal, but I think it is something that we should all feel uncomfortable about to say the least. It would also be good if broadcasting licences were cheaper because, at the moment, you have many broadcasters who are not strictly within the law because they haven't paid their licence fees and are thus in a situation of "tolerance administrative".
As we saw in February 2008, some of them can have their licences withdrawn in a very short space of time. I don't think that is a healthy situation. From the point of view of journalistic standards, I sometimes have arguments with newspaper editors about individual articles that have been written about me, and I think I can understand that other people including many people in public life feel the same feel the same. I don't think this argues for more legislation - the law already provides adequate protection for anyone who is defamed. But I think it does argue for higher professional standards.
One of the reasons that we've actually contributed a lot in terms of training to the Cameroonian media-and we have just completed a major course in Limbe. We are now training trainers to cultivate skills and competences among their own media organisations throughout Cameroon. That involves both the public and private sectors. I'd like to see a private sector that is truly independent develop here. In other words, not media that always takes an anti-Government stance. What Cameroon needs are media are ready to hold the Government to account but that are prepared, at times, to give the Government credit when it gets things right.
What is your evaluation of the training programmes that have been offered to journalists by the British High Commission? Has there been any perceptible improvement in the way they handle their profession?
I would like to think so especially at the individual level. So much depends on the proprietors of the individual media outlets, who hold a great deal of responsibility. There are certain areas where we've seen evidence that the training has been effective. I'd give you one example. We gave some very specific training to people on how to report on climate change. That has made a difference simply in the sheer amount of column inches of articles published in the Cameroonian media on climate change and I think it's helped elevate climate change to the right level of importance in Cameroon. People are increasingly coming to realise that it's an issue that is vital for the future of the country - and the world that can't be dodged.
Any suggestions on what can be done to enhance the professional standards of the media in Cameroon?
What I am about to suggest isn't a very practical step. It would be the decision by newspapers and other media proprietors to adopt the highest possible principles in terms of their reportage. To insist on high standards from their journalists and to prevent journalists mixing facts and rumours and speculation as if they were all the same. Editors-in-Chief and proprietors need to take a very objective stand in the quality of journalism that they are presenting - even sometimes at the expense of a juicy headline.
During your stay in Cameroon, you must have heard about the SCNC...
Yes.
What is your take on that?
The SCNC often attempt to involve the British High Commission, Her Majesty The Queen, the British Prime Minister, the President of the United States, and other international figures in their argument with what they call 'La Republique du Cameroun'. Let me make Britain's position very clear: Britain recognises the Government of the Republic of Cameroon as the sole authority in Cameroon. That hasn't changed since 1972. Not only does Britain recognise the Government of Cameroon but so does all the other nations in the world and the United Nations. That makes our position on the constitutional question very clear. It seems to me that the SCNC has tried to re-write history retrospectively in its analysis of the situation in Cameroon.

