SECOND INTERVIEW OF FR GERALD JUMBAM ON HIS NEW BOOK

Rev. Fr. Gerald Jumbam’s book INDEPENDENCE OR NOTHING: Theology of Self-Determination and the British Southern Cameroons, has not only been a welcome relief among his people (the Southern Cameroons), it has also attracted international attention; consequent upon this, the AuthorHouse Publishing Company Bloomington USA has accorded him an interview through its radio station Toginet Radio 2.0.  Below is the detailed interview in the written word. 

AuthorHouse Voices: How did you come to write this book? What was your motivation?

Fr Gerald Jumbam: The writing of this book is motivated by the fact that the people of the former British colony of the Cameroons are asking for their independence and this demand seems to worry some criminally-minded people. You know very well that the British Cameroons was a mandated territory of the League of Nations and all mandates were territories that were being prepared for independence. Why then did Britain with the complicity of the United Nations refuse to give full independence to the British Cameroons; a territory that was supposed to have its independence? It is this glaring injustice that pushed me to write this book. You know that the decolonization of a territory is an international affair. And you must remember that decolonization was one of the principal reasons for the creation of the United Nations Organization in 1945. Now tell me why Britain should give independence to her other colonies and when it comes to the turn of the British Cameroons, Britain with the obvious collusion of the UN should refuse to give independence to the British colony of the Cameroons. It is therefore clear that the problem of the British Southern Cameroons is an international problem and not an internal affair of La Republique du Cameroun which in all fairness has never been the colonial master of the British Cameroons. For where on earth did a colonial master grant independence to a territory by handing the territory to another colonial master? How can France and French Cameroun come to rule over a territory they never colonized? Britain should therefore assume full responsibility as the colonial master of the British Cameroons and with the collaboration of the UN, grant full independence to the territory.

AuthorHouse Voices: Who does the book appeal to and why?

Fr. Gerald Jumbam: The intended audience is all the people of the world who are concerned about the oppressed and suffering people deprived of justice and struggling under colonial oppression. But in this book, I am addressing myself principally to the British Government that was the Administering Power in the British Cameroons. I am also speaking to the United Nations Organization and to its members to correct the unjust situation they created in the British Cameroons in 1961. Finally I am addressing myself to the people of the British Cameroons to fight for their independence because it is their international right to struggle for the decolonization of their territory. For is it not a shame that the UN should in the 21st century be supporting the colonization of the British Cameroons by the French and French Cameroon.

AuthorHouse Voices: What one thing do you want readers to learn/take away from this work?

Fr Gerald Jumbam: I want my readers to note that Britain and not France was the colonial master of the British Cameroons. For this reason, the people of the British Cameroons will never, never accept any French administration in their territory because the UN already granted independence to French Cameroon on 1st January 1960 and the boundaries of that independent French Cameroon did not include the territory of the British Cameroons.

AuthorHouse Voices: What scenes and/or characters would you like to highlight during the interview? (Think of this part of the interview like a movie trailer. Exciting parts of your book to tease listeners. Unforgettable characters which would motivate listeners to buy your book.)

Fr. Gerald Jumbam: The setting is the British Southern Cameroons, some people call it Ambazonia. The first character I valorize in my book is God since it is about the theology of self-determination. Freedom and liberation are gratuitous gifts from God which tyrants would like to arrogate stingily to themselves. The other main characters of the book are the freedom fighters, the human right activists and leaders of the pressure groups of the struggle for the liberation of our homeland. They are both in homeland and in the diaspora and they speak with one voice though with diverse temperaments. I have in the book also tried to show personages representing colonialism in our homeland they are: the Governors, SDOs, DOs, and gendarmes that represent French Cameroon colonialism in the British Southern Cameroons as they conquered the territory of the British Cameroons after the British left the territory in 1961. That is why Honorable Joseph Wirba that respectable voice in our land was saying the other day that the French gendarmes in the British territory of the British Cameroons are behaving there as if they were an army of occupation.

AuthorHouse Voices: How would you introduce your book to a friend in a sentence or two? (I will use this to introduce the book at the beginning of the interview)

Fr. Gerald Jumbam: This book is an appeal to the British Government to assume its full responsibilities as colonial master of the British Cameroons and grant full independence to the territory.

AuthorHouse Voices: Tell me how this book is unlike others with similar topics. What sets it apart from the crowd?

Fr. Gerald Jumbam: This book is different from anything that has so far been written on the British Cameroons because it consistently refers to the British Cameroons as an independent political entity from the French Cameroon which became independent in 1st January 1960. I repeatedly state in my book that Britain was and remains the colonial master of the British Cameroons and that the territory has never had any official treaty of union with La Republique du Cameroun. In order words, the British Cameroons is a West African State whereas French Cameroon also called La Republique du Cameroon is in Central Africa and has nothing to do with the British Cameroons. This book therefore reveals clearly that the presence of the French in the territory of British Cameroons is an unwarranted intrusion into the affairs of another nation; an act that should be condemned by the International Community.

This book also is unlike others in that the book is about the theology of self-determination. I have been inspired Christian theology, believing that, through this theological vision of self-determination, the church can engage itself in the political and economic liberation of Africa and anywhere in the world where people are tyrannized and terrorized.

AuthorHouse Voices:  When and where does your story take place? [For novels -- Why did you choose this setting?

Fr Gerald Jumbam: My story takes place in the British Cameroons, particularly in the British Southern Cameroons, from 1916, the time when the British and the French found out that French and British cultures could never live together in a single mould to the present times 2018 when there is open confrontation with the invading French army of occupation which is trying to achieve a condominium or joint administration which the French themselves had earlier denied in 1916.

AuthorHouse Voices: What three words best describe this story? Its characters?

Fr. Gerald Jumbam: The three words which best describes this story are: Independence Or Nothing; that is, give us the people of the British Cameroons our liberty or give us death.

 AuthorHouse Voices: What was the most challenging part about writing this book? The most fun/rewarding?

The biggest challenge of writing this book came from the fact that I am a priest by vocation. And it may interest you to know that some Church hierarchy from my part of the British Cameroons were openly hostile to my open support for the independence of the British Cameroons. My life has even been threatened verbally and in letters. But seeing that here were prelates who did not realize that the voice of the people is the voice of God, I ignored these threats and came up with the writing of this book. For I strongly believe that if you are not passionately on the sight of the downtrodden, the brutalized and the oppressed peoples of the world, then you are tragically on the side of the oppressors of mankind. I chose to save my people because that is what Jesus Christ whom I serve as a priest would have done. And that is what brought joy to my soul as I was writing this book because I was deeply convinced that if God was on the side of the oppressed people of the British Southern Cameroons then God was on my side.

AuthorHouse Voices: Thank you. How has the book been received by your community, your friends, family members and colleagues and also, could you inform your listeners on where and how the book can be bought?

Fr Gerald Jumbam: The book has been received with so much enthusiasm and eagerness. Those wishing to get personal copies should get online to Amazon, https://www.authorhouse.com/Bookstore/BookDetail.aspx?BookId=SKU-001169441. Those who wish to get numerous copies can contact the author to help them as intermediary contact the Publishing House so they get the copies in a discount.

AuthorHouse Voices: Is there anything we haven't covered here that you feel is important for people to know about your book?

Fr. Gerald Jumbam: No. I feel that we have exhausted the questions and the concerns about this book. I wish to thank the Publishing House (Author House) and the radio station for giving me this opportunity to air out my feelings and thoughts on the book I have recently authored: INDEPENDENCE OR NOTHING: Theology of Self-Determination and the British Southern Cameroons.