Page 62 - Msingi Afrika Magazine Issue 14

Leadership

lu, Fang, and Pygmies; Muslims of
the northern semi-arid regions and
central highlands, who include the
Fulani; and the Kirdi, non-Muslim
peoples of the northern desert and
central highlands.

Religion
The constitution guarantees freedom
of religion, but the statistics do vary
from different sources about what
percentage of Camerooneans fall
into any particular religion. Most
common is that, about 40% of the
population follows some form of
A local Cameroonean chief with guests at his palace. indigenous belief, 40% adhere to a
form of Christianity, and 20% are
Muslim. The various religious groups
the recent failed assassination plot designate the river’s neighboring
against the new transitional President mountains. Until the late 19th centu- get along reasonably well, although
of Mali and the President of Mada- ry, English usage confined the term there have been some problems re-
gascar. What do most of them have “the Cameroons” to the mountains, ported by religious minorities in var-
in common? You may ask. They all while the estuary was called the Cam- ious parts of the country. The north
took a stand against the global push eroons River or, locally, the Bay. In of the country is primarily Muslim
for vaccines, which they all knew was 1884 the Germans extended the while the south tends to have more
not a preventive medicine for the word Kamerun to their entire pro- Christians, just like it is with their
issue of Covid-19, but a poison to tectorate, which largely correspond- neighbour, Nigeria.
further weaken the human immune ed to the present state.
system, in preparation for a global The Family
depopulation agenda and a stronger Cameroon is triangular in shape and For the general Afrikan people, fam-
hold on humanity. is bordered by Nigeria to the north- ily and community are such a huge
west, Chad to the northeast, the Cen- aspect of life. In the case of Cam-
So it’s quite a distressing and stressful tral African Republic to the east, the eroon, and largely for Afrika as a
season in the history of the world. Republic of the Congo to the south- whole, the extended family is the
But it still remains that all things that east, Gabon and Equatorial Guinea focus of the social system. The ex-
have fallen apart before, will come to the south, and the Atlantic Ocean tended family includes grandparents,
together for good. to the southwest. cousins, aunts, uncles, etc. In Afrika,
members of the extended family are

About Cameroon Cameroonian Society and Culture considered as close as the nuclear
Cameroon, is a country that is lo- family is in the West.
cated at the junction of western and The People
central Afrika. Its ethnically diverse Cameroon has a diverse population, Family obligations take precedence
population is among the most ur- comprising approximately 250 ethnic over pretty much everything else in
ban in western Afrika. The capital is groups that then form 5 regional/ life. Individuals achieve recognition
Yaounde, located in the south-central cultural groups. These are western and social standing through their ex-
part of the country. highlanders (also called grassfield- tended family. The young are expect-
ers), who include the Bamileke, ed to care for elderly members of the
The country’s name is derived Bamoun, and many smaller groups in extended family; retirement homes
from Rio dos Camarões (“River of the northwest; coastal tropical forest are an alien concept in Cameroon
Prawns”)—the name given to the people, who include the Bassa, Dou- and in Afrika as a whole. In fact, chil-
Wouri River estuary by Portuguese la, and many smaller groups in the dren learn the pathways of cultural
explorers of the 15th and 16th cen- southwest; southern tropical forest wisdom not from school, such things
turies. Camarões was also used to people, who include the Beti, Beu- are not taught there, but from grand-
parents. Meaning that instead of

62 | we tell the true afrikan story