MUSICAL ACTIVISM IN THE STRUGGLE TO END THE ANGLOPHONE SECESSIONIST CRISIS IN CAMEROON

Christian Pagbe Musah

Abstract


In 2016, a crisis broke out in Cameroon provoked by secessionist agitations in the two Anglophone regions of the North West and South West. It has variedly been referred to as the Anglophone Crisis or the Ambazonian War. The crisis has affected and threatened the unity, territorial integrity, social cohesion and le vivre ensemble in Cameroon. It has shattered the economy, destroyed schools, villages, infrastructures and businesses leading to mass displacement of persons to the Francophone regions and neighbouring Nigeria. In fact, the crisis has inflicted huge anguish and damages on the masses and has left the populations in very precarious conditions and misery that demand humanitarian actions to their rescue. Appeals have been made from several stakeholders both nationally and internationally pressing on the government to seek and implement lasting solutions to the crisis. Some musicians and song composers through musical activism added their voices to the calls for peace by articulating and conveying the misfortunes, despair, miseries and sufferings of the poor masses, victims of the war. This was exhibited in the music titles, the lyrics or messages they passed across, their grieving faces in the video grams and their tones that were telling and compelling as they expressed their lamentations. The musicians via musical activism regretted the war, begged for peace, unity, cease-fire and veritable actions in seeking lasting solutions to the crisis. This article attempts an analysis of the content and messages of some of these musicians revealing the desperation and gravity of the crisis in Cameroon.

Article visualizations:

Hit counter


Keywords


activism, Anglophone problem, Ambazonia, music, peace, secession, unity

Full Text:

PDF

References


Abwa, D. (2011), "Le Problème Anglophone Et le Renouveau de Paul Biya", Annals of the Faculty of Arts, Letters and Social Sciences, Vol.1, No.12.

Awasum, N. F. (1998), “The Development of Autonomous Tendencies in Anglophone Cameroon”, Journal of Third World Countries Vol.15, No.1, 163-183.

Ayim, M. A. (2010), Former British Southern Cameroons Journey Towards Complete Decolonisation, Independence and Sovereignty, Bloomington, Author House.

Bekithemba, N. (2016), “The Role of Music in the Liberation Struggle in Zimbabwe: A Case Study of Matabeleland Region which was under the control of the Zipra Forces”, (BA Dissertation in History, Midlands State University).

Budji, I. K. (2019), “Utilizing Sounds of Mourning as Protest and Activism: The 2019 Northwestern Women’s Lamentation March within the Anglophone Crisis in Cameroon”, The Journal of Sound and Culture, Vol.1, No. 4, 443-461.

Daughtry, M. J. (2015). Listening to War: Sounds, Music, Trauma and Survival in Wartime Iraq, New York: Oxford University Press.

Ebune, J. (1992), The Growth of Political Parties in Southern Cameroons, 1916-1960, Yaounde: CEPPER.

Elong, E. E. (2012), “The Anglophone Problem and the Secession Option in Cameroon”, Paper presented at the 4th European Conference on Africa, Upsala, Sweden.

Eyoh, D. (2007), “Conflicting Narratives of Anglophone Protest and the Politics of Identity in Cameroon”, Journal of Contemporary African Studies, Vol.6, No.2, 249-276.

Fai, P. (2018), “Media Framing of Secessionist Politics in the Anglophone Crisis: An Analysis of two Cameroonian Newspapers”, Paper Presented at an International Symposium, Turkey.

Finnegan, R. (1970), Oral literature in Africa. London, New York: Oxford University Press.

Hess, J. (2019), “Singing Our Own Song: Navigating Identity Politics through Activism in Music”, Research Studies in Music Education Vol. 41(1), 61-80.

Hirsch, L. (2002), Amanla! A Revolution in Four-Part Harmony, New York City, Artisan Entertainment.

Ifionu, A. O. (1989), “Cultural influences on Igbo Traditional music from precolonial times to 1967”.Nsukka Journal of History 1, 151–168.

Jacob, B. (2019), “Music Role at the Frontline Liberation Struggle”, Common Ground Journal.

Kah, H. K. (2016), “Music, Gender and History among the Laimbwe Urchin Group of Bu in Cameroon” TRAMES 20 (2), 177-200.

Konings, P. and Nyamnjoh, F. B. (1997), “The Anglophone Problem in Cameroon”, Journal of Modern African Studies, vol. 35, No. 2.

