Be Hopeful Despite Challenging Times, Artist Exhorts Cameroonians

By Neville Mesumbe

Cameroonian Singer, Myra Maimoh, has encouraged the feeling of hope among Cameroonians in her latest song “Dear Daddy”.

The song released on Friday October 21, communicate the need for Cameroonians to always smile and be happy despite the prevailing circumstances marked by killings, pains, grudges emanating from the Cameroon Anglophone Crisis.

The young artist disclosed that “life is hard but it is worth living. Therefore, we cannot afford to give up. We have to live one day at a time until we reach our goals because as long as we can breathe, we have hope for a better world for ourselves and the generations after.”

In her mother tongue, Lamnso, Myra said there is so much pestilence and hatred in the world today but we have to persevere and to love in return.

Myra’s latest track equally raise issues she intends to communicate to her late father. She says “the idea was to tell dad that everyone is doing fine, that his family is alright and he need not worry despite all that’s going on”.

According to Myra, it is ‘good that her father had passed on before things could deteriorate in the restive regions. “It is “good” because he isn’t here to see how bad things are in the Northwest and Southwest. He wasn’t here to witness the killings and just how dangerous it is now living in our beautiful towns. I know that would break his heart just like it breaks ours. “

“I also wanted to tell him just how everyone is dealing with it. In these times of sickness, we are persevering and loving even when we are faced with hatred”.

The first verse of the song focuses on the family, how they are happy and thriving despite the odds.   In the second verse, Myra talks about the bad things that have been happening – the war in her home country Cameroon, and how it has made everywhere unsafe and taken the lives of loved ones as well.  She cries, “Can you believe we are in war?” “They burnt down a whole village”. Myra equally mentioned the novel coronavirus and its repercussion on economies.  

The song’s bridge brings a happy, upbeat and energetic mood that says no matter what is going on, life is worth living it to the fullest. “Ngeh si dze si kuun. A ver ki mo kur shiliv”: “There is so much pestilence, but we know to persevere.””Viban vi dze nkokong. A ver mum foa kongnin:” There is so much hatred, but we try to love in return.” She sings. Myra Maimoh, a mother of three, has been on the music scene for over two decades, topping charts and winning awards. She is using her art form to expose African culture to the world. Her work takes shape from her past experiences, musical passion, and western cultural influences, which coalesce to form a portfolio of amazing tunes, and “Dear Daddy” is just another addition to her masterpieces.