By Nfor Hanson Nchanji
There is a growing discontent in the North region regarding the regime’s promises, which have, for the past 43 years, been lip service.
Despite making use of Northern elites and political opposition party leaders like Issa Tchiroma Bakary of the FSNC, in a presidential majority coalition, nothing big has been realised. Knowing that votes from the North and other neighboring regions give the ruling CPDM an upper hand, Paul Biya has never gone far away from people who surrounded themselves with Ahidjo, Cameroon’s first president.
Even though Ahidjo’s resignation and subsequent cold war with Biya angered the elites of the North, the New Deal Regime found a way to bring them closer. The regime found comfortable positions like Vice Prime Minister Belo Bouba Maigari, who had been in office as long as Paul Biya. They also instituted the current Speaker of the National Assembly, Cavaye Yehuie Djirbirl, who has been there for more than three decades. The list is long and the benefits abound- but hold your belt! This is just for a selected few and not the entire population.
As the 2025 presidential elections approach, the Northern regions have begun to show their real intentions; the time is now for them to rule again or at least bargain on the position of strength. The first person to draw the sword was a former Communication and Transport Minister, Issa Tchiroma Bakary, who resigned as Minister of Employment on June 24, citing Paul Biya’s ineffective government and his incapability to rule. Tchiroma is from the North.
The looming resignations left the Unity Palace in panic, pushing 92-year-old Paul Biya to instruct his Secretary General, the ever-present Ferdinand Ngoh Ngoh, to meet with Ministers and MPs from all 10 regions of Cameroon.
But what can the New Deal government do after ignoring the plight of the people for 43 years? Let us then take a look at the North Region under Paul Biya.
Infrastructure
The National Road Number One, which was constructed by Ahmadou Ahidjo, has not seen big improvements. It has never been a dual carriage. Road users are still struggling to avoid potholes while travelling between the North and Adamawa. There is a saying that “Where Road Passes, Development Follows.” But in the North, it is “Where Bad Road Passes, Development Retards”
It even took 43 years for a government Minister under Biya to drive through that road to access the terrible nature.
The road is approximately 242 km in very poor condition, significantly increasing travel time (from 2 hours a decade ago to a minimum of 7 hours now). The regime has been unable to start construction of the road despite signing a whopping financing agreement with the African Development Bank (AfDB) Group for €330.48 million (approx. 216 billion FCFA). An additional €12.24 million (approx. 8 billion FCFA) was provided by the African Development Fund (AfDF), a concessional window of the AfDB. The Cameroonian government will contribute €9.14 million. Work was scheduled to begin in April 2025, yet nothing has been done.
Mind you that these projects are funded majority by donors and through loans, but yearly, the media reports cases of embezzlement by people appointed by the President. The project is part of Phase 4 of the Transport Sector Support Program (PAST4), which will run from January 2025 to December 2030. Cameroon hardly respects project deadline. It is expected that road users will continue to suffer for at least another 7 years.
Social Infrastructure
Apart from Schools like the University of Garoua, hospitals like the Regional and General Hospitals, and a few social centres, which are basic needs of the people, the North region is still lacking in basic and secondary education, where:
A cross-sectional survey on WASH (Water, Sanitation, and Hygiene) in schools in Garoua (published August 2023) by the Specific Garous Study Group found suboptimal drinking water supply systems and sanitation facilities in most schools. While most schools had hand-washing points, the study highlighted “disparities related to WASH access in schools located in Garoua,” indicating a significant number of schools with inadequate facilities, the World Bank noted in a project report.
Older reports (e.g., JICA’s 2017 evaluation referencing 2008/2009 data) indicated that a substantial percentage of classrooms (e.g., 34% nationally, and even higher in some regions like the North-West at 54%) were semi-permanent or temporary buildings. While this specific percentage might have changed, it suggests a baseline of less-than-ideal structures.
Accounts from NGOs and individuals visiting schools in the North, even from a few years ago (like the 2014 eLearning Africa News report about Ngaoundéré and Garoua), describe “thatched worn-out material” for classrooms, use of “stones as benches,” and “very deplorable school structures.” While some new constructions and rehabilitations occur, the legacy of poor infrastructure is widespread.
