The Neglect And Ramifications Of The Political Opinion Of Chief Nyenti Stephen Eyong And The Cameroon Commoner’s Congress (1959-1961)

International Journal of Research and Innovation in Social Science (IJRISS) | Volume VI, Issue IV, April 2022 | ISSN 2454–6186

The Neglect And Ramifications Of The Political Opinion Of Chief Nyenti Stephen Eyong And The Cameroon Commoner’s Congress (1959-1961)

James Takor Tabe
Depatment Of History, University Of Buea, South West Region, Cameroon

ABSTRACT
The article traces the activities of Cameroon Commoners Congress (CCC) under the auspices of Chief Nyenti Stephen Eyong and reasons for neglect of the political opinion advocated by his party during the 1961 plebiscite in Southern Cameroons. It also examines the political, economic and socio-cultural impact of the neglect on the territory. The article made use of secondary and primary sources for the collection of data. Concerning the secondary sources, use was made of an extensive literature that offered some general and specific information about the article. After critical analyses of archival data, tangible evidence emerged as to the fact that Southern Cameroonian inhabitants be they indigenes or non-indigenes were affected negatively due to this neglect. To ensure an easy understanding, we adopted a conventional analytical pattern. We used both the chronological and topical approaches aimed at chronologically illustrating the political neglect and thematically examining the changes that Southern Cameroons experienced over time. Our findings reveal four central issues: Firstly, that by neglecting political opinion of Chief Nyenti, the independence of Southern Cameroons was neglected also. Secondly, minority former British Southern Cameroons citizens have raised their voices for being marginalized by their majority French Cameroonians counterparts. Thirdly, personal interest took precedence over common interest. Fourthly, the neglected political opinion of Chief Nyenti was regretted because some citizens later called for a separate political entity for Southern Cameroons. The article argues that the neglect of the third option in the plebiscite laid ground for Anglophone problem, mutual suspicion and mistrust between Anglophones and Francophone in Cameroon.

Key Words: Southern Cameroons, Neglect, Reunification, Third option and Independence

A . INTRODUCTION

The most important political outcome of the Eastern Regional crisis of 1953 was the creation of indigenous political parties in Southern Cameroons. The first was the Kamerun National Congress (KNC) led by E.M.L. Endeley and the second was the Kamerun People’s Party (KPP) of P.M Kale and N. N. Mbile. The third was the Kamerun National Democratic Party (KNDP) of J. N. Foncha and A N.Jua founded in 1955 and was an offshoot of the KNC. These parties and their leaders adopted divergent and or conflicting views concerning the political future of the British Southern Cameroons. In concrete terms, they advocated for reunification and integration of the territory. In the contrary, in 1959 Chief Nyenti Stephen Eyong created the Cameroon Commoners Congress (CCC) to neutralize these divergent views by advocating for a separate political entity for Southern Cameroons.

B. THE CREATION of CCC

During the struggle for the independence of Southern Cameroons, it was not common to see an opinion leader who knew the truth and stood so strongly for it, even if it meant sacrificing his own life, or risking the possibility of pulling large crowds of people to himself. It is said, you can fool some people all the time but you cannot fool all the people all the time. Chief Nyenti Stephen Eyong happened to be one of those politicians who could not be fooled all the time. He stood for the truth when he discovered that his colleagues were not speaking the truth about the future of Southern Cameroons. Chief Nyenti intended to right the wrongs of pretentious politicians who wanted to destroy the political future of Southern Cameroons for their personal interests.[ ] In the face of this and taken into consideration that Chiefs exercised power, rule and authority over their people, Chief Nyenti took the courage and determination to create the first ever indigenous political party in the then Mamfe Division called the Cameroon Commoners’ Congress (CCC) on 27th September 1959.

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