Opinion: 1st October: Southern Cameroons ‘Independence’ Day?

By Mingang Oscar Kongadzem

Today is 1st October, a day that in the past was usually observed only by members of the Southern Cameroons National Council (SCNC) but which in October 2017, was massively observed by the people of the North West and South West regions (which formed former Southern Cameroon) as the independence day of this area.

Some historical context is necessary to establish here. First of all, there were two Cameroons that came together to form the present Cameroon as we know it. French Cameroun got her independence from France on 1 January 1960 and the UN told residents of the then British Cameroons to choose how they wanted to get independence. Those in British Northern Cameroons opted to unite with Nigeria and today form part of the Sarduna province of Nigeria.

Those of the Southern Cameroons (today’s North West and South West regions) opted to join Cameroon on the BASIS OF A TWO-STATE FEDERATION. This was on 1 October 1961.

Some scholars have argued that Cameroon actually has two independence dates – 1 January for French Cameroun and 1 October for the Anglophones.
Even during the 50th anniversary of the reunification in Buea, current President Paul Biya acknowledged this. Addressing audiences in a televised broadcast from Buea
he said:
“History has not forgotten that Buea was the headquarters of West Cameroon. History has not forgotten that Buea was the capital of Southern Cameroons. And history has not forgotten that Buea was once the capital of German Cameroon…”

So what has changed one might be tempted to ask given the endless killings being perpetrated by forces under Biya’s command? Killings in the North West and South West regions because people there dared to say the very things that the President himself acknowledged back then.
Has history now changed? Or was it a lie in the first place?

The website of the Presidency of Cameroon states the following:

“Cameroon has no single date of independence. The United Nations Trust Territory known as French Cameroun achieved independence from France on 1 January 1960, and British Southern Cameroons changed status from a Trusteeship under British administration to a federated state within Cameroon on 1 October 1961…”

This begs the question ‘Why aren’t both independence dates observed?’ Could it be that the predominantly Francophone government understands that if they choose to celebrate 1 January, they would be obliged to also allow Anglophones to observe 1 October, something they are not comfortable doing? This would imply that they are trying to destroy history or at least deny it.

There is no excuse for why 1st October makes the regime so uncomfortable when the fact of the matter is that TWO Cameroons came together and formed the Federal Republic of Cameroon. This later became the “United Republic of Cameroon” (acknowledging that two parties came together) and somehow after the discovery of oil in the South West, it was hurriedly declared simply as “The Republic of Cameroon” – the name which just French Cameroun had at her independence. This implied that the former Southern Cameroons had simply disappeared or been ‘swallowed’ whole by French Cameroon. This ‘swallowing’ up was confirmed even in national symbols such as the flag that used to have two stars and the one star for the Southern Cameroons was done away with and replaced with just one.

This is one of the reasons why Anglophone Cameroonians keep feeling like they do not belong. Because their very identity is being erased systematically by the powers that be.

The day can be observed and will be an added strength (not a threat) to Cameroon’s unity in diversity.