History

The Portuguese arrived in Cameroon in 1472. There is very little that is documented about Cameroon before 1472. For the next 400 years slave trade was the mainstay of the economy like the rest of West Africa. Even though pioneers, the Portuguese did very little to colonise Cameroon left an open field for the British. However, they strangely dilly-dallied and lost out to the Germans by five days. This was in the year 1884.

At the end of World War I, the League of Nations split Cameroon into three parts - 80% of the territory went to the French and the British were given the Southern Cameroons and Northern Cameroons. The latter is now a part of Nigeria. Neither the French nor the Britsh did much for Cameroon economically or otherwise. Very soon the British sold their part to the Germans. The Germans were stripped of their territory by the Allies after World War II.

By 1960, Cameroon was free of colonial powers. But it reeled under local politics and bloodshed. Finally the French troops stepped in. They declared a state of emergency and eight months later Ahmadou Ahidjo, a northerner and fervent Muslim, became President of Cameroon. Ahidjo’s reign was marked by brutality and suppression but he invested wisely in the economic development of the nation.

Ahidjo resigned in 1982, and handed over the reigns of Cameroon to his Prime Minister Paul Biya. There were many revolts and rebellions troubling the nation. But Biya remains President till today making him one of the longest serving leaders of an African nation.