Introduction to the New Edition
The
first edition of this book titled: The Golden
Age of Southern (West) Cameroon, was locally published ten years ago in
Bamenda, North West Region, Cameroon, a country with a poor reading culture.
This is further worsened among the Anglophones by the fact that they constitute
by far smaller population than their Francophone compatriots. For that reason,
it is a well established adage that if you want to preserve a secret, or to
keep anything away from public knowledge in Cameroon, the safest place to do so
is within the pages of a book. As proof of this, I encountered a friend recently,
who argued fiercely and passionately about all that he thought went wrong with
the 1961 Plebiscite and the subsequent Foumban Constitutional Conference, which
he held accountable for all the Anglophone woes. Sadly, however, much of what
he said did not square up with the facts on record, but was based on conspiracy
theories, fallacies and sheer conjecture. In a bid to help him broaden his
views so as to buttress his arguments on the topic, I politely suggested for
him to read pertinent literature on the subject, notably the book by John
Percival.[1] His reaction was typical:
“How big is the book?” and next, “How many pages is it?” Needless to say I was
greatly disappointed especially as he is popular and influential elite whose
opinion is highly respected in the community because of his eloquence and
forceful personality.
As
pointed out, The Golden Age of Southern (West)
Cameroon was published a decade ago with a little over one thousand copies.
However, barely five years later, they had run out of stock in the few
bookshops, where they were on sale with requests for more, even for use as a
textbook in secondary schools and colleges. This was in spite of the fact that
it had neither been formally launched nor publicly advertised anywhere; it
simply passed from hand to hand or by word of mouth. Yet, there were those
readers, who further requested if possible, for it to be translated into French
given that our Francophone compatriots are either poorly informed, care little
about who and what the Anglophones are or, much less, accept the existence of
Anglophones as a unique polity within the country, or still more distressing recognise
the legitimate existence of an “Anglophone problem”.
“Anglophones”
or “Southern Cameroonians”
Many are those who regard the “Anglophones” or
“Southern Cameroonians” and their complaints as something of a curiosity, a
minority group like all the other ethnic groups in Cameroon; but generally as a
sort of nuisance, an insatiable lot, who do not deserve any more attention than
they already have been accorded. Consequently, the prevalent grievances about
their: second class citizenship, marginalisation, assimilation and
annexationist tendencies of Anglophone Southern Cameroonians by the ruling Francophone elite are simply
incomprehensible, even to some of the top grade administrators and
intellectuals. It is regrettable that with the passage of time especially after
the 1972 debacle, memories have waned or have been so warped and politicised
that Southern Cameroonians or Anglophones are increasingly regarded and equated
with large ethnic groups elsewhere in the country on the basis of size
requiring no extra attention than these others.
Historically, this is sad and much like playing the ostrich over a
nagging problem that cannot be ignored or wished away.
This
attitude totally negates the indisputable, historical fact that Southern Cameroons enjoyed full internal
autonomy or Self Government for seven
years; in actual fact, four long years ahead of French Cameroon, its size notwithstanding. For that matter, it had a
vibrant House of Assembly, a House of Chiefs (or Senate), an independent
Judiciary, an ideal Public Service with a government and ministers presided
over by an Executive Prime Minister. Of equal, indelible significance is the
process by which Southern Cameroons attained its political autonomy, which did
not come on a platter of gold as every iota of its identity was critically
contested. Unfortunately, these facts are hardly done justice to in our national
history. Reunification, the complicated
process by which Southern Cameroons chose to join Republic of Cameroon was a
massive international affair endorsed by the UN, the international community
and sanctioned by over 70% of the electorate in a UN organised plebiscite,
declared as exemplary; free, fair and transparent.
These are documented facts of history that
cannot by any means or for any reason, simply be minimised or trampled on as
they are bound bubble up and out sooner or later. The surprise therefore, is
how the entire Federal Republic of Cameroon could have been made to vote in the
1972 referendum over an issue which ten years previously, in February 1961 had
involved only a fifth or 20% of the entire Federal Republic of Cameroon. This
is all the more embarrassing given that more than fifty years later, there
still remain huge gaps about Anglophone, “Southern Cameroons” in the minds of
the vast majority of the Francophones in the country. This sort of game cannot usher
Cameroon as a modern democratic nation united not in “false” uniformity but in
diversity far into a stable future in a world that daily shrinks into a global
village in the face of modern technology and infusion of radical ideologies.