Let me also say that I don't think that the SCNC has significant support in Cameroon, including in the Anglophone parts of Cameroon. So you have to take all that into consideration when assessing the SCNC, but from Britain's point of view the legal position is clear. The SCNC is entitled to its views, but hasn't been able to secure any international support for its arguments as far as I am aware. Moving on to talk more generally about 'the Anglophone problem', as it has been described to me, I recall my previous diplomatic posting was in Canada and, of course, in Canada, you have a rather similar situation with a linguistic minority of about 20 percent.
In Canada's case, 20 percent are Francophones and the majority are Anglophones. I would say that sometimes, in these situations, there is a lack of sensitivity from the majority community towards the minority community and an oversensitivity of the minority community to perceived slights by the majority community. As far as the language question goes, I think that, at one time, Anglophones were seen-seen by Anglophones at least-to be marginalised within Cameroon. I think that the increase in the global status of the English Language has changed all that. The Francophone elites that I meet in Yaounde are all very anxious that their children should have English as well as French as they are growing up and send them to bilingual schools. I believe bilingualism is a big asset for Cameroon.
I meet lots of Ministers who, even if they are not particularly keen to speak English for fear of making mistakes, certainly understand English. And I could, if I chose, to be rather lazy, often get away with speaking English much of the time in Yaounde. My strong recommendation to any young Anglophone is to learn French and I make a similar recommendation to any young Francophone - if you have both languages in this country, then the country and, perhaps, the world are your oyster.
Did you ever experience moments of friction between Anglophones and Francophones because of their linguistic or cultural differences?
There was minor argument when I was lunching in an Anglophone area in a restaurant run by a Francophone. An Anglophone I was with objected strongly to the fact that the menu was written in French. That's an example of exactly the sort of thing I mean. It might be argued that he rather over-reacted, but, I could see his point - it wouldn't have been very difficult to have produced the menu in both official languages.
Some people believe that the Anglophone Problem, as it is sometimes called, is a ticking time bomb...
That is not my impression. Cameroon is made up of many different communities. To talk about the 'Anglophone Problem', you are viewing it along the divide of the European language that the different parts of the country use. But then I see, for instance, that people from the Northwest and the West share, to a large extent, a common culture - the Grassfields culture - and it doesn't make very much difference to them that one group speaks French as their European language and one speaks English.
You can look at Cameroon in a variety of ways and, depending on which way you look at the kaleidoscope that Cameroon is, you can talk of different divisions. You can talk about the North-South divide or the Christian-Muslim divide or any other divide that you wish. It is possible to divide Cameroon, perhaps as many as 250 different ways, if you want, but I think it is more productive to talk about the things that unite Cameroon.
How do you see Cameroon tomorrow?
That will be up to Cameroonians not diplomats like me. We can only do our best to help Cameroon as it develops. But I do have some wishes for Cameroon. The first one is peace and stability. We've seen a big contribution to peace and stability in Cameroon and Nigeria settling their differences over Bakassi through legal and peaceful means and that has taken statesmanship on both sides. I congratulate the Presidents involved. There is a degree of insecurity in that maritime zone around Bakassi at the moment. But I think the deployment of the BIR to Bakassi will have a salutary impact.
I expect that the security situations will improve in the coming months and years. I hope that peace and stability will function in that area. There are other areas where security is threatened. In the border areas of the North, in particular, and, in these regions, you have the "coupeurs de routes" who can easily get across the border. Again, deployment of the BIR has helped. I know that the Government is well aware of these problems and is attempting to deal with them, but it is not easy. I hope there will be peace in Chad and a political settlement in the Central African Republic that will lead to greater stability in Cameroon's Northern and North Eastern borders. The second thing I'd like to see in Cameroon is an improvement in economic and social conditions here, and I think that one goes with the other.
I'd like to see more foreign investments in Cameroon, including from the UK. I think that will come if people see that Cameroon is peaceful and stable. The more that Cameroon develops solid democratic institutions, the more that Cameroon's reputation on human rights improves; the more investment and the more tourism will come to Cameroon. I don't think democratic development and economic development are completely separate. Anecdotally, I think human rights performance in Cameroon has got better over the last few years. But many challenges remain.
I'd like to see Cameroon tackle them successfully. What happened in Geneva, in February, when Cameroon went through the Universal Periodic Review of the Human Rights Council, showed some very positive signs. Cameroon made many commitments to adopt improvements in human rights. I hope that Cameroonians will hold the government to the promises that it has made and that the press will play a part in that. It's an area where we've tried to help at the British High Commission - in prisons, combating violence against women and in various other aspects of human rights works.
I think we'd all like to see an improvement in governance in Cameroon, in particular, a reduction in the amount of corruption that affects Cameroonians from day to day. We've seen that 'Operation Epervier' has had some kind of impact in arraigning senior Cameroonians suspected of embezzlement. There have already been some convictions. What I hope to see is a more general attack on corruption in Cameroon. Along with the Government of Cameroon and various other international donors, Britain is involved in an anti-corruption programme called CHOC, "Changer d'Habitudes S'Opposer a la Corruption".
