As one of the elder Statesmen of the entire Francophonie realm, the President of the Republic was one of the last speakers at Friday’s opening ceremony, the conference organizers obviously having in mind that the best things have to come last, Mr Biya did not fail anyone.

He came on rather strongly about some of the issues he has often fought for. From his very stature as an experienced actor and a long-serving Head of State, President Biya’s message about the need for a world in which there is greater justice is well-known and each time he takes the floor at an important international forum, the least many people expect is to press forth his point about injustices in the world system.

Dakar was no exception. This time, the President of the Republic seemed to be asking the Francophonie, whose influence on world politics cannot be ignored – given its geographical spread, economic wherewithal and diplomatic influence – to rightfully take its place in the arenas of international decision-making.

The President seemed to be drawing from statements made by several other delegation leaders about the need to make the Francophonie an important economic zone going beyond the simplistic cultural organization it has so far tended to present itself as the forerunner. Speakers before President Biya had spoken of the need to make the Francophonie realm an area of hope for helpless Francophones roaming about in the rest of the world for jobs. Many do not even think it should be a vast economic zone.

They rather think it should be an area for free movement of peoples so that some of the nasty experiences seen by African trying to scale through difficulties to get to Europe – often resulting in painful tragedies – can be avoided through the possibilities of finding jobs or a happier life on the spot. But for this to happen, there must be a serious shift in paradigms as they exist in the Francophonie today. But the Francophonie has remained a bit too timid in addressing some of these issues which, if well addressed, could provide life-saving solutions for millions of Africans and, in the process, improve the solidarity component which is expected to be an important part of an essentially-cultural organization such as the Francophonie.

Hear President Paul Biya at the opening of the Summit in Dakar last Saturday: “Our organization has all the winning cards to play frontline roles in the international community… and to continue to be relied upon as a body that can make proposals, it has to remain to its values and show more audacity in adapting to an ever-changing world”. This means that in the face of such terrible security challenges as those we observe in the world today, the voice of the Francophonie should be louder than has so far been.

Cameroon, for instance is actively in a war against Boko Haram and every initiative taken at every level of international decision-making which can impact positively on its security situation, can only be most welcome. The Francophonie, in President Biya’s reckoning, must therefore be more engaging if it has to contribute in facing the multi-faceted threats on world security and the various forms of barbaric acts for, it is in so doing that it will detach itself from an atmosphere of hatred and violence and contribute to building human destiny in an atmosphere of fraternity and tolerance.