The Cameroons Unification Revisited (1): On the Road to the Plebiscite of February 11, 1961

By Dibussi Tande

(Originally posted on the Camnet Internet forum on 11 February 1995)

It's [45] years to the day since the British Southern Cameroons voted, in a United Nations-sponsored plebiscite, to unify with the French Cameroons (then known as La Republique du Cameroun) to form the Federal Republic of Cameroon.

Over the years, there has been a huge amount of literature about the state and outcome of that union. This posting will not dwell on the issue but will instead  focus on some of the reservations expressed primarily in Southern Cameroons before the plebiscite. I leave it to the reader to compare the pre-plebiscite predictions to today’s realities. 

Passionate Debates
The plebiscite came amidst a passionate and intense debate between the integrationists who wanted Southern Cameroons to become part of  Nigerian, and the unificationists who dreamt of a great "Pan-Kamerunian Nation" made up of the British and French Cameroons.

In spite of the numerous reassurances from President Ahidjo that unification was not about the assimilation of  Southern Cameroons, there were strident cries of protests and shrill warnings about the impending unification.

In a message to the people of Southern Cameroons a couple of weeks before the plebiscite, Sir Abubakar Tafawa Balewa, the Nigerian Prime Minister, pointed out to them that they were being asked to choose between "certainty and security:  an honorable status as an integral part of a big country", or assimilation by a country with an alien culture and a government which had made no clear promises to the people of  the British Cameroon:

"If you vote against Nigeria, I cannot see how you can avoid living a life of poverty, hardship and under the constant shadow of violence..." he warned.

This view was shared by many in the Southern Cameroons, including a leading newspaper "Cameroon Champion", which described Southern Cameroon Prime Minister Foncha’s obsession with the utopic bilingual Cameroon federation where Southern Cameroons will "finally be free" as "Foncha's false Jerusalem" in its Feb. 8, 1961 issue.

Even in La Republique du Cameroun which really had nothing to lose from the whole deal, there were many who believed strongly that unification was uncalled for. Writing in a local paper, a native of Ntem Division in the Centre Province asked a fundamental question that is still relevant to this day:

Qu'elle avantage y' a-t-il a demander la réunification des deux Cameroun si, a première vue, nous devons considérer nos frères Bamiléké et Bassa comme des étrangers dans notre propre département?  Dans quelle catégorie rangerions-nous un Camerounais originaire du Cameroun Britannique si nous nous considérons nous-mêmes comme des ennemis et si le simple fait de dire Bassa ou Bamileke dans le Ntem devient (...) un crime méritent la mort?

However, the direst prediction about the outcome of the union between the British and French Cameroons was made by the Southern Cameroons leader of opposition and the territory's first Premier, Dr. EML ENDELEY. This prediction, which basically promised Southern Cameroons fire and brimstone in the event of  the “Kamerun option” winning the day, was contained in a Cameroon Peoples National Convention (CPNC) pamphlet published on the eve of the plebiscite. Endeley’s CNPC described the message as "eternal evidence of the full note of WARNING that is being sounded in good time to all Cameroon people before they make their historic choice of February 11." Excerpts of this document are available in another posting.

On February 11, 1961, the people of Southern Cameroons went to the polls to choose between two options:

(a) Do you wish to achieve independence by joining the independent Federal Republic of Nigeria?
or
(b) Do you wish to achieve independence by joining the independent Republic of Cameroon?

Endeley’s dire warnings failed to sway voters and Prime Minister John Ngu Foncha’s pro-unification KNDP carried the day. Southern Cameroonians voted overwhelmingly (70,49%) to achieve independence by joining La Republique du Cameroun while Northern Cameroons, which also took part in the plebiscite, opted for remaining as a part of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.

