Uwem Essia

Alchemy of Transforming Insurgency in The Intelligentsia Age Uwem Essia

This book submits that the recent Anglophone crises in Cameroon is protracted for two main reasons. Firstly, the unreconstructed colonially inspired education system has institutionalized a bifurcated elite class based on the historic French-British cultural rivalry. The two cultures have historically not been mixed successfully in a Unitarian state structure. Implementing education system reforms to progressively unify the intellectual culture of upcoming Cameroonian youth elites is necessary. Secondly, many disadvantaged youths perceive that they are excluded from participation spaces and support systems that can help them realize their aspirations. To deal with this aspiration gap crises, an alchemical process to transform the mental models of ex-combatants, and those at risk of joining rebellions movements, is proposed and articulated here. The mindset transformation program will ease the process of accumulating ingenuity capital and channel the beneficiaries towards utilizing it in productive activities. Success in implementing both transformational processes will end the Anglophone crises, and at the same time leapfrog Cameroon to economic emergence sooner than can be imagined.