Makky, N. (2007), “Song in the Anti-Apartheid and Reconciliation Movement in South Africa”, (Undergraduate thesis in International Studies, The Ohio State University).

Musah C. P. (2020), “Linguistic Segregation in Cameroon: A Systematic tool for the Assimilation of the Anglophones”, Asian Journal of Language, Literature and Culture Studies, Vol.3 (3), 35-44.

-----------. (2021), “Cameroon-Nigeria Relations in the face of Secessionist Tendencies in both Countries”, International Journal of Liberal Arts and Social Science, Vol. 9, No. 1, 11-30.

Nkwi, W. N. (2004), “The Anglophone Problem in Cameroon”, in Victor, Julius Ngoh, (ed), Cameroon from Federal to Unitary State 1961-1972, Limbe, Design House.

Ndi, A. (2013), Southern West Cameroon Revisited 1950-1972: Unveiling Inescapable Traps, Volume One, Bamenda, Paul’s Press.

Ngoh, V. J. (1999), “The Origins of Marginalisation in Former Southern (Anglophone) Cameroon (1961-1966): An Historical Analysis”, Journal of Third World Studies, Xc1, 165- 183.

-----------. (2011), The Untold Story of Cameroon Reunification: 1955-1961, Limbe, Presprint.

Onyebadi, U. (2018), “Political Messages in African Music: Assessing Fela Anikulao-Kuti, Lucky Dube nad Alpha Blondy”, Humanities, Vol. 7, 1-19.

Roxana, M. (2019), “Cameroons Anglophone Crisis: Analysis of the Political, Socio-Cultural and Economic Impact”, Studia Universitatis Babes-Bolyai- Studia Europia, Issue, 2, 261-278.

Schumann, A. (2008), “The Beat that Beat Apartheid: The Role of Music in the Resistance against Apartheid in South Africa”, Stichprohen. Wienener Zeitschrift fur Kritische Afrikastudien Nr. 14 (8), 17-39.

Tala, K. I. (1987/1988), “Aesthetics from an African perspective: a case of the

Mbag’alum of the Mezam people”. Science and Technology Review 5, 101–106.

Tanella, B. (2000), “Women Creating: Hands, Mind, Voices” in Lisette Ferera, ed. Women Build Africa, Quebec: Musee de la Civilisation. 171-179.

Tangem, D. F. (2016), “Oral history, collective memory and socio-political Criticism: A Study of Popular Culture in Cameroon”, Tydskrif Vir Letterkunde. 53(1), 160-178.

Tangie, F. N. (2013), “The Quest for Autonomy: The Case of Cameroon, African”, Journal of Political Science and International Relations, Vol.7, No.5, 224-235.

Vershbow, M. E. (2010), “The Sounds of Resistance: The Role in South Anti-Africa’s Apartheid Movement”, Inquiries Journal of Social Sciences, Arts & Humanities, Vol. 2, No.6, 1-11.

Vakunta, W. P. (2014), The Life and Times of Cameroonian Icon: Tributes to Lapiro de Mbanga Ngata man, Langaa RPCIG, Bamenda.




DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.46827/ejsss.v6i4.1063

Copyright (c) 2021 Christian Pagbe Musah

Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

The research works published in this journal are free to be accessed. They can be shared (copied and redistributed in any medium or format) and\or adapted (remixed, transformed, and built upon the material for any purpose, commercially and\or not commercially) under the following terms: attribution (appropriate credit must be given indicating original authors, research work name and publication name mentioning if changes were made) and without adding additional restrictions (without restricting others from doing anything the actual license permits). Authors retain the full copyright of their published research works and cannot revoke these freedoms as long as the license terms are followed.

Copyright © 2016 - 2023. European Journal Of Social Sciences Studies (ISSN 2501-8590) is a registered trademark of Open Access Publishing Group. All rights reserved.

This journal is a serial publication uniquely identified by an International Standard Serial Number (ISSN) serial number certificate issued by Romanian National Library. All the research works are uniquely identified by a CrossRef DOI digital object identifier supplied by indexing and repository platforms. All the research works published on this journal are meeting the Open Access Publishing requirements and standards formulated by Budapest Open Access Initiative (2002), the Bethesda Statement on Open Access Publishing (2003) and  Berlin Declaration on Open Access to Knowledge in the Sciences and Humanities (2003) and can be freely accessed, shared, modified, distributed and used in educational, commercial and non-commercial purposes under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License. Copyrights of the published research works are retained by authors.