Hi segun
This is such a big topic, it is very hard to reduce it. I lived in Cameroon for 2 years, and part of me never left. I loved the country, my time there, and became an Africanist because of it.
The language difference is part of a much larger set of economic and political differences. Even religious, since the anglo side wasn't generally catholic, as were the francos of central Cameroon; and the muslims were both in the west and the north. It was possible during the years of ahidjo for these very different regions to find ways to work together to build a "cameroun uni," but biya built on the central region, his region, at the expense of the west. Even earlier that had also happened; the rebellion against French rule and neo-colonial rule was centered in the west. The anger of west Cameroon has been augmented a lot in recent years, opposition political parties centered there have been squashed by a weakened regime (weakened by imf/world bank financial assumptions of power), etc
I have no idea if we have a region that would want to secede, to join Nigeria whose own corrupt development of oil doesn't attract people. Nonetheless, one felt for a long time the ties between igbos and bamilekes, between Biafra and w Cameroon.
It might be interesting to compare this state with others like togo, formerly german colonies that were split (like Tanganyika) after german colonialism ended, and the French and brits divided up the lands.
The ottoman empire was the same, yielding the anomalies of French influence in Lebanon and Syria, british rule over Iraq, Palestine, along with the long time condominium of sudan and Egypt. Then French to the west in the Maghreb,
French, british, French british, French british. And there is Cameroon, with the old old german rr tracks outside the university which built on top of those lands a francophone university, and an African lit dept headed by the Anglophone fonlon.
Are all those traces still functioning today, as you suggest? Probably in complicated, indirect ways that are very hard to trace. Remember ahidjo, put in power by the French, was a man of the muslim north.
Not unlike Nigeria on independence, no?
How much sense does it make to understand a Cameroon or a Nigeria of today in terms of the inheritance of what came about with independence?
I defer to all you historians to answer that difficult, fascinating question.
ken
Kenneth Harrow
Dept of English and Film Studies
http://www.english.msu.edu/people/faculty/kenneth-harrow/
From: usaafricadialogue <usaafricadialogue@googlegroups.com> on behalf of segun ogungbemi <seguno2013@gmail.com>
Reply-To: usaafricadialogue <usaafricadialogue@googlegroups.com>
Date: Friday 5 January 2018 at 17:17
To: usaafricadialogue <usaafricadialogue@googlegroups.com>
Subject: Re: USA Africa Dialogue Series - Anglophone "Liberation" in Cameroon: Only Pathological Cowards Exploit Children as Weapons
Ken,
Upon reflection, you are quite right.Yes, they made the choice to join Cameroon because at that time most of the people were not so much enlightened unlike today.
The people did not know the power of language. Humans tend to have closer relationship with the people they speak the same language. There is no way, in my view, the French speaking Cameroonians will not relate much better with their own than the English speaking Cameroonians.
But nothing stops the English speaking Cameroonians from having a rethink of their union with the Cameroon and reverse it.
That is if they really want to have peace and development.
Segun Ogungbemi
On Jan 5, 2018 9:30 PM, "Kenneth Harrow" <harrow@msu.edu> wrote:
Oh, segun. You sure want to open this one up!! Originally, as in when they voted to split up, one province going to nigeria and the other two to cameroon—which they voluntarily joined?
Or after the wars over the oil fields on the coast?
Or,… hmmm, let's leave it to Cameroonians to answer that "originally."
ken
Kenneth Harrow
Dept of English and Film Studies
http://www.english.msu.edu/people/faculty/kenneth-harrow/
From: usaafricadialogue <usaafricadialogue@googlegroups.com> on behalf of Segun Ogungbemi <seguno2013@gmail.com>
Reply-To: usaafricadialogue <usaafricadialogue@googlegroups.com>
Date: Friday 5 January 2018 at 10:54
To: usaafricadialogue <usaafricadialogue@googlegroups.com>
Cc: <Camnetwork@yahoogroups.com>, <ACCDF@yahoogroups.com>, <cameroonforum@yahoogroups.com>, <Africans_Without_Borders@yahoogroups.com>
Subject: Re: USA Africa Dialogue Series - Anglophone "Liberation" in Cameroon: Only Pathological Cowards Exploit Children as Weapons
Must they remain in Cameroon? Can't they come back and join Nigeria where they originally belonged?
Segun Ogungbemi.
Sent from my iPhone
On Jan 5, 2018, at 4:22 PM, msjoe21st via USA Africa Dialogue Series <usaafricadialogue@googlegroups.com> wrote:<26168140_2177529222272568_8774924559703836121_n.jpg>
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