Abuse of Human Rights In Southern Cameroons By Britain, Nigeria And The UN

The Anglophone Problem in Cameroon

It is important to emphasize that Nigeria and Britain with the complicity of the UN intentionally refused to give Southern Cameroonians the opportunity to participate in administering their country and to develop themselves educationally, economically and socially like their francophone brothers. This is an aspect of abuse of human rights for which Cameroonians accuse Nigeria, Britain and the UN.

The UN herself a watch dog over Southern Cameroons may find it difficult today to go over a mess committed by her; that is to review the activities of Britain and Nigeria in Southern Cameroons. The International community should take judicious note and help Cameroonians in general and Anglophone Cameroonians in particular to speak out. Britain had much to gain from Nigeria and as such abandoned Southern Cameroons to Nigeria to colonize. This was why Britain never cared to know what Nigeria was doing in Southern Cameroons. In 1961 when British and Nigerian citizens were fleeing from the civil service in Southern Cameroons en mass, the UN on her part was passive, as such failed to put in place an organ to ensure that Southern Cameroons revenue in the Nigerian Treasury was transferred to West Cameroon.

Britain and Nigeria treated Southern Cameroons as an enemy territory in 1961

One month to reunification of Southern Cameroons and La Republique du Cameroun in 1961, Her Majesty’s Government treated Southern Cameroons as an enemy territory, by abruptly withdrawing all British and Nigeria Civil Servants from the Civil Service and closed down all British firms. J. O. Field is said to have personally supervised his office messenger Ewonkem to burn all files from his office before leaving. The UN did not bring in an independent body to supervise British and Nigerian citizens as they abandon their offices, considering the fact that Cameroonians were yet to be recruited to take over these offices. Fleeing British and Nigerian Civil Servants might have taken along by looting anything they could lay hands on.

The way British and Nigeria Civil Servants left Southern Cameroons, can only be compared to combatants escaping from an enemy zone. There were indications that Britain and Nigeria expected immediate failure by those they were leaving behind. They were aware that there was none of them with the expertise to restructure a new civil service. Note should be taken of the fact that at independence the Nigerian Civil Service was so advanced but British Civil Servants in Nigeria did not abandon it en mass as they did in Southern Cameroons.