Summarize this content to 2000 words in 6 paragraphs Tiko, Cameroon – On a warm day in Mudeka, an English-speaking village across the river from Cameroon’s Francophone region, supercentenarian Atemafac Anathasia Tanjuh pieces together snippets of her childhood memories.
Tanjuh, whose family says she is about 120 years old, is one of the last living witnesses to European colonial rule in Africa and her Bangwa people’s fierce resistance against German colonisation.
“They imposed their rules on us,” Tanjuh said, surrounded by one of her five surviving children and some great-grandchildren, her voice laced with both nostalgia and resilience. After European powers split up Africa during the 1884-1885 Berlin Conference, Cameroon became a German protectorate until after World War I (WWI), when it was carved up between Britain and France.
Tanjuh said her people endured harsh times under the Germans, but the true weight of imperial rule grew much heavier under the French and British – the remnants of which leave Cameroon deeply divided and at war today.
When the English and French first partitioned the country in 1919, Tanjuh’s community found itself torn apart.
“We could no longer move from Fontem [which was under British rule] to the market in Dschang [which was under French rule], where I used to go to sell cocoyam and palm kernel,” she said. The divisions severed ties with their historical trading partners and relatives on the other side.
As the years progressed, the divide became more than merely physical – also linguistic and cultural. After independence in the 1960s, Cameroon maintained its French-majority culture, while those in the Anglophone regions felt increasingly marginalised.
This escalated, eventually manifesting in a violent conflict between Anglophone armed separatists and Francophone state-armed troops, which has killed more than 6,500 and displaced about 700,000 people in the southwest and northwest of the country since late 2016.
At the sound of gunfire from the separatist clashes today, Tanjuh is drawn swiftly back to her memories of World War I, her daughter says. “Let’s hide in the caves to stay safe, just like we did back then,” the elder tells her family, her instincts sharp and honed by a lifetime of turmoil.
‘They simply drew straight lines’
Before European colonisation, Cameroon was a rich tapestry of independent kingdoms, each with its own territory, leadership, culture and traditions. However, this intricate web of societies was upended in 1884 when Germany annexed the region, unifying it under a single colony named Kamerun. This move was cemented by the arbitrary partition of Africa at the Berlin Conference – an exclusive gathering of European powers and the United States, which concluded exactly 140 years ago this week.
The aftermath of World War I further reshaped Cameroon’s destiny. Germany’s defeat led to the colony being seized and divided in 1919 between Britain and France, this time in Versailles. The partition was drawn up by representatives of the two powers – who, notably, had little firsthand knowledge of the land or its people.
The Picot Line, named after French representative Georges Picot (who also negotiated the Sykes-Picot Agreement that split up the Ottoman Empire after WWI) and negotiated with British delegate Lancelot Oliphant, arbitrarily split Cameroonian communities that shared common ethnic, linguistic and cultural heritage. As a result, communities like the Mbo people, for example, speak English in the Kupe Muanenguba Division but French just across the Mungo River.
Paul Nchoji Nkwi, a retired professor of African anthropology at the University of Yaounde I, highlights that before the Berlin Conference, there was no attempt to study Africa’s ethnographic composition so as to create meaningful borders.
“They simply drew straight lines,” he said, pointing out that many Cameroonian ethnic groups, such as the Efik, have close relatives across the border in Nigeria. “If you look at most maps, especially in West Africa, the boundaries are straight, artificial lines. Yet, despite this, ethnic groups have remained culturally connected.”
The wave of liberation movements in the 1960s finally brought political independence. French Cameroon gained independence in 1960, followed by British Cameroon in 1961, leading to their reunification as a federal state. However, this process was fraught with challenges.
The colonial legacy – particularly the forced imposition of artificial borders that disregarded ethnic and cultural realities – disrupted natural state formations, divided families and fostered tensions that persist today. These borders continue to shape Cameroon’s socio-political landscape.
The Elung clan, for example, which remains divided along the Picot Line, is a painful reminder of how colonial partition disrupted communities.
‘Separating one people into two’
Muangwekan is one of 13 villages of the Elung clan. It sits on the eastern slopes of the Kupe Mwanenguba mountains, near the Picot Line. This coffee-growing village still bears remnants of colonial rule – most notably, a large concrete border marker once used to delineate British territory, perched on a hill overlooking the settlement.
Life in Muangwekan carries on as usual, but its traditional ruler, Chief Atabe Emmanuel Ndonjume, is deeply concerned. A few years ago, a government commission proposed transferring Muangwekan to Melong Subdivision, part of the Moungo Division in the French-speaking Littoral region.
The proposal has prompted unrest, as Muangwekan has historically belonged to the Bangem administrative unit in the English-speaking region since Cameroon’s reunification in 1961.
“This pillar was planted in 1947 by the British Commissioner in Buea. It shows that the next village [Ninong] is four miles away,” Chief Atabe said, tapping the concrete marker with his walking stick as villagers gathered around.
“Muangwekan belonged to British Southern Cameroons at the time,” he continued. To him, those advocating for Muangwekan’s transfer to Melong Subdivision are mistaken.
