By Kimeng Hilton NDUKONG (Originally published in Cameroon Tribune)
It is for his lifetime contributions to creative writing and arts in Cameroon and beyond.
Prof. Francis Nyamnjoh has been selected as the 2014 winner of the Eko Prize for Literature, an Anglophone Cameroon competition. A release published on Tuesday, December 16, 2014 and signed by Dr Mbuh Tennu Mbuh, said, “The Judges based their decision on the laureate’s lifetime achievement as a prolific writer, critic, and promoter of the Arts in Cameroon, Africa, and the world at large.”
Winners of the 2014 Eko Prize for Emerging Anglophone Writers are Ekpe Inyang for his collection of poems entitled “Death of Hardship;” Joffi Ewusi in the prose category for her book, “Christmas Carols in June;” Job Fongho Tende for his drama piece, “Riding the Chariot of God,” and Charles Nfon in the non-fiction category for his work titled, “Ushered Out of One, Accepted at Another.”
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The concept of globalisation is becoming pervasive in social scientific studies,but its effects are still poorly understood, and its dimensions are only beginning to be explored in their wide range of subtleties. Although the movement of ideas, people and material items across parts of the globe has undoubtedly been part of all human history, the currently popular concept of globalisation is associated primarily with modernity and the modern - two concepts with subtle and often underexplored implications. 
Some musicians have refused to be at the beck and call of politicians and have tended to criticize and ridicule those in power. Others have seen in such invitations an opportunity for greater recognition and respectability. Some have sought to straddle both worlds, serving politicians while also pursuing their art in the interest of other constituencies. Their different responses notwithstanding, there is evidence that the fortunes and statuses of musicians have been transformed with changing political regimes and notions of politics.
This paper attempts an answer to the question: What keeps Cameroon together despite widespread instability in Africa, despite the turbulence of the subregional environment in which it finds itself, and despite its own internal contradictions? The main argument is that the politics of regional and ethnic balance, the chronic lack of vision as a country, the lack of real commitment to democracy, the propensity to vacillate on most issues of collective interest, together with an infinite ability to develop survival strategies, have acted to counter all meaningful attempts to pursue common interests and aspirations.
The government of Cameroon shows that it is more interested in containing the media politically than in providing its proprietors and practitioners the enabling economic environment they need for professional excellence and financial independence. This has brought about the underdevelopment of the press by imposing on it a series of constraints. No one who knows what a newspaper looks like (in content and form) in Nigeria, Kenya, or South Africa, would take seriously what in Cameroon passes for newspapers.
Yaoundé, capitale du Cameroun, le 14 février 1998. Non loin de la gare, un wagon-citerne de pétrole se couche accidentellement et déverse son contenu sur la voie publique. Devant cette aubaine, les passants et les habitants des alentours se précipitent, qui avec des bidons, qui avec de simples bouteilles. Mais une cigarette provoque une terrible explosion qui fait plusieurs dizaines de victimes. Le même jour, la rumeur court que ces dernières étaient toutes « autochtones » : les « locaux » avaient chassé les « allogènes » du lieu sous le prétexte que le pétrole était « leur » puisque Yaoundé était « leur ville ». 
It is election day in Cameroon, Sunday, June 23, 2002. Polling stations nationwide have opened. Cameroonians are queuing up to vote for councillors and parliamentarians, when suddenly on national television and radio President Paul Biya postpones the elections for a week. His reason: inadequate preparations and poor distribution of ballot papers due to the incompetence of the Minister of Territorial Administration (MINAT)—Ferdinand Koungou Edima, whom Biya dismisses along with some of his key collaborators. Some see in this a sign that the president has at last yielded to more than a decade of pressure for a level playing field in Cameroon politics. To others, it is all déjà vu, a ploy to give a semblance of legitimacy to an election process fundamentally flawed from the outset.
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