Editing History of Cameroon (section)

==Independence and the Ahidjo era (1960–1982)==
[[File:JFKWHP-AR7092-J.jpg|thumb|right|Cameroonian President Ahidjo meets U.S. President John Kennedy in 1962]]
[[File:Monument Reunification.jpg|thumb|[[Reunification Monument]] in [[Yaoundé]]]]

French Cameroon achieved independence on January 1, 1960. After [[Guinea]], it was the second of France's colonies in [[Sub-Saharan Africa]] to become independent. On 21 February 1960, the new nation held a constitutional referendum, approving a new constitution. On 5 May 1960, [[Ahmadou Ahidjo]] became president. Ahidjo aligned himself closely with France and allowed many French advisers and administrators to stay on as well as leaving most of the country's assets in the hands of French companies.

===Union with Southern Cameroon===
On 12 February 1961, the results of the Southern Cameroon plebiscite were announced and it was learned that Southern Cameroons had voted for unification with the Republic Of Cameroon, sometimes called "reunification" since both regions had been part of German Kamerun. To negotiate the terms of this union, the [[Foumban Conference]] was held on 16–21 July 1961. [[John Ngu Foncha]], the leader of the [[Kamerun National Democratic Party]] and the Southern Cameroons elected government represented Southern Cameroons while Ahidjo represented Cameroon. The agreement reached was a new constitution, based heavily on the version adopted in Cameroon earlier that year, but with a federal structure granting former British Cameroons - now [[West Cameroon]] - jurisdiction over certain issues and procedural rights. [[Buea]] became the capital of West Cameroon while [[Yaounde]] doubled as the federal capital and East Cameroonian capital. Neither side was particularly satisfied as Ahidjo had wanted a unitary or more centralized state while the West Cameroonians had wanted more explicit protections. On 14 August 1961, the federal constitution was adopted, with Ahidjo as president. Foncha became the prime minister of West Cameroon and vice president of the Federal Republic of Cameroon. The unification of British and French Cameroon has caused linguistic and cultural tensions within Cameroon, which has [[Anglophone Crisis|led to violence]].<ref>{{cite web |last1=Deutsche |first1=Welle |title=Cameroon: Colonial Past and Present Friction |url=https://www.dw.com/en/cameroon-colonial-past-and-present-frictions/a-37344849 |website=DW.com |publisher=DW}}</ref>

===Civil War and repression===
The UPC, which had demanded a full break with France and many of whom espoused [[Marxist]] or other leftist ideologies, were not satisfied with Ahidjo's rule and close cooperation with the French and did not lay down their arms at independence and sought to overthrow Ahidjo's regime which they viewed as too subservient to France and some, but not all, espoused overtly [[Marxist]] views. Ahidjo requested continued French assistance in suppressing the UPC rebels in what became known as the [[Bamileke War]] after the region where much of the fighting took place. The UPC was ultimately defeated with government forces capturing the last important rebel leader in 1970. During the intervening years, Ahidjo used emergency powers granted due to the war and the fear of further ethnic conflict to centralize power in himself. He implemented a highly centralized and authoritarian government that used arbitrary police custody, prohibition of meetings and rallies, submission of publications to prior censorship, restriction of freedom of movement through the establishment of passes or curfews, and a prohibition on trade unions to prevent opposition. Anyone accusation of "compromising public safety" was handled outside traditional criminal process - without the right to a lawyer or any appeal. Sentences of life imprisonment at hard labor or death were numerous and executions were often public.

In 1966, opposition parties were banned and Cameroon became a [[one-party state]].<ref name=modo /> On 28 March 1970 Ahidjo was re-elected as president with 100% of the vote and 99.4% turnout.<ref>[[Dieter Nohlen]], Michael Krennerich & Bernhard Thibaut (1999) ''Elections in Africa: A data handbook'', p183 {{ISBN|0-19-829645-2}}</ref> [[Solomon Tandeng Muna]] became vice president. In 1972, a referendum was held on a new constitution, which replaced the federation between East and West with a unitary state called the '''United Republic of Cameroon''' and further expanded the power of the president. Official results claimed 98.2% turnout and 99.99% of votes in favor of the new constitution.<ref>[http://africanelections.tripod.com/cm.html Elections in Cameroon] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110903053954/http://africanelections.tripod.com/cm.html |date=3 September 2011 }} African Elections Database</ref>   Although Ahidjo's rule was authoritarian, he was seen as noticeably lacking in charisma in comparison to many post-colonial African leaders. He didn't follow the anti-western policies pursued by many of these leaders, which helped Cameroon achieve a degree of comparative political stability, retain Western investment, and see fairly steady economic growth.

===Discovery of oil===
Cameroon became an oil-producing country in 1977. The accounting of oil revenues was totally opaque and many Cameroonians felt the money was mismanaged or embezzled since.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Cowell |first1=Alan |title=As Oil Flows, Strains Come to Cameroon |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1982/03/14/world/as-oil-flows-strains-come-to-cameroon.html |access-date=20 September 2021 |work=New York Times |date=March 14, 1982}}</ref> Oil remains a primary driver of the economy, though the country is not as oil-dependent as many other producers in the region.