According to Francis Wache (Cameroon Life Magazine, March 1991), as soon as it became obvious that Foncha's "Pan-Kamerunist" option had won the day,

... a song rippled through the grassfields surpassable only, perhaps, by the dry season fires in the area: The chant ran:

Foncha has walloped Endeley
Foncha has walloped Endeley
If Foncha hadn't been there
Endeley would have sold us.

However, close to a century later, the pan-Kamerunian dream had become a nightmare for the people of Southern Cameroons.  As Wache points out in the same CamLife article,

Today, thirty years after the event, a song is being hummed through the length and breadth of the Western shore of the Mungo:

Because Foncha trounced Endeley
Because Foncha trounced Endeley
If Foncha had not trounced Endeley
We wouldn't have been sold."

John Ngu Foncha, the "architect of the unification" did not challenge this view at the twilight of his life as evidenced by his 1990 letter of resignation from the ruling CPDM, by his heart-wrenching mea culpa at the 1993 All Anglophone Conference in Buea, and by his little-known statement to the 1994 Constitutional Consultative Commission, excerpts of which are available in another posting.

Tag: CameroonAfricaSouthern Cameroons

Comments

[Ma Mary]

Now the whole history is out here on the internet for all Southern Cameroonians to see. If you want to know anything about the Southern Cameroons, now you can find it with relative ease. So what is the excuse now for galivanting around instead of going for it, for the complete freedom of the Southern Cameroons?

[kange williams wasaloko]

I wish to congratulate Tande Dibussi for the article on the southern cameroon walala.
Iam of the view that southern cameroon was born ,lived and has been buried. As to whether it was a wise decision to join la repulic or not is just attempting to sell after the market. What is more important now is for the anglophones to impose themselves in the system fight for their rights and help their fellow anglophones.
My experiences with the descendants of la republic is that they have realised that the anglophones's greatest enemy is his anglophone brother so why the cry. Secondly all those who claimed to speak on behalfof southern cameroon (Ekontang Elad, Ndoki Mukete, Henry Fussong , chief Ayamba and Justice Ebong)have very little followers because they are either operating from outside or they lack the required diplomatic skill in putting their case accross.

[PAOLO LAURENT]

THE OPTIONS IN THE SAID PLEBISCITE WERE
THEMSELVES SOO STRANGE AND ILLOGICAL
HOW CAN ANY NATION ACHIEVE INDEPENCE (INTO
JOINING ANOTHER ) NATION?
SECONDLY THERE SHOULD HAVE BEEN A THIRD OPTION.
SIMPLY ASKING THE SOUTHERN CAMEROONIANS TO
BE AN INDEPENDENT STATE, BY IT SELF.

[Ma Mary]

Kange Williams Wasaloko seems to be of the opinion that we should just roll over and play dead. There are so many good minds that disagree. Notable among these is the Bakweri Land Claims Committee, that refused to lay dead and challenged a powerful status quo in a very smart way. Wasaloko, do not be so pessimistic. There is only over riding purpose in life, to dare the seemingly impossible. Until Africans start to dare the impossible, they shall remain slaves.

[Atim]

Dear Mr Paolo Laurent - writing in CAPITALS is indeed poor netiquette. Just google and you will find outIt is considered the equivalent of SHOUTING and RUDENESS, besides being hard on the eyes for reading, because the brain finds it HARD TO DISTINGUISH BETWEEN ONE CAPITAL LETTER AND THE NEXT. Pity those who are your elders here and need strong glasses to read even normal fonts.

From:
1) http://www.yourhtmlsource.com/starthere/netiquette.html
"Typing

The first rule of typing that everybody should be aware of is that writing IN CAPITALS MAKES IT LOOK LIKE YOU'RE SHOUTING. You'll often hear people asking others to "lay off the caps", and for good reason. Shouting makes you look like an idiot. Don't type more than a few consecutive words in capitals. If you want to emphasise something, use the wealth of HTML options available to you. If those aren't available, stick some *stars* around your text. There's always an alternative."

