Youth and Nation-Building in Cameroon. A Study of National Youth Day Messages and Leadership Discourse (1949-2009)

A Study of National Youth Day Messages and Leadership Discourse (1949-2009)

Publication Year: 2009

This meticulous and comprehensive documentation of Cameroonian Youth Day Messages and leadership discourse on youth from 1949 - 2009 is a gold mine for researchers, historians and anyone interested in studying youth, politics and society in Africa. The book presents and explores themes and content of Youth Day Messages: how these messages tied in with, or veered away from, key events and issues of the time; how they served as a platform for West Cameroon governments, and the Ahidjo and Biya regimes to articulate their political vision, justify their policies, sell their respective ideologies to the youth; and what lessons could be drawn from them on competing, conflicting and complementary perspectives on youth agency in Cameroon and Africa. Churchill links the Youth Day to ongoing discussions in Africa about the role and place of youths as agents of development in Africa. Most significantly, he finally puts Cameroon's controversial Youth Day in its appropriate historical context - not as a political device created by the Francophone politicians to distort Cameroonian history and erase 'plebiscite day' from the collective memory as Anglophone nationalists claim, but as a British Cameroons colonial legacy, successfully sold to the Ahidjo regime as a day to be commemorated throughout the federation, by leaders of the federated state of West Cameroon. Churchill Ewumbue-Monono, a senior career diplomat, is Minister Counsellor in the Cameroon Embassy in Moscow. A graduate of the International Higher School of Journalism, and the International Relations Institute of Cameroon in the University of Yaounde, he was a 1991-92 Fellow in Public Diplomacy in Boston University, USA. He has served in Cameroon in various professional capacities. Ewumbue-Monono has written extensively on Cameroon's political history, and his books include Men of Courage, published in 2005.

Published by: African Books Collective

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Churchill Ewumbue-Monono has done a brilliant job in his captivating piece ‘‘The Youth and Nation-Building in Cameroon’’. He uses Cameroon’s Youth Day (11^th February) as a case study. But his analysis of the different youth day themes in Cameroon is of great significance not only to Cameroon but also to the entire African continent, where over 60% are below the ages of 20. ...

Prologue

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pp. xv-xix

The Youth and Nation-Building in Cameroon highlights the efforts of the leadership of a typical African country like Cameroon in mobilizing the youths through the National Youth Day to participate in the country’s development initiatives. ...

Part One: The International and National Policy Framework for Youth Governance

Chapter 1. The Global Concern for Youth Governance and the Youth Day

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pp. 3-6

The management of Youth Affairs has become one of the most challenging global issues today. It is estimated that 50% of the world’s population, representing 1.5 billion people, are between the ages of 10 and 25, which cover the categories of early adolescent (10-14), late adolescent (15-19), and Youth (15-24). ...

Chapter 2. Youth Policy and the Youth Day in Cameroon: 1949-2009

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pp. 7-22

The development of a policy and institutional foundations for youth governance in Cameroon have closely followed the various stages of the country’s political history: the colonial period (1949-1960), the federation period (1961-1972), the Ahidjo Unitary State period (1972-1982), the One-Party Democracy New Deal period (1982-1992), ...

Part Two: Youth Day Messages and Leadership Discourse: 1949-2009

Chapter 3. The Empire Day and Commonwealth Youth Day Messages:1949-1961

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pp. 25-28

I am very happy to meet you all here today and to greet you with a message from His Excellency the Governor. The Governor is at present at home on leave but he has remembered how school children all over Nigeria will be gathering on this day and has sent a personal message which he has said should be given to you. ...

Chapter 4. The West Cameroon Youth Day Messages: 1964-1966

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pp. 29-50

Dear Cameroonians and friends of the Federal Republic of Cameroon, we are assembled here today to institute a SPORTS DAY for the youths of West Cameroon. We have chosen 11th February because of the special significance in the history of the Federal Republic of Cameroon, for on Saturday, 11th February, 1961, ...

Chapter 5. President Ahidjo’s National Youth Day Messages: 1968-1982

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pp. 51-102

Building a Nation means transforming mentalities, overcoming inertia, opening hearts and minds to this dynamic solidarity and this awareness of a common destiny without which the Nation could not fulfil its mission of emancipating individuals and collective civilization. ...

Chapter 6. President Biya’s New Deal Messages to the Youth: 1983-1991

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pp. 103-120

On this eve of 11 February, the date set aside for the Youths by the Cameroonian people and the Nation as a whole, it is a great pleasure for me to address you for the first time as Head of State. In doing so, I am both respecting a tradition and, above all bearing testimony to the unwavering care and affection which this Nation has for the Youths. ...

Chapter 7. President Biya’s Democratic Cameroon’s Youth Day Messages:1991-2008

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pp. 121-168

As has been the case over the past twenty-five years, Cameroon has once more honoured its tradition. As is the case each year, Cameroonians is getting ready to celebrate its Youth day. On behalf of all Cameroonians, on behalf of the Government, and on my own behalf I wish you all a happy Youth Day and renew my wishes of success in 1991. ...

Epilogue: The Youth and African Renaissance: New Challenges for a Changing Continent

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pp. 169-174

The proclamation of 2008 by the African Union as the African Youth Year rekindled interest in the potentials and untapped energy in the continent’s young population as agents of development. In effect, Africa’s political liberation is largely owed to its youths and youth organizations. ...

Select Bibliography

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pp. 175-176

Annexes

Annex 1: List of Heads of the Ministerial Departments for Youth Affair: 1959-2009

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pp. 179-

Annex 2: List of themes for Youth Day Celebrations, 1967-2009

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pp. 180-181

Annex 3: Declaration by the Forum of the Youth in Africa and the Diaspora, Bamako, 9 November 2005

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pp. 182-184

Annex 4: Commitments by the Franco-African Leader to the Youths of Africa and the Diaspora. Bamako, 4 December 2005

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pp. 185-188

E-ISBN-13: 9789956717521
Print-ISBN-13: 9789956558322

Page Count: 210
Publication Year: 2009