Atonfack Guemo’s vigilance appeal sparks nationwide debate: what Cameroonians are saying now

A call that has set the country talking

When Atonfack Guemo, the communications director at the Ministry of Defence, used his editorial slot on the programme “Honneur et fidélité” on Saturday, 19 September 2026, to urge Cameroonians to remain permanently vigilant, he probably expected a reaction. What he got was a full-blown national conversation about security, patriotism and the country’s place in a dangerously unstable world.

The fallout has been immediate and wide-ranging. From social media threads to neighbourhood bars, from military barracks to university campuses, the question on many lips is simple: are we doing enough to protect ourselves?

The global backdrop: a world on edge

Guemo’s message did not emerge in a vacuum. He painted a stark picture of a planet where frozen conflicts are thawing, ongoing wars drag on, and security crises seem to have no end. Across almost every continent, the sound of weapons is growing louder and more frequent — whether in clashes between regular armies, so-called asymmetric operations, or the daily gun violence that claims more than 200,000 lives every year worldwide.

This globalisation of armed violence, he argued, is feeding a palpable sense of permanent insecurity. That feeling can quickly tip into psychosis, especially in countries like Cameroon that are targeted by an international terrorist network whose capacity for harm keeps expanding, despite unanimous condemnations and sanctions.

From bombings to cyberattacks: the many faces of insecurity

Bombings, attacks, attempted blockades and hostage-takings are multiplying, Guemo noted. All of this is possible only because terrorists can acquire means of action on land, in the air, at sea and in cyberspace. He posed a rhetorical question: who is behind it and why? His answer was blunt — our enemies are kept alive by our friends, for our own good.

But insecurity has spread far beyond the battlefield. Industry is a target for espionage. Wildlife, plant and mineral resources are pillaged. Communication routes are sabotaged, destroyed or diverted. Politics, education and centuries-old cultural practices are all being distorted. These are attacks on people, institutions and the environment — and no country, however powerful, seems immune.

Cameroon on the front line

Cameroonians know this reality all too well. As Guemo put it, the country has become a point of convergence for multiple aggressions, and its people are fighting hard just to survive them.

The nation devotes enormous economic, material and human resources to blocking the fallout from instability on its eastern borders and to smothering transnational extremist projects in the north. On top of that, it is working to drain another abscess: the seditious ambitions in its western regions.

In this dangerous global environment, Cameroon is doing its best to prevent, contain and, when necessary, reduce the frequency and severity of attacks targeting it. So far, Guemo assessed, the results are fairly satisfactory, even though outbreaks of violence still occur in some parts of the country. In this noble struggle, he said, the support of compatriots for the professional defenders of the nation is invaluable.

What comes next: vigilance as a way of life

The core of Guemo’s message is that vigilance must become a permanent habit — at every point of the national territory and in every field of activity — to thwart the manoeuvres of an adversary from whom no respite or mercy should be expected.

His closing words have already become a rallying cry: “Let us remain patriots, let us remain vigilant, let us definitively love Cameroon.”

As the debate continues, the key question now is whether this appeal will translate into concrete action — or remain just another editorial that fades with the news cycle.

By Daniel Mbami — Politics and Security