"Majuscules sometimes are used for typographical emphasis in Internet text in place of bolding or italicizing. However, long spans of text in all uppercase are harder to read because of the absence of ascenders and descenders found in lowercase letters, which better aid recognition. Because it can be harder to read, and also because typing in all majuscules can be seen as tantamount to shouting, it is often considered in very poor netiquette to type this way."

[Atim]

Dear Mr Paolo Laurent - writing in CAPITALS is indeed poor netiquette. Just google and you will find outIt is considered the equivalent of SHOUTING and RUDENESS, besides being hard on the eyes for reading, because the brain finds it HARD TO DISTINGUISH BETWEEN ONE CAPITAL LETTER AND THE NEXT. Pity those who are your elders here and need strong glasses to read even normal fonts.

From:
1) http://www.yourhtmlsource.com/starthere/netiquette.html
"Typing

The first rule of typing that everybody should be aware of is that writing IN CAPITALS MAKES IT LOOK LIKE YOU'RE SHOUTING. You'll often hear people asking others to "lay off the caps", and for good reason. Shouting makes you look like an idiot. Don't type more than a few consecutive words in capitals. If you want to emphasise something, use the wealth of HTML options available to you. If those aren't available, stick some *stars* around your text. There's always an alternative."

"Majuscules sometimes are used for typographical emphasis in Internet text in place of bolding or italicizing. However, long spans of text in all uppercase are harder to read because of the absence of ascenders and descenders found in lowercase letters, which better aid recognition. Because it can be harder to read, and also because typing in all majuscules can be seen as tantamount to shouting, it is often considered in very poor netiquette to type this way."

[paolo laurent]

ATIM, THE SENSE THAT IT PORTRAYS NEVER
CHANGES, IF YOUR BRAIN IS THE SIZE OF A MICE
THEN SEE A BRAIN-SURGEON, DONT BE A FROG
WHO MAJORS IN MINORS. OK.

[Atim]

Paolo, you are YELLING again. Do not be a low class frog that lacks manners and etiquette. A Southern Cameroonian is a civilized being. Etiquette is a major; we always wash our hands before we eat. They don't. In a way, that is what the conflict is about.

[paolo laurent]

THE UNIFICATION DAY WAS FEB 11, SOO, WHY DO
THEY HAVE CALLED YOUTH DAY.ISNT THIS MISREPRESENTATION OF HISTORY, IN ORDER TO
THROW THE YOUTHS OFF GUARD? JUST AS A 25 YEARS OLD WONT KNOW THE SIGNICANCE OF
THE NAME VICTORIA TO LIMBE.
POOR US.
WITHOUT A STANDING ARMY OF ITS OWN SOUTHERN CAMEROONS CAN NEVER BE FREE.

[Gail Richardson]

I am looking for Ernest Mbela Endeley. He lived with my family in New jersey in the US while attending Priceton University in the lat e 1960,s early 1970's. Please e-mail if you can help.

Thank you so much.

Gail Richardson

[Mimi Endeley]

Hi Gail, I am Ernest Endeley's daughter, I live with my mother Emma, and my older brother in Los Angeles. My mother screamed when i read your msg and your name to her. I know you posted this a while ago but if you get this pls email us at emmyoti@yahoo.com.

[Mimi Endeley]

Hi Gail, I am Ernest Endeley's daughter, I live with my mother Emma, and my older brother in Los Angeles. My mother screamed when i read your msg and your name to her. I know you posted this a while ago but if you get this pls email us at emmyoti@yahoo.com.

[Julia]

It makes me sick to my stomach to come to such a site to read of events of importance being thrown to the side by someone complaining of someone else's writing style ie Writing in Capitals.Please move on out into the real world and think about those who have bigger problems then "how someone chooses to write"

[Julia]

It makes me sick to my stomach to come to such a site to read of events of importance being thrown to the side by someone complaining of someone else's writing style ie Writing in Capitals.Please move on out into the real world and think about those who have bigger problems then "how someone chooses to write"