Joe Dinga Pefok (Uncle Joe)
From June – July, 1990, The Indomitable Lions Put Up A Brilliant Performance At The World Cup In Italy. It Was Exploited By The Regime To Distract The People, Or To Divert Attention, From The Killing Of Six Persons During The Launching Of The SDF In Bamenda On May 26, 1990, Which Sparked A Lot Of Anger, Uncertainty, Disinformation, Hate Speech, Fear, And Tension In The Country.
It is not for nothing that the Biya regime has over the years been pumping huge sums of money from the State coffer, that is, tax payer’s money, into football, especially the senior male and female national football teams. Also, even though President Biya declared that there is no major, or minor, sport in Cameroon, it is no secret that the regime has been treating football not only like a major sport in the country, but as the lone major sport in Cameroon. The sport that Paul Biya used to practice, and which he thus liked the most, was cycling. But when he became President of the Republic, he saw that he could, perhaps like his predecessor, use football for his politics.
There is no doubt that football is the most popular sports in Cameroon, and this can be traced to colonization. Some observers and analysts, using figurative language, even refer to football as opium to Cameroonians. The Biya regime, just like the Ahidjo regime before, has also played a major role to make football the most popular sport in the country. Former player of the senior national football team (Indomitable Lions), Kaham Michel, remarked in a programme over CRTV Sports Chanel a few months ago, that when the senior national football team in particular wins a match, there is joy in all homes across the country. Though he definitely exaggerated the situation, there is however no doubt that in the sports domain, football has the largest number of fans in the country.
Politics Of Distraction
Some people might be tempted to think that the special treatment or attention, being given to football in the country by the Biya regime, is because it is the most popular sport in Cameroon. No. The real reason for the regime’s special interest or focus on football over the years is rather political. It is not about sports. The Biya regime uses football for its politics of distraction. In the 80s when Cameroon had some powerful football houses like Canon Yaounde, Tonerre Yaounde, or Union Douala, when any of the clubs recorded a big victory at the continental level, President Biya will declare a public holiday for the population to celebrate the victory.
Having persistently failed to move Cameroon forward in the path of or development or progress since coming to power in 1982, because of bad governance, the Biya regime has since been trying to exploit big victories in football for its politics of distraction, or the diversion of attention. The Biya regime exploits victories in football which some people say is like opium to Cameroonians, to distract the people from serious issues affecting the country, or to divert attention from the regime’s woeful failures to move the country forward on the path of development or progress, because of bad governance.
As Kaham Michel said, when the national football team wins a match, especially a trophy, there is joy in the country. We again saw this just a couple of days ago, precisely on August 16, 2026, when the senior female national football team (Indomitable Lionesses), won the 14th edition of the Women Africa Cup of Nations, WAFCON, in Rabat , Morocco, for the first time.
Politics Of Distraction Or Diversion – The Bloody Launching Of The SDF, And Lions Great Performance At World Cup, In 1990.
As aforementioned, the Biya regime has been using the victories of the national football teams, for its politics of distraction or diversion. For example, the launching of the Social Democratic Front, SDF, on May 26, 1990 in Bamenda, was quite bloody. It should be noted that though the Constitution of the country showed in theory that Cameroon was not a one party State, the reality was than Cameroon under Ahmadou Ahido’s manipulations, had since 1966, become in practical terms, a one party state. When President Ahidjo handed over power to his constitutional successor, Paul Biya in 1982, Cameroon continued on the path of being a multiparty system in the Constitution, but a one party State on the ground.
The creation of the SDF in early 1990 was met with hostility by the Biya regime. Suffice to say that a total of six civilians were brutally killed by troops that the regime deployed in Bamenda on May 26, 1990, when the SDF was launched. Tension ran high across the country, and there was a lot of discontent and fear of the unknown. The Biya regime was in a big problem, as the world was watching. Then just the very next month (June 1990) following the launching of the SDF, the senior male national football team (indomitable Lions), put up a brilliant and historic performance at the World Cup in Italy, beating Argentine in the opening match of the competition , and also getting as far as the 1 / 4 final of the competition. Cameroon became the first ever African country to reach the 1 /4 final of the World Cup.
Regime Did Everything To Focus Public Discussion On The Performance Of The Lions, At The World Cup
The great performance of the Lions ignited a state of ecstasy back in the country. President Biya who attended the opening match of the world cup on the invitation of the Italian government, returned to Cameroon as a hero, as the regime fully mobilized and exploited the situation of joy in the country following the football victories, to distract public attention from the brutal killings of six civilians in Bamenda on May 26, 1990, when the SDF was launched. Besides the bonuses that were paid to the players of the senior national football team, the regime was so happy that the President promised each of the players a house. Of course the money for those houses had to come from the State coffer.
So the Biya regime exploited the joy in the country with its politics of distraction, following the great performance of the senior male national football team at the World Cup, to make the tension in the country to dissipate, or to die down to a great extent. The regime manipulated the situation to ensure that public discussion, for a couple of months, was mostly focused on the performance of the Indomitable Lions at the world Cup in Italy.