We hope the programme will become more active over the next couple of years. It would be good to see a general improvement in the way that public life functions in Cameroon - perhaps with those in public office declaring their assets. As you know, we've had a little controversy in the United Kingdom over the allowances claimed by Members of Parliament. Now, this is kind of small beer compared to some of the things that have gone on in Cameroon, but it demonstrates quite clearly that we all need to be on our guard against corruption and poor practice.
Corruption is considered as the number one enemy of economic development in Cameroon. Measures taken by "Operation Epervier" are considered rather too timid and even selective.How should the Government strengthen the fight against this very pervasive scourge?
When I talk to business people who are considering investing in Cameroon, the things they ask about are the security and stability of the country. They ask about the freedom of the country and, then, they talk about things like the legal system and corruption. In these areas, Cameroon can do itself a favour by improving its reputation abroad and becoming more attractive to foreign investors. It would also, of course, improve the everyday life of Cameroonians well.
The Criminal Procedure Code has been overhauled: a parallel effort is needed in the system of civil justice, especially as it affects business. Corruption is a pervasive problem. There are a number of ways of dealing with it. For instance, giving incoming investors a hotline to someone senior that they can call when an attempt is made extort money from them. It would be good to see CONAC demonstrate some very clear ideas about what it intends to achieve over the next two or three years, because more needs to be done. It isn't a question of just jailing a few bad eggs.
Some big shots in Cameroon are alleged to have stashed stolen money in British banks...
First of all, let me restate that we are very keen to seize and return to Cameroon any embezzled money that may be held in a British bank. For some years now, the due diligence required by British banks in accepting deposits from abroad has been much higher. This was as a result of measures to stop money laundering and, in particular, the laundering of terrorist funds. So, it's partly in our own interest that we've tightened things up. But at this point, it's not been established that any such money is held in Britain.
You have got a traditional title from Weh, you are an honorary citizen of Limbe. This makes you an adopted Cameroonian. Forget, for once, then, that you are the British High Commissioner and assume the identity of a Cameroonian. The Head of State has spoken about the country being under the grip of inertia. How do you think, as an adopted Cameroonian, that we can move this country forward?
It is quite clear that the President has set the new Government some key tasks and that most of the tasks are in the sphere of the economy. Given the state of the world economy and the impact that, inevitably, has on Cameroon, I think that is perfectly understandable. So, I think the challenge of the new Government is to try, within a relatively short period, to give new impetus and direction to Cameroon's economic development.
First of all, I would have to say that our Prime Minister, Gordon Brown, was very concerned before the recent London G-20 Summit to make sure the voice of Africa was heard. He invited the Minister of Finance of Cameroon and the Governor of the Central Bank to a meeting in London to hear what African financial leaders had to say. One of the things that emerged from the G-20 was a whole range of financial instruments from the IMF to help developing countries get through fiscal crises caused by the global downturn. Cameroon has already benefited, quite recently, from one of those instruments in a loan that is taken out under very favourable conditions. So Cameroon is not without international help in this.
But Cameroon can also do even more to become a very attractive destination for foreign investments. Cutting down bureaucracy and red tape and speeding up decisions and actions can all contribute. The President and the new Prime Minister have both made their own positions on these issues very clear and I wish them every success. What foreign businesses want when they come to invest in Cameroon is to see as little bureaucracy as possible. There is, inevitably, some bureaucracy in establishing a new business, but you want to see it limited, to deal with as few ministries as possible so it gives a 'one stop shop' for investors
Your Excellency, any message for Cameroonians?
Well I wish everybody in Cameroon the very best of success. I want to see Cameroon become a lot more prosperous. This is a great country, a potentially very rich country: there is a massive opportunity for things like tourism; you can grow anything in Cameroon; it's got lots of mineral wealth. I'd like to see more foreign investments coming in and more investment from the Cameroonian Diaspora, more domestic investment, the creation of secondary industries that process what Cameroon produces. Finally, I'd also like to see some sporting success for Cameroon. If you ask me to put myself in the position of an ordinary Cameroonian, I know I'd want to see the Lions qualify for 2010. It looks like a tough challenge at the moment. I very much hope that England is going to be there in 2010. We are at the top of our group and, so far things are going well. If we don't meet in South Africa I hope we'll meet up at the latest in England in 2018 because England is now bidding for the 2018 World Cup. I hope to see the Lions at Wembley.
That will be a great treat. Well, if the Lions come to the Olympics, I guess we will see them sooner - in 2012. I would also like to wish success to the Cameroonian Cricket Federation which we've been able to help a little bit. It has now become affiliated to the International Cricket Council and recently made its first international visit - to Ghana - for a youth tournament. Cameroonian Cricket is still in its infancy but I have seen it develop enormously, mainly through Francophone players in Yaounde and the strong involvement of the Indian community. It's been fun playing with them and seeing them develop their skills.
One could discern a touch of nostalgia at the beginning of this interview. How soon do you plan to be back?
As you know Ambassadors never overlap. I think the idea is that the nasty smell generated by one Ambassador has time to dissipate before the new man or woman arrives! I've enjoyed my time here. I hope some of what I've done here has been constructive, thanks to the support of my team. As I leave, I wish my successor all the very best of success and I hope that they derive as much enjoyment and satisfaction from their job in Cameroon as I have. I do hope, at sometime in the future, to come back to Cameroon and I would look forward to meeting again the many friends that I've made here.