These
issues were handled in the first edition and are further elaborated upon in the
present volume, which for emphasis is titled: The Golden Age of Southern Cameroons - Prime Lessons for Cameroon. It
was during the period of its Golden Age, that the foundation was laid
for it to acquire the status of a Quasi Federal Territory within the Federation
of Nigeria. Appellations of the North and South West have changed from
Provinces to Regions but they are used interchangeably in this volume depending
on whether reference is being made to the period before 12 November 2008, when
the decree replacing the Provinces with Regions was promulgated, after, or even earlier when by a simple decree, the name reverted from the United Republic of
Cameroon (URC) to the pre-reunification appellation “Republic of Cameroon”
which French Cameroon adopted at independence in 1960.[2]
On
the whole, this volume has extensively been enriched in quality and
significantly enlarged in size to cater for areas which readers indicated needed
amplification. This is precisely the case with the elaboration on the dubious role
the British played initially as the Mandatory and later as Trusteeship
Authority over the Territory, its obstinate insistence to administer Southern
Cameroons as an “integral” part of its Nigerian Colony from 1916 -1961 and,
especially the role of Nigerians (Ibo) within that unfortunate arrangement.
Consequently, additional light has been thrown on their function as the “black
colonial masters” by proxy, for Britain in Southern Cameroons, one that
backfired tremendously. However, the greatest significance in this edition is
the additional chapter on the “Invincibility of the Southern Cameroons Spirit”.
This comes with an analysis of its anatomy, emphasising its indefatigability
and prowess – the greater the suppression, exclusion or attempts at assimilation
by the Francophone majority, the more resolute the spirit.
The Nigerians (Ibos) with British assistance
had earlier tried this trick and failed woefully as ultimately, the Southern
Cameroonian choice of re-unification with Republic of Cameroon, was practically
a decisive sanction against Britain and Nigeria. Also exploited and added to
the appendices are pertinent extracts of the declassified British secret papers
especially those dealing with Southern Cameroons during the administration of
Dr. John Ngu Foncha, 1959-1961, when the struggle towards the plebiscite was
fiercest with the British covertly and openly backing the opposition KNC/KPP
alliance and facilitating carpet crossings to topple the KNDP re-unificationist
government. This unveils stinking filth about British colonial administration. That
is why the enlarged product is not merely a revised edition but actually, a brand
new edition renamed: The Golden Age of
Southern Cameroons: Vital Lessons for Cameroon, which better reflects its
new essence, content and outlook.
“The
Golden Age of the Southern Cameroons Civil Service”
It
will be recalled that it was Rev. Father George Nkuo, then, Rector of Buea Town
Catholic Parish, Buea Diocese, whose rousing homily on the “Golden Age of the
Southern Cameroons Civil Service,” inexplicably read like pages taken out of
the manuscript I had prepared for a volume with that title and impinged on the
production of the first edition of this book ten years ago. It is amazing that
barely one year later, precisely on 8 July 2006; he was elevated to the
Episcopacy as Bishop of Kumbo, the Diocese, which sprang out of the famous
Shisong Parish inaugurated by the Sacred Heart Missionaries in 1913.[3] Rev. Fr. George Nkuo in
his inspiring sermon at the funeral of Late Mr. Ernest Kalla Lottin in Buea on
Saturday 13 November 2004 graphically described him as belonging to: "The
generation of civil servants, who despite their human failings had discipline;
where people were paid for work done with commitment for our Fatherland, where
corruption and embezzlement were heavily
reduced", a nostalgic period, which the priest maintained could hardly be
challenged as: "The golden age
of the civil service in Cameroon". The image he recommended for the new
generation of civil servants as typified by the life of Mr. Lottin, was that of
people:
Who cannot be bought; whose word is their
bond; who put character above wealth; who possess opinion and a will; who are
larger than their vocations; who do not hesitate to take chances.... who will
be as honest in small things as in great things; who will make no compromise
with wrong; whose ambitions are not confined to their own selfish desires; who
will not say they do something because everybody else does it ...who are not
ashamed to stand for the truth when it is unpopular; who can say 'no' with emphasis
although the rest of the world says 'yes"[4]
Every
syllable of the powerful homily seemed to strike a common cord with what I had
separately and independently written. It was as if the priest and I had been
reading from the same song sheet and he had torn the key note from my
manuscript – all, far too providential to be regarded and dismissed as a mere
coincidence. In fact, it was divine providence; a “mission” challenging me to
bring out in a more elaborate and forceful manner, what I had written simply as
a chapter in my book in case this seminal work never had a chance to be exposed
for the benefit of posterity by anybody. It directly reminded me of Chinua
Achebe’s timeless novel: Things Fall
Apart[5],
and his apt observation on being interviewed on CNN, that it was a book
waiting to be written if not by him, then by some other person.
