By Ancel Langwa, Movement Building and Support Lead Officer.
On 20th May 2025, Cameroon celebrated the 53rd edition of its National Unity Day, a date meant to symbolize the harmony and togetherness of our nation. This year, the event was commemorated under the theme: “Army and Nation united for a Cameroon turned towards peace and prosperity.” But as someone from Bamenda in the Northwest Region, now living in Yaoundé, I couldn’t help but reflect on how empty that message felt for many of us.
That morning, I woke up in Yaoundé to an unusual quietness. Shops and supermarkets were shut. The streets were largely empty in the early hours, and the only sounds breaking the silence were the chirping of birds.
By mid-morning, at the 20th May Boulevard, the ceremonial heart of the day’s celebrations, large crowds had gathered, dressed in coordinated outfits, waving flags, and holding up bright signposts with slogans proclaiming national unity, peace, and patriotism. The marching bands played, and the military paraded with discipline. It all looked so grand.
I picked up my phone and called my mother back home in Bamenda(North West Region). When I asked her how her day was going, her response pierced through the illusion. The quiet I was experiencing in Yaoundé, she reminded me, was not the same kind of quiet she knew in Bamenda.
In her neighborhood, no one dared to step outside. Not for a celebration. Not even for basic necessities. The threat of violence from separatist fighters was enough to keep entire communities indoors. The soundscape she described was not birdsong but gunshots. While Yaoundé would return to its usual rhythm after 2pm, Bamenda and other parts of the Anglophone regions remained in lockdown. What the government called “National Unity Day” was just another “ghost town day” back home.
How ironic!
That painful contrast made me reflect deeply on my work and passion for African unity. I often think about what it would mean for this continent to stand as one, to collaborate, to grow together. But how can we truly speak of African unity when many of our countries are fractured within themselves?
How does a nation celebrate a National Unity Day that can’t be celebrated across the nation?
The Anglophone Crisis, which began almost nine years ago as a call for basic rights and recognition, has devolved into a protracted and senseless conflict. Thousands have been killed, displaced, and traumatized. Several local schools have been closed, villages abandoned, and dreams lost in the crossfire. This is not unity. This is a nation bleeding in silence while a parade marched through the capital and other unaffected regions.
As someone who dreams of a unified Africa, I know that unity must begin at home. We cannot march towards continental progress with internal wounds left unattended.
This is a call to the Cameroonian government, and to the leaders of Africa: the time to end this crisis is long overdue. National Unity cannot just be a slogan. It must be a reality that is lived, felt, and celebrated by all Cameroonians, not just those within the safety of some regions.
