President Ahidjo Declared June 1, 1961 A Day Of Mourning

President Ahidjo Declared June 1, 1961 A Day Of Mourning

• The mourning was over the loss Of Northern Cameroons to Nigeria
• Why Ahidjo was confident that Northern Cameroons would vote for Reunification

Thursday last week was June 1, 2023. 62 years ago, that is June 1, 1961, the day was observed in the Republic of Cameroon as The Day of Mourning. President Ahidjo declared June 1, 1961 The Day of Mourning following the loss of Northern Cameroons to Nigeria at the February 11, 1961. While British Southern Cameroons voted to achieve independence by joining the Independent Republic of Cameroon, British Northern Cameroons instead voted to achieve independent by joining the Independent Federation of Nigeria. President Ahidjo who was red with anger over the result of the plebiscite in Northern Cameroons, accused the United Kingdom of fowl-play.

Many Cameroonians know very little or nothing about the former British Northern Cameroons which was part of us, and thus part of our history, and which is today integrated into Nigeria. Considering that we are at the beginning of the month of June, The Mentor In this article re-visits June 1, 1961, The Day of Mourning, and also why President Ahidjo was confident before the February 11 Plebiscite that British Northern Cameroons would vote for Reunification, to the point that after the election he went to the extent of accusing Britain of electoral malpractice. This is part of our history.

February 11, 1961 Plebiscite

The February 11, 1961 Plebiscite in the then British Northern Cameroons like that of the British Southern Cameroons, were both organized by the United Nations. Also, the question that was put to voters in British Northern Cameroons at the plebiscite was the same as the one that was put to the people of the then British Southern Cameroons at the plebiscite. The difference was in the colours of the ballot boxes.

At the plebiscite in British Northern Cameroons, the question was whether the people wished to achieve independence by joining the independent Federal Republic of Nigeria or by joining the independent Republic of Cameroun.

^A VOTE CAST IN THE GREEN BOX IS A VOTE IN FAVOUR OF ACHIEVING INDEPENDENCE BY JOINING THE INDEPENDNET FEDERATION OF NIGERIA. A VOTE CAST IN THE BLACK BOX IS A VOTE IN FAVOUR OF ACHIEVING INDEPENDENCE BY JOINING THE INDEPENDENT REPUBLIC OF CAMEROON*.

The result of the February 11, 1961 Plebiscite in Northern Cameroons stood as follows: 146,296 votes in favour of joining Nigeria, and only 96,659 votes in favour of reunifying (reunification) with the Republic of Cameroon. Though the result of the plebiscite was clear as regard the democratic choice of the people of the Northern Cameroons for union with the Federal Republic of Nigeria, President Ahmadou Ahidjo of the Cameroon Republic found the situation inadmissible. He did not believe that was truly what his brothers of North Cameroons had opted for.

So furious was Ahidjo over the result of the plebiscite in Northern Cameroons that his Government resolved to drag the United Kingdom (Great Britain) to an International court over the conduct of the election. The Cameroon Government alleged that Britain intimidated voters in Northern Cameroons to vote in favour of union with Nigeria, though, there was no incontrovertible evidence to substantiate that allegation. The British plea to the court was that the case was “out of order”. Suffice to say that the court ruled in favour of the United Kingdom, by dismissing the allegation that was raised by the Cameroon Government.

Meanwhile after the Cameroon Republic lost the case, the way was now cleared for the UN General Assembly to officially adopt a Resolution to end the Trusteeship in British Northern Cameroons. A Resolution was thus adopted fixing June 1, 1961 as the day that the Trusteeship would end in British Northern Cameroons with its incorporation into Nigeria. But so disappointed was President Ahidjo that he declared June 1, 1961, the Day Of Mourning in the Cameroon Republic, for the loss of Northern Cameroons to Nigeria.

Why Ahidjo Was Confident Northern Cameroons Would Vote For Reunification

What had made President Ahmadou Ahidjo to perhaps wrongly nurtured hope that British Northern Cameroons would vote in favour of reunification with the Cameroon Republic at the February 11, 1961 Plebiscite, was the result of the first plebiscite that was conducted by the same United Nations in at that territory back in November 1959. It should be noted that unlike the former British Southern Cameroons where the UN conducted only one plebiscite, that of February 11, 1961, the UN conducted two plebiscites in the former British Northern Cameroons.

A UN Mission that visited British Northern Cameroons in 1958 reported that the situation in Northern Cameroons was characterized by uncertainty as to where the people wanted to belong. For one thing too, Nigeria was soon to gain its independence from the United Kingdom, precisely on January 1, 1960. The UN Mission thus proposed to the UN General Assembly that a plebiscite should be conducted in Northern Cameroons for the people to decide whether they wished to join an independent Nigeria.

The UN General Assembly accepted the proposal and fixed the plebiscite for November 1959. The question that was crafted and put to the people of Northern Cameroons was whether they would like to join an independent Nigeria, or whether they wanted a postponement of the decision to a later date. Even though the UN delegation that visited Northern Cameroons in 1958 went away with the impression that the situation out there was uncertain as regard where the people wanted to belong, both Nigeria and United Kingdom on the other hand thought they had a better understanding of the hand writing on the wall in Northern Cameroons. They were confident that the people of that territory would vote to join the Independent Republic of Nigeria.

Result Of Plebiscite Shocked UK And Nigeria

But just like the result of the 1961 Plebiscite in Northern Cameroons that shocked President Ahidjo and his Government of the Cameroon Republic, the result of the November 1959 Plebiscite was like a bombshell to the authorities of Nigeria and the United Kingdom. At the plebiscite 70,401 votes went in favour of postponing the decision to a later date, while only 42,707 votes were in favour of joining an independent Republic of Nigeria.

Meanwhile like Nigeria, the Cameroon Republic (French Cameroon) gained its independence from France on January 1, 1960, with Ahmadou Ahidjo as the first President of the republic. Ahido Government’s read in the result of the November 1959 Plebiscite that was conducted in Northern Cameroons, that the people of that territory were in favour of reunification with the Cameroon Republic. This was what they understood by the decision of the people Northern Cameroons to have voted against joining Nigeria, and voting in favour of making a decision later.

Meanwhile following the outcome of the plebiscite in Northern Cameroons in November 1959, the UN General Assembly then decided that the second and last plebiscite would be held in Northern Cameroons on the same day with that in Southern Cameroons, and that the same question would be put to the people of the two territories. That plebiscite took place on February 11, 1961, and contrary to the great expectations of President Ahidjo and his Government, the people of Northern Cameroons instead voted in favour of joining Nigeria.

But why did the results of the two plebiscites that the United Nations organised in British Northern Cameroons, go contrary to the expectations of the authorities of UK and Nigeria as regard the November 1959 Plebiscite, and the authorities of the Cameroon Republic as regard the February 11, 1961 Plebiscite? The Mentor will in an analysis in the course this month, look at what happened, as well as the lessons that can be learnt from that by the people of the Northwest and Southwest Regions of Cameroon, over the issue of unity between the people of the two regions.