User:Joidynw01/British Cameroon

History
The area of present-day Cameroon was claimed by Germany as a protectorate during the "Scramble for Africa" at the end of the 19th century. The German Empire named the territory Kamerun. During World War I, French and British troops invaded the German colony Kamerun (Present day Cameroon) and decided to divide the German colony into two regions. One of the regions would be French administered (French Cameroon) and the other would be British administered ( British Cameroon). The British were more concerned with other areas of Africa, specifically Nigeria. Thus, the French gained a larger portion of Cameroon when the country was divided.

The Colonial Legacy
Under colonial rule, Cameroon was ruled on the basis of indirect rule which allowed natives to execute judicial and executive decisions. The British Cameroon utilized indirect rule because it meant that Cameroonians would comply willingly rather than having to coercively force compliance. This was important because it gave citizens of British Cameroon autonomy and helped to establish “a greater vitality of local political institutions in West Cameroon”. Despite the indirect rule used to invigorate the spirit of citizens, the British found that they had to "approach various developmental programs " because “there was little involvement of the local people  in planning and executing community development programmes.”.

In British Cameroon, European immigrants were subject to the laws of their home country while natives of Cameroon were held to customary law which was typically overseen by British administrators.

The legal system established during the colonial era continues to be implemented, specifically, customary laws and the two legal systems. As the communitiy development programmes grew, there was a large delay in educational efforts because British Cameroon ". . .had no secondary school in the territory.". Secondary education was largely the work of missionaries such as St. Joseph College which opened in Sasse, Buea in 1939.

Independence
As French Cameroon gained independence, “British Cameroon was still under the administration of Nigeria.". French Cameroun became independent, as Cameroun or Cameroon, on January 1, 1960, and Nigeria was scheduled for independence later that same year, which raised question of what to do with the British territory. Southern Cameroon (British Cameroon) was given three options: “unification with Nigeria, unification with east Cameroon (French Cameroon), or status as an independent Southern Cameroon territory within the Commonwealth”. As colonizers of Nigeria, the British desired for the two to be united. After some discussion (which had been going on since 1959), a plebiscite was agreed to and held on 11 February 1961. The Muslim-majority Northern area opted for union with Nigeria, and the Southern area voted to join Cameroon. The driving force for the unification of east and south Cameroon was Ahmadou Ahidjo and the Kamerun National Democratic Party (KNDP) as the French were not concerned because southern Cameroon did not align with the French community established.

Upon reunification with French Cameroon, Anglophone Cameroonians “made up about 25% of the federal population…their French counterparts made up a majority at 80 percent.”

Reunification
During the reunification period, the Anglophone education system began to change as Francophone teachers came to the former British Cameroon. However, because of the language barrier, the teachers would only speak in French or pidgin which hindered the educational development of students. During this period, there began to be preference and domination of the French language as English language certificates became replaced by French certificates.

Despite being united, the Anglophones in Cameroon did not feel represented in government politics. In 1993, the All Anglophone Conference argued at their meeting that “the 1961 Foumban Accord. . .was hardly represented by the Francophone majority who ultimately scrapped the Federal Constitution and replaced it with a Unitary Constitution.”. The Foumban Accord “was the basis  of Cameroon’s post-independence Federal Constitution.”.