65 Years On: Why October 1 Means More to Anglophone Cameroonians

Today marks 65 years since the English-speaking regions of Cameroon (formerly Southern Cameroons) got independence by joining the Republic of Cameroon in a two-state federation.

For the past eight years, Ambazonians—Cameroonians seeking the secession of the two regions—have commemorated October 1 as Independence Day, asserting their claim to independence from the Republic of Cameroon.

In the country’s eight French-speaking regions, however, today is just an ordinary Thursday; children go to school, labourers go to work, and civil servants go about their duties. The day holds no particular significance for most of the country.

But in the Anglophone regions, it has been marked by general lockdown of activities, heightened security operations, and parades by Ambazonia fighters.

While the present-day commemorations by Ambazonia separatists began with the 2017 declaration of the “Independence of Ambazonia” by Julius Sisiku Ayuk Tabe, October 1 has its roots 65 years ago, when the two regions entered a political union with their then French-speaking neighbours.

On February 11, 1961, the English-speaking regions, then administered by Britain as a UN Trust territory, voted in a plebiscite to join Cameroon instead of Nigeria. They had been given only two options: join the Federal Republic of Nigeria or the Republic of Cameroon. There was no third option for independence.

They chose Cameroon.

The agreement was finalised through what is today known as the Foumban Conference (July 1961), where leaders of Southern Cameroons—later known as West Cameroon after joining the Republic of Cameroon —signed an agreement to function as a two-state federation.

On October 1, the name Southern Cameroons was officially changed to West Cameroon to mark the official reunification with French Cameroon, which became East Cameroon.

A Union Far From Ideal

Over the past 65 years, successive Cameroonian leaders have consistently violated the terms of the Foumban agreement that held the two states together, some Anglophone elites and historians say.

It became pronounced in 1972 with the abolition of the federal structure and the change of the country’s name from the Federal Republic of Cameroon to the United Republic of Cameroon.

Many Anglophone elites at the time warned that this completely violated the constitution governing the union and undermined West Cameroon.

Over the years, Anglophone elites believe this has been exactly what has happened. From language to the legal system, education, and political structures, the structures of former Southern Cameroons have been gradually dismantled, many Anglophones believe.

Attempts to Prevent Erosion

Anglophone elites have taken actions to prevent further erosion of their identity. From writing protest letters to the governments of former President Ahmadou Ahidjo and President Paul Biya, they organised two All Anglophone Conferences in 1993 and 1994 where they adopted proposals.

Chief among their proposals was a return to the initial two-state federation, which they saw as ideal for protecting the Anglophone system and its values from being eroded by the majority French regions.

But the government of President Paul Biya rejected the proposals.

In 2016, lawyers and teachers, the top intellectuals of the Anglophone community, had had enough with “marginalisation”. They downed their chalks and dropped their wigs in protest against the marginalisation of the Anglophone legal and educational subsystems.

Their sit-down strike was later joined by the wider Anglophone masses in massive, peaceful street protests across the two regions.

But the government cracked down brutally on the protests, arrested activists, journalists and opened fire on peaceful protesters. It also banned the Anglophone Civil Society Consortium, which had been dialoguing with authorities in the hope of finding a lasting solution to the crisis, and arrested its leaders—Barrister Agbor Balla and Dr Fontem Neba.

The Birth of Armed Groups

In October 2017, some Anglophones, primarily based abroad, seized advantage of the government’s brutality and reluctance towards dialogue to declare the independence of the North West and South West Regions. They asked citizens to defend their “independence”.

The call was heeded. Ordinary citizens with no formal training or experience in warfare or armed resistance picked up rudimentary weapons and dane guns, marking the birth of armed groups today known as Amba Boys or separatist fighters.

On November 30, 2017, President BIya declared war on separatists, officially marking the birth of the current armed conflict which has claimed more than 6,000 lives.

Over the past years, separatists have commemorated October 1 as “Independence Day”, with armed fighters often staging parades and marches from their hideouts.

For Ambazonians, October 1 is Independence Day, for Anglophone Cameroonians, it is the day their history changed forever but for the rest of Cameroon, it is an ordinary Thursday.