--- On Wed, 19/8/09, Martin Yembe wrote:

Inline with one of my mentors, Chief Achualake Taku, we should rather applaud the High Commissioner for refocussing our attention... and calling on us to forget about the Force of Argument.
I am, in my personal name, writing an open letter, which must be published in The Post of Monday, to the British High Commissioner to LRC. I will be handing the letter personally at the High Commission in Yaounde on Monday.
This man has bitten deep into our flesh and we must react adequately. This is it, people!!!
Martin Fon Yembe ( GLOBINET, West Africa)

On 8/18/09, Professor Martin Ayim wrote:

The British High Commissioner is grossly demented. For the record, Neither the UN nor UK attended the Foumban Conference in 1961 to implement the Post Plebiscite UN Resolution 1608(XV) which should have resulted in a Union Treaty. Is history not about the past? Was it not corrected in East Timor? Eritrea? Kosovo?. What is it that the Southern Cameroons is doing abnormally? Is it our eternal and sickening Force of Argument?
People! This name British Southern Cameroons must go, and the UK will be held accountable.
Let someone get this response to that Super Commissioner.
____________ _________ _________
"God grant me the Serenity to accept the things I cannot change, Courage to change the things I can, and Wisdom to know the difference" (Anonymous).
____________ ______
Prof. Martin Ayim
Grambling State University,Louisian a
PO Box 399, Grambling, LA 71245, USA
Fax: (318)274-3202
------------ --------- --------- ---


--- On Tue, 8/18/09, Charles Taku wrote:

From: Charles Taku
Subject: Re: [nationalgroup] SCNC Lacks International Support - British High Commissioner
To: dibussi@msn. com
Cc: nationalgroup@ yahoogroups. com
Date: Tuesday, August 18, 2009, 1:26 PM

Guess what? The so- called international community led by the US and Britain considered the pre-1994 Rwandan situation in similar arrogant or should Isay? ignorant, dismissive terms until the hell broke lose. The US apologised several years later and Tony Blair shamelessly and hypocriticly is a "special adviser" to Kagame today.
This type of reckless posturing is not new. It has a history of its own.
However, what we must learn from this diplomat is to review the so-called " force of argument " option which we must conclude from his statements, has failed.
We should consider the other option insinuated by this diplomat since it is obvious from his statements that his Government cannot and will never support a peaceful legal approach to the conflict. And if that is how diplomacy works the British style, so be it.
Regrettably, my reading of history, is that a reckless imperial power like Britain has never and will never support geniune freedom and the ruleof law. Reason why war is being fought and refought in many parts of the world today. The genesis of these conflicts and war has its root in injustices and insensitities suffered under the British Imperial power. By the so-called argument of force we regrettably thought we could achieve what others havegot, through greater sacrifices.
Thanks Mr Ambassador for refocusing us on the appropriate way of attaining freedom from annexation. Will I therefore be right Mr Ambassador in understanding you to mean that your government will never support a peaceful means of settling this conflict?
Chief Fuatabong Achaleke Taku



