Sowing Dialogue, Reaping Harmony: Reflections from the Heritage Peace Conference | Lukmanu Habubakar

I participated in a conference organized by the heritage university of peace and development studies, Yaoundé on July 14th, 2025. The theme of the conference was "Seeds of Peace: Planting dialogue and harvesting harmony in Cameroon". It was very exciting to listen to Emeritus Prof. Verkijika G. Fanso, a historian and expert in dialogue and Prof. Willibroad Dze-Ngwa, the Director of Heritage university and lead researcher of the PEACEptions Cameroon project talk about the Anglophone crisis. This conference was organized in collaboration with the Friedrich Ebert Foundation. There were many things to take home especially on the step by step forward proposal to solve the Anglophone crisis. According to Emeritus Prof. V.G. Fanso, the crisis will be solved if the following steps are respected:

Firstly, by accepting that the problem exists.

Secondly, by releasing all prisoners connected to this crisis.

Thirdly, withdrawing forces from the two English regions.

Fourthly, allowing the people of these two regions to hold a conference and select their representatives for a genuine dialogue.

Fifthly, selecting a venue for the dialogue out of Cameroon.

Sixthly, organizing the dialogue and,

Lastly, drawing conclusions and establishing harmonious results for proper implementation.

Prof. Willibroad Dze-Ngwa also referred participants to articles 1,9,18, and 47 of the Federal Constitution in order to understand how the Anglophone crisis came about.

The conference was attended by civil society organizations, journalists, members of government, experts in security and dialogue among others.

• Lukmanu Habubakar | Open Dreams