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Last Friday while commemorating the 50th anniversary of the murder of Ernest Ouandié, I realized a lot of us do not know our history. How about we have occasional Cameroon history discussions?
Let’s start from the beginning and seek the roots of our current problems
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Let’s start from the beginning and seek the roots of our current problems
Thread
Let’s start with the name. Cameroon is derived from “Rio dos Camarões” Portuguese for “river of prawns”, the name Portuguese explorer Fernando Pó gave to the Wouri Estuary in 1472. Kamerun, Cameroon and Cameroun are the German, English and French translations respectively.
One striking aspect from this is that the name of our country means nothing in any Cameroonian language and Cameroonians had no role to play in naming the country
Secondly before 1884 Cameroon referred to the Wouri Estuary alone. It was a name Europeans used to refer to Douala.
Secondly before 1884 Cameroon referred to the Wouri Estuary alone. It was a name Europeans used to refer to Douala.
Let me dispel the myth that Kings Bell and Akwa “sold” Cameroon to the Germans. At the time Cameroon was Douala; plus the only places they could “sell” were the areas now occupied by Cantons Bell and Akwa. Lock Priso of Hickory Town (Bonabéri) bitterly resisted that treaty.
Were there a “Cameroonian people” when the Germans colonized Cameroon in 1884? The answer is a resounding no. Cameroon had independent chiefdoms, fondoms, city states, sultanates, lamidats etc. The concept of Cameroon from a Cameroonian perspective did not exist at all.
A look at the various colonial maps of Cameroon demonstrates this perfectly as you’ll see that the independent Cameroon is the smallest Cameroon in history and we don’t hear of struggles in neighbouring nations for these lost “Cameroonians” wanting to return
Under German rule Kamerun was unified but there’s no evidence that rank and file of the natives considered themselves Cameroonians. Remember these ethnic groups or nations had known, battled and traded with each other for centuries without ever feeling the need to unite.
Let’s not forget Fon Galega of Bali siding with Zintgraff agaisnt the Nsang people. Or Sultan Njoya alerting the Germans of the plots by Douala Manga Bell, Adolf Ngosso Din and Martin Paul Samba. There was no betrayal because they were foreigners to each other.
After WWI Cameroon was partitioned between the English and the French under the League of Nations Mandate System. Southern Cameroons was administered as an integral part of Eastern Nigeria while French Cameroon became part of French Equatorial Africa.
Personally I believe the earliest example of a common awareness came with the formation of the UPC in 1948. They were the first to demand immediate independence and reunification. Of course the French and their puppets didn’t find it funny and it ended in genocide.
In Southern Cameroons the awakening came in 1939 with the creation of the Cameroon Youth League but more significant was the creation of the Kamerun National Congress (notice the K) in 1953 after the Southern Cameroonians decide the boycott the Eastern regional house of assembly.
French Cameroun became independent in the throes of a bitter and genocidal civil war on 01/01/1960 while Southern Cameroons became independent on 01/10/1961 by “reunification” with French Cameroon. Personally I think it was a unification rather than a reunification.
The German colony may have been unified but the Cameroonians in Wum or Yokaduma for example at the time didn’t consider themselves Cameroonians. I’m not even sure they were aware of the existence of each other or the existence of a Kamerun. Cameroon did not exist for Cameroonians
Reunification suggests setting things back to an earlier default but such default never existed. Our failure in nation building is due to the fact that successive governments have tried to uphold an imperialist construct instead of unifying the people.
I know individually we feel Cameroonian but we have more affinity to our ethnicities because ethnicity is real. We’re all Cameroonians because Europeans played with maps and Consul Hewett was late.
It’s important that we use our common history to forge a common Cameroonian identity which is inclusive and non discriminatory. We need to redefine our relationship with each other regardless of ethnicity. We can start with #EndAnglophoneCrisis
Let me know your thoughts. Do you believe the State or Cameroon is an imperialistic construct? Or do you think we are a nation that can be forged? Your opinions, debates, criticisms and corrections are welcome