For Chief Atabe and his people, the proposal is more than just a bureaucratic shift – it threatens the village’s historical identity and cultural heritage, a lingering consequence of colonial-era partitions that continue to shape Cameroon’s geopolitical landscape.
Despite the controversy, Chief Atabe insists the colonial pillar should remain. “We shall uphold it because it serves as proof of where Muangwekan belongs and can help resolve any disputes over its administrative unit.”
Yet, artificial borders have not erased deep connections between Muangwekan and nearby Francophone villages like Mbuasum.
“My father’s current wife is from Mbuasum. Many people here have brothers and uncles in Mbuasum,” he said, adding that people in some villages across the border are so closely related to him that marrying from there would be considered incest.
Reflecting on the past, he lamented the effect of colonial divisions: “The disappearance of the German administration caused us many problems. It was difficult to separate one people into two.”
His father, Atabe Francis, now 95, lived through the partition firsthand. He married across the former border and often travelled as far as Nkongsamba in former French Cameroon to sell tobacco.
“There used to be peace,” the elderly man said, sitting frail in a wooden chair. “But these days, I am shocked by the tensions and divisions.”
European boundaries ‘caused problems’
The European-drawn borders that partitioned Africa more than a century ago continue to shape the continent’s challenges today.
“The boundaries we have today were created by Europeans, and they have caused us a lot of problems,” said Cameroonian scholar, Joseph Takougang, a professor of African history at the University of Cincinnati.
“If not for the second partition, Cameroon would have been one big, happy family,” he told Al Jazeera.
When asked what Africa might have looked like if the Berlin Conference had never taken place, the specialist in colonial and post-colonial Africa, particularly Cameroonian nationalism and political developments, suggested the continent may have developed differently.
“I don’t know. But I guess we wouldn’t have 55 different countries today. If you study pre-colonial Africa, you see that state formations were happening organically,” Takougang said, noting that kingdoms were expanding and institutions were evolving on the continent. “Africa would have created its own states, its own governance structures. But that process was disrupted by colonial partition.”
Sharing a personal anecdote from his time as a student at the University of Yaounde, he recalls a friend from Mamfe whose family had farms in Nigeria. “They would simply take a boat, cross the river, and go to their farms in Nigeria. It was that easy. The borders didn’t exist in their daily lives.”
Regarding Cameroon’s current Anglophone-Francophone conflict, Takougang believes the only viable solution is a return to the pre-1972 federal system, which recognised West Cameroon (former British territory) and East Cameroon (former French territory) as federated states.
“As long as one group of people is undermined and treated as second-class citizens, and no one is willing to listen to them, I don’t know what will happen. Until we have partners willing to sit down and genuinely discuss the issues, nothing will change.”
On the broader question of African unity, Takougang posits that the continent would have been more powerful in the event a “United States of Africa” was formed.
“The more divided we are, the easier we are to exploit,” he said, adding that France directly benefits from instability in Cameroon, Togo, Benin, the Central African Republic, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo. “They don’t want African nations to unite because then they wouldn’t be able to play one side against the other. That’s why they will never support true African independence.”
For the damage colonial powers have caused to Africa, Takougang supports the idea of reparations, but is sceptical about its implementation. “I subscribe to reparations, but in what form? Sending money will only end up in the hands of a corrupt few. Instead, we need technology transfer – something that can actually build African economies.”
For his part, Nkwi, the anthology professor, also argues that colonial powers enriched themselves at Africa’s expense, and as such should pay for reparations. “These countries discovered natural resources in Africa and exploited them – both the land and the people. Millions were taken to the Americas as slaves. Africa lost not just human resources but also natural wealth.”
The way forward
Across the continent, ethnic and cultural divisions persist as a result of lines drawn arbitrarily on a map by foreigners who did not consult any Africans when carving up their territories.
As a way forward in bridging the divides in Cameroon, Nkwi acknowledged the issue is complex.
He noted that many Francophone Cameroonians historically migrated to English-speaking regions due to the oppressive nature of French colonial rule. “After the Berlin Conference, many Francophones – Douala people, Bulus, Bamilekes – moved to the English-speaking regions because they found French rule too harsh.”
However, reintegrating these communities remains difficult. “The problem is that Francophones have developed a mentality of superiority, rooted in the French colonial philosophy of ‘mission civilisatrice’ [the civilising mission]. This has deepened the divide between the two cultures.
“These divisions are cultural,” he said. “When people share a culture, it distinguishes them, and cultural values are difficult to erase.”
While many worry that the road to unity remains elusive, Takougang and Nkwi both say that Cameroon’s future depends on genuine dialogue, political will, and an honest reckoning with its colonial past. Without these, the nation risks remaining trapped in a cycle of division and instability.
For elders Atabe and Tanjuh, the arrival and subsequent departure of colonial rulers disrupted established social structures and cultural practices, and it was difficult to adapt. However, they feel their communities have been resilient, transcending all imposed barriers.
Now surrounded by their descendants, they remain hopeful in spite of the challenges – believing that communities once partitioned will reunite, restoring the harmony of pre-colonial times.
“One day I will be gone,” Tanjuh said, sitting on the doorstep of her humble green and white house in Mudeka, “but I deeply long to see peace reign before I leave.”
