The tarring of the Enugu-Ekok-Mamfe-Bamenda Trans-African highway will have major socio-economic fallouts for the people of Cameroon and Nigeria. The joy of the people of the frontier towns of Ekok (Cameroon) and Mfum (Nigeria) defies qualifiers. Why? Because Thursday, June 17, 2010, is a date that will ever remain indelible as it signals the end of decades of nightmarish suffering while travelling from the border zone to Mamfe and other parts of Cameroon. When Cameroon’s Minister of Public Works, Bernard Messengue Avom and the Nigerian Minister of Works Senator Mohammed Sanusi Daggash, made their presence for the official launching at the ceremonial grounds of both countries, the people knew it was the debut of better days ahead. An elated Divine Camara, Divisional Officer for Eyumojock Sub Division could not hide his feelings. “This ceremony epitomizes the end of the road nightmare. The population remains very hopeful for when the road will be finally tarred, the economy will have a boost. It will ease the flow of goods and services between Cameroon and Nigeria. Currently, our customs revenue is falling and going down the drain because very few vehicles are passing,” he told CT. Cognizant that where the road passes development follows, the people are already foreseeing a boost in agricultural production. CT learnt that with the road maintenance that has already been done, Nigerian buyers buy directly from the farms and not from the markets. And there is already a problem of shortage of cassava and plantains. “So imagine the demand when the road shall be finally tarred. I have already started sensitizing the population to increase their capacity of production,” Divine Camara explained. With Nigeria’s more than 100 million inhabitants, investing in agriculture is viewed already as a lucrative venture worth undertaking. “The market is there and there’ll be no shortage of buyers,” says Ndip Ayuk, an Ekok-based driver.

Industrial Agriculture Proposed

The MP for Eyumojock, Honourable Obenofunde Moses shares the driver’s optimism. “We must not export to Nigeria what they export to us. For instance, Nigeria does not have the type of agricultural policy that we have. If we encourage our people to get involved in industrial agriculture, then it will be very lucrative for our economy because we have about 150 million people to feed in Nigeria through this road. And imagine the number of jobs that this road will create. Our people should take advantage of this road. Let’s strategize our options and we may benefit more from this road than the Nigerians”. Textile and electronics from Nigeria are some of the items Cameroonians hope to get in abundance in our markets. ‘Eru’, plantains, yams and cassava are some of the agricultural products cherished by Nigerians.

In all, it’s the dawn of a new era that signals the end of suffering for the people of Manyu Division. The Paramount Chief of Ekok, Ojang Eno Cyprian, did not hide his feelings: “We’ve been suffering for ages. I know the story of this bad road when I was a kid and now I am an old man. The tarring of this road is now a reality. The road is going to bring us a lot of development not only for the Manyu people but for the whole of Cameroon. Development is going to follow; the volume of trade between Cameroon and Nigeria is going to increase. And the trickle down effect on our people is immeasurable. If you go to our warehouses at Ekok, you’ll see that Nigeria depends on us on almost every item of food like ‘Ogbono’, cocoyams, plantains, cocoa, etc. What we gain from Nigeria is basically manufactured goods. Though the Chinese are helping us with manufactured goods, we still depend on Nigeria for a lot of manufactured items”.