Thus
Shisong (Kumbo) is the foundation of the Catholic Church in Bamenda Division,
precisely the entire North West Region at the time, which presently comprises
two Dioceses and some eighty Catholic Parishes besides the numerous Fields and
Congregations of the Presbyterian Church in Cameroon and the Cameroon Baptist
Convention. Politically, it is one of the ten Regions of Cameroon comprising
seven divisions administered by a governor with headquarters at bamenda.
However,
unlike positive note on the elevation of Rev. Father George Nkuo to the
Episcopate, the same thing cannot be said of His Excellency, Rt. Hon. Chief
Ephraim Inoni, erstwhile Prime Minister, on the political plane. He raised
great hopes, when he introduced the audacious ‘Operation Antelope’ programmed to root out bribery and corruption
which had become deeply entrenched in the civil service, where some dishonest
workers dubiously earned multiple salaries and bled the government coffers white.
This reform received universal acclamation and raised great expectations.
Regrettably, not much seems to have changed while he himself fell victim to a
new anti-corruption outfit, the National Anti-Corruption Commission (CAN)
established by the government and, ironically, presently together with dozens of other high
profiled government and parastatal officials is behind bars on alleged charges
of embezzlement of public funds. In fact, several more of these reforms have
been instituted to fight the scourge of corruption in Cameroon since then,
generally with feeble results as corruption has eaten deep into the core of the
society and has become near indestructible.
Southern
Cameroons: Moral Fibre
History per se does not set out teach any
specific lessons, but taken as the ‘collective memory’ or wisdom of a people
and, a record of the good, the bad and
the ugly, we can always extract whatever moral applies to our particular
circumstance from it: what to emulate, to retain or to avoid and discard. In
the course of this study for example, some startling points have come to light.
Principally, it has established the reality that Southern Cameroons does
undeniably have a unique, glorious past containing an authentic indigenous
culture shaped by appreciable contributions from British and German colonial
experiences greatly sanctified by Christian ethics from which enormous hope and
inspiration could be drawn. Among the main actors both in the public and
private sectors were heroes and heroines in the art of nation-building, noble
characters whose lives could become role models. The substance of the much
applauded "Anglo-Saxon" component, meaning specific British
contributions to Cameroon culture was largely through the contributions of the
voluntary agencies on which they relied.
The impact of missionary activity on the other
hand was overwhelming, with Christian ethical values transcending and impacting
on all aspects even on secular life. All over the Territory, the early
Europeans, especially missionaries in their contacts with the people reported
very high moral and ethical standards with exemplary family life that existed
prior to European and missionary contacts.
Rev. Father Michael Moran reporting from Kumbo after touring the entire
Bamenda Region in 1923 stated emphatically that the people had nothing to learn
from Europe about family life; while, administrative officers presiding over
cases in Native Courts, testified that theft and lying were literally unknown[6].