In one of his visits, the North region elite, Issa Tchiroma Bakary, deplored the lack of benches in the schools.
The Northern regions (including the North, Far North, and Adamawa) are consistently cited as areas with greater educational disparities and weaker learning outcomes. This often correlates with poorer infrastructure. For instance, a 2021 UNICEF report stated that 69% of schools in Cameroon do not have access to drinking water, and 59% do not have adequate latrines. While this is a national figure, regions like the North have higher percentages of schools lacking these basic facilities.
Energy
Statistics from my research from Business in Cameroon show that the North is among two other regions Far North and Adamawa) that account for only about 220,000 households and businesses connected to the electricity distribution company, Eneo. This represents just 11% of Eneo’s total subscribers (over 2 million nationwide). In contrast, the southern interconnected network serves 89% of subscribers.
The people in the North, therefore, depend on solar panels. Reports from late 2023 indicated that 44,000 solar panels had been installed in the three northern regions, covering 40% of their electricity needs at that time.
Further reading shows that the North region was identified as having the highest electricity investment need in Cameroon, requiring an estimated XAF267 billion to electrify its communities. In 2021, 2,008 out of 2,694 communities in the North had no access to electricity.
Economy
The North region faces significant development challenges, including higher poverty rates, underdevelopment, and historical underinvestment compared to the South.
In May 2024, Cameroon News Agency, in an article, highlighted data from a 2022 report by the National Institute of Statistics of Cameroon, which had the North region as the 3rd poorest region with a 61.% poverty rate.
Garoua is considered the economic hub of Northern Cameroon, with its economy primarily driven by agriculture and trade. The region faces significant development challenges, including higher poverty rates, underdevelopment, and historical underinvestment compared to the south. While there are industrial projects like the Figuil cement factory that was inaugurated in May 2024 by the PM Dion Ngute, and some solar power initiatives, these are more recent and aim to boost the regional economy rather than being long-standing major national GDP drivers.
Trade with neighboring countries like Nigeria and Chad is significant for the Far North, and by extension, the North, but much of this is informal or less systematically captured in national accounts.
Sources
Information regarding Paul Biya’s achievements in Cameroon’s North region, including its capital, Garoua, is drawn from diverse sources. Data on the region’s high poverty rate, for instance, comes primarily from a 2022 report by the National Institute of Statistics (INS) of Cameroon, as cited by us at Cameroon News Agency. Details on infrastructure projects such as the critical Ngaoundéré-Garoua road’s financing, scope, and timeline are sourced from the African Development Bank (AfDB) Group and specialized publications like Business in Cameroon and CEMAC ECO FINANCE.
Updates on electricity access, including the installation of 44,000 solar panels covering 40% of northern regions’ needs by late 2023, and the PERACE project’s new connections, are gathered from various reports, including those related to Eneo (Energy of Cameroon), and energy sector analyses from platforms like Scientific Research Publishing (scirp.org). Information on social infrastructure like the Garoua General Hospital’s inauguration and capacity is supported by news reports and data from engineering firms like JG Ingenieros, while the broader context of school infrastructure challenges and regional disparities is informed by reports from organizations such as UNICEF and the World Bank, which also provides general overviews of Cameroon’s economic performance and development challenges.
This was important for me to give the sources so that no one would think it is a subjective analysis. A bigger challenge faced by the people in the North is the spillover of the war in the Far North, especially Boko Haram activities, leading to cross-border raids and kidnappings. Also, there have been armed banditry and highway robberies between Adamawa and Garoua. Additionally, farmer-grazer conflicts over dwindling resources due to climate change, and issues with weak state presence, exacerbate instability, impacting livelihoods and causing displacement.
What, therefore, did Paul Biya ask his SG Ngoh Ngoh to tell MPs and Ministers from the North? Will he deal with these issues after 43 years?
The people of the North are waking up from slumber and are ready to take their destinies into their hands. The time of cutting off the umbilical cord with the CPDM seems to be near, and the 2025 presidential polls might just be a litmus test.
