My Mentor Has Become My Rival: A Cameroonian Perspective

Since the creation of mankind, hunger and the strive for success have always been at the centre of human existence. In fact, the word success in particular is a measuring rod utilised by families, communities and governments for the distribution of tolerance and relevance. 

The adjective "successful" is not only used to assert one's authority, but it's also utilised to command respect, silence enemies and slaughter oppositions.

These concentrations given to successful people have made the journey for the achievement of success in our contemporary society a do-or-die affair. 

Though the word success may seem simple in writing and pronunciation, its achievement is nothing short of a tedium. Both verbal and written words of successful persons have testified beyond reasonable doubt to the difficulty in the process of achieving success. 

This process is what they baptised the Hard Way. While few successful persons have walked the lonely path of success, the majority have given substantial evidence to support the collective efforts of success. 

Many successful people hold that at a point in the road, you will need someone to hold your hand strongly to give you direction and guidance on the alley to success. The necessity for direction and guidance throughout this passage has manufactured two terms: 'mentor' and 'mentee'. 

In our world today, it will be a cold day in hell to hear successful persons recount their movement to success without mentioning their mentor either directly or indirectly. Since these terms seem to be ubiquitous in the arena of success, it will be significant to study the meaning and proceed with a comparative analysis of application in Cameroon and other countries. 

To begin with, the word mentor, refers to someone who offers direction and guidance to another for the purpose of achieving a particular goal, especially in the domain where he has succeeded.

While a mentee, on the other hand, is someone who submits his authority to another, called the mentor, in exchange for direction and guidance towards achieving a particular goal or success. 

In order to better comprehend the below analysis concerning the application of these terms, it is imperative that we dish out to you the meaning of success. Success has two main meanings: the specific definition, which entails the achievement of one's objective, and the general definition, which consists of the ability to overcome poverty. 

  It should be noted that success in general is calculated from material things. Now that we have seen the definition of the central terms of this article, it's now time to navigate through the comparative analysis in the application of mentor and mentee. Comparative Analysis of the Application of the Terms 'Mentor' and 'Mentee' in Cameroon and Other Countries

Application in Other Countries

The conception and application of the term mentorship in countries like Nigeria, South Africa, Ghana, America, the UK and Canada have travelled beyond admiration and imagination. In these countries, the majority of those who answer this name mentors are people who have achieved reasonable success worth emulating. 

Even those who commence the act of mentorship without reasonable achievements strive to get to the highest level of success or fame.

Many of them aren't complacent till they get to the highest level because they understand that their mentees are currently depending on them to achieve their own dreams, so they are pushed to work harder so they can do wonders. 

It is this consciousness that will always drive them to the international stage. In fact, many mentors ensure they reach an international stage before taking in mentees. An example to illustrate the above will pressure us to meander through the music, film, church ministration and the corporate world. 

Music and Film Industry

In countries like Nigeria and America, where the entertainment industry is booming, it's common to find young artists struggling from the bottom to the top who are getting their music and films to the international scene. 

They aren't contented with the success that accrues from selling their music only in the city where they were born or their country, but they strive to get it across countries, which will cause them to get invitations for performances or awards in these countries. 

While shooting high, they have mentees under their direction and guidance. These artists and actors ensure their songs and films reach continents before being complacent.

After reaching a satisfactory level of success both in goals and finance, they resolve to push their mentees to reach the top level they have been to Church ministry and the corporate world. 

A similar scenario occurs in churches and corporations out of Cameroon. In Nigeria, Ghana, South Africa and America, beginner pastors strive to expand the ministry by praying hard and seeking the anointing of God to perform miracles which will attract more members to their churches. 

When the almighty God releases his anointing upon them, they settle on organising crusades, during which the power of God upon them is demonstrated.

As an effect, they start receiving invitations to preach in other churches in the city. From city churches to countries, and before you know it, they are already international or global. 

It's worthy of notice that during this period, they have mentees whom they travel with. After reaching a particular stage of success, they decide to create branches of their churches all over the world.

This implantation of churches accredits to them the title 'General Overseer' or 'Daddy G.O.', as it is popularly known. Corporate or business persons in these countries start from a very small level; they get focused and achieve their goal of creating a large company or corporation, which they extend to other cities and countries or at least their products or services. After getting to the top, they firmly pull the hands of their mentees and show them the road. 

At times they establish businesses for them and support them to grow.To end this part, it will be lofty to write that though it's difficult to avoid a feud between mentors and mentees, it is also germane to opine that such disagreements are rare when it comes to mentorship relations in the aforementioned countries. 

Because most of the mentors grow beyond jealousy and hatred since they always reach the top level of their careers. It's difficult for them to be jealous of a small mentee who isn't even sure of reaching their level. They'd rather support them to achieve like them so they can share their glory. 