By the
late 50s individual members of Parliament and Government without exception were
also strong leaders and ardent Christians in the Catholic, Presbyterian and
Baptist Churches, where some of them were zealous pastors. This impact
originated from the fact that Voluntary Agencies (the Missions) preponderantly
controlled education at the primary, secondary and teacher training levels,
where Religious Knowledge and Moral Education were emphasised and imparted by
ordinance, as much in Government and Native Authority (NA) schools as in
Mission institutions. The same procedure applied to health and social services
that were largely controlled by these Christian missionary denominations known
as “Voluntary Agencies”. To the extent that these agencies expressly existed
and functioned strictly in accordance with British Colonial Government policy in
its colonies together with their Mandated and later Trust Territories, the
results can therefore be regarded as Anglo-Saxon oriented.
A cursory examination of the apparent
geographical disparities that exist between the North and South-West Regions ultimately
turns out to reveal that these are in fact, complementary and indeed are a spectacular
natural heritage for the mutual benefit of the inhabitants of both Regions and
for Cameroon as a nation. Intimate interactions at the individual, family,
cultural, linguistic, economic, social, political and
spiritual levels, after over a century of co-existence established much more
than a fragile, political, inorganic unity. Rather what has evolved over time
has been a vibrant spiritual union of hearts and minds bonding the people,
which cannot so easily be severed by rabble rousing.
It is an acknowledged notion that the integral unity of the whole,
generally depends on the solidity and harmony of its constituent
parts beginning with the family, through the village and clan up to the
division and region. The processes of devolution taking place in many old
nations of the world including our very own colonial masters; France and
Britain after centuries of highly centralised existence testify to this fact.
National integration "erected" on the foundation of fraternity,
peace, justice and shared common values become solid blocks for building a nation
that can endure. In Southern Cameroons there was a general awareness and
deliberate attempts made to suppress and eliminate the vices of ethnicism,
sectionalism, tribalism, bribery and corruption both in private and public
life. This was deliberately undertaken as a conscious political option by
successive Administrations and by the various Christian denominations operating
in the Territory. Unity was understood to mean not "unity in uniformity"
but "unity in diversity" respecting differences such as exist in a
salad bowl; a concept that was implemented right down to primary school
syllabuses southern Cameroons. There was freedom of choice and action at all
levels.
Although both Britain and Germany, former colonial masters made
appreciable material and political contributions to the evolution of Southern
Cameroons as a distinct political entity, Britain through its Nigerian “black”
colonial overlords was overtly responsible for much of the economic and
administrative underdevelopment and backwardness of the Territory. In the ultimate analysis Britain stifled its
political evolution towards independence. On the other hand, while Christianity
played a primordial role in the rise of the “Golden Age” in Southern Cameroons,
the imposition of the autocratic One-Party system and lay state mentality after
re-unification under President Ahidjo deliberately and systematically muffled
and extinguished it.
Living Lessons of History: Global
An important point about History is its value as
a predictive tool for inculcating national integration. It is a universally
acknowledged fact that has been consciously and judiciously used in the
education syllabuses of great nations to good effect. Our bicultural, bilingual
and multi-ethnic diversity offers a rich background and provides an excellent
source and reason for the institution of a similar approach in the Cameroon
educational system. Properly handled, History could instil mutual
understanding, tolerance and respect for each other's cultural heritage as well
as dedication to duty, transparency and assiduity in public and private
affairs, the foundations of which already existed in the federal constitution.
As a source of wisdom and means of nation building, History comes next only to
the Bible.
However,
unlike the Bible or the Koran, History is neutral and stands neither for nor
against, it is simply a record of the facts as they happened. Consequently, it
is amoral. It does not forgive, and those who fail to learn the lessons of History inevitably pay a high
price for their transgressions. World History is littered with the graves of
countless leaders and individuals such as: Adolf Hitler, Benito Mussolini,
Slobadan Milosevic, Dada Idi Amin, Jean Bedel Bokassa, Marcias Nguema, Samuel
Doe; Mobutu Sesse
Seko Kuku Ngenda Waza Banga (the
Invincible Warrior or ‘the cock who
leaves no chick untouched’) of Zaire and Sani Abacha, who flouted and neglected the lessons and wisdom of
History. We are inescapably bound to, and are an indelible part of our past –
playing the ostrich, and not to know what happened before we were born, simply
because we were not there, is to remain forever a child.