--- On Mon, 8/17/09, dibussi@msn. com wrote:


From: dibussi@msn. com
Subject: [nationalgroup] SCNC Lacks International Support - British High Commissioner
To: fdr_southerncameroo nspeople@ yahoogroups. com, nationalgroup@ yahoogroups. com
Date: Monday, August 17, 2009, 1:10 PM


From The Post Newspaper


During your stay in Cameroon, you must have heard about the SCNC...
Yes.

What is your take on that?
The SCNC often attempt to involve the British High Commission, Her Majesty The Queen, the British Prime Minister, the President of the United States, and other international figures in their argument with what they call 'La Republique du Cameroun'. Let me make Britain's position very clear: Britain recognises the Government of the Republic of Cameroon as the sole authority in Cameroon. That hasn't changed since 1972. Not only does Britain recognise the Government of Cameroon but so does all the other nations in the world and the United Nations. That makes our position on the constitutional question very clear. It seems to me that the SCNC has tried to re-write history retrospectively in its analysis of the situation in Cameroon.

Let me also say that I don't think that the SCNC has significant support in Cameroon, including in the Anglophone parts of Cameroon. So you have to take all that into consideration when assessing the SCNC, but from Britain's point of view the legal position is clear. The SCNC is entitled to its views, but hasn't been able to secure any international support for its arguments as far as I am aware. Moving on to talk more generally about 'the Anglophone problem', as it has been described to me, I recall my previous diplomatic posting was in Canada and, of course, in Canada, you have a rather similar situation with a linguistic minority of about 20 percent.

In Canada's case, 20 percent are Francophones and the majority are Anglophones. I would say that sometimes, in these situations, there is a lack of sensitivity from the majority community towards the minority community and an oversensitivity of the minority community to perceived slights by the majority community. As far as the language question goes, I think that, at one time, Anglophones were seen-seen by Anglophones at least-to be marginalised within Cameroon. I think that the increase in the global status of the English Language has changed all that. The Francophone elites that I meet in Yaounde are all very anxious that their children should have English as well as French as they are growing up and send them to bilingual schools. I believe bilingualism is a big asset for Cameroon.

I meet lots of Ministers who, even if they are not particularly keen to speak English for fear of making mistakes, certainly understand English. And I could, if I chose, to be rather lazy, often get away with speaking English much of the time in Yaounde. My strong recommendation to any young Anglophone is to learn French and I make a similar recommendation to any young Francophone - if you have both languages in this country, then the country and, perhaps, the world are your oyster.

Did you ever experience moments of friction between Anglophones and Francophones because of their linguistic or cultural differences?
There was minor argument when I was lunching in an Anglophone area in a restaurant run by a Francophone. An Anglophone I was with objected strongly to the fact that the menu was written in French. That's an example of exactly the sort of thing I mean. It might be argued that he rather over-reacted, but, I could see his point - it wouldn't have been very difficult to have produced the menu in both official languages.

Some people believe that the Anglophone Problem, as it is sometimes called, is a ticking time bomb...
That is not my impression. Cameroon is made up of many different communities. To talk about the 'Anglophone Problem', you are viewing it along the divide of the European language that the different parts of the country use. But then I see, for instance, that people from the Northwest and the West share, to a large extent, a common culture - the Grassfields culture - and it doesn't make very much difference to them that one group speaks French as their European language and one speaks English.

You can look at Cameroon in a variety of ways and, depending on which way you look at the kaleidoscope that Cameroon is, you can talk of different divisions. You can talk about the North-South divide or the Christian-Muslim divide or any other divide that you wish. It is possible to divide Cameroon, perhaps as many as 250 different ways, if you want, but I think it is more productive to talk about the things that unite Cameroon.

