From Saigon to Bamenda: France’s Failed Strategy of Assimilation—and Why Ambazonia Will Prevail

Ambazonia has learned from history. This time, the people will prevail.

By Mankah Rosa Parks
Senior Investigative Correspondent, The Independentist – July 2025

INTRODUCTION: A COLONIAL TEMPLATE UNRAVELING
Across continents and centuries, France has stubbornly clung to a colonial playbook rooted in assimilation—an ideology that demanded colonised peoples erase their own identities to become French in name, speech, law, and culture. It failed catastrophically in Vietnam, collapsed in Rwanda, was rejected in Niger, ousted in Burkina Faso, and finally chased out of Mali. Now, Ambazonia stands as the last French proxy experiment in Africa—facing the same flawed strategy.

But unlike in the past, Ambazonia has learned from history. This time, the people will prevail.

1. Vietnam: The Beginning of France’s Downfall
   In Indochina, France enforced an imperial model of forced Frenchification—from education to administration—leading to mass uprisings. The Vietnamese people, steeped in ancient culture and nationalism, never accepted the imposed identity. The French defeat at Dien Bien Phu in 1954 symbolised the death of colonial assimilation in Asia and marked the beginning of global decolonisation.

France left in disgrace. But the strategy remained.

2. Rwanda: Cultural Engineering Turned Genocide
   In Rwanda, France’s neocolonial role during the Hutu-Tutsi conflict was not just diplomatic but deeply embedded in military, ideological, and linguistic control. By dividing ethnic groups and privileging French-aligned elites, France sowed seeds of hatred that culminated in the 1994 genocide.

The Rwandan Patriotic Front (RPF) defeated the genocidaires—many of whom were armed, trained, and shielded by the French. Rwanda has since rejected French as its official language in favor of English, and pivoted geopolitically.

France’s assimilation agenda had ended in bloodshed.

3. Niger, Burkina Faso, Mali: The Uprising of Sahelian Sovereignty
   After decades of economic extraction under Françafrique deals, the people of Niger, Burkina Faso, and Mali rose up—not just against corrupt governments, but against the French system behind them. Military coups became declarations of independence from Paris, with French troops and ambassadors expelled from one capital to another.

In Mali, France’s Operation Barkhane was exposed as a façade—fighting “terrorism” while undermining national unity. In Niger, uranium wealth flowed to French reactors while Nigeriens lived in darkness. In Burkina Faso, French support for puppet leaders became too obvious to ignore.

These nations didn’t reject governance. They rejected French assimilation in African clothing.

4. Ambazonia: The Final French Colonial Gamble
   Today, Ambazonia, the former British Southern Cameroons, finds itself colonized by La République du Cameroun, a Francophone nation whose entire architecture of power is French-designed. From Paul Biya’s Communal Liberalism to the Napoleonic legal system, every mechanism of control mimics Vichy France—not democracy.

The assimilation playbook is in full swing:

Francophone gendarmes demand bribes from Anglophone teachers.

Schools are renamed in French and enforced with military police.

Judges in Buea and Bamenda are imported French-speaking appointees.

Even colonial checkpoints extort money with orders passed from French-trained officers.

But there’s one difference.

Ambazonia is not French. It was never French. Its people were raised in the British common law, speak English, and demand liberty, not assimilation. And after eight years of genocide, massacres, and fake decentralization, the Ambazonian resistance has crystallised into an irreversible movement of national rebirth.

5. Why Ambazonia Will Prevail
   a. Historical Clarity:
   Unlike Rwanda, where manipulation was internal, Ambazonia clearly sees the external French hand behind the suffering. There is no ambiguity about the source of oppression.

b. A Distinct Identity:
Ambazonia’s British colonial past, common law foundation, and English-speaking culture make assimilation not just difficult, but impossible. The people are inoculated against Frenchification.

c. Decolonial Literacy:
The new generation of Ambazonians—through Radio Amba, diaspora conferences, and liberation education—understand neocolonialism and have rejected it openly and globally.

d. The Collapse of French Hegemony:
With every withdrawal—Mali, Niger, Burkina Faso—France’s aura dims. It no longer holds moral or military superiority in Africa. Ambazonia rises just as France’s influence falls.

e. A Reawakened Church and Diaspora:
France’s old trick of co-opting religious institutions is now confronted by a network of bold Ambazonian clergy and activists who see the betrayal and denounce it publicly.

f. International Witness:
The International Criminal Court, the Gambian People’s Court ruling, and mounting international scrutiny are aligning with Ambazonia’s legal claims. The world is watching.

CONCLUSION: AMBAZONIA IS NOT FOR SALE
France can no longer hide behind surrogates. In Ambazonia, its colonial shadow stands exposed. But the people of Ambazonia—rooted in ancestral land, guided by a legacy of resistance, and united under a vision of a free, democratic nation—are determined to end this final chapter of assimilation.

From Saigon to Bamenda, history repeats itself—until the oppressed rise.

And Ambazonia has risen.

Mankah Rosa Parks