By Jean Pierre Bekolo
Just like in a boxing match, Paul Biya is down on the canvas.
For years, blows have rained down from all sides. Some struck in the name of the Cameroonian people. Others struck in their own name. There were his own children, his own creations — some would say his monsters. There were his declared political opponents, journalists, whistleblowers, artists, activists and ordinary Cameroonians.
For forty-three years, each, in their own way, has tried to land a blow. Whether it was a blow for change or a low blow.
Today, after forty-three years in power, he is finally down.
Just like in a boxing match, his coaches and staff rush to his side. His wife, Chantal. The Presidential staff. His party, the CPDM. His government, with its ministers and ministers of state. His army. His foreign allies — the French, the Israelis and others. Everyone is trying to get him back on his feet.
Zero.
The man is knocked out.
And now, everyone is counting the days…
58… 59… 60… 61…
Whilst the man everyone wanted to see fall is on the ground, those who spent their time fighting him seem, too, to be knocked out.
Worse still.
Those who, in the privacy of their homes, dreamt of change, but whom forty-three years of fear have rendered incapable of action, are now becoming the true adversaries of this knockout.
Accustomed for forty-three years to commenting rather than taking action, they continue to comment.
Are they commenting on the knockout of a president who didn’t want to step down?
As they sense that the time for commentary is over, they decide to turn on the man who is said to have landed the final blow: Captain Effoudou.
As if the problem were the boxer who knocked the champion down, rather than the fact that the champion is finally down for the count.
They do not see — or refuse to see — that this is no longer the time for petty squabbles on social media, pitting one person against another.
In reality, they can see perfectly well what is happening. But this bad Cameroonian habit of always seeking controversy is driving them to turn a blind eye to the historic moment unfolding before the eyes of the whole world.
Now is the time.
Cameroon’s moment.
The moment to finally change this country.
The moment when the dream of the captive majority can finally become a reality.
For years, we had to speak out to raise awareness.
We had to write.
Film.
Investigate.
Expose.
To inform.
That phase was necessary.
It has had the desired effect.
Today, the target is on the ground.
Why carry on doing exactly what we were doing before?
Those who listened have understood.
Those who have read and reread now know.
Those who have watched and shared are no longer in the dark.
Boris Bertolt, N’zui Manto, Valsero, Rémy Ngono, Paul Chouta, Marie-Roger Biloa and so many others have done the job …
The very thing they were talking about is now right in front of us.
The man is on the ground.
Knocked out.
The question is no longer:
Where is Paul Biya?
Where are we looking for him to take him back to?
At the age of 93?
The real question now is:
What do we do?
How do we move from being commentators to becoming actors?
Yesterday, we had to convince.
Today, we must act.
Yesterday, we had to speak out.
Today, we must decide.
Yesterday, we had to wait for the right moment.
Today, the moment is here.
And what on earth do you still want to comment on?
After the era of influencers, columnists, commentators and ‘likers’… we are entering a new era.
The lesson we must learn is how to turn Paul Biya’s defeat into a victory.
Not the victory of a clan.
Not that of a tribe.
Not that of a region.
Not that of an elite.
But the victory of the entire Cameroonian people.
