Political Discourse on Southern Cameroons Security Situation, 1959 -1961: A Historical Appraisal
- December 10, 2019
- Posted by: RSIS
- Categories: IJRISS, Social Science
International Journal of Research and Innovation in Social Science (IJRISS) | Volume III, Issue XI, November 2019 | ISSN 2454–6186
Political Discourse on Southern Cameroons Security Situation, 1959 -1961: A Historical Appraisal
Richard Talla Tanto, Julius Nkeh
Faculty of Arts, The University of Bamenda, Cameroon
Abstract:-This article examines the pre-plebiscite and the post plebiscite discourse that culminated into the creation of a police force in West Cameroon. The discussions which gained added impetus from 1959 was part of Southern Cameroons quest for security guarantees in the context of the struggle for statehood. The paper argues that Southern Cameroons debated her security situation from a disadvantageous standpoint and finally attained independence with a police force that could not adequately address security challenges and so had to be succored by the gendarmes from the Republic of Cameroun. British partial commitment to the task of creating an indigenous police force for Southern Cameroons, lack of cohesiveness amongst West Cameroonian politicians and the influence of President Ahmadou Ahidjo informed the conclusions of Southern Cameroons’ security debate.
I. INTRODUCTION
Southern Cameroons that later became West Cameroon consequent upon the 11 February 1961 plebiscite, was administered as part of Nigeria, where, the outbreak of the First World War had coincided with the crystallisation of British rule. Before 1914, the British colonial administration had established the first police in 1861 in their Nigerian Protectorate. The one-hundred-man contingent was a consular protection force based in Lagos, which later became known as the “Hausa Force”. This appellation stemmed from the fact that the force comprised of recruits from the Hausa ethnic group originally from the North, and who were freed slaves, resident in Lagos. According to H.S. Freeman, Governor of the Lagos Colony:
The men [Hausa] being from the interior and professing the Mussalman religion (Islam) are hated by the natives of these parts who have hitherto only known them as slaves. They are disliked also by Europeans as being of a more independent character than the government to depend on, and if properly managed, will prove a valuable resource to this settlement.