The mentees on their part are very humble because it's difficult to be arrogant and disloyal to someone who has achieved what you want to achieve and who has probably seen more than what you want to see. His success commands your submission to him. 

This is the reality without calling names. Though these realities are enticing, one laments over the fact that the examples are foreign and are rarely experienced in Cameroon.

In fact, the majority of the relationships of mentors and mentees outside are a sharp contrast to what is happening in Cameroon. This floor statement catapult us to the application of these terms in Cameroon. 

Realities of Mentor-Mentee Relationships in Cameroon

In Cameroon, the mentor and mentee relationship has been crowded by jealousy, hatred, attacks, backstabbing, regret, suppression and all the negative expressions one can think of. This standing can be buttressed by shuttling through the music and film industry, church ministration and the corporate world. 

Music and Film Industry in Cameroon

Unlike those of other countries mentioned in the first section of this article, the music and film industry in Cameroon is still growing with the aim of reaching an admirable height. 

Though at a growing stage, it is very disturbing that most of the musicians and actors in Cameroon become too complacent after one or two releases, which attract them a bit of cash and popularity. From this limited cash and city popularity, they start to train other musicians as mentees. 

A musician who is unable to buy a house or a good car for himself opens a record label and signs other musicians.

Since his talent did not mature to the height of the international stage, he becomes annoyed and, as a consequence, begins to be jealous of his mentee, whose talent has not only exploded in a city but the whole country. 

We have artists who were very talented in Buea, Kumba and Bamenda, but because of little cash and attention, they became lazy and succumbed to the city level, where they sing from one club to the other.

When their mentees who work on their talent and surpass the city level, they become jealous and express hateful words against them and claim the mentees no longer respect them or betrayed them. 

These allegations are not usually true for all mentees; the mentors exhumed such words simply because the mentee has grown larger than them, become more popular, and has probably achieved what they wanted to achieve. 

These complaints and unexpected animosity place both parties into a state of rivalry instead of one of subordination and support. Let's look at that of church ministration and the corporate world. 

Church Ministration and the Corporate World

Mentor-mentee relationships in churches in Cameroon are even worse, as many charlatans have emerged as pastors. All they do is copy from Nigerian pastors. Some of these young pastors in particular do not really spend time to seek the face of God and gain power, which is needed for their ministry survival and expansion. 

But they want to enjoy the glory that comes from such sacrifices. They open one or two churches as their branches and appoint their mentees to administer those churches.These processes inspire them to proclaim themselves with titles like Apostles, Prophets, Bishops, and Daddy G.O. 

The point is, many of them have just 5 to 10 members in their main churches, but the branches they have opened will make them believe they have grown, and when people brandish them with these titles, they become complacent. They no longer strive to be popular at both national and international levels. 

They can't even organise crusades and have up to 20 people; the big ones can't even have up to 1000 people attend their crusades, but they carry themselves on social media and broadcast media as mentors to so many pastors. 

With this limitation of their authority, they become automatically jealous and unleash negative expressions against their mentees, who, after going through the process of fasting and prayer, get the anointing of God, which permits them to perform miracles, which attracts many people to their church. 

After deciphering that it's tedious to be controlled by someone with a limited vision but full of hate, they separate and create their own ministry, which usually triumphs and becomes more popular than that of the mentor, who is left with no option but to sabotage his mentee by claiming he is arrogant and disrespectful.

As a result, a relationship of control and subordination now transforms to that of rivalry. That's why you will always hear the mentees say, My mentor has now become my rival

This scenario isn't different in the corporate world in Cameroon, as company and NGO founders who receive a bit of success and become lazy are often overthrown by their mentees, who persist to the top or at least achieve glaring success and make a name that is more powerful than that of their mentor. 

This scenario breeds jealousy and hatred, as the mentor will clap back by saying all types of ills against his mentee.

This alone metamorphoses a cordial relationship into one of rivalry. It's important to say that these rivalries among mentors and mentees in Cameroon extend to so many fields, including public speaking, football and common trade. 

Before we go, it's important to balance the equation by holding that sometimes the rivalry isn't caused by the mentor but by the mentee, who sees reason to discredit publicly his mentor just because he has overgrown him.

Some will go as far as exposing the weaknesses and secrets of their mentor just to prove why they have succeeded more than their mentors. 

This public disgrace brings nothing but an atmosphere of rivalry and conflict. The question that should linger in your mind after reading this is, Is there any solution to prevent unnecessary rivalry between mentors and mentees.

The only remedy to rivalry prevention among mentors and mentees is the need for the mentors to always double their efforts and stay ahead because it's difficult to want to control someone who has achieved more than you. Mentors should always try to reach the top before surrendering so the mentees will always look up to them to achieve what they have already achieved.

By Marks Abaiko, Secretary General Association of New Generation Authors

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