Complete interview is available here: http://www.thepostw ebedition. com/Content. aspx?ModuleID= 3

Geographical Distribution of African Art revisited.

SPATIAL DISTRIBUTION OF AFRICAN WORKS OF ART IN BRIEF

The idea of the geography of trans-location of African works of art sounds so fascinating. Did people move with their art works or they followed peoples or communities to their new locations? I wrote a commentary on African art a while back refuting what Westerners refer to as African art works as not art per se in the strict Western definition of art. I think that the definition of African art is got to be different as what we call African literature is different from other literary works in other continents. The question is, if there is any such thing called African art. To me, true African art came into being when the European came trying to convert African religious artifacts to meet the aesthetic of European appreciation. In that case, Africans were taught Western art particularly in the post Second World War and in some cases when they were colonized by Europeans from the 1500 AD. I will explain this below.

Africans prior to the advent of Europeans and Arabs or outsiders had no works of art but religious artifacts. Remember that the 2D concept was essentially alien but there were isolated cases as found in caves drawing by the San (or what the earlier European called Bushmen - derogatory and politically incorrect today) people of Botswana, Namibia, Zimbabwe and Southern Africa. The other groups were the Tuaregs whose art works are found in caves in the Sahara. I have got some pictures of them I took while visiting Zimbabwe. On the whole, Africans did not do it as the San and the Tuaregs but some Bantus draw two dimensional works of art later on as the morals by women we refer to below in Southern Africa.

If you are going to call the Cross of Jesus Christ in the Western churches a work of art, then African pieces of art prior to 1500AD were works of art. Many will question this as Africans arts were not meant to be appreciated as the works of say Italian or Greek artists. They were not for they were just religious pieces and were supposed not to be viewed by anyone or displayed in most of the geographical regions. Religiously, they were holy artifacts used for prayer or as media of communication.

Even common masks used by masqueraders for displays in the dancing arena during religious ceremonies were not used as works of art. You will see that they were not refined as say Chinese or Japanese or Indian or European art works and were essentially voluminous. If they were refined, they did not carry that spirit. It did not mean that they could not be well chiseled. No. They performed their intended tasks better when they were in a sort of a caricatured form. The persons who assumed a carved (mask) called juju in Nigeria and some parts of the Cameroons was transcended into a spirit and was not a man or a work of art as you may talk of a harlequin in the Western museum. With the powers the wearer had owing to wearing the mask, he was able to direct say the spirit of the dead person to the underworld where he or she were to meet souls of other relatives who had long died. If this was not done, the spirit was left wondering in the wilderness like goats without a goatherd.

In some cases, a fetish of a person who had died before was kept unlike say the keeping of skulls or carvings of Buda by some South Eastern Asian communities that were sort of venerated. In the case of some Africans, say in the Bamileke region, (Banjoon or Banjoun) the fetish was treated as if it were a living person. It was housed in a special place and could only be seen and touched by the initiated grandees, chief priests or priestesses. It was given food, wine, smeared with cam-wood paste and even clothed as if it were a person living. The belief was and is still had that the dead person’s spirit was still living in that piece of wood. If a member of the family’s profession was trading and was to go out to the market, one simply offered a sacrifice to that particular fetish that could stand for the late grandmother or father. This was supposed to give him luck and open his way so to say. Since it was a vessel holding the spirit of a late member of the family, it could not be sold, seen or touched by outsiders. Its intrinsic value was immeasurable and that is why the earlier ones that found in the Western museums or private collectors were often looted when Africans were defeated as the case of Ngonso in the Nso Kingdom of Western Africa. Shrouded in secrecy, it was no doubt that early Westerners could travel the breath and width of Western Africa without seeing some or shrines.

