The joy of living together is never acquired. It is a permanent quest that requires the efforts of both politicians and other members who make up the whole.
When the two Cameroons made the choice to get back together, they were aware of being the components of the same Territory whose unfortunate historical circumstances have divided. Indeed, like all other countries in the rest of the world, the consequences of the first and second world wars were felt in Cameroon. After the German protectorate (1884 – 1920), Cameroon was respectively under the mandate of the League of Nations (1919-1946); that is to say, its administration or management, which was the responsibility of the Germans, had been entrusted to the French and British under the control of the League of Nations; and under the supervision of the UNO (United Nations Organization – 1946-1960); that is to say, under the protection of the UNO, and entrusted once again, like a child who is not yet ready to walk on his own, to France and Great Britain who, as parents adoptive parents, have the responsibility of bringing these countries to their autonomy under the control of the United Nations.
The strategic choice
The trusteeship of the United Nations Organization entrusted to the French and British was more intended to divide Cameroonians than to unite them. By freely accepting to join the already independent French Cameroon (1960), West Cameroon did not allow the two world wars to separate brotherly peoples. Beyond a rallying effort, this act was already the prefiguration of a desire to want to build together a country where all Cameroonians are proud to live together. But reunification, which is only a stage in the process of building a Nation-State, that is to say, a highly integrated country where all Cameroonians are aware of belonging to the same homeland and being one people still has to face a harsh reality which is none other than the consequence of its colonial past.
Also read : Crise dans le Nord-Ouest et le Sud-Ouest Cameroun : quand le désir d'une autonomisation menace l'unité nationale.
West Cameroon agrees to join East Cameroon on the condition that the country becomes a federal State because he (West Cameroon) was at the school of British federalism. Eastern Cameroon, which is a product of the French centralized system, accepts the rallying without really intending to remain in federalism for a long time. It was a strategic choice.
From federalism to the Unitary State
The two great powers marked with their imprints the two Territories which were under their authority. The impact of their influence is, and always has been, noticeable. The Republic of Cameroon, which is today a decentralized unitary State, still bears within it, on the one hand, the stigmata of a break with a federal system inherited from British colonization, and on the other hand, those of a system centralized inherited from French domination. The change of name that occurred following the reunification, namely the Federal Republic of Cameroon, was only the consequence of the different forms of governance that were operated in the two parties. If the primary objective was really to unite the two Cameroons, British Cameroon would not have been asked to choose between allying with the already independent French Cameroon, or with Nigeria (October 1, 1960). And even if the English Cameroon of the colonial era under the authority of the British and the UNO chose to join Nigeria, the former French Cameroon, which became the Republic of Cameroon on January 1, 1960, would have claimed this Territory as being his own; if this scenario occurred, it would no doubt have led to an even bloodier clash than the one between Cameroon and Nigeria which were discussing the sovereignty of the Bakassi peninsula (1994 – 2009).
The League of Nations mandate just as UNO supervision, was not intended to unite the Cameroonians but to separate them. The wise decision to come together was the beginning of a long road strewn with obstacles that are not insurmountable. Cameroon's march towards greater joy in belonging to one and the same Nation must continue.
English|French
