“Power to the people” is the cry of democracy; in fact the cry of humanity and the human spirit. It is an appropriate cry after a horrendous history of destruction after destruction, which the Cameroonian people, as the rest of Africa, are yet to recover from, starting with the more than 400 years long slave trade. This was followed by what Howard French describes as “outright assets stripping” coming after “the death and destruction” of slavery which “had soften up the continent for the colonialism that was soon to come.” That colonialism remains in Cameroon today in all its forms. It is now manned by black faces that run the same enterprise, demanding the same from the population and giving back nothing more than the white faces that control from the center did. It was therefore not by coincidence that the SDF started its “Power to the People” campaign by declaring a boycott of French goods in Cameroon. It was a campaign that a majority of Cameroonians embraced and some paid the ultimate price hoping to breathe freely.

“Power to the People” is important because the only creative element in any society is its people and when they have the power to be, they have the power to unleash creativity that builds computers, cars, airplanes and create medicines that cure both ancient as well as modern maladies. Only free people “go and multiply” those who are not free look for saviors to worship. Mr. Nkwain and the CPDM’s serves to Paul Biya, who in turn serves French interest, deserves SDF or any other “pointing fingers” at them because they are conspirators to genocide and conspirators in the demise and betrayers of the lives, the livelihood and the hopes of the Cameroonian people.

Paul Biya is part of the problem in Cameroon and the courage of the SDF to point that out, even when it meant assured destruction, as described by Mr. Nkwain, is a shining example that should be encouraged. Mr. Nkwain remains a believer in lies and stomach politics, becoming a vampire by offering his throat to a vampire. He serves no purpose. In a normal society he’ll have no audience except those looking for a laugh because, as a Nigerian saying goes, “it is from the home of a coward that one views the ruins of a great man.”

To those who cannot figure out the demise of the SDF in Cameroon, Chinua Achebe offers a question and a statement in Things Fall Apart. “How do you think we can fight when our brothers have turned against us? The white man is very cleaver. He came quietly and peaceably with his religion. We were amused at his foolishness and allowed him to stay. Now he has our brothers, and our clan can no longer act as one. He has put a knife to the things that held us together and we have fallen apart."