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Full-Text Articles in African History

Cameroon's Biya Is Africa's Oldest President: Assessing His 38 Years In Power, Julius A. Amin Mar 2021

Cameroon's Biya Is Africa's Oldest President: Assessing His 38 Years In Power, Julius A. Amin

History Faculty Publications

Cameroon’s President Paul Biya celebrated his 88th birthday recently, making him the oldest president in Africa. He has been in power for 38 years. Birthday celebrations held across the country were met with protest by the opposition, demanding that he step down. So, how has he acquitted himself in office, and what has been his legacy for Cameroon?


President Paul Biya And Cameroon’S Anglophone Crisis: A Catalog Of Miscalculations, Julius A. Amin Jan 2021

President Paul Biya And Cameroon’S Anglophone Crisis: A Catalog Of Miscalculations, Julius A. Amin

History Faculty Publications

The historical literature on Cameroon’s Anglophone Crisis traces its origin to the failure to implement the Foumban Constitutional Agreement. The current study adds a new perspective: Based on extensive field work in Cameroon and a variety of primary and secondary sources, this paper argues that Cameroon’s Anglophone Crisis, which began in October 2016, degenerated into violence because of a catalogue of miscalculations made by President Paul Biya’s regime. It also argues that the crisis has had a devastating impact on the way of life in the Anglophone region. This paper concludes with recommendations on what needs to be done to …


Cameroon’S Relations Toward Nigeria: A Foreign Policy Of Pragmatism, Julius A. Amin Mar 2020

Cameroon’S Relations Toward Nigeria: A Foreign Policy Of Pragmatism, Julius A. Amin

History Faculty Publications

Existing literature argues that the tactics of Cameroon foreign policy have been conservative, weak and timid. This study refutes that perspective. Based on extensive and previously unused primary sources obtained from Cameroon’s Ministry of External Relations and from the nation’s archives in Buea and Yaoundé, this study argues that Cameroon’s foreign policy was neither timid nor makeshift. Its strategy was one of pragmatism. By examining the nation’s policy toward Nigeria in the reunification of Cameroon, the Nigerian civil war, the Bakassi Peninsula crisis and Boko Haram, the study maintains that, while the nation’s policy was cautious, its leaders focused on …