A Suit Is Not Leadership: On the Love of Nation ⁰

In a truly patriotic nation, leadership is measured by service, not by status. But in Cameroon today, the reality is heartbreaking.

Walk into many government offices—grand from the outside, but rotting within. You’ll find cracked walls, broken chairs, dusty files piled high, and toilets that haven’t worked in years. The buildings themselves are a metaphor for the state of governance: neglected, mismanaged, abandoned.

And yet, the men and women who inhabit these spaces wear the finest suits and drive the latest luxury vehicles. They are surrounded by aides and convoys, protected by tinted windows and distance. They wear the uniform of power, but not the spirit of leadership.

This is not love for country. This is love for comfort. Love for self.

True love for nation means putting the people first. It means walking into that same office and asking: What do my people need today? It means sacrificing privilege for progress. It means fixing the broken chair before buying the next luxury car. It means listening more than commanding.

Our leaders were not elected or appointed to decorate themselves. They were called to serve. When that service turns into self-enrichment—when public duty becomes private profit—then what we witness is not governance. It is betrayal.

Cameroon is rich in resources and even richer in people. What we lack is not talent, nor capacity. What we lack is leadership rooted in love.

And so we raise our voices—not out of hate, but out of hope. Because to speak out against injustice, decay, and indifference is the greatest form of patriotism. It is because we love this country that we demand better. It is because we believe in her future that we hold her leaders accountable.

A true leader wears the weight of the people before they wear a suit. A true patriot walks with the nation, not above it.

Cameroon deserves no less.

Barrister Agbor Balla