One
decade down memory lane, on the African scene, Ivory Coast (Côte d'I·voire) finally
stabilised; while next door the deadly ‘Ebola epidemic’, a well known but yet
incurable disease crept in and wrought great havoc claiming some five thousand
lives in the neighbouring states of Liberia, Guinea Conakry, and Sierra Leone.
It is only recently that it has been brought under control. In Libya, General
Muammar Ghaddaffi was ultimately flushed out but unfortunately chaos has
brought in ISIS shattering fragile unity that once prevailed in that country;
Tunisia, the root of the “Arab Spring” as well as Egypt are gradually regaining
normalcy; Southern Sudan reverted to serious civil strife with incredible
bloodletting and the situation there is still fluid much like the al Shabab Moslem terrorist insurgency in neighbouring Somalia. Neighbouring
Central African Republic is gradually recovering from the Seleka coalition of rebel Moslem groups locked up in battle against
the Anti-Balaka, a Christian group in
a stubborn and distressing civil war.
In Nigeria
on the other hand, there was another fierce, veiled Moslem Jihadist
insurgency called, ‘Boko Haram’(“Western
Education is Bad”), an incredibly pointless
brutal, terrorist, gang that within a few years overran several North
Eastern Nigerian States frequently foraging into Cameroon burning, maiming,
raping, abducting and viciously murdering thousands of innocent citizens. It is
currently being quelled by a combination of Chadian, Niger, and Malian and
Cameroonian troops after Nigeria had proven itself helpless at their hands.
However, this inglorious story was more than balanced by the fact that for the
first time in its fifty-four years as an independent country, the mighty
Nigerian nation, the biggest and easily the richest on the African continent
organised elections in March 2015 that were universally acknowledged as: free,
fair, transparent and credible, with the incumbent, President Goodluck Jonathan
peacefully and gracefully conceding victory to his opponent Retired General
Mohammadu Buhari. With a popularly elected government now in power there can be
little doubt that the Boko Haram
insurgency would sooner rather than later become a spent force and a matter of
history.
Elsewhere, the Arab Spring has continued to fester and degenerate in: Syria, Yemen
and much worse in Iraq, which is in the throes of the Islamic State of Iraq (ISIS or ISIL), an extremist, brutal,
Jihadist Islamic movement out to re-establish an Islamic Caliphate. They have
proved most intractable but nevertheless are on the wane. In Europe, the
Ukraine suffered a relapse with the balkanisation of its Eastern flank and the
Crimea tearing off with the covert support of Russia. Meanwhile, the number of
migrants from the areas of conflict and unrest in Northern Africa, Somalia,
Eritrea and the Middle East struggling to get across the Mediterranean Sea into
Europe drown in hundreds on a daily basis. This is becoming an intractable
problem for the Europeans powers.
Put on a scale, the decade has witnessed
little positive change in terms of world peace and stability, while internally
in Cameroon, after the Green Tree Agreement, which resolved the Bakassi
Peninsula Boundary Conflict between Nigeria and Cameroon, the latter has
remained fairly peaceful and stable but for the refugee influx and defence
problems accruing from the Boko Haram insurgency
in Nigeria and the Central African Republic civil war draining resources that
otherwise should have gone into development, investment and social services in
the country. This further demonstrates just how much the world has become a
global village especially now that it is taking a combination of: Nigerian,
Chadian, Nigerien and Cameroonian
forces to face the Boko Haram insurgency
in the region.
Triumph for The Rule of Law:
Kofi Anan
l
endorse the historic and matchless advice inscribed in gold given by Kofi Anan,
the iconic UN Secretary General, under whose auspices the Green Tree Agreement
was struck. Nothing in recent Cameroon history approximates this blue print.
The Green Tree Agreement was the formal treaty which resolved the century old bloody, Cameroon-Nigeria
border imbroglio over the oil and natural gas rich Bakassi peninsula.
It transferred authority over Bakassi Peninsula
from Nigeria to Cameroon, a historic process aptly described as: the “Triumph
for the rule of law” by the Secretary-General of the UN, Kofi Anan.
