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THE ANGLOPHONE PROBLEM IN THE CAMEROONSTAKES A DRAMATIC TWIST.
 
 By Dr. Arnold B. Yongbang 
Introduction:
This paper was prepared in 2006 at the request of Rev. Father Eric AKUE-GOEH, aJesuit missionary from the Republic of Benin, and assistant parish priest of the Our Ladyof the Annunciation Parish, Bonamoussadi, Douala, who was fascinated by theAnglophone problem, and invited me to make a presentation of the problem to theAnglophone Community in the parish, but had to be aborted because of strong objectionsfrom some of the Anglophone parishioners who felt that the presentation would beintroducing politics into the Church. This is another dimension of the AnglophoneProblem – the Anglophone up against himself / herself !
1. So what is the Anglophone Problem?
1.1
 L’EFFORT Camerounais
No. 315 of October 15 to October 28, 2003, pages 10 and11, carried an interview by the paper’s then Editor-in-Chief, Rev. Fr. Antoine de PadoueChonang, with our own outspoken and uncompromising moral authority, His EminenceChristian Wiyghan Cardinal TUMI, on the ‘ANGLOPHONE PROBLEM’. Here aresome excerpts of the interview:Fr. Antoine:“
 In your opinion, is there an Anglophone problem in Cameroon
?”His Eminence:“In
Cameroon, yes. There is a real malaise, like I said in my open letter and elsewhere. Accumulated frustrations from the unilateral cancellation of the federation, to Fru Ndi’svictory in the 1992 elections as affirmed by ambassadors but which was not recognized,harassment of Anglophones and ill-treatment of all sorts, restriction of their legitimate political aspirations, etc..., create a real malaise. It is even said that there are posts that can never be occupied by an Anglophone, for example, an Anglophone has never beenthe Secretary-General of the Presidency…”.
1.2 That, in a nutshell is the ‘Anglophone Problem’ in the Cameroons. But it is not quitethat simple: it is much more ramifying and complex. There is the very disturbing rider tothe problem: the fact that so-called Anglophone intellectuals who, for purely selfishinterests, allow themselves to be used by neo-colonisers to confuse the populations wholook up to these same intellectuals for enlightenment and guidance in their struggle for their inherent and inalienable right of Self-determination and Independence. Someintellectuals claiming to be knowledgeable about international law have indeed misled,and still continue to mislead, the rank and file of the struggle to be masters of their owndestiny by their ignorance of international law. This ignorance caused the struggle to1
 
spend nearly 43 years chasing the wrong shadow, namely, the independence of theSouthern Cameroons, with various misleading names like AMBAZONIA or AMBAZANIA, instead of the independence of the former UN Trust Territory of theCameroons under United Kingdom Administration in accordance with the Charter of theUnited Nations and the Trusteeship Agreement signed between the United Nations andHis Majesty’s Government of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Irelandon 13 December 1946 “
to administer the Territory in such a manner as to achieve the basicobjectives of the international trusteeship system laid down in Article 76 of the United NationsCharter”.
 1.3 History has it that when Germany lost the First Word War in 1916 it also lostsovereignty over its African colonies. In 1919 Germany signed the Treaty of Versaillesgiving up all claims to her colonies including Kamerun. In 1922 under the League of  Nations Mandates System, German Kamerun was divided between Britain and France,the victorious allies; the larger eastern part of the country went to France and becameknown as French Cameroun while the smaller truncated western part went to Britain.Britain further divided its portion into North and South ostensibly for administrativeconvenience with its colony and protectorate of Nigeria. The British Northern Cameroonswas administered as part of the Northern Region of Nigeria; while the British SouthernCameroons was administered as part of the Eastern Region of Nigeria. 1.4 With the creation of the United Nations Organisation in 1945, the MandatedTerritories transmuted to TRUST TERRITORIES under its International TrusteeshipSystem one of the basic objectives of which was:
"…to promote the political, economic, social and educational advancement of theinhabitants of the trust territories and their progressive development towards self- government or independence as may be appropriate to the particular circumstances of each trust territory
 
and its peoples and the freely expressed wishes of the people concerned”.
1.5 The 1922 boundary established between the two mandated territories is along theSimon / Milner Line traced in 1916 by Britain and France, delimited in 1919, andconfirmed in 1922, literally making the two mandated territories two separate countries.1.6 With the founding of the United Nations Organisation in 1945, territories that were placed under the Mandates System of the League of Nations were transmuted into theTrusteeship System of the United Nations Organisation and approved by the GeneralAssembly on December 13, 1946.2
 
2. Regional Autonomy for the Southern Cameroons was a cruel illusion
:2.1 With the introduction of internal self-government to the three regions of Nigeria in1951 under the Macpherson Constitution, the British Government recognised that therewere some profound ethnic differences between the peoples of the Southern Cameroonsand those of the rest of the Eastern Region of Nigeria giving rise to a profound desire onthe part of the peoples of the Southern Cameroons to develop an existence as a separateentity. For this reason the British Government agreed at the London Conference in 1953that the Southern Cameroons should separate from the Eastern Region of Nigeria and become a quasi-federal territory within the Federation of Nigeria. It was under the 1953Constitution that the Southern Cameroons had its own government, with Dr. E. M. L.Endeley as Leader of Government Business, and a legislature with prerogatives of legislation in all areas except those that were specifically on the exclusive legislative listof the government of the Federation of Nigeria.2.2 At the Lagos Constitutional Conference of 1957, the Southern Cameroons requestedand was granted a full Regional Self-Governing Status within the Federation of Nigeria;and so a cabinet system of government was introduced in the territory on May 15, 1958.To all intents and purposes, from 1
st
October 1960, when Nigeria became independent,the British Southern Cameroons had the standing of a
de jure
self-governing Territory.After attaining a full self-governing status, the next logical step was full independence.Regrettably, Britain and France and the United States of America, the cold war allies, all permanent members of the Security Council, conspired to deny the territoryindependence contrary to the expressed wishes of the inhabitants of the territory, theCharter of the United Nations and the Trusteeship Agreement.2.4 In 1959, in anticipation of independence, France signed Co-operation Agreementswith her African and Caribbean colonies, including French Cameroun, literally makingthese countries contractual colonies of France; and bringing their economies under thedirect control of France. This was indeed neo-colonialism and the United Nations turneda blind eye to it. France, of course, is a permanent member of the UN Security Council.
3. The Bungled Termination of UN Trusteeship
 
over the Cameroons under UnitedKingdom Administration:
3.1 France granted “
independance avec la France
” to its trust-territory of Cameroununder French administration on January 1, 1960, and the country took on the name of 
la Republique du Cameroun
. And despite the fact that there was a communist-backedinsurrection ravaging the territory, no plebiscite nor referendum was held to ascertainwhether the peoples of that territory wanted independence then or at some future date, or whether they would like to associate with any of its contiguous neighbours.3
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