A stool of a grandee in central Africa carved from a single hard wood

You will therefore see how this could not have been considered by the natives as works of art. Such were never displayed and you will be surprised to see that some works of art were only seen by Africans scholars in Western museums and they were still novelties to them as Westerners too. When Picasso saw these for the first time as most Westerners, he had the impression that they were African art works. Well, he exploited them and made a fortune out of them. Did he ever sent the proceeds to Africa or did he ever set a museum in Africa where “African art pieces” could be preserved? That is a different topic. You are particularly interested in the diffusion of these works and it should go in tandem with the migration of the Bantu from the Cameroon High lands to the South, East and Western Africa as shown by archaeological evidence and the trace of African languages.

Having made the above points concerning what we can safely call religious art, there were pockets of non religious art works. Doors, utensils, shutters, wooden pillars, war instruments, handles of knifes, machetes, lances, cobble stone works, pipes and terra cottas that had some special decorative art works. Most were of predominant fauna of the locality.

Verso of the above stool

We can also inject the morals in Southern Africa that are common among the Bantu women (Mutus) that are essentially 2D. I cannot tell the origin of these as they were not inherently Africans. Others are in the form of elaborate clothes as the Kenke in Ghana, the highly colorful gowns worn by elders and rich men in the Grassfields of the Southern Cameroons/ Cameroon Republic. They are unique in these regions and do not seem to be exported to other parts of Africa apart from isolated Grassfielders who have immigrated. Non-natives do not copy them perhaps because they are expensive or complicated to be replicated. Another restriction why they are not exported to cross tribal boundaries so to say is owing to climatic differences. These gowns are for colder climates and as woolen suits are for colder climates and will not augur well in the hot and humid primeval forested areas of say the tropics. It would be like thinking of exporting heavy woolen winter clothes in North America to the tropic and expect them to be adopted. They could be adopted as occasionally is the case but they are adapted.

A miniaturized juju in the Cameroon, Western Africa

The case of the Namibian ladies is a classic example. They have adopted the elaborate 19th century European voluminous gowns that were introduced in the Herero communities by the Germans in the colonial days. They are still there hitherto. It could be explained by the fact that Namibia, then German S.W. Africa still has sizable German settlers who find their Teutonic culture as vital to their very survival. The Caucasians do not dress this as Victorians yet some African-Namibian women do.

Then when Europeans came with the idea of aesthetic, their perception of art was different and that is why Picasso would pick these and incorporate in the Western 2D art. Africans would have looked at it as blasphemous as a true spiritual thing was supposed to be venerated not as a good but as an abbot for the soul of the departed relatives. It was not even supposed to be replicated. It was unique as a soul is unique to an individual as one’s character. Again, that is why they were not touched by anyone but the initiated. This may account for the fact that some of these ‘art works’ are unique and what Shona and Ndebele ethnic groups in Zimbabwe have are different from what one may see in the Congos, and among the natives of Senegal or Ivory Coast or among the Beninians in Nigeria.

In the distant past, women were not supposed to even see them. One could be sold into slavery or even lost her life on seeing it by accident. Even when being carved, it was top secret and was not to be seen by the non-initiated.

When Western collectors from Barbier-Mueller Museum in Geneva, the Museum of Mankind in London, Berlin Museum, and the one in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, USA, etc came they mistook all these works for African art works that were essentially volumetric.

 African religious artifacts influenced Picasso.

Some Western Missionaries tried to wipe these out and many went into hiding the moment Africans learned that their works were ‘pagan’ things. Even though some missionaries shunned them, ironically the same missionaries were the ones who helped in the promotion of some art works in the mission stations. There was a demand for them and some Westerners even encouraged Africans to mass-produce them for money, thus the beginning of the prostitution of African sacerdotal art works…that were converted to tourists’ curios. That let to curios and a big industry from the late 1950s in the Congos, East, Southern and Western Africa. In places like Zimbabwe, Zambia, Botswana, Kenya, Tanzania, Malawi and South Africa there was the use of soap stones, verdite, etc. and many suddenly found markets in North America, Europe, Japan and Australia. That was no longer spiritual representation, but Africans being influenced by Western tourists who demanded more and more of their works. In this case, Africans were then artists as defined by Westerners. You must have read the rest from the famous work of Ladislas Segy, African Sculpture Speaks and many others.

Dr. Viban Viban Ngo.