The dispute with roots running as far back as to 1913, 1981, 1994, and 1996
resulted in armed clashes between Nigeria and Cameroon. The dispute was
referred to the International Court of
Justice and on 10 October 2002, the ICJ
ruled in favour of Cameroon. This was the first ever, of its kind on the African
continent. On departing from Cameroon in 2000 and after deep reflection, Kofi Anan the Secretary-General of
the UN, who resolved this intractable problem, in his wisdom, cautioned:
I
leave Cameroon with the impression that there is only one Cameroon,
multilingual and multi-ethnic. I encourage dialogue of these stakeholders. In
every country, there are problems of marginalization. The way it has to be
solved is by dialogue and not by walking away.[7]
The hope
is that the ruling elite in Cameroon hearken to these words of wisdom and
strive to implement them in accordance with the spirit, in which they were delivered.
it had called for dialogue and reason rather than intimidation and obstinacy; an
approach similar to that which led to the Green Tree
Agreement, such that we do not have to endure hurts, wait for another century
and have to go the International Court of Justice at the
Hague.
Footprints on the Sands of Time
As well, there are
innumerable statesmen, nationalists, heroes, heroines and African leaders, who
lived edified lives and have left brilliant footprints worth emulation. Among these are:
Kwame Nkrumah of Ghana, Leopold Sedar Senghor of Senegal, Julius Nyerere of
Tanzania, Jomo Kenyatta of Kenya and living monuments like Nelson Mandela and Frederik Willem de Klerk of South Africa and Kenneth Kaunda of Zambia. Here at home
there are several nationalists, heroes and role models who laid down their
lives for the Cameroon Motherland. These include amongst others; Martin Paul
Samba, Rudolph Douala Manga Bell, Reuben Um Nyobé, Félix Roland Moumié, together with countless missionaries, catechists and pastors and
traditional rulers who sacrificed their lives fighting battles against:
ignorance, disease, poverty, superstition and instilling unity through
fraternal love. To be able to move forward with confidence both at the
individual, collective and national level, we need to be conscious of this fact
and the determination to leave our own footprints in whatever small ways
determined to leave our portion of the
country better than we met it. Indeed this was part of the essence in the
"Truth and Reconciliation Commission" which was initiated in South
Africa and is presently being replicated in many other countries.
For the purpose of inculcating national consciousness, basic knowledge of
our History should not be the preserve of a few; but even that of children who
can remember to celebrate their birthdays and above all; citizens with the civic responsibility to vote and pay taxes
deserve to know something about why and how they do these things and
consequently about their Motherland. This knowledge forms the basis for
informed loyalty, patriotism and nationalism. If we do not know where we are
coming from, we cannot for certain say where we are going to, and even worse,
define our own identity. We are likely to repeat errors of the past, if we do
not know and avoid them and, although we cannot change the past we can use its
knowledge to shape and improve the future.
Civic knowledge therefore is every citizen's
right and should be handled formally in schools as well as informally by the
mass media for the public at large using anecdotes, didactic material, moral
lessons and whatever else works to extol and showcase our historic and
ancestral icons, role models, heroes and heroines. It is perhaps the best and
cheapest way to fight bribery, corruption and election rigging and in the
ultimate analysis, cutting down on expenditure invested on defence, the forces
of law and order and the penitentiary services, following the simple principle
that it is better to “prepare and prevent, than to repair and repent”.
Finally, it should be known that every being,
everything that exists or happens in time and space is an intrinsic part of,
and has its history. Whether we know it or not, whether we love it or hate it,
we live in and are part of the current of history. To ignore this it would be
acting like the foolish cock, which imagines that if it does not crow, the day
will not break. We can either be active "makers" of history leaving
indelible "positive" or "negative" footprints on the sands
of time; its "victims," or simply passive, anonymous elements, but we
cannot exist outside history. Not to
know what happened before we were born is to remain forever a child. History is
about "being" and that is why theologians logically maintain that
God, the Creator of the universe is the indisputable Author of all History.
