The paramount Fons of the Northwest Region, commonly referred to as the “Big Five”, namely; the Fons of Mankon, Bafut, Bali, Kom and Nso, met on November 3, at Ayaba Hotel in Bamenda and resolved to join the fight against Anglophone marginalisation.

The Fons met under the banner of the Council for the Consolidation of National Unity, CCNU.

During the meeting, the custodians of the culture and tradition of the people, unanimously committed themselves to find a lasting solution to the age-old Anglophone problem.

According to them, they all participated in the reunification of the two Cameroons and it is imperative for them to start righting the wrongs of the past 50 years after.

The Fons said their urgent task now is to create a Commission of Equal Opportunities to “ensure that no Cameroonian, either Anglophone or Francophone, should be marginalised because of his or her ethnicity or linguistic heritage.”

The traditional rulers were upbeat that if this Commission of Equal Opportunities is created in all the 10 regions of Cameroon, all Cameroonians will have a sense of belonging and patriotism to fight for the economic emergence of the country by 2035.

The initiator of the CCNU, Emmanuel Neba Fuh, said the organisation was established in the House of Commons in the UK.

In a press statement issued at the Ayaba conclave, Neba Fuh, said his orgainsation seeks to help Cameroonians to start seeing the good intensions of the architects of reunification, so that, together, they can overcome the colonial mental enslavement which, he said, has kept Francophones and Anglophones divided for several years.

“In a sub-region surrounded by unbridled turbulence and with emergence hoped in 2035, CCNU strongly believes that the lingering secessionist threat in Anglophone Cameroon is a public health problem which is not different from the harm of tuberculosis, malaria, or HIV/AIDS. If millions of people have died from such problems in other countries, and if the process or the pattern which leads to conflicts and fragility is identifiable, then, it has to be prevented. As such, Cameroonians have a moral responsibility to invest in prevention,” Neba Fuh stated.

Neba Fuh believes that by doing this, CCNU will be contributing its own quota to Cameroon’s 2035 emergence agenda. He also revealed that his organisation has carried out an independent inquiry into the root causes of the Anglophone problem in Cameroon; in a bid to assist the Government in formulating strong independent analyses in order to inform policy decisions towards national integration.

Coming a few months after the 50th anniversary celebration of Reunification, many observers believe that the dialogue initiated by the Big Five may create a postive impact on the Anglophone problem, since the traditional institution of the above Fons played the most significant part in Reunification.

The Representative of Northwest Governor, Charles Ivo Makoge, applauded the initiative of CCNU and urged the Coordinator, Neba Fuh, to go beyond the Northwest Region.

To ensure sustainability, a new executive of CCNU Northwest was elected with Fon Angwafor III as President and Senator Fon Doh Gayongha as Vice President. The Secretary General is Fon Abumbi, while Fon Sehm Mbinglo is the Treasurer and Fon Vincent Yuh the Financial Secretary.

The new Regional Executive of CCNU paid a courtesy visit to Governor Adolph Lele L’Afrique and briefed him on the major resolutions adopted at the meeting.