Dr Peter Mbile
By Dr. Peter Mbile
Let’s admit it — Cameroon is like that teenager who inherited grandpa’s estate but skipped the part about learning how to manage it. Big house, shiny cars, fancy suits… but the plumbing is a mess, the roof leaks, and no one’s quite sure where the title deed is.
In our two earlier pieces — The Three Shades of Anglophone and The Middle That Holds — we peeled back the layers on the three major dispositions among Anglophones: the Assimilationists, the Separatists, and the Nationalists. Now it’s time to take it up a notch — because what Cameroon needs now, more than ever, is a clear, sober, forward-thinking *Third Option.
State-Building Isn’t Glamorous — But It’s Everything
Since 1960/61, the men and women in suits have sprinted like Olympic finalists toward power, protocol, and Peugeot 508s. Sadly, too few made the slower, untelevised journey toward building the actual state. You know — the unsexy stuff: governance institutions, rule of law, inclusive politics, and a national identity that doesn’t crack under pressure.
Cameroon, as it stands, is still a teenager of a state — well-dressed, phone in hand, TikTok-savvy, but struggling with identity, purpose, and maturity. And like a malnourished child denied protein during those crucial early years, we’ve missed some fundamental ingredients in our national development. No amount of late-stage gorging on infrastructure projects or foreign loans will compensate for a poorly developed governance brain.
Let’s be honest — the colonial project never intended for us to become viable, peaceful, self-reliant nation-states. That was our homework. But instead of doing it, we photocopied someone else’s model and started decorating the classroom.
Two Extremes and the Death of State-Building
Today, two prominent dispositions in the Anglophone communities — Assimilationist and Separatist — are less concerned with nation-building and more with power management or attention economy. The Assimilationist elite sees the state as a throne to cling to. The Separatist faction sees it as a theatre for moral outrage. Neither is investing in the tough, patient, often thankless task of building a nation out of a patchwork of peoples shoved together by colonial geography.
Let’s call it what it is: both extremes are busy fencing their corners, marking turf, erecting barriers — all while the actual house we’re supposed to be building together stands half-finished in the rain.
Worse still, they’re using fear as fuel:
The Assimilationists use legitimacy to muzzle difference.
The Separatists use grievance to justify violence.
And anyone caught in between? Marginalized. Mocked. Or, more often, forced to quietly pack their bags and board the next flight to Canada, Germany, or self-exile.
The Nationalists: Cameroon’s Real Adults in the Room.
This is where the Nationalists — the genuine ones — step in. They are the only group still capable of standing back, breathing deeply, and asking: What kind of state are we actually trying to build?
They’re not perfect (we’ve said so before). But unlike the others, they’re not blinded by privilege or drunk on revolution. They’re the ones still fighting for institutional clarity, regional inclusion, and balanced governance. In short, they’re the only ones still interested in writing the blueprint — not just grabbing the balcony view.
Cameroon is at a critical juncture, and the Nationalist middle must now rise with greater clarity and resolve. It must confront the false certainties of both extremes, simplify the chaos, and offer a steady, principled path forward.
The Third Option: A Call to Action
Let’s put it plainly: Cameroon needs the Third Option. Not a third party, not another flag — but a third mindset: One that isn’t obsessed with power, but with capacity. One that doesn’t demand blind loyalty, but asks better questions.
One that builds, brick by brick, without shortcuts or slogans.
The Third Option must ;
-Confront the assimilationist elite when governance becomes elitism.
-Challenge separatists when liberation becomes intimidation.
-Reconnect with the silent majority, who just want dignity, opportunity, and peace.
Conclusion: What Future Are We Really Building?
There’s a lot of noise in Cameroon today. But beneath the slogans, the boycotts, and the sound of sirens and speeches, there’s still a country waiting to be built — a real state, not just a dressed-up version of someone else’s blueprint.
And that’s the real mission of our time. Not to win the next appointment.
Not to go viral with the next protest.
But to build a home where all can belong — with foundations deeper than tribe or region, stronger than fear, and wiser than pride.
The Third Option is not just an idea.It is a call. And the time to answer… is now.
_Dr. Peter Mbile is a development strategist, environmentalist, and unapologetic advocate for thoughtful leadership. He still believes that a strong state begins with strong minds — and perhaps a good plate of _Afang_