A
Great Debt of Gratitude
I
could not handle the requests for a reproduction of the book, an updated
version or a practically new version because my hands were full, until the
recent insistence by Prof. Jude Fokwang, Department of Sociology, Regis University, Denver, USA, that there is certainly a
felt need for a second edition of the book to be published internationally and
made available on the internet especially for the Cameroon Diaspora. Other than
the fact that he is exclusively responsible for the onerous task of arranging
for the publication, he has done extensive analytical editing bringing out
several pertinent observations that have helped to edify the contents of the
work. To this extent, he literally qualifies as a co-author. Indeed this
publication is the response to his request, which hopefully may tackle some of
the vital issues, throw further light and ignite positive curiosity on where
further information could be sought to meet outstanding questions. If on the
other hand, the issues raised stimulate constructive debate seeking solutions
to some of the problems that bedevil our beloved motherland, then some of the
objectives of this publication would have been achieved. For the same reason, I
am greatly obliged to Dr. Michael Lang of the History Department of the University
of Bamenda for proofreading the manuscript and making crucial suggestions that
have helped to shape and strengthen its contents.
The
lapse of ten years since the publication of the first edition of this book has
witnessed a colossal erosion of some of the outstanding personalities who
immensely contributed to that publication. The illustrious contributors, who
have passed away include: Mr. John Mofor Ndi, who as a top administrator in
Southern Cameroons, graciously shared with me his rich experiences as well as
rare archival material; Professor Richard Gray, who was much more than a
supervisor and mentor. He literally moulded me into whatever l have become
academically, his memory remains overwhelming; Mrs. Elizabeth Chilver, a great
actress and a monument on Southern Cameroons research in the social sciences,
gave me every imaginable assistance and encouragement till she lost her sight
and finally passed away recently. Toeing
the line, have been Dr. Omer W Yembe, literally an elder brother, role model and
mentor and recently Mr. Nicholas Ade Ngwa, a retired Principal Civil Administrator and an
iconic personality, who played a pivotal role on the socio-political and
administrative podium of Southern Cameroons. He made significant contributions
to the appendix as well as wrote the foreword to the first edition of this
book. Whenever, I needed an objective clarification or a crucial document of
the time, l turned to him for clarification. His recent passing away has been a
monumental loss to this nation. At the personal level, I miss
these gigantic individuals immensely and for Cameroon as a nation, each of them
leaves a yawning gap hard to bridge. We owe it to posterity to exploit and
project as far as possible, whatever visions they bequeathed for use as solid
blocks for positive nation building.
Anthony
Ndi,
Foncha
Street, Nkwen
13
June 2015
[1] John
Percival, The 1961 Cameroon Plebiscite, Choice
Or Betrayal (Langaa Research and Publishing CIG, Mankon, Bamenda) 2008.
[2]
See Article
1 of Decree No. 2008/376 of 12 Nov. 2008. Also, Emmanuel Y Sobseh, Rethinking Citizenship, Politics and
Governance in Cameroon, Global Press, p.93 for the decree of 1984 which
renamed the country reverting to the name French Cameroon adopted at
independence in 1960.
[3] Shisong was the foundation of
Roman Catholicism in the North West Region and seed of the bitterest clashes
between the Missionaries and their zealous followers on the one hand and the
Traditional Establishment backed by the AOs on the other. The Diocese presently
combines the ancient foundations of the faith as well as enormous areas of
primary evangelisation, a good challenge to Bishop Nkuo, who apparently is equal
to the task in bulldozing and breaking new grounds in primary evangelisation
and development.
[4]Homily at the Funeral Mass of
Pa Ernest Kalla Lottin at St. Anthony's Parish Church, Buea Town,
Saturday 13/11/04 by Rev Fr. George Nkuo
[5] The historical novel published in 1958 depicts the conflict and
impact on Igbo society brought about British colonial rule and Christianity.
[6] These stories resonated from Nso to Kom, Bum, Wum, Mamfe and Kumba.
Regardless of the pressure, the people generally insisted on firsthand
knowledge and the truth. These can be found in the accounts of Messrs W E Hunt,
Edward G Hawkesworth, Cantle among others, and later on, those of Collumpton
and Malcolm Milne and john Percival in the late 1950s to early 1961. See
Anthony Ndi, Mill Hill Missionaries and
the State in Southern Cameroons, 1922-72; also Southern West Cameroon
revisited, 1950-1972, Vol 1.
[7] Former UN
Secretary General, Kofi Annan, on the Anglophone Problem in 2000.
