It is not a bad thing to celebrate an anniversary. But when the event is as abstruse as the one that some Cameroonians celebrate every 6 November, there tend to be more questions than answers.

It is 33 years since former President Ahmadou Ahidjo resigned and handed power to Paul Biya on a platter of gold. As it were, the state-owned media and even some supporters of the ruling Cameroon People’s Democratic Movement (CPDM) party have been proclaiming it with fire in their voices. It is certainly not a bad thing to celebrate an anniversary; but when the event is as abstruse as the one on the ground, there tend to be more questions than answers.

That Cameroonians have known only two Presidents this far is a bewildering reality. When Ahidjo lorded it over his compatriots for a quarter of a century and finally left, the majority of Cameroonians felt as though a crushing weight had been lifted off their shoulders.

They could not openly complain while he was still there because of the high-handedness and terror that were the hallmarks of his regime. And even when he announced his resignation, many – including his successor – felt as if Cameroon was being erased from the world map, and implored him to stay on a little longer.

Today, President Biya has been at the helm for 33 long years, i.e. for as long as Jesus Christ lived on earth! During this period neighbouring Nigeria has known ten different Heads of State!. Lets count them together: Shagari, Buhari, Babangida, Shonekan, Abacha, Abdousalami, Obasanjo, Ya’radua, Goodluck and Buhari again.

Since this is an era of plurality and freedom of speech, many have been crying foul. But who cares? Others who used to pass for his men but who have now fallen out of his favour are licking their wounds in desperation.

While some are nursing hopes of bouncing back, others – especially the barons in prison – remain utterly despondent. They all seem to be praying and waiting anxiously for that moment when the Prince would finally quit the Etoudi Palace.

Amongst the jailed barons, only Marafa Hamidou Yaya has been audacious enough to make some startling vituperations. But, again, who cares?

Back to Ahidjo. His was no doubt a reign of terror. But his statesmanship and patriotism could not be under looked. With just money got from the sale of Cameroon’s cocoa and coffee, he made marvels. Which is why after all the development projects he carried out, he left the county’s coffers overflowing with milk and honey.

Sources say he literally went mental when it was announced not long after he left the throne that the coffers had dried up, leaving Cameroon’s economy on its knees. “Chop-broke-pottism” had stepped in.

Back to Biya. The new leader, whose coming to power was greeted with surpassing euphoria, undoubtedly had good intentions for the country. But his early years in power were characterized by meekness and naivety on his part. In his days as minister he had such womanly attributes that earned him the soubriquet “Mademoiselle”. His cronies took advantage of the weakness he exhibited to milk the country’s cow almost to dehydration point.

Whatever blinded the President, at the time, to the extent that he did not notice his cronies’ excesses, remains to this day a matter of conjecture. By the late 1980s and early 1990s, individuals and even members of the opposition drew his attention to the flagitious attitude of some of his ministers and managers of state corporations. Yet he failed to come to reason. He dismissed their warnings with his infamous question: “Où sont les preuves?“.

It was as though President Biya had been plunged into a kind of Rip Van Winkle slumber. When eventually he woke up, the havoc wreaked by his men had been too far-reaching. Yes, he sent and still sends them to jail. But the damage seems irreversible.

That is why even though timber, oil, gold, diamond etc. have now been added to cocoa and coffee, Cameroon’s economy continues to squirm in murky waters.

We have counted 33 years this year. In 2018 when his current mandate will come to an end, we will be counting 36. He insinuated to journalists in Yaounde when French President François Hollande came visiting that he will contest the next presidential election. If he wins as it is obvious, his next mandate would end in 2025. By then, he would have ruled Cameroon for 43 – yes 43 uninterrupted – years! And he will be 93 years old!