CAMEROON HISTORY: TRUSTEESHIP SYSTEM
Following the end of World
War II in Cameroon, Cameroon was affected following the change of its status
from a mandated territory of the League of Nations to a trust territory of the
U.N.O.
The trusteeship system
started in 1946. It influenced the political evolution of Cameroon because it
allowed the nationalists of Cameroon to present their grievances directly to
the U.N.O’s General Assembly in New York. Visiting teams were sent to Cameroon
to inspect French and British administration in the territory.
France and Britain were
compelled to submit annual reports to the U.N about their administration of
Cameroon.
THE UN VISITING MISSIONS
The UN however criticised the British Policy of
administering Cameroon as an integral part of Nigeria. It also criticised the
division of Cameroon by Britain into two parts; North Cameroon that became part
of North Nigeria and south Cameroon that became part of the East region of
Nigeria.
THE
UN TRUSTEESHIP AGREEMENT FOR FRENCH CAMEROON
France
accepted that Cameroon should be placed under the United Nations trusteeship
reluctantly. This reluctance was because France had seen that the conditions
under which the trust territories had to be governed were against the policy of
assimilation that she was pursuing in Cameroon. Again, France had already been
weakened by the 2nd World War and did not wish to be weakened further through
the loss of her colonial possession. If France had to prepare Cameroonians for
independence as required by the UN charter, her policy of assimilation could
have been unworkable in Cameroon. Consequently, she proposed a trusteeship
agreement that was approved by the UN General Assembly without any amendments
on the 13th of December 1946. By the proposed trusteeship agreement, France
made the following:
§ To promote basis objectives of the trusteeship system
and to collaborate fully with the General Assembly and the Trusteeship Council in
the discharge of her functions.
§ This agreement permitted France to have full
legislative; administrative and jurisdictional powers in Cameroon according to
the French laws.
§ The French
government promised to give the local inhabitants a share in the administering
of their territory.
§ France also promised that land transaction could only
take place among the natives.
CAMEROON HISTORY: TRUSTEESHIP SYSTEM
ADVANTAGES
OF A TRUST TERRITORY STATUS
Citizens
of trust territories like Cameroon had the right to petition directly to the Secretary
General of the U.N or through British and French as the case may be there. Petitions
took the form of telegrams, memoranda, letters or other documents such as petitions
often carried request, complains and grievances which were to be transmitted to
the Trusteeship Council that had to act on them.
Secondly,
the U.N also sent visiting missions to the trust territories thereby giving the
inhabitancies the opportunity to present their problems directly to them.
DISADVANTAGES
Sometimes,
colonial powers governed trust territories for their own interest ignoring that
of the trust territories as it was the case with France in French Cameroon
through the policy of assimilation. This type of policy made trust territories
to feel that they could not live without France. In the wise, they only
virtually became independent of her in 1960. In some cases when the colonial
powers had nothing to exploit from the trust territories they would not care to
develop them as it was the case with Britain in British southern.
CAMEROON HISTORY: TRUSTEESHIP SYSTEM
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