The Cameroonian in Belgium
BELGIQUE :: POINT DE VUE

Belgique :: The Cameroonian In Belgium

One cannot with certainty, determine how many Cameroonians live in Belgium, but one can easily determine how diversified they are. They particularly identify themselves in separate groups. Those who have been in Belgium for a long while flock together, students exist in their own capacity, while Asylum seekers are identified separately and finally Francophone and Anglophone speakers Cameroonians, group according to their lingua franca.

Even among the French speakers, the SAWA’s  group up as one, while the BAMELIKE’s flock together. With the English speaking Cameroonians, the ABAKWA’s, MANYU’s, NGEMBA’s just to name a few have their own groupings. This spirit of disunity is the order of the day among us.

The Black community as a whole is prone to this weak tendency and in this diversity they are very vulnerable. This explains why the Belgian Police can easily ridicule

the blacks, because they are aware of this unfortunate weakness amongst us. Take the Moroccans as an example; they are a people whom one may easily take as members of the same family. A Moroccan does not need to know another to be ready to die for in case of trouble. They are so united that the administration of this Country is aware of and treat them with a lot of care and respect. They commit all sorts of atrocities, but how many of them do we often hear is repatriated? How many of them have been killed in an attempt to be forced into a plane? How many of them are in “Close Centres”-The disguised prison for the “sans papiers” Why don’t we ask ourselves theses questions? The answer is simple:

SOLIDARITY. A word that is lacking in the Cameroonian dictionary.

How many truckloads of Policemen are needed to go to Molenbeek, St Gilles, Anderlecht etc  to arrest one Moroccan .The whole Moroccan population will come out and that will be the
end of the story, or the Police will not even bother at all in case of a security crises  in any of the above localities. But with us, one Policeman is capable of arresting ten Cameroonians, who might have committed no offence and the rest will be contented spectators. Why can we not copy this Moroccan example and live like one, united and strong.

As if this is not enough, there are at least four Cameroonian Associations in Belgium; notably the Cameroonian Association in Antwerp, Bruggs, Mons, Liege, Brussels etc. Are these branches of an existing or separate Association? They seem to exist like people from different Countries. What a people.  Why can’t there be a single Cameroonian union like the Nigerian union where all Cameroonians are registered. This disunity is typical even back at home and some unscrupulous Cameroonians take advantage to steal taxpayer’s money in various ways.

Most Nigerians, Congolese, Ghanaians to name but a few other African countries, live like sons of the same father and are prepared to die for one another but never the Cameroonian.

When any of the above-mentioned nationals gets a job, before long the whole place will be filled with their folks, but for the Cameroonian, he would rather make sure that non of his fellow countrymen has access to that area. He must be the only one who works and earns money so that the rest should call him “Grand” the only eye among the blind. You can hardly see a jobless Nigerian or Ghanaian, but you can just simple count the number of Cameroonians who work. Where vacancies do exist in their places of work, a Cameroonian can hardly divulge this information to a fellow Cameroonian but would rather to an outsider. What a shame.

Where Cameroonians excel in generosity is in drinking, especially in the company of ladies, a tradition imported from home. They distribute drinks to “friend” and abuse them in front of the ladies. It does not end here, where two or more Cameroonians meet to drink, gossip is the order of the day. Cameroonians in Belgium rejoice in the failure of a fellow Cameroonian, for example the lose of a job or a negative response from the “office de sejour “

We envy the progress of others and look for ways and means to drag our progressing brother into the slime of failure. What a people. When a Cameroonian discovers a compatriot working in a place where services are rendered for money, he will want these services free as if his compatriot owns the place, calling him all placating names .

My dear Countrymen, let’s try to be one. We know that united we stand and divided we fall. Let’s try to help one another in times of need for we know how difficult it is to survive out Here.

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