By Soulemanu Buba
During the closing ceremony of the just-concluded Bamenda III Festival of Heritage Arts and Culture (FEHACU), the Divisional Officer (D.O) of Bamenda III in Nkwen, Austin Ayuni Sakah challenged the population of his area of command to apply the same FEHACU spirit against what he described as ‘terrorism’.
“If you can keep aside your self-interests and celebrate your culture together, it means you can fight and say No to terrorism and Yes to living together. Take this as an opportunity to end all the troubles that have invaded the land because of the Anglophone crisis. We must say No to all those sponsoring the crisis,” said the D.O.
His message triggered diverse reactions among the people.
According to Azeh Tim, a native of Nkwen, the best way to fight terrorism is not to make political speeches at cultural events but to do the right thing in the appropriate circles.
“Dialogue is the most effective weapon against terrorism, and not spoiling our cultural events with political messages. Let the D.O. tell his bosses that we the people of Nkwen are for dialogue to end the crisis,” Azeh said.
Gillian, another native of Nkwen said she is ready to join the fight against terrorism so long as it is tackled on all sides,
“With my little knowledge of what terrorism is all about, I see terrorism in all the parties. We go through hell at the hands of soldiers and Non-state armed groups and this is because of the Anglophone crisis. The D.O. will be wrong if he fails to see state-sponsored terrorism around us. If he is honest, he should not be singing the normal songs but single out himself and call for dialogue. We have really suffered in the hands of terrorists and they need to be dealt with no matter who they are and where they are coming from,” said Villain.
Speaking to MMI, many said they traveled to Bamenda from faraway places to enjoy the culture and not to listen to political talks which only anger them.
However, many agreed that terrorism is no man’s friend and should not be allowed to continue.
