Anglophone artists launch war on drug abuse, invade school with campaign

Some musicians and comedians from the English-speaking regions of Cameroon have launched a campaign against drug abuse, with secondary schools being their first target.

On Wednesday, March 2, artists including Old Pancho aka Cy International, Tzy Panchak, Asaba, Spaco Lee, Soli Egbe, Baracuda, General Toxic and others stormed Bilingual Grammar School Molyko, Buea, about 2pm with the campaign which they said aimed to dissuade youths from indulging in drugs.

In a mini-music and comedy concert, the artists thrilled the over eight thousand students of Lycee Molyko with their soul-touching musical and comedy flair, and lectured the students against the phenomenon.

“They told us drug abuse is not good for the system and it is not a good thing for the society. They made us to understand that drug abuse is one of the leading causes of imprisonment. They said they wanted to take the campaign to the prison but later changed their mind and decided to come to our school so as to educate people and prevent them from going to prison in the first place,” said a Lower Sixth student of BGS Molyko, who we prefer not to name for security reasons.

They also displayed postals warning of the dangers of drug abuse on education and lifestyle.

In a Facebook message posted a day before the campaign, comedian Old Pancho, who spearheaded the initiative, said it aimed to “fight against drug abuse and violence in secondary schools in Cameroon and Africa”.

Old Pancho said drug abuse has become rampant among Cameroonian teenagers and one of the effects has been the rising violence in the school milieu.

“In those days they see you (a teenager) with a cigarette it’s a taboo; it was like you were not worthy to exist. But today it is the contrary. You see a small child – a child who is not able to wash his pant – they are holding cigarettes in front of elderly people.

“I’m not stopping any elderly person from smoking whatever you want to smoke. If you are an elderly person, a mature person and an independent person it is your right to please yourself in whatever way you want. But you owe yourself a duty and you owe these children a duty…,” Pancho said in a Facebook message on the campaign.

The team of artists was welcomed at BGS Molyko by school administrators and thousands of students. In a drama piece acted on the occasion, some Upper Sixth students of the school portrayed the dangers of drug abuse on education and how bad company triggers indulgence.